Specialisms Blog
February 2012
Some of our 6th form students have been working with a group of year 8 students recently on a programme called “That reading thing”. Everyone involved has enjoyed the books they have read. Well done to our year 8 bookworms and congratulations to the 6th formers for their hard work. They will all receive and certificate and prize for their efforts and contribution.
Our year 7 students continue with Renaissance Learning in the Library once a fortnight. The top ten readers have read a staggering 1,026,957 words between them since September! Congratulations to Simran Bhogal who has read 10 books (316,244 words) and passed all the quizzes.
Also, well done to James Melia in year 8. His descriptions and use of key words in Science have impressed Mr Tomlinson.
13 July 2011
Thirteen year 9 students accompanied by Mr Peacock and Mrs Yates set off from OSCA very early on Wednesday morning to travel to Pimlico Academy in London. They took part in a debating conference with about one hundred students from other schools, covering several topics, including ethics in the press and media, protecting the environment and young people and democracy. This gave them the opportunity to think about different ways of expressing their points of view; a skill which should serve them well in their GCSE English.
For the afternoon session we travelled to the headquarters of the English Speaking Union, where we were part of the audience putting questions based on our morning’s workshops to a panel of journalists and politicians.
After a long journey home, we arrived at OSCA around 7:30pm, having had time to reflect on the day’s events. It gave us all plenty to think about how we can apply these skills to our lessons.
July 2011
We’re all looking forward to our first specialisms day on Friday 15th July, when students will be exploring “Communication” in different curriculum areas. Some of the opportunities include creating a new mural in the Arts block, researching life in other continents and creating a new language. A big thank you to all the planning that staff have put into the day.
