27th, 28th and 29th February 7.30pm
Tickets: £7 adult
£5 student or concessions
£20 family (2 adults + 2 children)

Money to finance office

Mrs. Whyte.

I wrote to you on the 14^th December 2011 to inform you of the First Bus decision to withdraw the 640, 641 and 642 routes. This came as a shock to the school and parents alike.

Although the responsibility for travel to school remains with parents, I was of the view that on parents’ behalf, the school should try and find an appropriate solution to the transport issue.

We have had conversations with both First Bus and Emsworth and District Bus Company to find a solution. I can confirm that from Monday 20^th February 2012 Emsworth and District Bus Company will provide a morning and afternoon bus services for children at Oaklands Catholic School on the withdrawn routes.

Attached to this letter are details of the bus services numbers, the fares, the routes and timetables and which bus stops will be used in Oaklands for the afternoon collection.  In the mornings the Emsworth/Westbourne service will drop children inside the school grounds, the Clanfield/Horndean service will drop students at the bus stop on the Oaklands side of Stakes Hill Road so that students can walk to the school gates without having to cross a road. 

Termly bus passes will be available for purchase and details of the cost of these and how to apply for them will be available from the Emsworth and District Bus Company in due course.  Students currently in possession of bus passes are advised to convert their First Bus passes into Emsworth and District ones as soon as possible.  All this involves is handing their old pass and a passport size photo with the students’ name and route they use written on the back to the driver in the morning, and the new passes will be issued in the afternoon on the return journey.

Should you need further information from Emsworth and District Bus Company, their contact details are http://www.emsworthanddistrict.co.uk/ or 01243 378337.

We are, as you can imagine, delighted that Emsworth and District Bus Company have opted to lay on these services, and would encourage as many families as possible in the areas served by these routes to use the bus services for child transport to and from school. 

 Yours sincerely,

 M Quinn

 The replacement details are as follows

The fare pricing is as follows

The timetables can be downloaded below (Microsoft Excel files)

605 Emsworth mornings

641 Denvilles afternoons

639 Clanfield

Admissions Policy 2013/14

ADMISSIONS POLICY 2013-2014 {1}

Supplementary Information Sheet 2013/14

admform2013 2014

6th Form Admissions Policy 2013/14

admpol6form 2013-14 Jan 2012

Jan 2012 Exam Timetable

2012 Y11 Module and Mock Timetable (a couple of changes have been made to this since first publication)

Year 11 Exam Letter

On 9th November 2011 we received notice from First Hampshire and Dorset Ltd, a subsidiary bus company within the First Group that they intend to withdraw the 640 bus service operating between Clanfield, Horndean and Oaklands and the 641/642 service operating between Warblington, Southleigh, West Leigh and Oaklands. This is not a decision made by the school.

First Hampshire and Dorset intend to withdraw the service on 10th February 2012. This announcement was unexpected, without prior consultation and is potentially devastating for the students who use these services. I am dismayed that the company would remove a school service and to do this midway through an academic year which potentially leaves parents in an untenable situation. The company maintain that the routes are no longer profitable and it is this that has led them to a commercial decision to remove the services.

Over the last month we have been negotiating with Mr David Attrill, Network Planner at First with a view to mitigating the impact of their decision. I am pleased to report that a compromise solution has been found to replace the 640 service. However, this will necessitate the use of public service buses on a part dedicated route, and an alternative dedicated service leaving Oaklands and terminating at the London Road junction in Cowplain. In addition, Stage Coach Bus Company run a service on part of the 640 route from and to local stops close to the school.

Unfortunately, no undertaking has been made by First to provide or alter services on the 641/642 route to the east of Oaklands. Both First and Stagecoach run public routes around Westleigh and Havant which will help some families. The public services out to Warblington and Emsworth travelling west are more fragmented.

A significant number of families who live over the three mile limit on the affected routes are still in possession of a subsidised bus pass, this will continue in accordance with the Local Authority policy. We are currently working with the LA to ascertain how transport will be provided for these students.

For all students in the affected areas we are currently looking at alternatives to public transport. This work is in its infancy, if a successful case can be made for an ‘in house’school based bus service for some of the affected areas we will, of course, involve parents in a consultation process.

You may wish to contact First Hampshire and Dorset direct; they can be contacted on 023 8071 4800 or via their website http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/hampshire/

This news will come as a shock to you and may place you and your children in an invidious position. I will write to you again after Christmas once we have more information about alternative services.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Matthew Quinn.

Those involved with the Genocide Project at school have created a website to allow those interested to keep up to date with current news and developments. Please click on the link above to learn more.

Families will be aware of current press coverage surrounding an anticipated day of action by some of the teaching and public service unions on 30th November. A number of families have already started to enquire about the school’s position.

The dispute is between employees in the public services and the Government, not the school. Provided unions have followed the legal procedures staff have a legitimate right to strike.

On the basis of the information that I currently have, the school will remain open on 30^th November.  However, the situation remains fluid as some staff may have not made a decision regarding their stance. 

We will do all we can to keep families informed of any developments and will be updating this website as and when we know more. 

Families may wish to consider their contingency plan should industrial action have an impact on the school.

Literacy focuses on promoting and developing each student’s ability to understand and use language as an integral part of the learning process across all areas of the curriculum – to interact with the world around them, to express themselves creatively and to communicate confidently using a variety of media. Developing Numeracy skills enables students to apply mathematics across the curriculum and in real life situations. Skills in Numeracy should help our young people to make informed and responsible choices and decisions throughout their lives.

Developing Literacy and Numeracy therefore must be central elements of Oaklands’ delivery of the curriculum, and of the support and professional development for teachers in implementing the curriculum. Assessment also provides us with information that has a key role in helping us to improve outcomes. Knowing how students are performing allows us to undertake in-formed self-evaluation and set meaningful and challenging targets. Central to all of these strategies is the importance of good relationships and partnerships working between teachers, students and parents. Parents are the primary educators of their children. Parents have a significant influence on their child’s achievement by encouraging them to do well, taking an interest in their work and co-operating with their school.

 So what does the ‘Count! Read! Succeed’! initiative look like at Oaklands?

A diverse team of staff from English, Maths and other departments have volunteered to lead this school priority.

 There will be a number of key actions:

• Literacy and Numeracy Focus Weeks – staff from all departments will introduce lessons with a particular Literacy or Numeracy starter
• Staff will be offered specific Literacy or Numeracy training so that they feel confident to deliver the skills
• The Cross-Phase Team will work with the Literacy and Numeracy Co-ordinators from our feeder primary schools to ex-change best practice
• Students in Years 7 and 8 who were admitted with a level 3 or below in English or Maths will be tracked and progress monitored
• Interventions both in the class-room and in the Bartimaeus Centre will be activated
• Students who received 1-to-1 tuition last year will also be monitored to see if the intervention was successful
• Staff will undertake research on successful strategies on a nationwide level

 Mrs McConn-Finch

August 25^th                             Results day & enrolment into Sixth Form 11.00 am

August 26^th                             Enrolment into Sixth Form 9.30 am

September 6^th                        All Sixth Form attend 9.00 am         

• Photos for needed for Bus Pass photo cards – passes ready to be collected
• Meet with tutor
• Pick up diary and timetable
• Students will make an appointment with their Form Tutor to arrange a post results and course interview with Form Tutor for 6-9^th September.  All students have a half hour meeting with their tutor to discuss course/result issues and make important decisions with clarity before term starts. 

September 8^th                                    All Year 12 to attend 9.00 am

• Individual school photographs
• First assembly and tutorial session
• Choose enrichment activity

September 12^th                      All Sixth Form lessons begin

 September 15^th                     Parents’ Sixth Form Information Evening Hall 7-8 pm

This event proved most useful to parents last year when we launched it in response to parents feeling that they needed to know more about the type of study required at A Levels as well as the levels expected and the support available.

October 4-6^th              Sixth Form residential to St Cassian’s, Kintbury

October 13^th                Year 13 only – Parents Evening  main Hall 5-8pm

October 24-28^th        Half term break

November 17^th           5/7pm start – Sixth Form Open Evening
                                                For prospective Sixth Form. Subject presentations follow a short introduction by  Matt Quinn in the Main Hall.

November 29^th          Year 12 and 13 Interim Report sent home

December 1^st                Year 12 Parent-student-tutor meeting Sixth Form block 4-7pm

December 9^th               Oaklands Christmas Ball main hall 8-12 midnight 

Sixth Form students are privileged enough to be invited to this grand annual Ball held in the school hall for parents and staff.  It is a fitting end to a busy term and a brilliant opportunity to dress up in suits and ball gowns to dance the night away.

December 16^th                End of term

 January 4th  2012        Beginning of Spring Term

January 2^nd Week        Resit AS Exams

February 3-10^th              Sixth Form practice exams

February 13-17^th            Half term break

February 27-30^th          School Production

March 19^th                          UCAS Information Evening for Yr12 Students and parents – vital info for the year ahead.

March 20^th                         Year 12 and 13 End of Year review sent home

March 22^nd                        Year 12 and 13 Parents Evening  main hall 5-8pm

March 30^th                         End of Easter Term

April 16^th                              Summer Term begins

April 19^th                             Yr 12 & 13 Parents Evening (Sixth Form Block)

May 11^th                                Year 12 begin AS Exam Leave

May 25^th                              Year 13 Leavers Mass and Dinner

May 25^th                              Year 13 Leave

June 4-8^th                           Half term break

June 11^th                              Year 12 return from Exam leave

Students return to college until the end of term and begin a new transitional phase in their A Level courses.  They will all be expected to complete Discovery Projects in each of their courses.  These require self-motivated study as the transition between year one and two of A Levels.  This is an opportunity for students to improve their independent and active study habits and is a very useful accomplishment for university and employment applications.

July 2-6^th                           Whole School Challenge Week

Students in Sixth Form can join the younger years to gain volunteer experience, use the time visiting universities, spending the week on subject residentials for A Levels as well as taking part in psychological studies as research participants for each other.

July 12^th                             Penny Fayre

Students run stalls in the old school fete style to raise money for a nominated local charity.  Students in Years 7-9 visit the stalls to spend their pennies!  Hook a duck, roll a penny, Harry Potter trivia and guess the jelly bean flavour are just a few of the fun activities.

 July 13^th                           Oaklands Sixth Form Taster Day and Barbeque

The cycle begins again with new students joining existing Year 12s for a morning’s lessons after which there is a tasty BBQ on the sunken lawn for staff and students to become re-aquainted or get to know each other.

July 16^th                           Sports Day

July 17-18^th                    Final Deadlines for Discovery Projects – PASS/FAIL

July 19^th                          END OF TERM – FULL SCHOOL MASS and CONCERT

August 16^th                    Results for (both Yr 12  and Yr 13) AS and A2 Levels

August 23^rd                   GCSE Results Day

August 23^rd/24^th      Sixth Form Enrolment Days for September 2012

A Level

Another high set of A level examination results was celebrated by students and staff on 25th August, with a phenomenal 99.6% of grades at  A*-E‘, up on last year. The number of grades at A*‘ to C‘ continued its upward trajectory to 80%, with a 54% return at A*‘ to B‘ grades. As last year, 100% of students achieved at least 1 A level pass.

The results are a fitting tribute to the hard work of a truly wonderful group of students. It is very rewarding to see the progress made by many of our students from entry into Year 7 through to Year 13. The national picture for university candidates presented a gloomy view this year. The high grade profile achieved at Oaklands resulted in the overwhelming majority of students gaining entry to their UCAS university places.

 9 of the 84 students achieved straight As or A*s‘ in three or four subjects, two of these were Emily Hopkins and David Hodges. 100% pass rate was achieved in many subjects including History, Geography, English, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. A*s‘ were awarded in many subjects including Physics, Maths RE and English. Many other subjects were equally successful.

The school continues to justify its strong reputation at Advanced Level.

GCSE

Again this year the school demolished the 80% barrier at 5+ A*-C, achieving over 86% GCSE grades in all subjects. 75% of students achieved 5+ A*- C grades including English and Maths, this was in line with the tough target set by the Local Authority. Against the new Government EBAC measure, the school scored 41%. These results need to be seen in the context of a traditional curriculum.

A number of students were star performers; Callum Stirling achieved 9A*, Catherine Hodges 10A*, Emily Schonhut 9A* and Michael Weekes 8A*. The hard work, effort and reward of all students who achieved in line or better than their potential must be acknowledged.

All departments performed well with R.E achieving 54% A*-A, Chemistry 74% A*-A, Physics 68% A*-A. Nationally, this year students took a different type of examination at GCSE compared with previous years; for most GCSE subjects coursework has been re-moved and replaced with controlled assessment, it therefore makes it difficult to make a year on year comparison. We are regularly reminded how difficult it is for young people in the current economic climate, but Oaklands students are secure in the knowledge that they will be able to go onto College, Sixth Form or apprenticeships because Oaklands has provided them with a firm foundation.