School Meals at Oathall

30th August 2018Oathall

Our school meals are freshly prepared each day

Our school meals are freshly prepared each day

School meals at Oathall are prepared and served by our own in-house catering team.

Catering Manager Mrs Denyer and her staff are committed to delivering the highest standards using fresh, good quality ingredients.

Menus are rotated every three weeks with themed days being a regular feature.  They are varied, nutritionally balanced and cater for all dietary needs. We offer a range of food items that cater for all budgets and most of the meals can be pre-ordered. See our current price list for details of our product ranges and pricing.

If your child doesn’t want to queue at lunchtime they can pre-order food from the canteen from 8am – 8.40am or at morning break time.

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What is OPTA?

15th August 2012Oathall

Oathall’s busy Parent Teacher Association (or OPTA) is a friendly and enthusiastic group of people with a desire to contribute positively to school life.

We aim to encourage positive relationships and communication between parents and teachers, tackling the wellbeing of the school and the welfare and development of our children together.

Like other PTAs we fundraise for those extra things that the school budget cannot cater for whilst strengthening the school community through social events and activities.

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Information for new students starting in September 2018

31st July 2018J Godbolt

Welcome to all of our new students.

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. On July 10, your child will attend the induction day and meet their tutor. Your child’s 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.

  • 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.

Information 

Parents of new year 7 students have been 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.

In late August, we will contact you again with further information about the online systems we use for homework, timetables, school reports and our online payment system.

You may also find this information of use.

Starting Secondary School – A Parent’s Guide

Starting Secondary School checklist

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.

In your first fortnight, you will find out what you need to bring for DT or PE lessons and your teachers will be happy to help you if you’re not sure.

We recommend students check their timetables the night before to ensure they are prepared for the next day.

Uniform 2018

New students starting at Oathall in September 2018 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. 

Full details can be found here.

Food and drink at school

Students are expected to remain in the college during break and lunch times. Students may bring their own food to eat or they may eat in the canteen. Students will be registered with a canteen account on their first day. Information about the canteen and how this works is included in your information pack. Online payment details will be sent out in late August.

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.

Target reached!

21st June 2018J Godbolt

With only two more days to go, the PTA’s target to raise £25,000 for maths and science resources has been achieved and exceeded. The total currently stands at just over £26,000.

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation or contributed to the fundraising campaign. 

There are still 2 days left of the fundraising campaign so if you did mean to make a donation then there’s still time for you to go online and make a pledge on the Oathall PTA Crowdfunder page.

Thank you for all your support.

£25,000 crowdfunding challenge

8th June 2018J Godbolt

Visit our crowdfunding page and help us to inspire thousands of secondary school students to become future scientists, engineers and inventors. We want to buy state of the art equipment for Oathall Community College’s new science and maths classrooms which are opening this September. So, we have not got long to raise our target of £25,000 by June 23rd.


Our aim is to provide students with:

  • digital microscopes
  • anatomical models
  • specialist cameras
  • Lego Mindstorm kits
  • exciting maths learning software
  • digital screens
  • display posters

All these things will bring alive the worlds of science and maths for thousands of current and future Oathall students.

PTA launches fundraising campaign

22nd May 2018J Godbolt

Oathall’s PTA, in collaboration with the college, has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a target of £25,000.

The campaign aims to raise funds to equip the newly refurbished maths and science classrooms with state of the art equipment that will inspire a love and passion for science and maths that will allow our students to become the inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and engineers of the future.

Since last July, the old SAM block has been undergoing a long-awaited transformation with almost every part of the building being completely refurbished and modernised. The project itself ensures the building is fit for day to day teaching needs. However, the school staff, governors and parents have very high aspirations for our students.

Oathall has a tradition of excellent science teaching and our mathematics results are above the national average. We want to maintain and build on this reputation. We want to enhance the environment in the new building with state of the art equipment and resources that will inspire a love and passion for science and mathematics.

This is not about test tubes, heat mats and calculators; this is about having ambitious state of the art technology and equipment such as digital microscopes, thermal imaging cameras, anatomical models as well as display posters, digital screens and signage to bring the building and the teaching of these subjects to life.

These are not the normal items you find in a school science or maths classroom and are beyond even the best-funded schools. We believe our staff and children deserve the opportunity to learn using up to date teaching technology and hope that with the help of the whole community we can achieve this.

Our target is to raise £25,000 by 23 June 2018. You can support the campaign by visiting the Oathall crowdfunding page.

You can keep in touch with updates about the campaign on the PTA Facebook page. 

 

Energy offer for parents

14th May 2018J Godbolt

Your Energy Sussex, West Sussex County Council’s not-for-profit energy supplier, has launched an offer for parents, carers and staff that will directly benefit West Sussex schools.

Your Energy Sussex was launched earlier this year to encourage more people to switch their home energy supplier and save money on their bills. It offers competitive home energy prices, high levels of customer service and supports residents who are struggling to pay their bills through a Fuel Poverty Fund.

As an incentive to switch to Your Energy Sussex, from 14th May new customers living in West Sussex can nominate a local school to receive a £10 donation per fuel switch. If a new customer decides to switch their home gas and electricity supply to Your Energy Sussex, the nominated school will receive £20. The offer is open to people living in West Sussex only and closes on the last day of the school summer term. Further information is available at www.yourenergysussex.org.uk/schools or customers can call 0800 952 0001 to find out more or get a quote.

If you choose to switch you will be asked to nominate a school and give the schools unique identifier code. Oathall’s school code is 4102.

Your Energy Sussex is operated by the County Council’s Energy Team. It is a partnership between Sussex local authorities, including Brighton & Hove City Council and East Sussex County Council and Robin Hood Energy, a fully licensed energy supplier owned by Nottingham City Council.

Oathall Parent Partnership

16th March 2018J Godbolt

On Thursday 8 March, a group of parents met with Assistant Headteacher Faye Hatchard and Deputy Headteacher Toby Houghton for the first Parent Partnership meeting. The aim of the Parent Partnership is to meet with parents to discuss views on new initiatives and developments in the school and to give parents an opportunity to contribute positively to the development of our school community. At this first meeting, parents were involved in a discussion around a recent audit and review of Homework. Parents were asked a range of questions about homework and a number of suggestions were made by parents.

A set of minutes from the meeting can be found here.

The next meetings will be held on:

Friday 19th October 2018
Thursday 13th December 2018
Thursday 7th February 2019
Thursday 28th March 2019
Thursday 23rd May 2019
Thursday 18th July 2019

TEACHING AND LEARNING NEWS CHRISTMAS 2017

19th December 2017Mrs D Perrin

Respect Aspire Achieve Enjoy

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.

 

Oathall remembers

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

 

Creativity at Oathall

Year 8 Geographers have been making volcano models.

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.

Joshua Goodwin
Georgiana Beck
Holly Hughes
Theo Billson
Rose Worsley

 

Year 10, Symbolism and Christingles

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.

Christmas has turned scientific in S1 with our beautiful (non-acidic!) Chrismas Chemis-tree! 

By Debbie Isley
O Chemis-tree, O Chemis-tree,
How acidic are thy branches….
Wishing everyone a very Happy Christmas from the Science Faculty

Oathall in the community

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

 

Year 11s on the A Christmas Carol trip.

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.

Oathall debates

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.

Oathall makes music

By Carol MacTaggart

Oathall musicians have been working very hard arranging and rehearsing their music for the Christmas Concert, and Carols in the Barn Service, with over 120 students taking part. Mrs Mac Taggart, Mr Van Galen and our guests who attended the performances enjoyed them immensely. A highlight was the showcasing of the music videos presented by Year 9 students.
The choir
The orchestra
Rehearing

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!

Oathall excels

Celebrating Outsanding work with Mr Rodriguez

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.

 

Adapting to our surroundings

Science – Year 7 has been learning all about British mammals. 

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.

The Science Faculty is adapting to its temporary accommodation.

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!

 

Oathall library news

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

  • Eleanor And Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • A Tale Dark And Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
  • Fallen by Lauren Kate
  • Daughter Of Smoke And Bone by Laini Taylor
  • Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
  • Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness
  •  The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
  •  Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

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.

 

Extracurricular at Oathall

Year 7 Science Club

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.

 

Sports news

By Zoe Froud

Girl’s Cricket

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.

 

Sports Ambassadors

On the 13th December, a small group of sports leaders were chosen to become Sports Ambassadors and to attend a Sports Leaders’ training day at the Sussex cricket ground run by Mid Sussex Active. They were picked because they had shown excellent skills in coaching and leadership over the past 18 months within their primary schools.
Schools from the whole of Mid-Sussex attended the day, including Sackville, Burgess Hill Academy, Warden Park and Downlands.
The pupils had a fantastic day at the ground where they learnt the importance of being a leader, and how they could be the best leader possible. They all got given a free sports leaders hoodie and received training by the Sussex cricket coaches on how they should teach cricket in primary schools.
They had a fantastic day and are now looking forward to planning events.

 

And finally….

Staff raised £50 for the NSPCC after paying to wear a Christmas jumper on the last Friday of school.

 

Year 11 Post 16 Opportunities Evening – 13 September 2017

7th September 2017Mrs S Bird

Year 11 students and their parents are invited to the Post 16 Opportunities Evening on Wednesday 13 September at 7.30pm in the main hall.

This important event will begin with a short presentation about the range of routes and choices that young people can make post 16.  There will then be the opportunity to talk to representatives from all the local further education colleges and other training organisations about the range of courses that they have to offer.  This can be followed up by attending open evenings at the colleges during October and November.  A booklet with further details, including dates for college open evenings, will be distributed during the evening.