Ypres trip provide opportunity for students to reflect and remember

2nd June 2026Nathan Davidson

Just before the half term break, 79 Y9 students and eight staff spent two days in the Ypres area of Belgium with our two guides John and Eugenie from Anglia Tours. The trip was informative and thought provoking.

We visited Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world, where we learned about the soldiers who fought in the First World War. Here we laid a wreath in our own service of remembrance. We also explored several museums and cemeteries around Ypres as well as a visit to Menin Gate.

These sites and the expert guides gave all of us not only a deeper understanding of the history of the area but also a greater appreciation of the sacrifices made by those who served.

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Credit to Mr Parry for the photos above. For the photos below the credit goes to our Y9 student, budding photographer Hristiyan. Great work.

Ypres trip provide opportunity for students to reflect and remember, Hristiyan 6
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Ypres trip provide opportunity for students to reflect and remember, Hristiyan 1

Science Museum visits are just the tonic for GCSE students

23rd March 2026Nathan Davidson
  • Science Museum visits are just the tonic for GCSE students, gallery 3
    Charlie, Dylan and James visit a 19th century apothecary
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    Megan, Eleri, Laetitia and Lily marvel at seeing Vesalius’s Fabric of the Human Body book!
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    Billy, Milo and Hugo compete it out at the interactive vaccine game

On the 10th and 17th March, our Year 10 historians visited the Medicine Galleries at the Science Museum in London.

Housing an impression collection of medical objects and equipment covering over 1000 years of history, the students were able to marvel at exhibits such as the first MRI scanner and Fleming’s penicillin mould.

It was an enjoyable trip which helped enrich our study of the History of Medicine at GCSE. Well done to all our students for helping making each day a great one!

Students pause to remember and reflect on Holocaust Memorial Day

27th January 2026Nathan Davidson

Students reflect at Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration featured image
School Captains – Etty, Tsiona, Erin, Mazvita and Toby – did an exceptional job representing Oathall Community College at Haywards Heath’s Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) commemoration earlier today at the Town Hall.

They stood and read clearly and compassionately in front of a full room of attendees which included local dignitaries, as well as teachers and students from other local schools.

The theme of the service was Bridging Generations – and representatives of a number of different faiths spoke eloquently about what HMD means for their followers and communities. Attendees also had the opportunity to lay wreaths and stones as a symbol of remembrance.

This event is a key part of the week in which Oathall staff and students remember the estimated six million Jews that were murdered at concentration and death camps across German-occupied Europe.

Battle of Britain Memorial Day

15th September 2020J Godbolt

Tuesday 15 September is Battle of Britain Day.  To commemorate this day, on Monday 14 September, students from Oathall remembered a local Battle of Britain pilot by laying a wreath and holding a small ceremony at his graveside in Western Road Cemetery in Haywards Heath.

Flying Officer Richard Plummer was born in Haywards Heath in 1912. Joining the RAF in 1937, he was shot down over Thameshaven in Essex on 4th September 1940. He later died of his injuries and is buried here in his hometown.

2020 sees the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and while a larger commemoration of the event is of course not possible this year, students and staff at Oathall Community College were keen to mark this occasion. History teacher Mr Jim Hastings and two Year 11 students, led the tribute by laying a wreath on behalf of the College.

Mr Hastings said of the event,

We as a school are keen to embrace the actions of local people in the past. Richard Plummer fought at the height of the Battle of Britain but sadly died never knowing that he had helped secure victory for his nation. Our history students paid their respects in a manner which epitomises the best of their generation, at the graveside of a man who epitomised the very best of his. They were eager to hear Richard Plummer’s story, from Haywards Heath to joining the RAF, fighting in Norway to his Hurricane being hit over Thameshaven. We feel honoured to have been able to remember a local war hero and share his story with our school community.

Oathall students pay their respects to the fallen soldiers of the Great War

26th June 2015J Godbolt

Oathall student Ruby Roe had the unique opportunity last week to lay a wreath at the grave of her great-great grandfather, Harry Freeman. Ruby visited his grave on a World War I history trip to Belgium. 44 students in year 9 travelled from Oathall for a tour of the battlefields and cemeteries surrounding the town of Ypres.  The trip took place to give students a greater awareness of the conflict. They visited sites and cemeteries to gain an understanding of the bravery and suffering of the fallen and to reinforce what they had learnt in the classroom.

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