26 January 2024

Dear Oakley Parents and Guardians

A slightly delayed newsletter from me this term because the first week and half was dominated by mock examinations for much of the house; not a lot to report except for lots of hard work and quiet study. I was really impressed with the dedication and approach of the Oakley girls as they helped each other revise and respected the need for a calm working environment.

Boarders enjoyed a visit to Harry Potter World at the weekend. It was a great way to mark the end of the mocks and much fun was had:

In the Senior House Debating Competition Oakley were proposing the interesting motion ‘this house believes that, under certain circumstances children should allowed to divorce their parents’! Clara L was the first speaker, ably supported by Lidia B and Ashna G (who stepped in at the last minute for the team). It was a brilliant and assured delivery from all three.

Hanna D has also been busy with debating and she performed so well with her teammate last weekend, in the Cambridge Union Debating Competition, finishing 4th out of 28 teams and she was our top-ranked speaker (7th out of 56). We wish her well in her next competition at Nottingham University next weekend.

We had further competition success as Trissie W in the Vth form got through to the finals of the House Music (advanced) competition with her piece Serenata Andaluza by Manuel de Falla. I am very much looking forward to hearing her perform in the final next month and we all wish her well.

We have a busy couple of weeks ahead with House Netball tomorrow, House music (ensemble) and House Drama competitions also on the horizon. Hopefully more successes to come.

Our very own Mr Snelling became a (minor) TV celebrity last week when he and his family featured on a TV property show, Love It or List It on Channel 4. The girls took a little time out of their schedules to gather for the premiere with popcorn and watch his 15 minutes of fame:

It was also lovely to mark the 18th birthday of our wonderful Head of House Hatty at the start of the week. During the year we enjoying seeing the U6 girls celebrating their coming-of-age and it was nice to see the warm congratulations of the younger girls towards Hatty during our morning notices.