A number of significant developments have been made to the ICT provision at Oathall that provides students and parents with a range of digital tools. These will support teaching and learning in a variety of ways. They will also further improve online communication, especially between students and teachers.

With these changes in mind the acceptable use policy has been significantly updated and a copy is available here.

Website

Our website provides a wide range of information. It also provides a single sign-in for students to access Google Apps and other cloud-based applications which are available from any device with an internet browser.

Student email

All OCC students are provided with a Gmail ‘@oathall.org’ email address which they can use for college matters. Staff and students may use email to communicate about homework and other work-related matters with each other, provided this is done in a polite and reasonable manner and with the teacher’s prior agreement. Students must not email staff during the school holidays. It is essential that students adhere to the expectations set out in the acceptable use policy, they should also be aware that emails are monitored.

Google Drive

Google Drive provides an online set of free office applications with cloud storage which means there are no compatibility issues and students can access their work from anywhere with an internet connection. This can also be used to transfer files between home and school, it is also useful for collaborative group projects. All students have access to their own Google Drive when they log into the school website. Teachers can also use Google drive to send documents to their class.

My child at school – MCAS

Parents can access information about their child using our online parent portal My Child at school or MCAS. Once parents have an online account set up they can use MCAS to access a range of information specifically about their child. MCAS can also be downloaded as an app from Google play or on the App store which means you can receive notifications & updates direct to your phone.

Information available on MCAS includes;

  • Student details
  • Details of homework with deadlines
  • A student’s timetable and teachers
  • A record of positive and negative behaviours
  • An attendance summary
  • Assessment grades and termly reports
  • Parental contact details with an update facility
  • Announcements about school activities, events and other information (e.g. emergency school closure)

Help on using MCAS online and on the app can be found here MCAS Parent Guide

Reporting

We use MCAS as our primary method for issuing termly progress reports. Parents can see the most recent report on their child and any previous reports that have been issued.

Oathall communication channels

Our normal method of communication with parents is by MCAS announcements, by email or in some circumstances by SMS texts. If you need to contact the school by email please use [email protected] or the staff members direct email address.

Staff email

Staff can be emailed by parents and details of the address are on the “Our team” page of the website. These are for parents to use when email will provide the most appropriate means of communication. However, they are not intended to replace other methods of communication such as phone calls or a letter. Please bear in mind that the time constraints of a teacher’s working day mean that a reasonable period of time must be allowed for a response to an email message.

We wish to maintain excellent relations with our community whilst ensuring a safe working environment for all of our staff. We always aim to be respectful in how we communciate towards others and ask that this respect is reciprocated when you contact any of our employees. Our code of conduct for communicating with staff can be found on this section of the website.