The University of Oak Meadow
IMPACT and Enrichment Week – ‘Aspire to make a difference’.
‘We work, we stand tall, we rise up to be counted,
We climb mountains!
We are shaking and waking and breaking indifference,
We are quaking and taking and making a difference.’
Lemn Sissay (MBE, Chancellor of the University of Manchester)
Oak Meadow would like to thank all of the children, parents and staff who worked tirelessly to plan and organise yet another outstanding week of innovative learning at our school. Working together to realise a shared intent that has been months in the making, the school was meticulously transformed into four unique faculties in the implementation of our very own university.
Our vision for the university was to continue to raise the ambition and aspirations of our children by introducing them to the very best learning opportunities that bring together the high quality of knowledge they have acquired from across the curriculum and challenge every individual’s skills and thinking. Working with the community and utilising a network of partnerships and wider links, our aim has been to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.
We shaped our learning environment into our very own university with four faculties to realise our desire for all children to excel in their learning journey. Each faculty represented our staff’s working teams within the school:
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
In recognition of our pupils’ exceptional behaviour and learning attitudes, the leadership team took the decision to group the children vertically for the week in each of their school houses: Ash, Rowan, Willow and Yew. This gave our children the opportunity to work closely together across different ages and phases in each faculty to identify commonalities that were celebrated as well as respecting diversity and differences that were valued and nurtured.
We welcomed a wide range of stakeholders and community partners in special learning walks where visitors were encouraged to join in with the children as they completed new learning opportunities ranging from African Artwork to Chromatography and Yoga to Boccia. Visitors also purchased our University of Oak Meadow prospectus and enjoyed snacks with the children from our very own Campus Café!
On the final afternoon of the week, the University of Oak Meadow culminated in a specially designed graduation ceremony whereby every child’s unique, exclusive and exceptional skills were celebrated with families and friends. The ceremony proved a worthy finale to celebrate not only children’s achievements, but to say thank you to our inspirational staff for their creative flair, hard work and diligence in providing learning opportunities of the highest interest and enjoyment whilst working within a faculty that ignited children’s intrinsic learning motivations and senses of awe and wonder.
We hope that everyone who visited the University of Oak Meadow recognised the impact of the week and the exceptional quality of the bespoke opportunities and rich experiences that were coherently planned and carefully delivered to benefit every child at our school. Working together with passion, resilience and drive to support our children, we continually aspire to make a difference in their lives. We thank everyone for their outstanding contribution in this memorable IMPACT and Enrichment Week.
