News and Community

Eco Initiatives

Oakfield pupils are concerned about environmental issues, and are aware of measures the school community can implement in order to help. We have an active group of elected pupils representing each class from Year 3 upwards, led by a senior Eco-Captain and overseen by Year 9 form teacher Jeanette Heugh. This group meets regularly, and decides on a whole range of “green” issues – from recycling initiatives to fundraising events in support of the WWF Endangered Species Campaign.

In the past year we have adopted a dolphin and an orang-utan, and have learned, through assemblies conducted by the girls, of the desperate plight of these and other wild animals. In 2006 our environmental campaigning was at a more local level, with the pupils lobbying the local county council to prevent an incinerator being built at a household waste site less than two miles from school. Their passionate letters were instrumental in the council’s decision to reconsider, and the site has since been rejected.

Building our own playground house

One of our exciting current projects is to construct a small house in the playground made entirely from sustainable materials. Thanks to generous donations from some of our parents, and several weekends work from a group of egaer mums and dads, the area adjacent to the tennis courts were cleared, and the foundations (made from railway sleepers) laid before the summer holidays.

The straw walls are now complete, and the next phase of the project is to lime them. The children themselves will take over the final touches, and we are hopeful that the house will be ready for some serious play by the start of the spring term.

Pyrford and Wisley Flower Show

This year’s annual flower show took place on Saturday July 14th, with the parade starting outside Oakfield and led by our very own Kristin Rooney (Year 4) who had been chosen as the Flower Princess the previous week. Dressed in tiara and velvet cloak, Kristin was driven in a vintage car and escorted by some very smart scouts! For the first time the school exhibited at the show, with a set of photos showing all aspects of life at Oakfield, and maximising our presence with the new gazebo sporting the logo in school colours. We had lots of visitors to the stand, including pupils and parents past and present, and potentially some future ones too, all of whom were invited to name the Oakfield teddy bear. In the Arts & Crafts section, Oakfield was awarded the Cabletel cup for the most interesting and attractive display of artwork, with the judges commenting on the “very varied artistic techniques we have come to expect from Oakfield”. Individually, too, the school was successful with the following pupils winning awards for their age group or class:

Robert Wood (Reception) First prize
Jeanna Jachens (Year 2) First prize
Madeleine Stevens (Year 5) First prize
Paige Pilgrim (Year 7) First prize
Felicity Gallop (Year 9) First prize

Elise Cater (Year 3) Second prize

Lucy Wood (Year 1) Third prize
Elizabeth Gordon (Year 1) Third prize
Lily Connolly (Year 7) Third prize
Felicity Gallop (Year 9) Third prize
Tayla Pilgrim (Year 9) Third prize

Francesca Duke (Year 4) Highly commended
Tayla Pilgrim (Year 9) Highly commended
Verity Mount (Year 9) Highly commended
Laurretta Summerscales (Year 11) Highly commended

Bethany Wood (Year 3) Commended
Natasha Mahne (Year 6) Commended

Not forgetting Brendan Collins, dad of Holly (Year 5), who won a prize for his excellent coffee cake – despite allegedly hating baking!