On Friday the 11th of November staff from Oaklands School attended the SQA Star Awards at The Assembly rooms on behalf of former pupil Gregor Downie.
Gregor had been nominated in the School Candidate of the Year Category for his exceptional work in the Senior Phase at Oaklands School. Gregor obtained 19 National Qualification units and awards in a wide range of subjects in levels 1, 2 and 3.
Gregor received a highly commended award at the event along with a lovely prize and trophy. The SQA annual Star Awards are a unique way to celebrate success, triumph, achievement and recognition of the best in education and training. Behind every success story lies motivation and commitment, pride and self-esteem and, of course, a lot of hard work. The SQA want to reward excellence by both individuals and establishments, across all sectors of education and training.
A massive well done to Gregor, his family and all the staff who worked with Gregor throughout his years at Oaklands and we wish him continued success for the future.
On the last day of term the whole school took part in a Rights Respecting Assembly. All classes assembled in the hall to take part in a Right Hunt. Firstly though, some of the bus drivers and escorts handed out a very generous cheque to the school after having completed the Edinburgh to Glasgow cycle! Many thanks for their great donation.
The pupils then were led through the story of We Are Going On a Rights Hunt by the Rights Respecting Group. The story took us on a journey exploring 5 of the Articles from the United Nations Rights of the Child. For each article an activity was provided for the children, for example, for the Right to Know Who We Are, the pupils all chose their own photo and looked at themselves in the mirror. For the Right to have a Nationality, the pupils came and chose their flag. Everyone really enjoyed taking part in the activity and it is hoped to take the activity out to the woodland when the better weather comes in.
We are currently working towards our Rights Respecting School level 2 award, after completing our Level 1 in February. The group meets monthly to plan activities to bring the rights alive for our pupils.
Harvest was celebrated in style this year at Oaklands. We had a special assembly where we discovered what harvest was and sang some lovely songs. School Chaplin, Gayle Taylor, came along and played some music on her guitar for us which we really enjoyed. Each class brought along items for the food bank. We took turns coming out to the huge harvest table at the front of the hall and putting the items on top of it. By the end of assembly, the table was completely filled with lots and lots of donations!
Oaklands School collected massive amounts of stuff including; biscuits, coffee, wipes, pasta, soup and tins of beans.A few days later, a small group of pupils took the bus across town to the food bank. Here we met up with the volunteers who helped us unload all our donations and take them into the warehouse. Inside there were really high shelves filled with boxes of donations. Our next job was to help weigh our donations using a big scale on the ground. We were told that our donations would be used to help at least 7 families in Edinburgh, fantastic! A big thank you to everyone who donated items and a big well done to the pupils for doing such a great job at the food bank.
We hope to make another visit to the food bank at the end of November. In the meantime, if you would like to donate anything else, Oaklands is a collection point and items can be handed in to the trolley in the reception area of the school.
We have had an exciting start to this term with lots of good swimming happening. With TEAM OAKLANDS taking part in two Lothian Disability Sports Swimming Galas. In Mercat Gait Leisure Centre, Prestonpans.
We were delighted at being given the opportunity to participate. Seam Smiles, Cameron Orr and Ben Holmes represented the school at these events. We spent several weeks practicing for it in our weekly swimming sessions at Ainslie Park. All our swimmers swam 25m in an aided race.
The first race was Ben in the 25m freestyle. He did well, with an entry time of 02.10.46. With lots of encouragement from the other participants, all of whom were chanting his name he managed to get a new PB. Next up were Cameron and Sean with their parents up in the gallery cheering them on both boys swam well. They too had the whole of the other participants cheering them on and chanting their names.
This was a brilliant achievement and all three boys were proud of their medals. We are looking forward to our next event in November. Well done to everyone taking part and a big thank you to Oliver and Amy for all their support and giving up their time at a weekend.
The secondary department had a wonderful visit from Crewe Toll Fire station in connection with their community themed topic. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed meeting the firemen, exploring the engine and most of all using the hose and listening to the siren. We would like to thank our visitors for their kindness and willingness to engage with our pupils. We hope you like the photos.
It was ‘Jeans for Genes Day’ on Friday 23rd September. As a school we supported this fundraising event which raises money for a range of initiatives that improve the quality of life of children affected by genetic disorders. All the staff and pupils were encouraged to pay a pound and ‘Overdo it in Denim’!
The Nursery Class worked very hard visiting the whole school to collect all the money from our friends.
We raised a total of £130.02!
A fantastic effort by everyone. Thank you very much and well done!
Exciting news!
The nursery celebrated great success on Friday when their entry not only achieved a gold rosette in the Gardening Scotland planter competition, but also won second place in the schools category. The theme of the exhibit was Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the children had planted bowls, ‘beds’, and chairs (which were kindly made for us by pupils at Craigroyston Community High School) to represent the main parts of the story. Very well done to all the nursery children and staff for their hard work. Exciting news!
On Friday the 11th of November staff from Oaklands School attended the SQA Star Awards at The Assembly rooms on behalf of former pupil Gregor Downie.
The Nursery Class worked very hard visiting the whole school to collect all the money from our friends.
Oaklands School 