Monday 4^th February

Fair Oak entered two boys teams and two girls teams into the first qualifying tournament of the Premier League Primary Stars Football Competition held at Goals in Millbrook, Southampton. Only three boys and three girls teams would make it through to the next stage which will be held at The Staplewood Training Complex later in the month. Our girls team performed really well throughout. Our inexperienced B team lost all six of their matches but their performances improved as they played more fixtures. Our A team ended up with two wins, one draw and three defeats. These results meant that they just qualified for the knock out stages where they lost to a very good Bitterne Park side by five goals to nil. Our boys B team also ended up with two wins, one draw and three losses. Unfortunately they just missed out on the knockout stages. Our boys A team finished top of their group with a record of five wins and one loss from their six matches. This put them through to the knock out stages where they would play New Church from the Isle of Wight. A win would see them through to the next stage and our boys delivered with an emphatic nine one win! Well done to the boys for a super result. Mr Stredwick was pleased with the way that all of our players performed today and was particularly impressed with the attitude of all of our teams. They really made our school proud!

Tuesday 5^th February

Fair Oak took two development teams to play in a hockey tournament held today at Hamble College. The majority of both teams had not played a competitive hockey fixture before but they all performed superbly. Fair Oak 1 began with a nil nil draw with Berrywood and then lost their next fixture two nil to Botley 1. Next up were Upham and our team put in a great performance to win by a goal to nil. In their final fixture, Fair Oak came up against an extremely strong Freegrounds 1 team and unfortunately it was our opponents who were victorious by three goals to nil. Fair Oak 2 began their campaign with a one nil loss to Freegrounds 2 and then lost to Durley by three goals to nil. Next up was a nil nil draw with Botley 2 before a final one nil win against Netley! These results meant that neither of our two sides qualified for the final but Mr Stredwick was extremely proud of how all of our players performed. Well done to all of our fantastic hockey players!

Tuesday 12^th February

Today Fair Oak hosted a table tennis team event for years 5 and 6. Fair Oak entered three boys teams and two girls teams into the competition. After all of the fixtures had been played, our boys A team finished in first place, the B team finished in second place while our C team finished in third position! Our girls teams also performed really well. The A team were overall girls winners, while our B team finished as runners up! Well done to all of our table tennis players for doing the school proud.

Friday 15^th February

The Fair Oak boys football team today played their final qualifying competition for the Premier League Primary Stars Finals which will be held in Wolverhampton on 21^st May. The standard of the football on show was high as all of the competing teams had already had to qualify for this event. Fair Oak began with a hard fought one nil win against Scantabout and followed that up with a comprehensive seven nil win over Springhill! Shaftsbury were our next opponents and Fair Oak won again, this time by three goals to one which meant that Fair Oak would play St Marks from Salisbury in the quarter finals. Our boys put in another solid performance to win by three goals to nil. Kings Worthy were our semi-final opponents and at the final whistle, the score stood at one all. The match therefore went to penalties with Fair Oak holding their nerve to win four three. A well organised, physical St Monica team were our opponents in the final. Neither side could find a break-through in normal time or extra time so this match was also decided on penalties. Fair Oak were again victorious, this time by three penalties to two. What a magnificent achievement by the team. Fair Oak have made Premier League Stars history by becoming the first Southampton school to retain the trophy!

Tuesday 26^th February

Fair Oak entered five teams into a hockey tournament held at Wyvern between local teams. The competition took a league format with every team playing every other team. After all the fixtures had been completed, the final standings were as follows:

Well done to all of our fabulous hockey players for a great tournament!

Day 4: What glorious weather we have had! With blue skies and the sun shining, we headed down to the beach for our Seashore experience. In groups, we created rock pools, built sandcastles and had an extremely successful fossil hunt. We discovered many impressive items whilst on the beach, however, the most impressive of all was that Fair Oak managed to find a record breaking 7 shark’s teeth down by the sea. As well as these, we also discovered two eagle ray crushing plates. We have been told that this is rare and exciting find!

This afternoon, the children have completed a variety of activities. Group 1 headed to face the Earthquake while Group 2 built shelters. During these activities, they developed the Stubbington 3 main aims; teamwork, respect and responsibility. The children have also made the most delicious cocktails using natural ingredients including grass, leaves and even mud! They smelt surprisingly good! However, we did advise the children not to drink their concoctions.

Without wishing to alarm you, there has been an awful crime at Stubbington. Pirates have invaded our land and stolen the treasure! So after dinner this evening, the children will become investigators and work collaboratively to solve the case… but which of the Fair Oak Pirates stole the treasure?

Day 3: As one coach full of fulfilled children leave Stubbington, another coach-full arrive. With their inductions and tours completed and houses assigned, they are ready for an action packed few days.

The children got stuck straight into activities with a visit to the Conservation Area. They became foxes and were ‘hunted’ by the angry chicken farmers aka the teachers! Then the foxes were rounded up and cornered in the Round House to see who the craftiest foxes were. Once settled into their dormitories, they had the opportunity to explore the grounds themselves, including the games room, adventure playground and tuck shop.

After dinner, the children will have a visit from a wildlife photographer and then the opportunity to see Stubbington’s wildlife for themselves. The first half of the week saw both foxes and badgers from the hide so fingers crossed!

Day Two:

After a hearty breakfast and a rigorous room inspection, half of us set off to the beach for our Seashore Experience. We created rock pools, looked for fossils and then finished off with our very own sand castle challenge. During the hunt for fossils, there was great excitement when Mrs Head found a shark’s tooth among the stones. With the sun shining, it was truly a fantastic morning on the seashore.

With half of us at the beach, it was Group 2’s turn to face the Earthquake challenge! With teamwork and communication skills being developed, the children worked together to help rescue the “victims of a local earthquake”. There was even a surprise visit from a cheeky fox!

There was another successful round of Shelter Building this afternoon with more shelters being put to the test. However, no more watertight than yesterday!

Last night’s trip to the hide allowed sightings of both badgers and foxes. Hopefully, we will be as lucky with our viewings this evening!

Day 1: What a fantastic start to Stubbington! The children have met the Stubbington team, unpacked and settled into their rooms and enjoyed two delicious meals. Each child has been given a house; Fox, Badger, Owl or Kestrel. They will face many challenges in these teams throughout their time here to try to win as many points as they can to earn rewards. The teachers have also been given houses (we are not competitive at all!).

This afternoon has been full of activities, including the Earthquake Challenge, Shelter Building and Earth Walks. The children taking part in the Earthquake challenge faced a bit of a delay as a Stubbington resident decided to take a dip in Lava Leap! Group 2’s shelters were put to the test, we needed to ensure they would protect them from the rain. Unfortunately, due to the glorious sun, the teachers had to be given buckets full of water to assist in testing how watertight they were.  Let’s just say the children may need to improve on their shelter building skills!

They are currently enjoying a talk from a nature photographer, learning all the tips and tricks for when they visit the hide tonight! Hopefully we will be able to capture our very own wildlife shots.

Tuesday 8^th January

Fair Oak entered five teams into a basketball tournament held at Wyvern school today. The competition was between teams from the local area and took a league format where every team played every other team. The side with the most points at the end of the competition would be crowned tournament winners. After all of the fixtures had been played, the results were as follows:

Well done to all of our players who performed superbly throughout the event.

Thursday 10^th January

Today our upper school swimming team travelled to Wildern to take part in a swimming gala. The competition was comprised of a variety of different races including both individual and relay events with points being awarded to teams depending on where they finished in each race. Our team performed superbly and really enjoyed the event. By the end of the gala, the points totals were as follows:

Well done to our fantastic upper school swimming team!

Tuesday 15^th January

Today our basketball team played a qualifying tournament at Wildern for the County Finals which will be held later in the year. Only the winning side from the event would qualify. Teams were split into three groups with each team playing every other team in their pool. The top teams would make it through to the semi-final along with the best second placed team. Fair Oak began with a dominant two nil win over Hamble but then drew their next fixture one all with Wellstead. In the final group game, Freegrounds were beaten by one basket to nil which meant that Fair Oak topped the group and would play Netley in the semi-final. Fair Oak looked strong throughout this fixture and won by one basket to nil. Botley were our final opponents. The match began well with our team taking an early lead and looking like they were in control. However, Botley found their way back into the match and drew level. The score stood at one all at the final whistle which meant the game would be decided on a ‘golden basket’ (next side to score wins). After a further twenty minutes of physical but fair play between the two teams, the winning basket was scored by Botley. What an amazing final. Neither team deserved to lose but somebody had to! Well done to all of the team for a fantastic tournament performance.

Thursday 17^th January

Fair Oak entered four teams into an upper school girls football tournament at Wyvern today. The tournament took on a league structure where every team played every other team with the side collecting the most points at the end being crowned overall winners. All of our teams played superbly, particularly considering that for some of the girls, this was the first time they had represented the school. After all of the matches had been completed, the final results table was as follows:

What a fantastic result for the school. Well done girls!

Monday 21^st January

The Oakley tag rugby team visited Fair Oak today to participate in tag rugby training matches to help our side prepare for the season ahead. The session was really useful to our players who are developing nicely and should head into their upcoming competitions with confidence.

Tuesday 22^nd January

Fair Oak took two development teams to play in a basketball tournament held today at Wildern school. The majority of our two teams had not played a competitive basketball fixture before but they all performed superbly. Fair Oak 1 drew nil nil with Botley 1, then lost two one to Upham. Their next fixture ended in a one all draw with Freegrounds 3 before a final two nil loss to Freegrounds 1. Fair Oak 2 began with a nil nil draw with Botley 2 but then lost four nil to an excellent Droxford side. Next up were Hamble who were beaten three nil! Fair Oak 2 ended their tournament with a hard fought one nil loss to Freegrounds 2. These results meant that Fair Oak 1 finished fourth in their group while Fair Oak 2 finished third in their group. Well done to our players who showed a lot of promise for the future.

Monday 28^th January

Our boys football team played a friendly match today away to a very competitive Botley side on a rather boggy pitch! Fair Oak put in a very good first half display and raced into a three goal lead before Botley pulled a goal back on the stroke of half time. In the second half Fair Oak added a further two goals with Botley scoring one more to leave the final score at five two to Fair Oak. Well done to the team for a solid all round performance.