Extra! Extra! Read all about the Oathall Farm Shop opening by Alan Titchmarsh in today’s Sunday Telegraph!
Earlier this year we submitted an application for funding to the Prince’s Countryside Fund to complete the kitting out of the farm shop and also to help support the initial costs of the running of the shop itself.
The application talked about how we wanted to create a community shop that would not only be an outlet for our home-reared meats and other products but that would, importantly, enable Oathall students to acquire a range of related skills and enjoy gaining some of the practical, retail and business experience that is required to run a small enterprise.
A couple of weeks ago we discovered that we were one of the lucky few applicants who were successful but we had to keep quiet until the Fund made it official… Well that happened this week and we’re delighted to announce our success.
We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us and who continue to do so and we hope you will enjoy this good news with us!
We are proud to announce that Duncan Powell, Modern Foreign Languages teacher at Oathall Community College, is the winner of The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in London and the South East.
Mr Powell now becomes a finalist in the 2011 Pearson National Teaching Awards and joins a list of exceptional teachers who are the stars of education this year. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony in London later this year.
Mr Powell is an outstanding teacher and we are delighted that his exceptional skills have been recognised with this prestigious award.
Mr Powell with his award.
Ben with his award after the show
On 28 May we took seven cattle to the annual Heathfield Show and came away with a fantastic four first prize cards!
Our star performers were Oathall Rustic Milkmaid 2 in the dry cow class, her daughter Oathall Rustic Milkmaid 5 in the heifer calf class, and Ava Frohmader in the handlers class. Oathall Rustic Milkmaid 5 won the East Sussex Ayrshire Cattle Club Perpetual Tankard.
OCC student Ben Keegan was the winner of one of the most prestigious awards to be handed out at this years show. Fifteen year old Ben who recently completed a land-based course at Oathall, scooped The Henry Noakes Young Achiever Trophy, named after one of Heathfield Agricultural Society’s founding members. Ben was presented with his trophy by Angela Deakin, the daughter of Henry Noakes.
Ben has been a star student at Oathall but it was his work with our pig herd and his support for younger students on the farm which prompted Mr Wood to write a glowing testimonial on his behalf.
Ben has reared his own pigs and turned them into sausages some of which were enjoyed at the stockman’s BBQ at the south of England show recently!
The students take a well earned break!
Year 11 students studying for an NVQ in land based operations with us have just completed a fantastic community project for St Peters School, Ardingly.
On 9 March the group repaired and moved a large woodern planter in the school garden and tidied up some of the beds.
The school were very pleased with the final results, great job!
