Girls’ cricket success
Congratulations to the Under 16 Girls cricket team who beat Millais School by 79 runs to 44!
Year 11 Post 16 Opportunities Evening – 13 September 2017
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.
Impressive GCSE results
Congratulations to Oathall students who are celebrating a very impressive set of results for 2017.
Oathall students have responded well to the challenges set by the newly reformed GCSEs. The new grading system and more challenging content has been met with hard work and commitment. As a result, in English and mathematics 75% of Oathall students have achieved passes. In mathematics 20% and in English 28% were awarded grade 7 or higher.
In comparison to the national results released today by Ofqual, it is clear that Oathall students achieved notably higher outcomes at all levels.
The fact that 22% of all grades, across all subjects were awarded at the very highest levels (A+/7+) illustrates how ambitious Oathall students are to excel academically. There were many individual success stories with some 12% of the year group achieving 8 or more grades at these highest (A+/7+) levels.
The college has seen excellent results in all areas of the curriculum. Notably, 31% of all grades across the humanities subjects (geography, history and RE) were awarded at A+ and biology, chemistry and physics 46% of all grades were at this highest level. In sport and performance subjects 75% of grades were awarded at C+ and in technology and the arts, 84% of all grades were at C+.
Mr Rodriguez, Headteacher congratulated all the students on their results and said:
‘I am delighted to see how Oathall students have met the challenges of the reformed GCSE’s and performed so well over the entire range of subjects; they so deserve their successes today.”
Details of our 2017 GCSE results are available here.
The Fifteenth National Students’ Art Exhibition 2017
Congratulations to our year 11 artists Holly Jones, Naomi Johnson, Jessica Laimons and photographer Katie Hastings whose work was selected to be exhibited in the NSAE held in the prestigious Mall Galleries under the patronage of The Royal Society of British Artists. We are delighted that eight pieces of work were exhibited from our students demonstrating the exceptional talent and commitment to excellence at Oathall. Art pieces submitted by Tristan Redgrove and Millie Brown were also highly commended.
Chris Russell, CEO, “It is encouraging to find that in times of serious funding problems, schools still want to celebrate their art at national level. Anyone seeing the impact of selection on the artists, teachers and parents will be uplifted, as they will by the enormous effort and commitment that goes into such an exhibition.”
Oathall success at South of England show
Oathall’s students were celebrating after being awarded first place for their garden design entry at the South of England show in June. First place was well deserved with our students competing against garden design students from Brinsbury and Plumpton Colleges. Well done to James Guy, Jordan Hards, Rhys Chester and Aaron Head who gave up much of their own time in support of the project and learnt much throughout the process.
It wasn’t just about garden design. As is our usual tradition Oathall students participated fully in the show helping out in the parade and showing our pigs and cattle. Harry Woodington was successful in showing our large white adult breeding sow. She came first in the large white class, a testament to all the early starts and hard work that Harry put in to prepare her for the show. Jacob Wall also did well, coming second in his cattle handling class.
Mr John Blackholly said,
“Well done to everyone associated with Oathall Farm It was a massive team effort from all concerned and we are justifiably proud of all our achievements. Thank you to all the students but in particular to all the staff, parents and former Oathall students who gave up their time to support our efforts.”
Power of Music Festival
On 19 June, the Oathall Community College Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble performed at the Power of Music festival at the Orchards Shopping Centre in Haywards Heath. They performed a wide selection of music that culminated in a grand finale where they accompanied the choirs of three local primary schools for a very appreciative audience.
Introducing our new senior prefect team
Following a rigorous selection process which involved staff and student votes, application letters and interviews with Mr Rodriguez and Ms Gyngell we have chosen our new senior prefects.
We are pleased to announce that Eleanor Grey and Max Whelan have been chosen to be Head Girl and Head Boy. Matthew Linbourne, Issy Peacock, Andrew Smith and Kaitlin Smith have also been selected to be Deputies.
We have also completed the selection process for House Captains for the next academic year. Students were selected following a process of staff and students votes and interviews with the Head of House and Assistant Head of House. This process means that the 2017 -2018 is now complete. We wish everyone luck in their new roles.
Teaching and Learning News: Summer term 2017
Respect Aspire Achieve Enjoy
After many weeks of planning, it was good to finally see the contractors on site as they begin the first phase of improvement works to the Oathall campus. A series of ‘enabling’ works will be taking place throughout the remainder of this term in readiness for the closure of our current science and maths block, scheduled for late July.
We look forward to new Heads of House and Careers offices being completed over the next few weeks with new and enhanced ICT provision following shortly after. Significant decorative improvements are also taking place to a number of classrooms in the college in preparation for the temporary relocation of science and mathematics faculties for the 2017 /18 academic year.
As I write, we have now embarked on the first week of the final GCSE examinations. I would like to extend my thanks to Mrs Aldridge and her team for managing the examinations programme at the school and I am sure that you would want to join me in sending the very best of wishes to all of our Year 11 students at this very special time.
House News
We are in the final term of the year and excitement over the House Championship is hotting up (just like the weather). Attendance scores are in for March-April and we have Discovery in 1st place, followed by Pioneer, Voyager and Endeavour, all pushing hard to gain the top spot.
This leaves the House Championship table looking like this.
Bake-Off Feedback
Pun intended! Our students had enormous fun taking part in Bake-Off. There have been plenty of photos on the main school website for you to look at, this is a reflection of what they learned.
- They had to come up with their own design ideas
- They then had to use their creative skills to make their ideas a reality
- They had to work to a deadline
- They experienced how it felt to be judged by adults with knowledge of commercial cake making.
Their cakes will be on display at the Ardingly Showground, in the Norfolk Pavilion.
Geography Field Trip
Just before Easter, 90 Geography students from Year 10 visited the River Tillingbourne near Box Hill for a practical, hands-on day of learning. Their objectives were to measure the width, depth and velocity of the river, as well as to observe local surroundings. Students were also able to follow the river as it changed downstream. They wore “attractive” waterproof trousers and wellies, which meant they could get into the river and feel it moving around them, to understand and feel its velocity, museumand to see how it changed depth and width. The students all appreciated how this made what they had learned in their textbooks come alive.
History Trip to Ypres
Recently, more than 40 students from Year 9 spent the day in and around Ypres in Belgium. They visited the Tyne Cot Cemetery, which is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Hooge Museum in Ypres, and walked through a trench. They attended a Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. They learned about warfare techniques used by both sides including the use of gas. Despite a long day, taking in all the experiences and emotions, they still had time to visit a local chocolate shop and enjoy delicious Belgian chocolate, a positive note to end on.
Modern Foreign Languages Week
Just after the Easter break, Oathall was treated to a week celebrating Modern Foreign Languages. Teachers of all subjects were encouraged to add something to their lessons in another language or from another country, encouraging cross-curricular participation. Some language lessons were held in the library and teachers ran a quiz. The canteen staff treated us all to cuisine from France, Germany & Spain. It was a timely reminder to us all of the languages we teach and the languages some of us speak in addition to English, here at Oathall.
Library News
Last term, our Year 8 Graphic Novels and Manga Club, completed the Stan Lee awards as reported in the previous bulletin. The group were so enthused by the competition that they decided to continue to meet and make their own graphic novel. Sophie Hamilton, a Year 11 Art student, came in and mentored them in the art of designing and creating their own Manga illustrations and was a real inspiration to the group. Next term, they have four weeks to bring the project together and publish their work.
Half-term is a great opportunity for Year 11s to find all their Library books and English texts and return them to us as soon as possible.
Music News
Ensemble Reza Community Orchestra Concert
Students and siblings, teachers and an Oathall parent played in the Ensemble Reza Community Orchestra Performance under the baton of Steve Dummer on the 7th May 2017. The program included Radetsky’s March by Strauss, Czech Polka and a brilliant finale of Badelt’s Themes from Pirates of the Caribbean. A highlight was the guitar concerto with Adrian King, a parent at the school, the soloist.
Seren Billson, a flautist from Oathall said “I really enjoyed it and I learnt a lot, especially from Grieg’s Norwegian Dance which was quite a challenging piece.” Martijn Van Galen, a music teacher at the College said how enriching and valuable it was for our students to perform with advanced musicians and the professional players from Ensemble Reza. He also said “It was great to have the opportunity to play Jazz with this Classical Ensemble as this shows that regardless of the style of music, that quality musicianship enables musicians of all styles to enjoy playing together.”
Staff and students are now looking forward to the next performance which will be part of the Power of Music Festival at The Orchards on 10th & 11th of June followed by the Oathall Summer Concert in the main hall at the college on Tuesday 27th June 2017 at 7 pm.
Teaching and learning news Spring term 2017
There is no doubt that our website is the best place to keep you up-to-date with all that is happening at Oathall. This news thread, replacing our former Teaching and Learning Bulletin, aims to collect items specifically related to learning and teaching. I am sure that you find it an interesting and informative read.
As we approach the end of the Spring term, I am very pleased to report that the project to fully refurbish our Science and Mathematics (SAM) block is well underway and progressing well. The contractors, WL Stirlands have been appointed and are due to commence work on site shortly after the Easter break. Initially, their focus will be on the ‘enabling works’ undertaken to ensure that we are able to function effectively next year whilst the ‘SAM’ block is closed. Whilst we look forward to moving into our very much enhanced facilities in September 2018, it is critical that these substantial site improvements do not negatively impact on the learning of the students next year; we are very much focused on ensuring that this is the case.
The architects are finalising plans for the block at the moment and I will share these with you as soon as I am able. In the meantime, we look forward to various enhancements being undertaken to the main school site. This will include the refurbishment of a number of classrooms, the relocation of our Heads of Houses so that they can work more effectively together as well as re-siting our Special Education Needs and Inclusion facilities to the ground floor.
E. Rodriguez, Headteacher 
Ten Pounds, Four Weeks, One Goal.
Oathall students have participated for the first time in the Young Enterprise national “Tenner Challenge”. The Tenner Challenge has provided an opportunity for students to set up a business for one month. Over 40 year 7-9 students participated selling a wide range of goods (see below). Each company was pledged £10 which enabled them to set up their business. They had four weeks to make as much profit as they could. Their products were showcased at lunchtimes in our school sports hall and at the Orchards shopping centre in Haywards Heath on Saturday 11 March.
At the end of the four weeks, the companies returned their initial £10 and paid £1 as a legacy donation to Young Enterprise to support next year’s event. We are pleased to report that every company made a profit. The participants are free to keep any hard earned profits but special mention should go to Modern Upcycles who have donated their profits of over £400 to Chestnut Tree House, Professional Handmade Cards who have donated £156.50 to Cancer Research, Colour Collison who have donated £100 to Woodlands Meed School and Kawaii who have donated £25 to Macmillan Cancer Research. Well done to all involved.
Colour Collison – Salt dough shapes and letters (Abigail Cooper, Kitty Underhill, Luke Derrick, Felicity Moore, Molly Atkinson)
Doodle Notes – Decorated notebooks and handmade bookmarks (Amy Vaughan, Katie Reed, Ella Middle)
Heart Decker – Clothing and accessories (Daisy Southerton, Keira Harris)
Kawaii – Mother’s day cards, bookmarks and knitted purses (Nicole Crockford, Rose Worsley, Olivia Morley, Ciara Ryan, Jessica Kettle)
Melodies – Plectrums (Jude Silk, Will Hagger, Henry Forrest, Sebastian Williamson)
Modern Upcycles – Upcycled a range of products (Molly Hord, Zoe Downey, Martha Sansom)
OCC – Handmade lino cut cards (Jessica Ruddock, Leane Roy, Hannah Hill)
OCCS – Staff car washing services (Harry Russell, Felix Carter, James Simpson)
Professional Handmade Cards – Greetings cards (Jessica Sams, Zoe Nelson, Seren Billson)
Pure – Handmade cards, candles and jewellery (Kira Ashworth, Jamie Figurera)
The Crafters – Stress balls (Fionnuala Lingard, Katie Rimmer, Fatou Colley, Amy Taylor)
Revive – Wooden hearts (Scarlett James, Thandi Sibandi, Holly Hughes)
Year 8 Future First Workshop
Some of our Year 8 students were lucky enough to attend a workshop run by Future First, the charity that co-ordinates Oathall’s Alumni Association, around the themes ‘building motivation and overcoming barriers’. We were thrilled to welcome back eight alumni to Oathall, who kindly gave up their time to talk to our students about their education and career paths, and in doing so provided valuable guidance and inspiration to the students. We have received very positive feedback from the current and former students who took part, but of particular note:
70% of the students said they are now more confident or much more confident about being successful in the future now they have heard from former students;
82% of the students said they will now work harder or much harder at school as a result of having spoken to the former students;
76% of the students agreed that ‘the session improved my knowledge of courses and jobs that I could do in the future’;
77% of the students agreed that the session helped them understand how their school work might help them get a job in the future.
Yo Yo project at Oathall (You Own Your Opportunities)
An exciting new pilot project has been launched to all of the Year 8 students in a special assembly. It is a work skills programme called Project YoYo (You Own Your Opportunities) delivered by Lloyds Banking Group volunteers. The focus of the project is to develop a range of key skills including communication, leadership and self-confidence. It will provide students with an awareness of the opportunities available to them and ensure they have the knowledge to achieve their full potential in the work environment.
A small group of students will be identified to be representatives for the year group. The selected Year 8 students will participate in six tailor-made sessions held at Oathall and the Haywards Heath branch of Lloyds. Finally, the group will feedback their work to the year group at the end of the project in a special assembly.
Pianoman Master Class – Scholarship awarded to three Oathall students
Our young musicians were privileged to be able to take part in a piano master class with concert pianist Richard Meyrick on Monday 27th March 2017. Hana Konig, Ted Maslin, Andrew Galt, Hayden Newnham, Jess Ruddock and Molly Hord were selected by audition to perform a piece for Richard, parents and guests. Richard then provided feedback to each student to help them improve their interpretation, technique and help them set goals for the preparation and presentation of their pieces.
The programme has been running for eleven years and is sponsored by Sir and Lady Harvey McGrath. It has enabled Richard to visit a number of schools to present his inspiring piano master classes and as a result, dozens of promising young pianists have been awarded scholarships. We are delighted that three of our students were selected to receive a scholarship and look forward to hearing the results of Richard’s tuition in future concerts at the school.
You can hear Richard Meyrick in concert playing Liszt transcribed by Vladimir Horowitz at the following link http://www.pianomanscholarships.co.uk/
It was a stimulating and informative afternoon for all pianists and musicians who attended the event. Congratulations to Hana, Molly and Jess who are the recipients of the scholarship.
Library news
It’s been a busy term in the library. We celebrated World Book Day with the Big Book Swap, where students brought in unwanted books from home and swapped them with each other. We had 62 books brought in and only 4 were left at the end; our students were thrilled with their “new” books.
For the first time ever, Oathall ran DEAR time. This stands for Drop Everything And Read and we quite literally, did just that. The bell rang and the whole school stopped what it was doing, picked up a book and read for 20 minutes, staff and students alike. It was wonderful, you could hardly hear a pin drop.
We have formed Graphic novels and Manga club for Years 8 students which meets every Thursday. We are currently reading and reviewing books for the Excelsior Award and next term, we hope to write our own graphic novel. As this generation read in a very different way to previous generations, the library is rising to the challenge and encouraging reading in all its forms. This is a fascinating article by former Comics Laureate for Great Britain, recently featured in the Times Educational Supplement.
However, the highlight of this term as been last week’s visit by author C. J. Daugherty who spoke to our Year 7 students, they were enthralled as she regaled them with tales of her life and what inspired her to become an author. She took lots of questions and really engaged our students; they are still coming into the library talking about her visit and borrowing her books. Here are some photos from her visit.
Maths Super Hero Day
Our students were treated to a Super Hero Maths day yesterday (6th April) and they were so inspired. Here is a glimpse of the department in full costume.
Creativity in Design Technology
Mrs Kirkpatrick and Mrs Lamb have been very impressed with the outcome of the new Year 9 smart materials project in Textiles. The students have worked hard on their light-up key-rings and here are two of the results so far, from Matilda Pardoe (9EFH) and Charlie Kneller (9EFH).”
House news
Click here to see the latest House Championship table. “It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage.” Henry Ward Beecher
Voyager gain the most credits this term…still in it!
Attendance is something our students have been working hard on; click here and here to see the latest tables.
Year 7 football report
The game started quickly, both teams fighting for the ball. It went tackle to tackle, throw in to throw in, but finally, the first goal was scored by Erica, 1-0 Oathall! Sackville started with the ball but soon got tackled with a quick pass to Erica and a second goal scored. Sophie tackled hard but two goals from Sackville went in and that made it 2-2. Oathall scored once more and then Sackville equalised. With minutes left, both teams desperate to win, Emily scored the winner, 4-3 to Oathall! Well done everyone! Josie Milson was awarded ‘players’ player’ of the match.
Team front row L to R
Maitland Delaney, Emily Jury Carmichael (2 goals), Liv Jury Carmichael, Erica Marriott-Tremlett (2 goals) and Sophia Taylor
Middle row L to R
Lucy Bland, Anna Piper, Sophie Hammans, Molly Aplin (vice-captain) & Ella Greenslade (captain).
Back row L to R
Hannah Taylor, Josie Milson, Zoe Nye and Ashleigh Davies-Fletcher.
Bake Off – Celebrating 50 years of the South of England Agricultural Society!
The theme for the annual Bake Off competition at Oathall is the South of England Agricultural Society. This year they are celebrating 50 years of showcasing agriculture, horticulture and the countryside.
This year eight finalists were selected from entries by students from Oathall and Warden Park. Competitors were given 4 hours to bake and decorate their cake creations before they were judged by John de Longa, President of the Haywards Heath Rotary club and his colleagues Nigel Voakes and Vic O’Farrell along with Anne Bradshaw and Sue Perkins from Franklands Village Women’s Institute and Oathall’s Catering Manager, Sue Denyer.
The cake decoration reflected themes of farming & the countryside as well as the South of England Show. The standard of baking & taste from all the candidates was extremely high and deciding on a winner was a difficult decision for the judges. In the end, they awarded first prize to Janu Ramkissun, second prize went to Seren Billson and third prize went to Emily Brock. All the competitors received an embroidered apron and recipe book for taking part with gift vouchers for the top three places.
The cakes made by the students will go on display at the Ardingly Showground, in the Norfolk Pavilion at the weekend.
The Finalists were:
Seren Billson – Oathall
Emily Brock – Oathall
Nina Kashdan – Oathall
Max Lewry – Oathall
Alexandra Negru – Oathall
Janu Ramkissun – Warden Park
Phoebe Skinner – Warden Park
Anna Southon – Oathall