Scholastic Book Fair Success

10th December 2021Joanna Patch

From 29 November until 2 December, Oathall College Library hosted the Scholastic Book Fair. Students were invited to peruse the array of amazing titles and could purchase their favourites.

We are pleased to report that the event was a huge success and a percentage of the sales was donated to the school as a credit to spend on books for Oathall Library. The total credit earned was over £400!

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this fantastic success and look forward to hosting the book fair again in the future.

Charity Bake Sale

6th December 2021Joanna Patch

To celebrate the life of Lola Geere and raise some money to help other young people affected by cancer, on Friday 10th December we will be holding a charity bake sale and planting a tree in the school grounds in her memory. 

Cakes and other baked goods, both homemade and shop-bought, will be available to our school community at break time in exchange for a small donation. All the money raised will go directly to the Teenage Cancer Trust to support young people and their families who are affected by cancer. 

 

Bakes will be priced 50p – £1 so students should bring a small amount of cash with them on Friday 10th December to pay for these. Instructions for how to donate a bake can be found in the letter to parents/carers sent on 29 November. 

For health and safety reasons, we ask:  

  • Please do not use any peanuts, nuts, or sesame seeds in your bakes
  • Any cakes purchased from shops should stay in the original packaging as they will have the correct allergen labels on them

We cannot guarantee that anything sold on the bake sale does not contain or is not contaminated with any of the 14 food allergens. Therefore any child with an allergy should not buy or eat any of the homemade products. (There will be other items available).

Thank you in advance for your support with this event. 

Christmas Lunch 2021

6th December 2021Joanna Patch

As part of our festive celebrations, we are pleased to announce that the annual Christmas Lunch for our students will be held on Thursday, 16 December.

Tickets are on sale now at a cost of £3 per ticket and can be purchased by students from the tills in the Canteen. Students can pay on their canteen account or by cash.

Any student wishing to have a Christmas Lunch must purchase their ticket before 14 December, as tickets will not be available to be purchased after this time.

Kindness Advent Calendars

30th November 2021Joanna Patch

Our Wellbeing Network have been busy creating kindness advent calendars with their tutor groups. Each day the tutor group are given a random act of kindness to complete. Oathall will be filled with random acts of kindness throughout December. Well done to our reps and tutor groups for putting together such a positive activity.

Book Fair

23rd November 2021Joanna Patch

We are pleased to announce that The Scholastic Book Fair is returning Oathall for the first time in two years.

The event is open to all Oathall students and will be in the College Library from Monday 29 November until Thursday 2 December. Opening times are below: 

  • From 08:30 am until Tutor Time
  • Every Lunch Time (but not Breaktimes)
  • After school until 4 pm

 

Scholastic is encouraging families to pay online rather than send students into school with cash, and we will follow that guidance. To this end, students will be given a My Wish List with all relevant payment information, which they can fill in and bring home. We will still accept cash, but we would prefer online payment where possible.

You can also buy vouchers in advance of the fair to give to your child, and details can be found here. 

Scholastic have provided a list of just some of the books they have for children aged 11 and over – although they bring hundreds more with them!

If we sell over £300 worth of books, Scholastic will give 10% credit to the school to spend at the fair, so it is a win-win for us all. Your children get new books for themselves and also contribute to more books for our Library, so thank you in advance for your support.

The Library is also running a competition for our students, with the top five winners receiving a £5 voucher to spend at the fair. Every entry will earn a Library Skills credit, plus the opportunity to get their review submitted to the Lindfield Life magazine.

Thank you for your support. 

Oathall Christmas Concert 2021

22nd November 2021Joanna Patch

 

 

You are warmly invited to attend our Christmas concert which will be held in the school hall on Tuesday 7th December.

 

 

 

Our staff and students have been having a lot of fun and working very hard on their performances. We are so pleased to be able to showcase their beautiful work once again. 

You will note that the concert will be taking a slightly different format this year. Whilst both performances include the whole Orchestra and Choirs (made up of all year groups, meaning all students will perform in both concerts), we have planned two shorter performances that showcase years 7 and 8 in the earlier performance and years 9, 10, and 11 in the second. This is to enable us to reduce the audience numbers needed due to Covid restrictions. Where possible, please book tickets for the earlier event if your children are in Years 7 and 8, and the later event if they are in Years 9, 10, or 11. 

First performance – all ensembles with Year 7 and Year 8 ensembles 5:30 – 6:30 pm

Second performance – all ensembles with Years 9, 10 and 11 ensembles 7:15 – 8:15 pm

If you would like to purchase tickets please pay by School Gateway.  Tickets are on sale at £4.00 for adults and £2.00 for students, under 18’s and senior citizens, and will be available for collection from Reception.  If you cannot pay by School Gateway please contact the school.

COVID precautions: Please do not attend the concert if you have any signs or symptoms of COVID. Face coverings are not required but please feel free to wear one if you wish.

Odd Socks Day in support of Anti-Bullying Week

9th November 2021Joanna Patch

On Monday 15th November 2021, Oathall Community College students and staff will be supporting the charity The Diana Award during the national Anti-Bullying week.

We ask that students and staff donate £1.50 to the charity and in return, they are to wear a pair of odd socks (this could just be mismatching plain socks or brightly coloured and patterned) for the day to promote difference and individuality. The rest of the uniform remains as normal and socks can be worn over tights. Donations can be made via School Gateway.

About The Diana Award

This charity was founded as a legacy to Diana, Princess of Wales’ belief that young people have the power to change the world for the better. The Anti-Bullying campaign is one of the areas supported by the charity to engage young people in social action to make a difference in the lives of others.

How your money helps

Set up in 2011, the Anti-Bullying Ambassador programme is part of The Diana Award Charity. In 2013, the programme received funding from the Department for Education. The programme offers resources and training to schools and youth organisations in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

If you require further information, please visit the official website.

Thank you for supporting the school and helping us to raise awareness.

 

UPDATE: We are pleased to announce that over £600 was raised for The Diana Award through Odd Socks Day at Oathall this year.  Thank you to everyone involved.

Remembrance Day 2021

8th November 2021Joanna Patch

Here at Oathall, we place a high value on respect, and this is perhaps never more relevant than on Remembrance Day when we pay tribute to those in the armed services, both past, and present.

On Thursday 11th November, we mark Remembrance Day through our school assemblies and a two-minute silence. Poppies are made available in return for a small contribution to the Royal British Legion.

More information about Remembrance Day is available on the Royal British Legion’s website.

We have also been fortunate to be part of the Haywards Heath Schools’ Remembrance Service organised by The Town Council.  The event was held at St Wilfrid’s Church, Haywards Heath, and the service was conducted by Father Edward Pritchett.

GCSE Certificate Collection Change of Date

8th November 2021Joanna Patch

GCSE certificate collection was due to take place on Wednesday 10th November.

Unfortunately, we have been advised by AQA that whilst completing quality assurance checks they have identified formatting issues and therefore the certificates will not arrive in centre until later this month.

As AQA is our exam board for Maths, English and Science the delay in certificates will affect all students and it has been decided to delay certificate collection until Tuesday 7th December.

Certificates will be available for collection from the canteen area between 3:15pm and 4:30pm, please enter through the main gates. Students who are unable to collect their certificates on this afternoon can collect them from reception from Wednesday 8th December.

Please be aware that certificates will not be given to anyone other than the candidate without the student’s written authorisation. Please note that we are legally obliged to retain uncollected certificates for a period of 12 months, after which they may be securely destroyed. We therefore urge you to obtain your certificates promptly.

Missed our Open Day?

15th October 2021Joanna Patch

This year we were thrilled to hold our annual Open Day once again. Here at Oathall, we foster a sense of community and really enjoy showing what our school has to offer. It was wonderful to see so many people attend and receive such positive feedback.

For those of you who did not get the opportunity to join us on the day, please do take a look at our short film which should give a flavour of the event.