We are proud to announce that two of our students; Phoebe Davies (Year 10) and Jamie Christie (Year 11) have received a Youth Community Service Award from the Rotary Club Haywards Heath.
Jamie and Phoebe received the award for ‘exceptional work in the Community and dedication to others’, thus upholding the Rotary motto of “Service above Self ”. Congratulations to Phoebe and Jamie for the work they have done as volunteers and fundraisers, both within their local community and the college itself.
On Tuesday 30th January, students from Oathall took part in the 2018 Rock Challenge Competition. Although we weren’t placed this year, the achievement from each and every student was outstanding. This was the culmination of 7 months hard work and dedication from the performers, stage crew and lighting team.
Our performance this year was titled ‘Is it in my head’. This was a contemporary piece looking at aspects on mental health. The concept was based on the on the quote;
‘We are so accepting of any body part breaking down, other than our brains. That is ignorance, pure ignorance. That world has created a world that doesn’t understand depression, that doesn’t understand mental health’.
The Rock Challenge was established in order to combine the benefits of taking part in a large scale dance production with involvement in a positive ‘drug free’ activity. I am proud that at Oathall the Rock Challenge brings students of all ages, backgrounds and gender together in order to work collaboratively on a brilliant production. The students take charge not only of choreography but costumes, sound, lighting, scenery and video direction.
The actual Rock Challenge day is a blur of pre performance nerves and energetic preparation. The students are able to watch other schools rehearse as well as take part in mass warm up, dance sessions and competitions. Each school gives a performance of 8 minutes which seems to go by in a flash following all the hard work and anticipation. Our students all performed magnificently, every single one giving 100% effort. It is always a joy to see how the all students work together as a team, and really reflects the ‘community’ aspect of Oathall.
I would like to thank every student who took part in and contributed to this year’s production, you were all pleasure to work with. With special thanks to Kaytlin Smith and Florence Gaskell in year 11, their hard work and commitment did not go unnoticed. Thank you also to all the staff who gave their help to the running of the event.
Although Oathall did not win, yet again we swept the board gaining awards in the following;
• Award of Excellence in Lighting
• Award of Excellence for Concept
• Award of Excellence in Entertainment
Finally thank you to all the parents who kindly support dance at Oathall and help to encourage our students to achieve amazing things.
Greetings from Edward Rodriguez, Headteacher.
We are now approaching the final few days of what has been another busy and successful term at Oathall. Whilst our students and staff are looking forward to a well-earned winter break it is important to reflect on all that has been achieved over the past few months.
As always, the students have shown excellent commitment to their studies and have enthusiastically engaged with all that is on offer at the school. This has been the first full term in which we have operated in somewhat constrained circumstances due to the extensive building work that is being undertaken to our science and mathematics block. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the students and of course, their teachers for how well they have adapted to the changes in the school.
I am pleased to report that the building work is on schedule and we are very much looking forward to enjoying these excellent new facilities from September next year. It is very satisfying to see that the new roof and the fenestration are all but complete, along with the new exterior finishes. We hope to see the scaffolding being removed early in the new year with the focus very much moving to the internal build. This is also progressing rapidly and, with all internal walls constructed, mechanical and electrical installations are now well underway. I have been really pleased to take a number of students on tours of the site. Observing a building in this state of construction has been of particular interest to our GCSE engineering students, of course.
Our Year 11 students are now approaching the end of their mock examination period. They have worked hard and will no doubt use their experiences to focus their efforts as they look forward to their final weeks of study next year.
I write following another outstanding Christmas concert, in which the depth of talent at Oathall was so richly displayed. We look forward to our college Christmas lunch this week and of course our celebrated ‘Carols in the Barn’ on Monday evening. Our final traditional Christmas assemblies on the 19th December signal the close of a long autumn term.
On behalf of the governors and staff at Oathall, may I wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
By Jo Godbolt
This year, staff and students in Voyager House have come up with a special way of marking the Remembrance period and supporting The Royal British Legion, their chosen House Charity at the same time.
Inspired by the 2014 ‘Blood Swept Lands’ art installation of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, Voyager House decided to install a Field of Remembrance – a small patch of ground where pupils and staff could plant small wooden crosses dedicated to individuals who died as a result of armed conflict. This installation dedicated to the fallen will help focus minds during this period of remembrance.
Field of Remembrance
The whole school is involved as the Field of Remembrance sits in the middle of the school grounds and everyone will pass by it several times a day. Staff and students have been asked to dedicate a cross to family members or people of personal significance. Students in Voyager House will be assisting Mr Parry, Head of Voyager House in placing out the crosses and maintaining the installation over the time it is in place.
Field of crosses
Mr Parry said,
“I am very grateful to everyone who has supported this idea with their kind words and donations; in just one week we have raised over £100 for the Royal British Legion which is outstanding. ”
The crosses will be left in place until next week after which they can be taken away by the individuals who dedicated them. Any remaining will be moved to the Haywards Heath War memorial.
Students in the field of remembrance
By Kim Garrick
We’ve had a huge variety of models ranging from those made of wood, clay and papier mache to those made out of cake! Students made a huge effort to ensure their models represented real life volcanoes and some of them even erupted.
By Mike Parry
Year 10 GCSE Religious Studies class learning about symbolism in Christian celebrations of Christmas by making Christingles.The students enjoyed reliving their primary school days making Christingles and exploring different interpretations of the nativity story.
O Chemis-tree, O Chemis-tree,How acidic are thy branches….
Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas from the Science Faculty
By Penny Sullivan
On 27th November, three teams of Oathall students represented the school at our annual Youth Speaks event run by the Haywards Heath Rotary Club. Our topics were: ‘An Experience in Voice Acting’, ‘Why the Voting Age should be lowered to 16’ and ‘Inspirational Women’. The students all fulfilled their roles of Chair Person, Main Speaker and Vote Of Thanks giver admirably and did the school proud.
Well done to Molly Hord, Abigail Cooper, Kitty Underhill, Henry Forest, Tom Underhill, Ben McDowell, Bea Carter, Felix Carter and Tasha Lawrence.
Youth Speaks participants
By Emily Evans
On Wednesday the 14th of December, Year 11 English students and Year 10 Drama students were treated to an interactive performance of A Christmas Carol in Brighton. Performed at The Spire (a converted church) students were left musing at the sense of hope and message of redemption suggested in the play which is apt at all times in the year. Students danced along with the cast and enjoyed the experience immensely.
Marden Sayers, a Year 10 drama student, reflected “It was very good. The lighting was superb especially when the ghost of Christmas Future was towering over Scrooge.”
Oathall students showed brilliant behaviour and were a credit to the school.
The girls’ cricket team competed in the first Under 18 Sussex Cricket event of the year at Bede’s school, Upper Dicker. This was a friendly event with Oathall playing teams from Millais, Brighton and Hove High School and Bedes. It was an opportunity for them to practice and develop their skills and they also had an opportunity to meet the England Ladies Wicket Keeper and Batter Sarah Taylor, pictured above with the Oathall team.
By Mike Parry
Mr Parry’s Year 9 RE/PSHE class has been fully engaged in learning about the arguments that surround the legalisation of drugs. They particularly enjoyed putting forward different points of view and so they decided to hold a debate.
By Carol MacTaggart
Staff, students and ex-students taking a well earned dinner break having set up the sound and lighting for the concert in record time.
Staff and students in Performance are very much looking forward to beginning work on the school play, Macbeth in January 2018!
By Faye Hatchard
This term Year 8 geographers have been busy learning all about tectonic plates. The following students were selected to show their amazing earthquake homework to the Headteacher; Eleanor Barnes, Hannah Taylor, Simonne Gautron, Isla Mustin and Erica Marriott-Tremlett. Isla explains in more detail below:
“This term, for our geography homework we were asked to design and research an earthquake-proof building or home. We could complete this project however we wanted; some people made posters, models, booklets or sketches. I chose to create a large poster, with a drawing of my earthquake-proof offices, lots of information about the importance of earthquake-proof buildings and the effects of an earthquake. From this project, I have gained the knowledge and understanding of how these structures are formed, as well as developing my architectural skills. I was very pleased and excited when I was chosen to see Mr Rodriguez, to show him my homework, because it is very satisfying to know that all of my hard work had been recognised and rewarded. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this homework, as I was able to showcase my skills, as well as receive acknowledgement from senior members of staff.”
By Isla Mustin, Year 8 Student.
By Debbie Isley
Students have reseached about their favourite British mammal and presented their information for others to learn from. What they eat, what eats them, where they live and adaptations to living in their environment were all studied.
Fabulous work was completed by everyone but a special mention must be to Ellie Bennett who did her work on Deer, Olivia Fox who studied the Red Fox and Sam Kelly’s excellent work on Grey squirrels. Well done everyone.
By Emma Costello
As you can see, we have been keen to still do as much practical science as possible despite being in temporary accommodation this year. Here is one of our portable Bunsen burners in action!
By Debra Perrin
The library continues to be a centre for all our students, be they reading, doing homework, revising for tests and exams or just finding a space to hang out at break and lunchtimes or to catch up with friends.
We are seeing an impressive increase in borrowing of books thanks to the Accelerated Reader programme that has been rolled out for Years 7 & 8. The reading programme has made it much easier for students to find books which are the right level for them and, as one student who usually struggles to find a book told me recently, “this book is just right for me. I can read it. I can’t wait to turn over the page and find out what happens next” The smile on her face and the joy in her eyes was a privilege to experience.
Bookshops are full of attractive displays, especially at this time of year, promoting books but if you would like some suggestions, here are some lists which might help.
For reluctant readers, try any on this list from BookRIot
The Guardian best books of 2017 are here
The UK’s top book award winners for 2017 are here
Young Adult books that are being made into films next year include
Thanks to everyone who supported the Scholastic Half Price Book Fair last week. We sold over £550 worth of books, posters and stationery. The library gets 10% of that figure to spend on books and we chose these fantastic titles which will be ready for students to borrow after the holidays.
By Emma Costello
The new Year 7s have proved themselves to be enthusiastic scientists with a record number of attendees at this terms Science Club. The highlight of the term must have been making slime with over 40 keen students giving up their lunch break to discover the magical ingredients that are used in the making of slime. Another session found the students making and lighting their own sparklers in preparation for November 5th. Other popular activities have included making glass, salt flames, bath bombs and rainbow fizz.
The club runs every Weds A from 1.20 to 1.45 in S4 and is open to all of year 7. Please see Mrs Pringle if you are interested in joining.
By Zoe Froud
The girls’ cricket team competed in the first Under 18 Sussex cricket event of the year at Bede’s school, Upper Dicker. This was a friendly event with Oathall playing teams from Millais, Brighton and Hove High School and Bedes. It was an opportunity for them to practice and develop their skills and they also had an opportunity to meet the England Ladies Wicket Keeper and Batter Sarah Taylor, pictured above with the Oathall team.
Staff raised £50 for the NSPCC after paying to wear a Christmas jumper on the last Friday of school.
At the end of the summer term students in Y7 and Y8 took part in the annual public speaking competition organised by the English Faculty. The topic this year for the speaking teams was “Let me persuade you about…”.
Entries were judged by Oathall staff and members of the local Rotary Club. The staff and judges were very impressed with the quality of all the speeches and the students’ thorough preparation and confident delivery.
The results are as follows:
Year 7
1st place: Dominika Knotkova-Hanley
2nd place: Zoe Downey
Joint 3rd place: Isla Mustin and Billy Reid
Year 8
1st place: Abigail Cooper
2nd place: Felix Carte
3rd place: Georgia White
Congratulations to the winners and well done to all the students that took part.
Congratulations to our year 11 artists Holly Jones, Naomi Johnson, Jessica Laimons and photographer Katie Hastings whose work was selected to be exhibited in the NSAE held in the prestigious Mall Galleries under the patronage of The Royal Society of British Artists. We are delighted that eight pieces of work were exhibited from our students demonstrating the exceptional talent and commitment to excellence at Oathall. Art pieces submitted by Tristan Redgrove and Millie Brown were also highly commended.
Chris Russell, CEO, “It is encouraging to find that in times of serious funding problems, schools still want to celebrate their art at national level. Anyone seeing the impact of selection on the artists, teachers and parents will be uplifted, as they will by the enormous effort and commitment that goes into such an exhibition.”
From left to right; Mr Rodriguez with Andrew Smith (Deputy), Kaytlin Smith (Deputy) Max Whelan (Head Boy), Eleanor Grey (Head Girl) Matthew Linbourne (Deputy) & Issy Peacock (Deputy).
Following a rigorous selection process which involved staff and student votes, application letters and interviews with Mr Rodriguez and Ms Gyngell we have chosen our new senior prefects.
We are pleased to announce that Eleanor Grey and Max Whelan have been chosen to be Head Girl and Head Boy. Matthew Linbourne, Issy Peacock, Andrew Smith and Kaitlin Smith have also been selected to be Deputies.
We have also completed the selection process for House Captains for the next academic year. Students were selected following a process of staff and students votes and interviews with the Head of House and Assistant Head of House. This process means that the 2017 -2018 is now complete. We wish everyone luck in their new roles.
Back row L to R Kaytlin Smith Deputy Head Girl, Andrew Smith Deputy Head Boy, Eleanor Grey Head Girl, Max Whelan, Head Boy, Issy Peacock Deputy Head Girl. Matthew Linbourne Deputy Head Boy with Mr Rodriguez. Front Row L to R House Captains. Discovery Jacob Guest & Millie Herbert, Voyager Laurie Perren & Flo Gaskell, Endeavour Jamie Christie & Darcy Gee, Pioneer Owen Young & Abi Hateley.
After many weeks of planning, it was good to finally see the contractors on site as they begin the first phase of improvement works to the Oathall campus. A series of ‘enabling’ works will be taking place throughout the remainder of this term in readiness for the closure of our current science and maths block, scheduled for late July.
We look forward to new Heads of House and Careers offices being completed over the next few weeks with new and enhanced ICT provision following shortly after. Significant decorative improvements are also taking place to a number of classrooms in the college in preparation for the temporary relocation of science and mathematics faculties for the 2017 /18 academic year.
As I write, we have now embarked on the first week of the final GCSE examinations. I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs Aldridge and her team for managing the examinations programme at the school and I am sure that you would want to join me in sending the very best of wishes to all of our Year 11 students at this very special time.
We are in the final term of the year and excitement over the House Championship is hotting up (just like the weather). Attendance scores are in for March-April and we have Discovery in 1st place, followed by Pioneer, Voyager and Endeavour, all pushing hard to gain the top spot.
This leaves the House Championship table looking like this.
Pun intended! Our students had enormous fun taking part in Bake-Off. There have been plenty of photos on the main school website for you to look at, this is a reflection of what they learned.
Their cakes will be on display at the Ardingly Showground, in the Norfolk Pavilion.
Just before Easter, 90 Geography students from Year 10 visited the River Tillingbourne near Box Hill for a practical, hands-on day of learning. Their objectives were to measure the width, depth and velocity of the river, as well as to observe local surroundings. Students were also able to follow the river as it changed downstream. They wore “attractive” waterproof trousers and wellies, which meant they could get into the river and feel it moving around them, to understand and feel its velocity, museumand to see how it changed depth and width. The students all appreciated how this made what they had learned in their textbooks come alive.
Recently, more than 40 students from Year 9 spent the day in and around Ypres in Belgium. They visited the Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Hooge Museum in Ypres, and walked through a trench. They attended a Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. They learned about warfare techniques used by both sides including the use of gas. Despite a long day, taking in all the experiences and emotions, they still had time to visit a local chocolate shop and enjoy delicious Belgian chocolate, a positive note to end on.
Just after the Easter break, Oathall was treated to a week celebrating Modern Foreign Languages. Teachers of all subjects were encouraged to add something to their lessons in another language or from another country, encouraging cross-curricular participation. Some language lessons were held in the library and teachers ran a quiz. The canteen staff treated us all to cuisine from France, Germany & Spain. It was a timely reminder to us all of the languages we teach and the languages some of us speak in addition to English, here at Oathall.
Last term, our Year 8 Graphic Novels and Manga Club, completed the Stan Lee awards as reported in the previous bulletin. The group were so enthused by the competition that they decided to continue to meet and make their own graphic novel. Sophie Hamilton, a Year 11 Art student, came in and mentored them in the art of designing and creating their own Manga illustrations and was a real inspiration to the group. Next term, they have four weeks to bring the project together and publish their work.
Half-term is a great opportunity for Year 11s to find all their Library books and English texts and return them to us as soon as possible.
Ensemble Reza Community Orchestra Concert
Seren Billson, a flautist from Oathall said “I really enjoyed it and I learnt a lot, especially from Grieg’s Norwegian Dance which was quite a challenging piece.” Martijn Van Galen, a music teacher at the College said how enriching and valuable it was for our students to perform with advanced musicians and the professional players from Ensemble Reza. He also said “It was great to have the opportunity to play Jazz with this Classical Ensemble as this shows that regardless of the style of music, that quality musicianship enables musicians of all styles to enjoy playing together.”
The theme for the annual Bake Off competition at Oathall is the South of England Agricultural Society. This year they are celebrating 50 years of showcasing agriculture, horticulture and the countryside.
This year eight finalists were selected from entries by students from Oathall and Warden Park. Competitors were given 4 hours to bake and decorate their cake creations before they were judged by John de Longa, President of the Haywards Heath Rotary club and his colleagues Nigel Voakes and Vic O’Farrell along with Anne Bradshaw and Sue Perkins from Franklands Village Women’s Institute and Oathall’s Catering Manager, Sue Denyer.
The cake decoration reflected themes of farming & the countryside as well as the South of England Show. The standard of baking & taste from all the candidates was extremely high and deciding on a winner was a difficult decision for the judges. In the end, they awarded first prize to Janu Ramkissun, second prize went to Seren Billson and third prize went to Emily Brock. All the competitors received an embroidered apron and recipe book for taking part with gift vouchers for the top three places.
The cakes made by the students will go on display at the Ardingly Showground, in the Norfolk Pavilion at the weekend.
The Finalists were:
Seren Billson – Oathall
Emily Brock – Oathall
Nina Kashdan – Oathall
Max Lewry – Oathall
Alexandra Negru – Oathall
Janu Ramkissun – Warden Park
Phoebe Skinner – Warden Park
Anna Southon – Oathall
Oathall students have participated for the first time in the Young Enterprise national “Tenner Challenge”. The Tenner Challenge has provided an opportunity for students to set up a business for one month. Over 40 year 7-9 students participated selling a wide range of goods (see below). Each company was pledged £10 which enabled them to set up their business. They had four weeks to make as much profit as they could. Their products were showcased at lunchtimes in our school sports hall and at the Orchards shopping centre in Haywards Heath on Saturday 11 March.
At the end of the four weeks, the companies returned their initial £10 and paid £1 as a legacy donation to Young Enterprise to support next year’s event. We are pleased to report that every company made a profit. The participants are free to keep any hard earned profits but special mention should go to Modern Upcycles who have donated their profits of over £400 to Chestnut Tree House, Professional Handmade Cards who have donated £156.50 to Cancer Research, Colour Collison who have donated £100 to Woodlands Meed School and Kawaii who have donated £25 to Macmillan Cancer Research. Well done to all involved.
Colour Collison – Salt dough shapes and letters (Abigail Cooper,Kitty Underhill,Luke Derrick, Felicity Moore, Molly Atkinson)
Doodle Notes – Decorated notebooks and handmade bookmarks (Amy Vaughan, Katie Reed, Ella Middle)
Heart Decker – Clothing and accessories (Daisy Southerton, Keira Harris)
Kawaii – Mother’s day cards, bookmarks and knitted purses (Nicole Crockford, Rose Worsley, Olivia Morley, Ciara Ryan, Jessica Kettle)
Melodies – Plectrums (Jude Silk, Will Hagger, Henry Forrest, Sebastian Williamson)
Modern Upcycles – Upcycled a range of products ( Molly Hord, Zoe Downey, Martha Sansom)
OCC – Handmade lino cut cards ( Jessica Ruddock, Leane Roy, Hannah Hill)
OCCS – Staff car washing services (Harry Russell, Felix Carter, James Simpson)
Professional Handmade Cards – Greetings cards (Jessica Sams, Zoe Nelson, Seren Billson)
Pure – Handmade cards, candles and jewellry (Kira Ashworth, Jamie Figurera)
The Crafters – Stress balls ( Fionnuala Lingard, Katie Rimmer, Fatou Colley, Amy Taylor)
Revive – wooden hearts (Scarlett James, Thandi Sibandi, Holly Hughes)
Oathall students are participating in the Young Enterprise national “Tenner Challenge” throughout March. The Tenner Challenge provides an opportunity for students to set up a business for one month. Each business is pledged £10 from the Tenner bank which enables them to get their business going. They have four weeks to make as much profit as they can. At the end of the four weeks, the company will return their initial £10 and pay £1 as a legacy donation to Young Enterprise to support this event for next year. Any additional profits will be kept by the business or donated to a charity of their choice.
Students at Oathall have already formed their companies and they have appointed managing directors, marketing directors and finance directors. They have all selected a product or service and are in the process of selling this to students, staff and family friends. On Saturday 11 March, students will be given the opportunity to sell their product to the wider community at a special event to be held in the Orchards shopping centre in Haywards Heath. Sp please come along to see the event. Everyone is welcome.
