Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Year 5/6 Girls Football - Oakridge v South View

  Thu 27 Apr 2023 Coach Jordan

  Our girl's football team hosted South View here at Oakridge on a damp Thursday afternoon. With this being our second game, we went in with more confidence and determination and were striving to improve on the result of our first outing. I took 2 teams of 7 consisting of year 5's and 6's.

   

  Both teams started the game well and were limiting each other to very few chances, with both defences getting the better of the opposing attackers in the early stages. South View then started to take control of the game and created some good chances, which Sophie managed to keep out with some good goalkeeping. South View then won a throw-in, and we struggled to pick up their players, which allowed their number 9 to get free and put them 1-0 ahead. Not phased by this, we continued to battle but couldn't create any real scoring opportunities, leading South View to catch us on the break to make the score 2-0 heading into half-time.

   

  The mood amongst the girls was very positive at half-time, and I could sense that they knew we shouldn't have been 2-0 down which I completely agreed with. We identified that we just needed to make sure the defenders were moving up and down with the play, and our attackers needed to shoot more, which was my main message to them as we readied ourselves for the second half.

   

  Straight away, we were on the front foot, and it became all one-way traffic in the second half, with us grabbing two excellent goals through Taiyah and Willow to make the score 2-2. After this, we created numerous goalscoring chances that we just couldn't put away for one reason or another. The girls fought all the way to the end to try and get the winner, relentlessly pressing the South View defence, which stood firm against our attackers to finish the game at 2-2.

   

  On another day, I truly believe we would have won this game; we were dominant in the second half but couldn't find that finishing touch. Each team member worked their socks off in tough conditions, with the rain pouring down for most of the game. They all seemed to thoroughly enjoy it though, and did themselves and me extremely proud!

   

  Team: Sophie, Evie, Delphi, Keirah, Nadia, Eliza, Taiyah, Ella D, Ella M, Chelsea, Willow, Rosie, Millie and Amelia

• Year 5 Treehouse - Monday 24th April 2023

  Tue 25 Apr 2023

  This week we were fortunate enough to have a visit from the Treehouse Theatre company to complete a workshop with us about the Greeks. We were split into 4 groups and we each learnt an act in a play called 'War and Peace in Ancient Greece'. We were given specific roles to act out, with some of us having lines to say. Each group practiced in the morning and then in the afternoon, we came together. We were given costumes and we learnt a song. Then we each performed our act to the other groups. 

  

• Earth Day

  Fri 21 Apr 2023

  On Friday 21st April, Oakridge Federation celebrated Earth Day! Together we learned about our planet, how special and fragile it is and how we can protect it. Year groups across the school participated in various activities to find out and research about the day, the children also all made a pledge, promising to do something to help save the environment. Many of these can be seen around in the windows of our school buildings. The nursery also got involved, making Earth day crowns and crafting their own Earths too. 

  

• Year 6 Netball Match - Oakridge v Four Lanes

  Thu 20 Apr 2023 Coach Jordan

  On Thursday afternoon, we competed in our second netball match, this time going to Four Lanes, looking to bounce back from a defeat last time out. We identified in the previous game that we needed to be more aggressive, needing more desire to retrieve the ball, win the 50/50's and win it back from rebounds. Whilst netball is a non-contact sport, we were overpowered in our last game, so I worked on this with everyone the day before the game and it certainly paid off this time.

  Understandably we were all very excited. In sports, it's all about controlling that excitement and remembering to do the right things. While we started well, we rushed our passes, not taking time with our shooting. We should have stuck with our markers when defending. Luckily for us, Four Lanes couldn't take advantage of this, and the scoreline remained 0-0. After a frantic 5 minutes, we started to settle down and regained our composure which led to us scoring a couple of well-worked goals through Evie and Nadia. At the end of the first quarter, we found ourselves 2-0 up, and I had a chance to tweak a couple of things. I reminded the team to use their 4 seconds if needed, to find the right pass and steady themselves before taking their shots at the goal. 

  The second quarter was a frantic one, with us adding 3 more goals to our score through Nadia x 2 and Tessa. Four Lanes also started to find their feet and grabbed two goals for themselves to make the score 5-2 to us heading into halftime. In this break, we talked about sticking with our opposing players to limit their chances. As we headed into the 3rd quarter, we started to assert our dominance within the game, Sourya and Eliza were defending excellently, and Four Lanes didn't manage to score a goal in this quarter whilst up the other end we were running riot with three more goals coming from Evie and Tessa x 2 to make it 8-2. After a brief chat about taking our time in the last quarter, I set out an objective for us not to concede another goal. Into the last quarter, we managed to get another 3 goals through Nadia x 2 and Evie to complete the scoring. The match finished 11-2 to us, and we achieved the objective of not conceding another goal.

  The team were exceptional today, with some top-draw defending from Sourya, Eliza and Ben. Chloe and Rosie were brilliant as centres supporting the attack and defence. Nadia, Tessa and Evie were ruthless and linked up well with their shooting. They all fought for every loose ball, stuck with their opposing players, and all gave 110% to earn this victory.

  Team: Nadia B, Rosie T, Chloe E, Tessa A, Sourya B, Evie C, Eliza B and Ben N.
   

   

• Year 3/4 Football - Oakridge v South View

  Mon 03 Apr 2023 Coach Jordan

  On Monday afternoon, we hosted South View for a Year 3/4 football match, still looking for our first victory as a team. Whilst we had performed very well in our last two outings, we didn't quite manage to be on the right side of the scoreline. However, this was the day that it finally did go our way. 

  We set up with an attacking 3-2-1 formation with the wingbacks instructed to get forward and support the attack, this very quickly paid off as we managed to press their back line, and Tommy scored a goal to make it 1-0. We kept using our energetic press to our advantage, pinning South View back in their half, and grabbed 3 more goals through Finley x 2 and Isaac to head into halftime with a 4-0 lead. The boys were deservedly elated at halftime as we were so dominant and limited South Views' chances to score.

  Heading into the second half, I encouraged the boys to keep doing the right things, and there would be more opportunities for goals. When you start to win a game convincingly, everyone wants to get on the scoresheet. Because of this, we seemed to lose our way in the first 5 minutes of the second half, and their number 9 carved through our defence on 2 separate occasions to make the score 4-2. This was the wake-up call we needed, and we quickly reorganised ourselves. After this, we won a free kick near the halfway line, and Finley stepped up to take it. I encouraged him to shoot as he has a thunderous left foot, and wow... did he shoot... He unleashed a vicious strike that nestled into the top right corner of the South view goal, which knocked the wind out of their sails. From here on out, we had numerous chances to score, and we ran away with the game, with the final score ending up being 9-2 to us, with goals coming from Ethan P, Jack x 2, and an own goal.

  I was incredibly proud of our performance. The boys worked and pressed as a unit throughout, took their chances well, had some wonderful passages of play and ultimately all gave 110%. I am starting to see them understand and implement the tactics I am giving them, which is making them more cohesive as a team and will ultimately lead them to more success. Ethan and Antony were exceptional in goal, making some fine saves and building out the play from the back. Jackson was a rock at centre half and had a great battle with their striker. The wingbacks, Blake, Oscar and Ethan P, all showed so much energy to support the attack and defence. Tommy, Finley, Jack and Isaac had some phenomenal link-up play in the middle of the park and going forward.

  Team: Ethan P, Blake M, Finley P, Tommy S, Ethan W, Jackson W, Jack W, Isaac L, Oscar A and Antony M-K