Zimbe!

3rd March 2014Oathall
OCC students with Alexander seen centre in orange

OCC students with Alexander seen centre in orange

A group of OCC students took part in a special workshop at Ardingly College yesterday, Sunday 2 March, with renowned composer Alexander L’Estrange.

Alexander’s Zimbe score is a fantastic fusion of traditional African songs and jazz music.

Our musical students will be joining hundreds of others from West Sussex on stage to perform it as part of the Big Sing showcase at the Ardingly ArtsFest in Haywards Heath.

The festival runs from Sunday 22 – Thursday 26 June 2014 and our performance of Zimbe will take place on Wednesday 25 June, find out more here.

 

 

Oathall parliament to sit for the first time this week

25th February 2014Oathall
Oathall's new student parliament.

Oathall’s new student parliament.

Oathall Student Voice (OSV) will officially launch on Friday 28 February.

OSV is about working together to improve the school for everyone.  It enables students to have their views about five key areas of school operations heard:

  • Environment – school grounds, buildings, recycling etc
  • Teaching and learning – comments, suggestions
  • Student support – anti-bullying, buddying
  • Health and fitness – initiatives eg health eating week
  • Community – charity, fundraising activities, enrichment.

It offers a forum for students to ask direct questions to members of staff regarding an idea / issue that was raised in student councils.  It also allows staff the opportunity to respond to the questions and / or formulate and share a plan of action to take the idea/ issue forward to the next stage.

The existing school council activities will feed into the work of Oathall’s new parliament; MPs will represent different portfolios and have a term to work on projects/ initiatives before reporting back at the next sitting of parliament.

Look out for more information and updates soon!

Murder, mystery and suspense in Bognor Regis!

10th February 2014Oathall
Detective Talia is on the case!

Detective Talia on the case in Bognor Regis!

A group of 12 languages students from Oathall Community College took part in an enrichment day with a deadly twist on Thursday 6 February at the University of Chichester’s Bognor Regis campus.

The Year 9 students worked with others from nearby schools to complete a variety of activities based on the theme of murder, mystery, suspense.  The session was organised by trainee languages teachers at the university.

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Our bright sparks light up the stage

31st January 2014Oathall
The Bright Sparks concert on Monday 27 January

The Bright Sparks concert on Monday 27 January

Two Year 10 students from Oathall Community College recently performed on stage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) at the Royal Festival Hall.

Nathanael Thomas-Atkin and Dominic Clark both play with the West Sussex County Orchestra and they were invited to join the world-renowned LPO for the latest in their series of ‘Bright Sparks’ concerts.

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New catering service serves up Europe on a plate!

21st January 2014Oathall
Our European adventure will finish on Friday with fish and chips, yum!

Our European adventure will finish with fish and chips!

Did you know our catering service has changed?  It is now provided by our own, very experienced in-house team.

Catering Manager Mrs Denyer and her staff are committed to delivering the highest standards and to sourcing fresh, local ingredients.

Menus are rotated every three weeks and theme days are set to be a regular feature.

To mark the launch of this new service the catering team has linked up with Oathall’s busy Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) department in a bid to take students on a culinary adventure this week!

On Monday 20 January we will be dining Español with vegetarian paella and Spanish chicken pie, on Tuesday ‘sehr gut’ frankfurters and German sauerkraut will be served up, on Wednesday we’ll be going Italian with authentic beef bolognese or vegetable lasagne, mamma mia.

On Thursday quiche and ratatouille followed by tarte au citron will be served with a French flourish and on Friday we’ll be celebrating the best of British with traditional fish and chips or a ruby murray (veggie curry)…  Bon appetit!

Check out the full menu for w/c 20 January here!

Careers Speed Dating a Success

20th January 2014Oathall
Year 9s putting an employer through his paces

Year 9s putting an employer through his paces

Our Year 9 students recently made a date with experts representing more than twenty different employment sectors from around West Sussex including media, hospitality, the sciences, construction, professional services.

The students gathered in the sports hall  and discussed roles, responsibilities, qualifications and routes of entry for various sectors in small groups. (more…)

A Valuable Learning Resource

9th January 2014Oathall

Farm artThe farm is a fantastic facility which enhances student learning at Oathall in many different ways.  We are able to offer recognised qualifications in this field but different subject areas use it in a practical way to aid learning including art, maths, English, science and even ICT.

How is the farm used to learn?

  • Our art students use the animals for still life drawing
  • Year 7 students get to grips with statistics in maths lessons by tracking the growth of lambs in the summer months
  • Science students undertake many visits to the Farm to understand animal nutrition, the structure of plants, microbes and ecosystems amongst other things
  • ICT students in Year 7 take digital photos on the farm and assemble their own digital guide to it
  • The farm is used in the study of a number of English texts and as a source of inspiration for poetry
  • Business studies students use the farm and shop as a case study for enterprising activities
  • The farm is also used in the delivery of our land based and horticultural qualifications.

Other schools and community groups visit Oathall Farm and gain a lot from the experience.

You can see some photos of our farm here via the school’s Flickr pages

Growing Projects

9th January 2014Oathall
The greenhouse in full bloom!

Our greenhouse in full bloom!

Students studying for land based qualifications or taking part in extra-curricular activities enjoy using our glasshouses; they are also used by visiting community groups and organisations.

Students studying lots of different subjects at OCC also use the glasshouses in projects, technology students study the heat, light and ventilation controls and our young artists use the plants we grow here to study form colour and design for example.

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