Students rise to the Tenner Challenge

5th April 2019J Godbolt

Enterprising students at Oathall Community College have raised £1586 for charities by participating in Young Enterprises ‘Tenner Challenge’. Over four weeks students use £10 pledges to get their student business ideas off the ground and make as much profit as they can.

This year, 18 teams made up from over 40 students in year 8 and year 9 took part. Teams provided a range of services and products such as chocolate pizzas, car washing, gardening services, arts and crafts and dog-walking. Students could sell their products & services to friends and family as well as at lunchtime fairs in school. Students commented that the challenge had taught them a lot about being independent and that it gave them a good experience of the financial & marketing side of running a business.

At the end of the four weeks, the teams returned their initial £10 and paid £1 as a legacy donation to Young Enterprise to support next year’s event. Students donated £1586 of their £2309 profits to their chosen charities.

Mrs Laura Griffiths said,
It has been remarkable to see how well the students have taken on this challenge. Their dedication and commitment has been fantastic. They have shown how well they can work together in a team and have overcome obstacles they have faced. It has been a great experience for them to see what it is like to run a business of their own taking into consideration costs, advertising and profits. I am very proud of what they have achieved and that a huge amount of their profits went to such fantastic charities

DRONE 500 Challenge

2nd October 2018J Godbolt

Oathall students and staff have attended the launch of this year’s Mid Sussex STEM Challenge. The event took place at Mid Sussex District Council offices and was officially launched by the High Sheriff of West Sussex Caroline Nicholls. The Drone 500 challenge has been developed to encourage an interest in STEM subjects amongst young people and to help them understand how these subjects will be applied in industry in the future.

In the first year, the challenge was won by Year 9 students from Oathall. In this, the second year of the competition, more schools from across Sussex have entered for the chance to win. Over the next six months, each school is being tasked to build a drone for £500. The drone will be required to meet a number of very specific requirements which will be tested at the final next March. As well as this each team will be required to produce a business case which they will pitch to a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style panel. Each team will be supported and mentored along the way by members of the local business community.

Head of Art and Design Technology, Pete Robinson said,

“This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain an insight into the world of engineering and design. Not only does it encourage an interest in STEM but it develops team building and a work ethic at an early age. We will, of course be working hard to retain our title!”

 

 

 

School games day 2018

24th July 2018J Godbolt

There was a fantastic atmosphere and feeling of team spirit at this year’s Oathall School games day. A whole day of competitive events including tennis, dodgeball, handball, cycling, tug of war and traditional athletic events had been organised by the PE team. There were outstanding performances from individuals as well as the teams with everyone competing to be the best tutor group in their year and of course, the overall House winners.

Congratulations to Voyager House who were the Oathall 2018 school games day winners.

A round-up of the scores from yesterday:

Year 7 Tutor Winners – 7EARK Mrs Kingsford
Year 8 Tutor Winners – 8VPS – Mrs Sullivan
Year 9 Tutor Winners – 9DKRG – Mrs Garrick
Year 10 Tutor winners – 10PSK – Mrs Kirkpatrick

Well done to everyone who took part.

Oathall Bake Off

8th June 2018J Godbolt

‘Royal Wedding’ was the theme in this year’s Bake-Off competition. The competition is run annually and is open to students in years 7,8, 9 and 10. The competition and prizes are sponsored by the Rotary Club of Haywards Heath and the entries are judged by the WI. Students are given 4 hours to bake and decorate a cake which is then judged on taste, appearance and technical difficulty. The winning entry was made by Emily, who has now won on three separate occasions. Well done to all of the students who took part.

Festival of Sport

8th June 2018J Godbolt

On Wednesday, 6th June 50 students in years 9 & 10 were given the opportunity to attend The Festival Of Sport at the University of Chichester. The Festival offered an arena for students to try out different sports, learn about the effects of exercise on the body and discover what facilities and courses were on offer.

Students participated in activities ranging from climbing, blind football, wheelchair hockey and rugby, as well as learning about the biomechanical and physiological effects of physical activity. Activities were run by world-leading researchers and external experts from local and national organisations.

“Many thanks for leading such a wonderful trip today. I and many others were able to enjoy the day and work independently on activities we wanted to whilst also having fun and enjoying ourselves. I for one found it very inspiring to see the different careers available in a sport as well as participating in the practical side of sport.”

Year 9 student.

Year 9 students make a date with success

24th January 2018Mrs S Bird

On Friday 12th January, year 9 students attended the annual Careers Speed Dating event where they had the opportunity to speak to business representatives from across the county and beyond.  It is organised to inspire our future workforce about real jobs; practise those all-important communication skills, and hopefully dispel some myths and challenge gender stereotypes.   This event complements the year 9 options process and students’ feedback is always very positive.

In fast paced 5-minute slots, students asked a barrage of questions of the 32 different volunteers representing a wide range of employment sectors including banking, engineering, medicine, hospitality, hairdressing, publishing, veterinary medicine, uniformed services, scientific research, sport, childcare, retail, nursing, architecture, physiotherapy and many more!

Feedback from the employers has been extremely positive.  Year 9 students did themselves proud.

Reflecting on his first experience of Oathall’s Careers Speed Dating, Jon Parry – Geologist commented: ‘I was genuinely impressed by the level of engagement and enthusiasm of the students.  Thank you for inviting me to take part in the experience, which was both enjoyable and rewarding.’

Sarah Breeze – Architect, said: ‘The students had some great questions.  Many were interested in creative subjects, especially art and design technology, and we discussed various careers that are linked to these.  They were also interested in university life and also travelling as part of a job.’

Claire Batchelor – Primary School Teacher (and former head girl at Oathall) commented: ‘The students were a credit to the school and showed interest and respect the entire time.  It made me feel proud to be a teacher, and after selling the profession to the students I came away remembering why I do the job.’

Thank you to all the business volunteers for giving up their time so generously to support our students.  It was especially pleasing that some of the participants were former Oathall students and members of the school’s Alumni Association.

KUDOS – Oathall’s online careers program

10th September 2017A Oathall

Kudos is free for all students to use at home and at school.  Students can explore possible career directions and learn about their future options.

  • Log onto oathall.org 
  • Under ‘Quick Links’ at the bottom of the homepage, click on Career Cascaid.
  • Click ‘Login’ and then select Kudos, and log in using your school username and password (Note: if you are in year 9 or below, the password is kudos1)
  • If you are asked to change your password DO NOT DO THIS, and instead click on ‘continue without changing password’
  • The first time you use the program you will be asked to confirm a few personal details and to select the qualification level you eventually hope to achieve

You can explore career ideas in Kudos through four starting points:

  1. MYFUTURE – take the test by answering Likes and Dislikes questions to give you a personalised list of career ideas you might like.
  2. EXPLORE WORK AREAS – explore the careers available in a particular area of work.
  3. EXPLORE SUBJECTS – search for careers according to the subjects you like.
  4. EXPLORE CAREERS – find a career that you want to know more about and see if it is suitable for you.

Look at videos and real-life case studies.  Find links to university courses.  Look at work-based training and apprenticeship routes.  Create a CV and Personal Statement.  Create your own action plan.

The Kudos User Guide will help you find your way around Kudos.

Entrepreneurs everywhere during Tenner Challenge month at Oathall.

2nd March 2017J Godbolt

Oathall students are participating in the Young Enterprise national “Tenner Challenge” throughout March. The Tenner Challenge provides an opportunity for students to set up a business for one month. Each business is pledged £10 from the Tenner bank which enables them to get their business going. They have four weeks to make as much profit as they can. At the end of the four weeks, the company will return their initial £10 and pay £1 as a legacy donation to Young Enterprise to support this event for next year. Any additional profits will be kept by the business or donated to a charity of their choice.

Students at Oathall have already formed their companies and they have appointed managing directors, marketing directors and finance directors. They have all selected a product or service and are in the process of selling this to students, staff and family friends. On Saturday 11 March, students will be given the opportunity to sell their product to the wider community at a special event to be held in the Orchards shopping centre in Haywards Heath. Sp please come along to see the event. Everyone is welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speed Dating works!

27th January 2017A Oathall

Year 9 students have recently attended the annual Careers Speed Dating event at Oathall where they had the opportunity to speak to business and trade professionals from across the county and beyond.  It is organised to inspire our future workforce about real jobs; practise those all-important communication skills, and hopefully dispel some myths and challenge gender stereotypes.  This event complements the year 9 options process and students’ feedback is always very positive.

In fast paced, 5-minute slots, students asked a barrage of questions of the 30 different speakers representing a wide range of employment sectors including banking, engineering, medicine, scientific research, catering & hospitality, hairdressing, publishing, veterinary, Police, Armed Forces, childcare, nursing, law, retail, sport, performing arts and many more!

Feedback from the employers has been extremely positive.  Year 9 students did themselves proud.

Reflecting on his first experience of Oathall’s Careers Speed Dating, Mr Rod Hayler, Partner at Old Bailey Solicitors commented: ‘It was a pleasure speaking with your year 9 pupils, all of whom were impressively polite, engaged and insightful with their questioning.  I particularly enjoyed a guess from one young man who said “from the look of your suit … you must be a school headteacher”.  I can only assume that Mr Rodriquez must be a finely dressed man!’

Another first-timer was Steve Edwards, chef and winner of Masterchef Professional 2013, who said: ‘It was a pleasure to attend your event and have the opportunity to talk to and inspire the next generation.  It is a daunting task to think about what you want to do as a career and I hope I was able to give the students help and reassurance on the start of their career paths’.

Regular business representative Rachael Waters, Community Nurse, commented: ‘The students are all so receptive and keen to learn about the different roles.  From my perspective it is great to invest what is just a couple of hours to potentially inspire students to join my profession.  I met a delightful girl today who wanted to be a nurse and I know from her enthusiastic response she will one day make a terrific nurse.’

Thank you to all the business volunteers for giving up their time so generously to support our students.  It was especially pleasing that some of the participants were former Oathall students and members of the school’s Alumni Association.

 

 

 

 

Year 9 Careers ‘Speed Dating’ Event

By A Oathall12th January 2017

To support year 9 students with their GCSE subject choices, this Friday morning 13 January we are holding a ‘Speed Dating’ event in the sports hall.  Thirty business representatives from a wide range of employment sectors will be attending.  In small groups, with 5 minutes per session, students will be moving around the hall firing questions at the business volunteers and discussing aspects of their work, trying to gain as much information from them as possible about what their job entails, the qualifications required and the routes they took to get there.