Sixth Form Bulletin

We also spread a bit of Christmas joy when a group of students visited local care homes to hand out mince pies and treat them to a few musical numbers. See the article below for more information.

Khalid joined our Oasis Basketball Academy in September. Khalid is studying Psychology, English and Economics A Levels and despite being new to the school applied to be one of our House Captains.

It's challenging but immensely gratifying to be a student-athlete at Oasis Academy Enfield. The difficulty of juggling hours of basketball practice while maintaining high academic standards has given me a sense of discipline that I couldn't find anywhere else.

I've had to train morning and evening every day under Coach Perry, which has been tough but has brought out a sense of determination and resilience than I thought I didn’t possess. It has also had huge impact on my game!

All I wanted was to be better than yesterday. The same diligence has carried over into my academic work, where I have worked hard to stay on top of assignments and on top of that being a House Captain has given me the opportunity to really feel like part of the OAE community.

Our subject specialists have identified their ‘Essential Reads’.

This week it is ‘The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’ by Oliver Sacks and recommended by our Head of Psychology Ms Angus. In his extraordinarily compassionate, internationally bestselling book, Oliver Sacks explores the various strange and murky landscapes of neurological disorder and reflects on the delicate balance by which our self-identity hangs.

I remember reading this when I studied A Level Psychology many, many years ago showing good writing stands the test of time!

At OAE we embody our expectations in everything we do. We do this through our behaviours and attitudes, modelling to the young people at OAE and expecting to see the same high standards from them.

We have introduced Unifrog to the whole academy, providing a spiral careers curriculum from Years 7 to 13 so that each year group get the information that is pertinent to them.

On Wednesday, 6th Form students completed a series of challenges from taking the personality questionnaires to researching a top university and finding an apprenticeship that offers a degree level qualification. Students also researched MOOCs (massive online courses) to further their subject specialist and discovered ‘How to Interview Like a Boss’!

It may seem early but Year 12 students need to start thinking about their Post 18 Options and rest assured, they will be supported every step of the way. We also have a trip to a university in January as well as a visit from the Futures Academy who are delivering a session on speciality insurance. Look out for details about how this went next issue!

On Wednesday the 18th of December 2024, we had brought some of the festive cheer to Springview and Azalia Court Care homes, all part of our commitment to giving back to the community which is an integral element of our Oasis ethos. Armed with mince pies, Rich Tea biscuits and a hastily put together musical ensemble we entertained residents with Carols such as Silent Night, Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, a number written and performed by our very own Ashton White-Phillip and the less Christmassy but superbly delivered Creep by Radiohead. Our Year 12 students then went round handing out mince pies and chatting to residents. Basak had ‘a lovely time at the care homes we went to, it was really nice to chat to the residents and hand out sweet treats for them. Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. we can't wait to go and visit them again.’ It was one of the proudest moments of my time at OAE as the students embraced the occasion and the band have my utmost respect for adapting to whatever space they had to squeeze into and absolutely nailing their performances. We look forward to making this a regular part of our calendar and thank Springview and Azaria for agreeing to host us.

Start of term is on Tuesday 7th January 2025.

Sixth form parents evening: Wednesday 8th January 2025: 4:30-6:30pm.

6th Form Parent Consultation evening is the first week back – Wednesday 8th January from 4:30-6:30 pm. Teachers will be able to feedback on the recent Mock Examinations with students having collected their envelopes that afternoon, like they will do in the summer on Thursday 14th August.

It is a great opportunity for parents to find out how to support their son/daughter, in what can be a stressful next few months as Year 13 prepare for their final examinations in May and June. Appointments can only be booked using the ‘My Child at School’ App and are open to book now.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our U20 Men’s team travelled to Budapest Hungary Oct 24th to October 27th to compete in the first stage of the European Youth Basketball Tournament (EYBL). Being in an elite group of academy teams from the whole of the UK to be selected to play in this tournament it is an honour and real test for our basketball academy.

This will be our third season competing at the u20 age category of this tournament, so the travel element is becoming a normal process for our student athletes. The likes of Daniel Lopes came to all four stages of European tournament last season and is gaining a lot from the experience of being a young man travelling internationally to play against some of the best players in Europe.

Arriving late Thursday afternoon, we had enough time to get to the hotel which was located 2 mins from the venue. We were able to see the court and watch some teams in our group play their first game. We got an evening meal and then headed back to the hotel for an early curfew to recover mentally and physically from travelling.

Friday we only had one game and played Crew Basket from Italy with a midday tip off (start). With strong play from Tyler Weekes and Hayden Obeng we jumped out to a fast start and led at half time 45 -38. The second half was a different story midway through the 3rd quarter they took the lead, and we never recovered even though we fought until the end we ended up losing 81-74.

Standout performance: Hayden Obeng with 21 points (pts) 8 rebounds (rb) 5 Assists (Ast) and 8 Steals (St)

Saturday, we had an early start, so we had a light breakfast at 7am with our game against Ura Basket from Finland starting at 9am. This time they jumped out on us and got an early lead. We hung in there, and again fought for the whole game an brought the score back to within 4 pts late in the game in the fourth quarter but just couldn’t get the lead to put real pressure on Ura. We lost 75-60 in the end.

Standout performance from: Daniel Lopes with 23 (pts) 8 (rb) 3 (as) and 5 (st)

Saturday’s evening game was 12 hours apart from the last so we had time for lunch and the boys decided against a trip into the city to see some sites in Budapest city centre as most had done so last year in our u17 Budapest trip in the 23/24 season. After a nice recovery session and nap, we headed to our evening game against Independents France for a 9pm tip off. A team we have never lost to in the tournament over the last 3 years of playing EYBL.

They clearly had us marked as team to beat and had recruited well for this year’s tournament. The first half saw a tight game with lead changes going back and forth from each team with he half time score being 32-31 to us we were confident we could pull out our first victory of tournament thus far. However, we came out flat in the 3rd quarter and they ran out to a 20pt lead which we never recovered from the French won 80-54.

Standout performance from: Johan Kisuka with 14(pts) 8(rb)

With our schedule being so condensed with 3 games in as many days the final night sleep was well welcomed. After breakfast we had some time before our 11am checkout with our game against the Hungarian side Basket Beats being at 3pm. The boys chilled at the court and spent time with friends made from different countries on the continent. Once we tipped off it was go time the final time in our trip and the game was back forth in the first half with multiple lead changes with OBA holding a narrow 27-25 lead at half time. In the second half we had learnt from previous mistakes of coming out flat in the 3rd quarter and we came out the more aggressive team. We pushed our lead out to 18 points but ran out of steam in the end, but we managed to hang on and get our first win of the tournament 55-51.

Stand out performance: Tyler Weekes with 18 (pts) and 8 (rb)

Shortly after finishing the game the boys freshened up and we were taken to the airport for our flight to Stansted where we were greeted by parents on another successful journey. These lifelong experiences are something they will never forget and puts our academy in a different category to other academies in the UK. Our goal remains the same and that’s to bring the EYBL trophy back to North London in the near future. I would like to thank parent’s teachers and staff for all their support in making these trips a success.

Yours in Sport

Coach Perry

Telephone: 01992 655 400

Email: info@oasisenfield.org

Visit: www.oasisacademyenfield.org

X: @OasisEnfield

Instagram: oasisacademyenfield_

Address: Oasis Academy Enfield, 9 Kinetic Crescent, Innova Park, Mollison Avenue, Enfield, EN3 7XH

Our ethos is rooted in what we believe and who we are. Grounded in our story, it is an expression of our character; a set of values that inform and provide the lens on everything we do.

• A passion to include
• A desire to treat people equally respecting differences
• A commitment to healthy, open relationships
• A deep sense of hope that things can change and be transformed
• A sense of perseverance to keep going for the long haul

It is these ethos values that we want to be known for and to live by. We are committed to a model of inclusion, equality, healthy relationships, hope, and perseverance throughout all the aspects of the life and culture of every Oasis Hub and academy community.

We encourage every member of our family, be that staff or student, to align themselves to these ethos values. The values themselves are inspired by the life, message and example of Jesus but we make it clear that we will not impose on anyone, the beliefs that underpin our ethos values. We recognise and celebrate the richness that spiritual and cultural diversity brings to our community, respecting the beliefs and practices of other faiths in the hope that we will provide a welcoming environment for all.