The Gambia 2020

5th March 2020J Godbolt

By Nicole Crockford, Ella Tingley, Meg Kneller and Molly Hord

In February, a group of 42 Oathall Community College students and staff went on a trip to The Gambia – a small country in West Africa. It was the first trip of this kind that Oathall has run, and is all thanks to Miss Murray, who worked tirelessly to organise it. 

The journey was a long and exhausting one; we began our journey at Oathall Community College at 7 am on 11th February, and didn’t arrive at our accommodation until 3 am the next day! Even though we were all tired and the Gambian airport was stressful when we arrived, everyone remained in high spirits as the day went on, and all represented the school outstandingly. 

 

One of our main reasons for going was to support the charity Football 4 Peace. The purpose of this organisation is to bring peace into football for all and to use football to teach the 5 values; respect, responsibility, trust, equity and inclusion. During the trip, we ran 5 sessions and 1 football tournament with over 200 Gambian children aged from about 3 – 18 years old throughout the week. “Seeing how happy everyone was to get stuck in with the dancing and other activities was so heartwarming and inspirational, we need to spread such enthusiasm back around at home,” said one Oathall student. “Circle circle was definitely a highlight!” commented another, and some of the students are now doing it in their PE lessons. (more…)

Premises Manager

7th February 2020J Godbolt

Oathall Community college is seeking to appoint an experienced full-time Facilities Manager to oversee the day-to-day management of our large and diverse campus with effect from March 2020

Oathall is an ambitious and forward-thinking 11-16 community college with 1000 students, characterised by our high expectations and an absolute commitment to raising standards and achievement for all. The college campus has been extended considerably since it originally opened in 1938. We have a wide spectrum of accommodation and facilities including a small farm unit.

Start date: From March 2020
Salary: NJC Grade 10, points 29 – 32. Starting at £32,029
Hours: 37 hours per week, all year round

Reporting to the business manager, the successful candidate will:

  • have extensive experience of managing a diverse range of buildings, services and facilities
  • have experience of managing teams of people
  • have experience of contract & project management
  • have excellent budget management skills
  • be an excellent team player, with strong communication skills
  • take a flexible approach to their work

Applicants should be aware that you may be required to attend the college outside of a normal working day and very occasionally at weekends. The role involves regular physical effort and occasional lone working.

Applications should be made by no later than 3 pm on Thursday 27 February and returned to Mrs Sue Watkin.

Interviews are expected to take place on 6 March 2020

Candidates are welcome to visit the college for a tour of the site before submitting an application. If you wish to visit the college, please call Mrs Sue Watkin on 01444 883202 to arrange an appointment.

Job Role Profile & Specification

Job Information sheet

Under 14 County Cup Quarter Finalists

27th November 2019J Godbolt

Oathall’s Under 14 Girls Football team continued to show resilience, determination and grit to secure their place in the County Cup Quarter Finals making them one of the top 8 teams in Sussex.

The match against Claremont School was a gripping game with the score drawn at 2-2 at full time. Neither team was able to penetrate the defence in extra time and following a further 20 minutes of play, nothing could divide Oathall and Claremont teams. The match went to penalties with Oathall’s penalty takers and goalkeeper holding their nerve eventually winning the match 3 – 2. Congratulations to everyone who took part.

The team will now go on to play Cardinal Newman school in the Quarter finals.

New WSCC ‘Road Safety’ Facebook Page

22nd November 2019J Godbolt

The Road Safety Team at West Sussex County Council have set up a new Facebook page to help deliver important Road Safety messages to its residents, as well as the wider public who also use the roads of West Sussex. The aim is to help reduce the devastating Road Traffic Crash (RTC) statistics within the county and beyond.

If you are interested in keeping up to date with Road Safety topics, or have any questions you wish to ask, please go to https://www.facebook.com/RoadSafetyWSCC and follow this page! Thank you for your support.

Keep safe on the roads.

Odd Socks Day 2019

13th November 2019J Godbolt
As part of Anti-Bullying week, students and staff at Oathall took part in Odd Socks Day 2019 and wore odd socks to promote difference and raise awareness of bullying.

This year’s Anti-Bullying week at Oathall is focused on being an ‘Upstander’ and encouraging all to stand up to those who are bullying and to encourage kindness throughout the school. The Oathall wellbeing group have worked hard to raise awareness and to help continue with the wonderful and positive atmosphere here at Oathall.

To join in with the event students gave a donation to support The Diana Award Charity that was founded in memory of Princess Diana and her strong belief that young people can change the world. One aspect of this charity is supporting anti-bullying in schools.

Sue Cheung visits Oathall

11th November 2019J Godbolt

We were really thrilled and delighted to welcome author Sue Cheung to Oathall on Monday 11 November. Sue Cheung visited to speak to Year 9 students about her latest book ‘Chinglish’.

The book is about the up’s and down’s of Jo Kwan a teenager growing up in 1980s Coventry with her annoying little sister, too-cool older brother, a series of very unlucky pets and utterly bonkers parents. But unlike the other kids at her new school or her posh cousins, Jo lives above her parents’ Chinese takeaway.

Told in diary entries and doodles, Jo’s brilliantly funny observations about life, family and char siu make for a searingly honest portrayal of life on the other side of the takeaway counter.

 

Oathall’s act of remembrance

8th November 2019J Godbolt

Our School captains represented the school at the Haywards Heath Schools’ Remembrance service At St Wilfrid’s Church on Friday 8 November.

To mark Armistice Day and Oathall’s act of Remembrance, students and staff gathered on the piazza around our Field of Remembrance. Half of the crosses this year have been dedicated to soldiers, sailors and airmen lost in conflicts such as the Falklands and Northern Ireland. Assemblies this past week, delivered by History teacher and British Army veteran Mr Hastings, have reflected this and enabled staff and students to understand these conflicts better as well as the individual sacrifices made by members of Britain’s armed forces.
As always, our students showed great respect for the Remembrance proceedings which makes this now annual ceremony very special to be part of.

 

Chatting and crafting in the community

6th November 2019J Godbolt

Students at Oathall have just attended their first session at Compton House care home in Lindfield. Our students volunteered to spend time with the residents helping them to colour and write messages on poppies for a Remembrance day project in the home. Our student volunteers are ideally placed to give the residents an opportunity to chat and socialise with younger people from the community.

Miss Murray, who organised the session said

The group were fantastic and were really natural with the residents. They were so helpful and lovely with the residents, it was great to see. We are hoping to make this a regular event.

World cup Maths

18th October 2019J Godbolt

The Maths department has been celebrating the Rugby World Cup in recent weeks.

Students have been taking part in lessons that link Maths to the great game of rugby. We have learnt about how we collect data and then how we can represent that data in many different ways. Students in Year 10 & 11 have been able to link this work to cumulative frequency diagrams and Trigonometry. Students have really enjoyed linking Maths to this real-life environment.