Oathall farm wins national farming award

18th May 2021J Godbolt

The hard work of students who help to run the college’s farm has been rewarded by being successful in their entry in the Social Farm & Gardens 40th Anniversary Awards.  At the virtual awards event, Oathall won the school farms award for ‘the best involvement in running a school farm’.

Head of Farm, John Blackholly, said:

Despite 2020 being a unique and challenging year we decided to enter the school farm awards competition. I am delighted that we won the award and I am particularly proud that the involvement of our students has been recognised in this way.

Students’ artistic talents on show in lockdown

1st February 2021J Godbolt

Students may not have access to the full range of school art resources at present but that hasn’t stopped them from getting creative at home.

In their remote lessons, students in key stage 3 and key stage 4 have been working on a number of topics and creating a range of pieces using photography, video, painting, drawing and collage.

Year 9 students have been tasked with creating a digital drawing using the Banksy artwork ‘Girl with a red balloon’ as inspiration, whilst students in year 7 were asked to observe and record the views from their windows in a media of their choosing.

This presentation gives you a flavour of some of the amazing work that has been created.

Announcing the 2020-2021 Senior prefect team

19th October 2020J Godbolt

Left to right: Oscar, Molly, Nicole, Isla, Lola, Katie and Wahi.

We are especially pleased to announce our 2020-2021 Senior Prefect team. Our selection process was delayed by several months after the school closure and restrictions arising from COVID.

The normal process of applications, interviews and voting took place this term and we are pleased to announce that our school captains are Isla and Lola.  Our team of vice-captains are Katie, Molly, Nicole, Oscar and Wahi. They have already begun to contribute by assisting with Zoom Q&A sessions for families of students in Y6 who are thinking of joining Oathall next September. Congratulations to all of them.

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’s act of remembrance

8th November 2019J Godbolt

Our School captains represented the school at the Haywards Heath Schools’ Remembrance service At St Wilfrid’s Church on Friday 8 November.

To mark Armistice Day and Oathall’s act of Remembrance, students and staff gathered on the piazza around our Field of Remembrance. Half of the crosses this year have been dedicated to soldiers, sailors and airmen lost in conflicts such as the Falklands and Northern Ireland. Assemblies this past week, delivered by History teacher and British Army veteran Mr Hastings, have reflected this and enabled staff and students to understand these conflicts better as well as the individual sacrifices made by members of Britain’s armed forces.
As always, our students showed great respect for the Remembrance proceedings which makes this now annual ceremony very special to be part of.

 

World cup Maths

18th October 2019J Godbolt

The Maths department has been celebrating the Rugby World Cup in recent weeks.

Students have been taking part in lessons that link Maths to the great game of rugby. We have learnt about how we collect data and then how we can represent that data in many different ways. Students in Year 10 & 11 have been able to link this work to cumulative frequency diagrams and Trigonometry. Students have really enjoyed linking Maths to this real-life environment.

Year 11 – Post 16 opportunities evening

5th September 2019J Godbolt

Students in year 11 and their families are invited to attend this event on Wednesday 18 September from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.

The evening will give advice and guidance to year 11 students about the choices available to them after completing their education at Oathall. There will be a short presentation and the opportunity to talk to representatives from local colleges and training organisations.

 

Students celebrate excellent GCSE results

22nd August 2019J Godbolt

Congratulations to Oathall students who are celebrating their excellent GCSE results. Students have seen impressive outcomes across all areas of the curriculum.

In English, 73% of students achieved a grade 4 or above whilst in mathematics 67% of students achieved a grade 4 or higher. In science, 75% of students achieved 2 good science GCSE passes.

There were some exceptional individual performances with more than 11% of the cohort achieving 7 or more passes at grades 7, 8 or 9. Moreover, 23% of all grades awarded were 7 or higher.

Students of all abilities have excelled and achieved results of which they should be very proud. It is clear that their progress and attainment is significantly positive.

Headteacher, Edward Rodriguez said,
“I would like to congratulate all students and staff. The fact that so many of our students have reached their full potential, with others exceeding expectations, is testament to their hard work and commitment.”

2019 Autumn term arrangements

17th July 2019J Godbolt

The autumn term starts on Tuesday 3 September for students in Y7, Y10 & Y11 and on
Wednesday 4 September for students in Y8 & Y9.

The College Open Day is on Thursday 19 September. The school will finish early this day. Friday 20 September is an INSET day and the college will be closed to students.

Information about other term dates and 2019-2020 school events is available to view here.