Welcome to all of our new students.
Our aim is to make all students who are joining the school feel welcome and safe. We know that joining a new school can be worrying and stressful. Our aim is to make sure you settle in quickly and find your feet straightaway.
Y6 to Y7 Transition team
Our transition leaders, Mrs Jane Newnham and Assistant Headteacher, Mrs Faye Hatchard have been working with our local primary schools to prepare students for moving on to secondary school. Students in year 6 will attend the induction day to get an idea of a typical school day and meet their tutor. Once your child joins Oathall, the tutor will be responsible for your child’s pastoral care. Mrs Newnham also works with our team of Assistant Heads of House. They provide pastoral support for all of our students.
Who to contact if you have a problem or just want some advice
- For students in year 6 joining Oathall in September, you can email general enquiries to newstarters@oathall.org
- For enquiries about transition arrangements please contact Mrs Jane Newnham, Transition Coordinator jnewnham@oathall.org.
- For enquiries/discussion about children with medical conditions please contact Mrs Polly McDonald pmcdonald@oathall.org.
- For all other enquiries, please contact office@oathall.org. Your message will be directed to a member of Oathall staff who is in the best position to help you.
Parents of new year 7 students are sent information packs in May. These contain forms and information about the transition process. Please refer to these if you are unsure about any of the arrangements for starting at Oathall.
You may also find this information of use.
Starting Secondary School – A Parent’s Guide
Starting Secondary School checklist
Term & other school events dates
Information about term dates, INSET days and other school events can be found here.
These dates should be noted for your diary:
- Thursday 24 October 4:30 pm – 6:45 pm. Y7 settling-in evening for parents
- Tuesday 3 March 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm. Y7 Parents’ evening
Details about each event will be sent out closer to the dates.
Equipment
Students need to be prepared for lessons at all times. Our ‘Be ready for learning’ leaflet provides you with details of the equipment that we expect students to carry with them in school. We recommend students check their timetables the night before to ensure they are prepared for the next day.
Uniform 2019
New students starting at Oathall in September 2019 will be required to wear the Oathall uniform. All new students will be expected to wear a white-collar shirt and Oathall tie as part of the uniform.
Using the canteen and canteen account registration
Students are expected to remain in the college during break and lunchtimes. Students may bring their own food to eat or they may eat in the canteen. Students who bring a packed lunch are asked to adhere to healthy eating guidelines and dispose of any rubbish responsibly.
Students are automatically provided with a cashless canteen account (whether it is used or not). On induction day, year 6 students who have consented will have their thumbs scanned and linked to their cashless canteen account. As soon as parents have set up their School Gateway account they can pay funds into their child’s school meals account so it is ready to use as soon as they start.
If a student missed the induction day, didn’t get their thumb scanned for any reason or joined the school at a different time we will scan their thumb on their first day or at the first available opportunity. If in doubt, please provide your child with a packed lunch until you know the account has been set up.
For students who don’t consent to have their thumb scanned we provide them with a card and a PIN number to use for their account. We don’t replace lost cards – students will need to remember their PIN number but don’t worry we can look that up on the canteen tills if you do forget it.
School Gateway accounts
Parents will be emailed details of how to set up a School Gateway account in July if your child is starting in September. If they join the school mid-year, it will be sent out as soon as possible after we receive all your child’s admission documents.
Please check your email inbox, including your spam inbox for the information.
Travel to school
We expect all of our students to travel to school using sustainable transport. Most students walk to school or arrive by school bus. Students should enter by the Washington Road footpath, the Albemarle Drive or the Appledore Garden entrance. There are no other entry points into the school.
We expressly ask parents not to drive onto the school site to drop off or collect students in the morning or after school. The vehicle access into Oathall is narrow and not designed to allow for a large number of vehicles to arrive and turn around at the same time. This entrance is used by the school buses which must take priority over other vehicle users. The narrow drive entrance is also located in a residential area and a build-up of traffic at our entrance causes congestion and inconvenience to our neighbours. If you have to drop your child by car please drop them off or collect them at the Washington Road roundabout entrance where there is more space.
For evening events we allow parking on site.