School Meals at Oathall

30th August 2018Oathall

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. The food and drink that we offer comply with the school food plan standards.

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 gluten-free menus but ask that your child pre-orders this each day with the canteen team. We operate a nut-free policy but we are not always able to guarantee that nuts are not brought into the school by other children.

If you have any dietary requirements for your child please speak to Mrs Denyer or email her on [email protected] we will do our best to accommodate any requests. 

School meal food offer and menus

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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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Covid-19 updates & reminders 17 January 2022

3rd January 2022J Godbolt

We are looking forward to seeing everyone return to school for face-to-face education this week. We appreciate that there is some anxiety about the Omicron variant and difficulties that this might present. Attending school in person is the best way for our children to learn. We continue to prioritise this whilst balancing the ongoing risks presented by Covid-19. With that in mind please read and take note of all these important reminders and updates about the return to school this term.

If your child has any Covid-19 symptoms
Please do not send your child to school if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19. Instead you must self isolate and follow the latest national guidance.

At home testing
After testing at school, students should continue to test at home twice a week. As you will be aware there are national supply issues with these kits, please bear this in mind when using the kits. All test results should be reported on the NHS track and trace service here.

Self isolation rules have changed

From Monday 17 January, students who are self-isolating with COVID-19 will have the option to reduce their isolation period after 5 full days if they test negative with a lateral flow device (LFD) test on both day 5 and day 6 and they do not have a temperature.
For example, if they test negative on the morning of day 5 and the morning of day 6, they can return to school immediately on day 6.

The first test must be taken no earlier than day 5 of the self-isolation period, and the second must be taken the following day. All test results should be reported to NHS Test and Trace. Contact tracing is triggered once a positive LFD test is reported.

If the result of either of their tests is positive, they should continue to self-isolate until they get negative results from two LFD tests on consecutive days or until they have completed 10 full days of self-isolation, whichever is earliest.

Daily testing for close contacts of COVID-19
People who are fully vaccinated, or children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years and 6 months, identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19, should take an LFD test every day for seven days and continue to attend their setting as normal, unless they have a positive test result or develop symptoms at any time.

Temporary suspension of confirmatory PCR tests in schools
Confirmatory PCR testing following a positive result on a lateral flow device (LFD) is temporarily suspended. This means that for all education and childcare settings, staff and students who have tested and reported a positive LFD result will no longer be advised to get a confirmatory PCR test.

We therefore don’t need to ask people to do a confirmatory PCR unless they:

  • have symptoms (in which case they need to follow the stay at home guidance, self-isolate and order a PCR test)
  • wish to claim the Test and Trace Support Payment
  • have been advised to take a PCR test because they are in a clinically vulnerable group
  • have been advised to do so as part of a research or surveillance programme

Updated guidance on the use of face coverings in education settings
From Sunday 2 January, the DFE recommended that face coverings be worn in classrooms where pupils in year 7 and above are educated. The advice is short term only, to support pupils and teachers as they return to school this term. This recommendation will be in place until Wednesday 26 January, at which point it will be reviewed by the DFE. If you are concerned about your child wearing a face mask please contact the school office and one of our pastoral team members will contact you.

As we are unable to safely manage canteen queues and the dining room facility whilst the new face covering guidance is in place, students may not sit and eat meals in the canteen. This will be reviewed following the DFE review on face coverings.

Changes to contact tracing in education and childcare settings

16th July 2021J Godbolt

As you know, the Prime Minister announced on 12 July that Step 4 of the roadmap would go ahead on 19 July.

One of the key changes that will take place from 19 July is that education and childcare settings will no longer be asked to conduct routine contact tracing. As with positive cases in any other setting, NHS Test and Trace will work with either the positive case – or in the case of children – the parents, carers or guardian of the positive case to identify close contacts.

NHS Test and Trace already manages the contact tracing process for the rest of society – including children who have recorded a positive PCR test – and has expertise in supporting people to identify close contacts.

This post sets out in more detail below how that process will work and what you need to do if your child tests positive for COVID-19.

Self-isolating and taking a test

  • If your child has symptoms, they and other members of the household should self-isolate – and you should inform their education or childcare setting. You should immediately order a PCR test for them. If the PCR result is negative, they and other members of their household can stop self-isolating (unless instructed to self-isolate for other reasons). If the PCR result is positive, they, other members of their household and any close contacts identified by NHS Track and Trace must self-isolate until 10 days after the onset of symptoms.
  • If your child has a positive result from a lateral flow device (LFD) test, they and other members of the household should self-isolate – and you should inform their education or childcare setting. You should immediately order a confirmatory PCR test. If the confirmatory test is taken within two days and the result is negative, they and other members of their household can stop self-isolating (unless instructed to self-isolate for other reasons). If the confirmatory PCR test is positive (or is taken more than two days after the LFD), other members of their household and any close contacts identified by NHS Track and Trace must self-isolate until 10 days after the LFD test.
  • PCR tests can be booked online through the NHS Test & Trace website or by calling 119.
  • PCR test results will be recorded with NHS Test and Trace automatically, but you should also communicate the result to the education or childcare setting during term time or summer provision.

Contact tracing

  • If your child gets a positive PCR test result, NHS Test and Trace will contact you, using the details you registered when ordering the PCR test. You and/or your child will be asked a series of specific questions designed to identify who your child has been in close contact with. Being in an education or childcare setting with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will not necessarily mean a person is identified as a close contact.
  • You will be asked to provide the contact details, if you know them, of any of the individuals – or their parents or guardians – who have been identified as close contacts. NHS Test and Trace will then get in touch with these close contacts and provide appropriate instructions or advice (see below).

Self-isolation and/or testing of close contacts

  • At present, anyone identified as a close contact is legally required to self-isolate and must not attend their education or childcare setting (the only exception is if they are participating in a daily contact testing trial). Anyone identified as a non-household close contact by NHS Track and Trace must self-isolate until 10 days after the date of their most recent contact with that person. If they live in the same household, they must self-isolate until 10 days after the date of that person developing symptoms (see point 1 above) or, if that person was asymptomatic, the date of their test (see point 2 above). NHS Test and Trace will notify you of the day on which the self-isolation period ends.
  • Close contacts are also advised to take a PCR test. If the test result is negative, they must still complete the full self-isolation period, as the test will not detect all positive cases. If the result is positive, they will need to self-isolate for a further 10 days – and NHS Test and Trace will contact them to identify any close contacts.
  • From 16 August, if the close contact is under 18, they will not have to self-isolate (in line with the policy for fully vaccinated adults) but will be asked to take an PCR test immediately, other than for very young children identified as non-household contacts, and they will not need to self-isolate while awaiting the results of the test. If the PCR test is positive, they will be required to self-isolate for 10 days from the date of the test. NHS Test and Trace will then get in touch to identify close contacts (see points 5 and 6 above). Further guidance on these changes to self-isolation will be provided shortly.

We recognise how difficult the past 18 months have been and the sacrifices that all families, education and childcare settings have had to make. This has been an enormously challenging time for everyone and we would like to take the opportunity to thank you for everything you have done.

End of term arrangements

15th July 2021J Godbolt

The last day of term is Friday 23 July.  As is our usual practice, students will be dismissed early. School will finish at approximately 12:30 hrs.  School bus times will be altered to reflect this change.

Dates for the next academic year can be viewed on our Key Diary Dates page.

Students will be asked to attend school for Covid testing on their return in September.  More information will be provided in due course.

New parents transition evening

14th July 2021J Godbolt

Sadly, because of the extension of COVID restrictions we are unable to hold our usual transition evening in school.

We have put together a selection of short films for parents and families to watch. These cover the topics that we would have covered on the night.

If you have any questions please email [email protected].

Click her for the new parents transition evening page. 

Test and Trace support payments for parents

26th March 2021J Godbolt

Parents and carers of children who have been advised to self-isolate by their education setting or by NHS Test and Trace are now able to apply for a Test and Trace Support Payment or discretionary payment of £500, if they meet the eligibility criteria.

The extension of the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme, which is administered by district and unitary local authorities in England, ensures that parents receive the financial support they need if they are unable to attend work due to childcare responsibilities.

Parents and carers should apply to their local authority (for example Mid-Sussex District Council) to receive a payment. Applications for the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme are made via the local authority in which the parent or carer resides, not the local authority where the setting is situated, if these are different. Further information is available here

To be eligible applicants must meet all of the criteria that:

  • they are the parent or guardian of a child or young person in the same household and need to take time off work to care for them while they self-isolate. This is limited to one parent or guardian per household for the child or young person’s self-isolation period
  • they are employed or self-employed
  • they cannot work from home while undertaking caring responsibilities and will lose income as a result
  • they meet all the other means-tested eligibility criteria for a Test and Trace Support Payment or locally determined criteria for a discretionary payment

That their child or young person:

  • is aged 15 or under (or 25 or under with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC)) and normally attends an education or childcare setting
  • has been told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace or by their education or childcare setting because they have been identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19)

Oathall PE – The Cube challenge

10th February 2021J Godbolt

Starting on Monday 22 February, Oathall students and their families, as well as Oathall staff, are invited to participate in the Oathall PE department’s, ‘The Cube challenge’.

Each day, there will be a new challenge to complete. All the details including instructions and embedded links to videos can be found here. Participants will need to complete this short entry form and upload video evidence to demonstrate that they successfully completed the challenge. Anyone who is successful will be awarded points for their house. The house with the most points at the end of the week will be declared the winner. Good luck to everyone who takes part!

The Oathall PE team reserve to right to decide whether a participant has been successful in completing the challenge.

Extracurricular activities in school

30th September 2020J Godbolt

In normal times, the college has a programme of extracurricular and enrichment activities running throughout the year. These range from regular weekly lunchtime and after school clubs to trips and visits to a variety of places and organisations. Towards the end of the summer term, we have an enrichment week with residential trips in the UK and overseas as well as day trips and on-site enrichment activities.

The following is an example of an extracurricular timetable from last year. Many of these activities are completely free of charge.

Download (PDF, 195KB)