Mr Howard Wood has been awarded the TES Schools Award for Lifetime achievement at a gala luncheon ceremony held today at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London.
Warmest congratulations to Mr Wood for this well-deserved award from all of the school community.
Mr Wood ‘Woody’ and Headteacher, Mr Rodriguez at the award ceremony today.
Oathall’s performers having a quick break in the summer sunshine at Ardingly.
Oathall’s choir joined over 500 hundred singers at Ardingly College last Wednesday for an epic performance of British composer Alexander L’Estrange’s African-Jazz choral masterpiece Zimbe!
Zimbe! is a fusion of traditional African song and jazz, in a format which is already drawing together singers of all ages, ability and nationalities across the globe. The music is accessible, instantly likeable and fun to learn as well as to perform.
The event was part of the Ardingly Arts Festival in support of Ardingly in Africa, staged in conjunction with West Sussex Music.
Oathall has once again played host to some fantastically gifted and talented artists from some of our local Primary schools. Pupils in Year 4 and 5 have attended 5 workshops at Oathall this year and have worked with Oathall’s art department developing their skills in drawing, painting, ceramics, mixed media and printing.
Primary pupils attend Oathall’s gifted and talented art master class.
The primary school pupils attended their final art workshop this month. Using a range of printmaking techniques inspired by the illustrator Carol Barker, students created artworks on the theme of owls and peacocks,
Art teacher Mrs Jo Smith-Hashim said:
“I’m really impressed with the standard of work that the students have produced, they have been really enthusiastic throughout the course and have produced some excellent and creative pieces of art.”
Students from Oathall recently took part in the annual Central Mid-Sussex Schools Gifted & Talented festival. The event is in its third year and each year goes from strength to strength.
Gifted and Talented students with examples of their work being exhibited int he Headteacher’s office.
Workshops and activities were offered in a range of subjects such as maths, creative writing, poetry, science, ICT and philosophy as well as creative arts including pottery, sewing and textiles.
Oathall students were winners in Art and Poetry categories with a number of other students being runners up or being highly commended by the judges. A list of winners can be found on the Central Mid Sussex Schools website.
The response from the children who took part in the festival has been extremely positive, with almost 90% rating the activities in which they took part as either good or brilliant. Many children were particularly enthusiastic about having had the opportunity to learn news skills whilst working with, and making friends with, children from other schools.
You can see photos of some of our successful students on our Flickr pages.
Class of 2014 Oathall students received graduation certificates in front of family, friends and representatives from the local community at the first ever Oathall Graduation Evening on Thursday 8 May.
From left to right: Headteacher Mr Rodriguez, Deputy Head Boy James Habineza, Head Girl Shannon King, Year Leader Mr Wright, Peter Waterfield, Nile Jones Head Boy and Keris Self Deputy Head Girl.
Mr Wright, Year leader created the ‘Oathall Challenge’ scheme for students in his year group to provide a way of celebrating and recognising students who showed commitment to the core values of the college, above and beyond academic achievement. To succeed at the challenge, students through years 10 and 11 had to demonstrate acceptable levels of punctuality, attendance and behaviour as well as taking part in activities such as prefecting, mentoring younger students, helping out at school events and organising their own charity function.
The keynote speaker at the event was Mr Peter Waterfield, British Diver and Olympic Silver medallist 2004. Addressing the audience he gave an inspiring speech about dedication to the task and personal achievement. Afterwards he said:
“I am simply amazed at how committed the students here are; taking part in and leading extra-curricular activities and in supporting their school.”
Last Chance today to see the 2014 GCSE Art & Photography exhibition showcases the work of students completing their Art & Photography GCSE’s.
Parents, students and our local community are invited to visit Oathall today before 2pm to view our exhibition and appreciate the impressive range of talent and creativity demonstrated in the works on display.
The exhibition features final exam pieces along with sketchbooks, coursework, sculpture, paintings and photographs undertaken over the two years of the course. The theme for this year’s work was ‘Texture’ for those students studying art and for students taking photography the themes were ‘Disguise’ and ‘Street Photography’. A selection of photographs of the exhibition can be seen on the Oathall Flickr site
Mr Dore with successful Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award achievers.
Current and former Oathall students and their families were present at the annual Duke of Edinburgh awards ceremony at Oathall last week. The evening celebrated the achievements of some 80 young people who had gained their Award at Bronze or Silver level.
Kate Hall, North Sussex Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator spoke about the award and presented the successful students with their certificates. Also speaking on the night were former Oathall students, Holly Maunders and Shannon Mactaggart, both of whom went on to achieve their Gold Award after leaving Oathall. They spoke about the experience and encouraged the students present to attempt the Gold. (more…)
A large contingent of Oathall students took part in the Rock Challenge dance competition in Crawley on Monday 24 March.
Following a full day of technical rehearsals the troupe took to the stage at The Hawth and dazzled the crowds with their original dance routine which drew inspiration from traditional fairy tales.
Cinderella made an appearance during the show – which was set against the backdrop of an enchanted forest – along with a coven of terrifying witches!
Over 90 dancers in total took part in the Oathall performance whilst several other students helped out behind the scenes with staging, lighting, hair and make-up.
Our champion cricketers
Our U15 girls are Sussex Indoor Cricket Champions 2014.
28 schools from across the county entered the Lady Taverners Under 15 Indoor Cricket Tournament – the biggest field of entries to date. Oathall Community College’s team of 10 prevailed at the county final with a consistently strong showing in all three rounds of play.
They will now go forward to represent Sussex at the regional finals of the tournament on Thursday 3 April in Surrey.
Ms Laura Gyngell from the PE department said: “Our girls stamped their mark early on in the tournament beating rivals from the likes of Brighton College and Oakmeeds with ease. This is a fantastic achievement and the team should feel very proud of the result and their professional conduct.”
