43 year 9 students from Oathall set off in the early hours of Friday morning travelling to Ypres to support their learning about the causes and effects of the First World War. The group visited cemeteries of British and German soldiers across the Ypres Salient, with many of the students stunned by the scale of the loss of life. (more…)
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.
Last Wednesday, a group of year 9 students from Oathall attended a journalism course at the Guardian newspapers London offices, where they got to experience the buzz and pressure of producing a front page using real live articles being prepared by Guardian journalists. (more…)
On Friday 23rd of January, 50 pupils from year 11 piled onto a coach and journeyed to Chichester. We went to see the Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of ‘To Kill Mockingbird’, the groundbreaking and literary classic written by Harper Lee.
‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is one of the exam texts that two of the year 11 English Literature classes are studying. Seeing the book in front of us visually in the form of a play was a fantastic opportunity for us to consolidate our knowledge on the plot, the key themes of the novel and the main characters. This is all essential information we need to understand and include in our English Literature exam.
Earlier in the year, Lydia Wilkins in Year 11 approached English teacher, Ms Abrahams with the idea of producing a student-led school magazine. 
Ms Abrahams agreed to help and over the last term has been working with a group of students to produce a magazine.
Year 7 are raising money for their chosen charity by staging an ‘Oathall’s Got Talent’ show. The show is being held on 18 June in the drama studio between 4.30 and 6.30pm. Tickets are on sale now for £1 from room 84 at tutor time. All proceeds raised will go to Chailey Heritage School.
Class of 2014 Oathall students received graduation certificates in front of family, friends and representatives from the local community at the first ever Oathall Graduation Evening on Thursday 8 May.
Mr Wright, Year leader created the ‘Oathall Challenge’ scheme for students in his year group to provide a way of celebrating and recognising students who showed commitment to the core values of the college, above and beyond academic achievement. To succeed at the challenge, students through years 10 and 11 had to demonstrate acceptable levels of punctuality, attendance and behaviour as well as taking part in activities such as prefecting, mentoring younger students, helping out at school events and organising their own charity function.
The keynote speaker at the event was Mr Peter Waterfield, British Diver and Olympic Silver medallist 2004. Addressing the audience he gave an inspiring speech about dedication to the task and personal achievement. Afterwards he said:
“I am simply amazed at how committed the students here are; taking part in and leading extra-curricular activities and in supporting their school.”
A large contingent of Oathall students took part in the Rock Challenge dance competition in Crawley on Monday 24 March.
Following a full day of technical rehearsals the troupe took to the stage at The Hawth and dazzled the crowds with their original dance routine which drew inspiration from traditional fairy tales.
Cinderella made an appearance during the show – which was set against the backdrop of an enchanted forest – along with a coven of terrifying witches!
Over 90 dancers in total took part in the Oathall performance whilst several other students helped out behind the scenes with staging, lighting, hair and make-up.
On Friday 14 March a group from Oathall Community College took part in the West Sussex Dance Time festival.
The now annual event allows young people the opportunity to perform at professional theatres; over 1000 students from primary, secondary and special schools took part this year.
Oathall’s KS3 Contemporary Dance Club performed a moving piece at The Hawth in Crawley called ‘Safe and Sound’ which drew inspiration from a quote by Abraham Lincoln:
“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
A group of 12 languages students from Oathall Community College took part in an enrichment day with a deadly twist on Thursday 6 February at the University of Chichester’s Bognor Regis campus.
The Year 9 students worked with others from nearby schools to complete a variety of activities based on the theme of murder, mystery, suspense. The session was organised by trainee languages teachers at the university.