Festival of Sport

8th June 2018J Godbolt

On Wednesday, 6th June 50 students in years 9 & 10 were given the opportunity to attend The Festival Of Sport at the University of Chichester. The Festival offered an arena for students to try out different sports, learn about the effects of exercise on the body and discover what facilities and courses were on offer.

Students participated in activities ranging from climbing, blind football, wheelchair hockey and rugby, as well as learning about the biomechanical and physiological effects of physical activity. Activities were run by world-leading researchers and external experts from local and national organisations.

“Many thanks for leading such a wonderful trip today. I and many others were able to enjoy the day and work independently on activities we wanted to whilst also having fun and enjoying ourselves. I for one found it very inspiring to see the different careers available in a sport as well as participating in the practical side of sport.”

Year 9 student.

£25,000 crowdfunding challenge

8th June 2018J Godbolt

Visit our crowdfunding page and help us to inspire thousands of secondary school students to become future scientists, engineers and inventors. We want to buy state of the art equipment for Oathall Community College’s new science and maths classrooms which are opening this September. So, we have not got long to raise our target of £25,000 by June 23rd.


Our aim is to provide students with:

  • digital microscopes
  • anatomical models
  • specialist cameras
  • Lego Mindstorm kits
  • exciting maths learning software
  • digital screens
  • display posters

All these things will bring alive the worlds of science and maths for thousands of current and future Oathall students.

PTA launches fundraising campaign

22nd May 2018J Godbolt

Oathall’s PTA, in collaboration with the college, has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a target of £25,000.

The campaign aims to raise funds to equip the newly refurbished maths and science classrooms with state of the art equipment that will inspire a love and passion for science and maths that will allow our students to become the inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers of the future.

Since last July, the old SAM block has been undergoing a long-awaited transformation with almost every part of the building being completely refurbished and modernised. The project itself ensures the building is fit for day to day teaching needs. However, the school staff, governors and parents have very high aspirations for our students.

Oathall has a tradition of excellent science teaching and our mathematics results are above the national average. We want to maintain and build on this reputation. We want to enhance the environment in the new building with state of the art equipment and resources that will inspire a love and passion for science and mathematics.

This is not about test tubes, heat mats and calculators; this is about having ambitious state of the art technology and equipment such as digital microscopes, thermal imaging cameras, anatomical models as well as display posters, digital screens and signage to bring the building and the teaching of these subjects to life.

These are not the normal items you find in a school science or maths classroom and are beyond even the best-funded schools. We believe our staff and children deserve the opportunity to learn using up to date teaching technology and hope that with the help of the whole community we can achieve this.

Our target is to raise £25,000 by 23 June 2018. You can support the campaign by visiting the Oathall crowdfunding page.

You can keep in touch with updates about the campaign on the PTA Facebook page. 

 

Energy offer for parents

14th May 2018J Godbolt

Your Energy Sussex, West Sussex County Council’s not-for-profit energy supplier, has launched an offer for parents, carers and staff that will directly benefit West Sussex schools.

Your Energy Sussex was launched earlier this year to encourage more people to switch their home energy supplier and save money on their bills. It offers competitive home energy prices, high levels of customer service and supports residents who are struggling to pay their bills through a Fuel Poverty Fund.

As an incentive to switch to Your Energy Sussex, from 14th May new customers living in West Sussex can nominate a local school to receive a £10 donation per fuel switch. If a new customer decides to switch their home gas and electricity supply to Your Energy Sussex, the nominated school will receive £20. The offer is open to people living in West Sussex only and closes on the last day of the school summer term. Further information is available at www.yourenergysussex.org.uk/schools or customers can call 0800 952 0001 to find out more or get a quote.

If you choose to switch you will be asked to nominate a school and give the schools unique identifier code. Oathall’s school code is 4102.

Your Energy Sussex is operated by the County Council’s Energy Team. It is a partnership between Sussex local authorities, including Brighton & Hove City Council and East Sussex County Council and Robin Hood Energy, a fully licensed energy supplier owned by Nottingham City Council.

Ofsted Inspection 2018

30th April 2018J Godbolt

I am pleased to share with you the report written by the OFSTED team who visited Oathall on 15th March.

This was the first ‘short’ inspection since OFSTED’s last visit in October 2013. The inspectors looked closely at specific aspects of the school’s provision and the key headline is that the team have found the school continues to be graded as ‘good’.

There are number of strengths identified by the inspectors, not least that:

• The college staff and leadership team has maintained the good quality of education
• The school is supported and challenged well by its skilled governing body
• The majority of students are meeting the challenging targets set for them
• The procedures to keep children safe are rigorous

I am pleased that the inspectors concurred with our own evaluation of our performance and in particular the areas for improvement identified through our own development planning. We are clear that the progress of some of our more disadvantaged students needs to improve and we are very much focused on implementing a number of strategies to support their learning.

I would like to thank all the college staff and indeed students who performed so well under such close scrutiny.

May I also thank all of you who were able to complete the online parent survey for OFSTED. As the report indicates, parents and carers are very positive about the school, in particular, the support given by staff.

Edward Rodriguez
Headteacher

Mid Sussex STEM Challenge

28th March 2018J Godbolt

Last Friday, six teams from Oathall, Warden Park Academy and St Paul’s Catholic College took part in the final stage of the Mid Sussex STEM challenge. Both Oathall teams got through to the final stages where they had to present their business plan for their electric bikes to a panel of judges in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ scenario. Both teams presented well, answering some really tough questions from the panel which included local MP, Sir Nicholas Soames. At the end of the presentations the Oathall team, ‘The Cycling Five’  were victorious with the ‘Hairy Cyclists’ our other team taking second place.

The students were presented with a shield by Sir Nicholoas Soames at Mid Sussex District Council offices on Friday 23 March.

Sir Nicholas said: “I was thrilled to present the Mid Sussex STEM Challenge Award to Cycling5 from Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath, whose other brilliant team the Hairy Cyclists were runners up. It was a remarkable display of skill and business acumen in the design of an electric bike.”

Well done to all the students taking part and well-earned victory.

Youth Community Service Award

27th March 2018J Godbolt

We are proud to announce that two of our students; Phoebe Davies (Year 10) and Jamie Christie (Year 11) have received a Youth Community Service Award from the Rotary Club Haywards Heath.

Jamie and Phoebe received the award for ‘exceptional work in the Community and dedication to others’, thus upholding the Rotary motto of “Service above Self ”. Congratulations to Phoebe and Jamie for the work they have done as volunteers and fundraisers, both within their local community and the college itself.

 

Oathall Parent Partnership

16th March 2018J Godbolt

On Thursday 8 March, a group of parents met with Assistant Headteacher Faye Hatchard and Deputy Headteacher Toby Houghton for the first Parent Partnership meeting. The aim of the Parent Partnership is to meet with parents to discuss views on new initiatives and developments in the school and to give parents an opportunity to contribute positively to the development of our school community. At this first meeting, parents were involved in a discussion around a recent audit and review of Homework. Parents were asked a range of questions about homework and a number of suggestions were made by parents.

A set of minutes from the meeting can be found here.

The next meetings will be held on:

Friday 19th October 2018
Thursday 13th December 2018
Thursday 7th February 2019
Thursday 28th March 2019
Thursday 23rd May 2019
Thursday 18th July 2019