Oaks Primary Academy Newsletter

Issue One

Message from Mrs Tipple


One week and business as usual. Well done everyone!

Thank you as always for your support and kind words this week. Everyone, whatever age, is delighted to be back together as you will see when you read on.

We are so close to being able to go about our days with more freedom that we must not risk that by moving too quickly now. Please continue to support and protect each other for a few more months so that we can all enjoy the summer and a safe future. Please note Miss State will back in the Year 1 and 2 bubble from Monday 15th March following our weekly review.

Have a lovely weekend.

IB Primary Years Programme

A group of students sitting outside on the playground discussing ideas.
Two young students discussing their big ideas in a classroom.

Inquiry Learning

Each of our “Big Ideas” (central ideas) has three lines of inquiry. Within these lines of inquiry, pupils have agency (choice) over how they can carry out and present their learning. Our “Big Ideas” are ambitious, challenging and motivational. Pupils are also encouraged to create and follow their own lines of inquiry.

Three students holding up three different items related to Spain.

Agency

Pupil agency is at the core of an IB education. Our pupils are empowered to have voice, choice and ownership in their own learning. We acknowledge that children are natural inquirers and so we foster their innate sense of wonder and curiosity and structure our learning in such a way as to enable them to direct and take responsibility for their learning.

  • We are knowledgeable. We are learning a new language.

  • We are inquirers. We love to find out new things and ask questions.

  • We are communicators. We share our learning with our friends.

Two students in a classroom smiling at the camera.

Brain Builders

Read more about the attributes here

Brain Builders for the rest of this term will be our Whole School Learner Profile Attribute Inquiry: Our pupils develop and reflect on their Learner Profile Attributes to become active learners with agency. This project allows pupils, parents and staff to reflect and share their thoughts on how each pupil demonstrates these. We love what we have seen so far! These will be set on the Google Classroom or sent home as a paper copy.

Blue Jays - Year 4


Nardin says: I have shown being open minded when we have been outside looking at the bumble bee mystery which asks us to see if bees will be attracted to Oaks Primary Academy. We think that with some more flowers in vibrant colours growing they will be attracted. As well as that we have been busy researching facts about bumble bees. Did you know that only female bees can sting but males can not sting for they do not have a sting?

Kingfisher - Year 5


In Kingfisher class (Year 5), our central idea is ‘life on earth is regulated by forces’ and we have been linking it to our work in other subjects. In Year 5 we have been focusing on the learner profile attributes.

As a class we are communicators because we understand each other and we share our thoughts and ideas. At the moment in our scientific inquiry we are doing an experiment where we are investigating how different forces (such as gravity) impact upon life on Earth. In particular we are focusing on the relationship between gravity, surface area and air resistance. We are using our knowledge and application of forces to create parachutes and safety mechanisms to help prevent impact forces on an egg. We are going to try to harness our knowledge of friction next week and apply our knowledge to wider contexts.

Students experimenting with their own colour lenses outside on the playground
Students experimenting with their own colour lenses outside on the playground
A photo with a pink colour filter taken by a student.

Year 6

In Year 6, we investigated all about light during the week. We were creative thinkers and created our own filters using colour lenses and our camera.

Year 2

Year 2 were plant detectives this week!

Students walking around on the playground while looking for plants.
Students walking around on the playground while looking for plants.
Students walking around on the playground while looking for plants.
Two young students in the school gym playing catch with saucer stones.
A young boy looking down at his hand while holding saucer cones.
A group of students doing some yoga in the school gym.

Year R

Year R were learning to catch with ‘big hands’.

Finishing the lesson doing yoga to The Very Hungry Caterpillar which they read in class yesterday.