Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• It's the end of the year!

  Fri 21 Jul 2017

  We have had two very busy summer terms with so many enriching activities, in and out of school. Some of what we’ve done is detailed in our summer newsletter which can also be found on our website under News & Events.

   

  As part of our end of year celebrations we asked our children and young people what they've done during they year that has made them feel proud - they were asked to write on a leaf and those leaves have made our tree of pride (pictured below).

   

  We have been busy planning the move of our FE department to our Tonbridge site for September, which is an exciting first step to increasing our provision to include 19-25 year olds from September 2018, it will be like a new building there very soon. We are also moving our Early Years pupils to Tunbridge Wells which will be highly enriching for them, with lots of collaborative learning opportunities.

   

  I am also pleased to inform you that our Nursery build is on track to be finished in mid-August, ready to open in September, we currently have 14 children confirmed as having places which is fantastic! We showed the parents of nursery children around on Wednesday, 19th July and they were all delighted.

   

  We have appointed a full-time Speech and Language Therapist from September who will be working across all our sites. This is an important investment for us, with significant benefits to our children and young people.

   

  All that leaves me to do is thank everyone; my staff team, who work tirelessly to ensure the welfare and safety of all our children and young people and to equip them with skills for life and independence, so that they can be the best they can be. I would also like to thank our Governors, who give up so much of their time to support us and finally, all of our parents and carers, we know that without their support and commitment, our jobs would be so much harder.

   

  I wish everyone a wonderful summer.

  Gordon Tillman

  Headteacher

   

  

• IT'S OFFICIAL! Oakley's Got LOTS & LOTS of Talent

  Thu 13 Jul 2017

  What a great day we all had yesterday!  Key Stage 4 and 5 pupils competed in the first heat with our new Year 6 & 7 and Key Stage 3 pupils cheering and clapping along, and then in the afternoon Key Stage 3 pupils performed.  We had comedy acts, singers, dancers and musicians, with music from Dolly Parton to Little Mix to Alfie Boe!  This year, for the first time, pupils hosted the show as well, which was a huge success. 

   

  In the evening our children and young people performed again, in front of parents, carers, friends and family.   Everyone was so impressed with the enthusiasm, energy and talent of the students.  The whole event allowed everyone the opportunity to showcase not only their individual potential and commitment but also just how supportive they are of one another.  It was such a positive experience and everyone left feeling truly uplifted.

   

  The hardest job was picking winners, they were all so amazing!  Thank you to everyone who supported the event, we look forward to Oakley's Got Talent 2018!

   

  

• Oakley's Got Talent - TODAY!

  Wed 12 Jul 2017
  The day our pupils have been looking forward to has finally arrived, just a few last minute rehearsals and tweaks to the running order before we start the first heat of OAKLEY'S GOT TALENT.  Parents and carers, friends and family are invited to the final heat this evening where they can watch their children and young people sing, dance, recite poetry, juggle etc.  We guarantee it will be a FUN filled event.

  

• Year 11 pupils excel during their work experience

  Wed 12 Jul 2017

  Our Year 11 pupils are back in school this week after two weeks' work experience.  They worked in a wide variety of local businesses and organisations including Marks and Spencer, Costa, local stables, Pepenbury, Mid Kent College, Herbilicious, the list is endless.  We had so many positive reports about how hard they worked, how much their confidence grew and how independent they were able to be.  We are so proud of them.

   

  One of our pupils, pictured, worked in Costa for the two week period and served Oakley staff and stakeholders during that time. We received a glowing report from one of our stakeholders who said "he looks so smart and proud in his Barista uniform and he seemed to be working really hard. The staff spoke very highly of him too."

   

  Congratulations to our Year 11 pupils and a big THANK YOU to all the employers who supported this important experience for our young people.

  

• 'The safety and well-being of [Oakley's] pupils is given the highest priority'

  Wed 12 Jul 2017

  Kent County Council commissioned a Safeguarding Review of each of its 22 SEND Schools,  Oakley School had its review on the 20th and 21st June.  The full report from the Review can be found under About Our School\Safeguarding, but we are delighted to share some of the highlights:- "Oakley Schools is a very safe environment for children", "pupils rightly report that they feel safe and appear to be happy in school", "meticulous records are kept", "staff know their children very well", "there is a tangible atmosphere of "care" in Oakley and staff appear to routinely support each other". The report ends with "The commitment of staff at every level to creating a safe learning environment and their determination to ensure that all pupils have the best possible life chances is striking".

   

  There are some points of further improvement recommended in the Report, which we completely take on board and will action accordingly.

• A Step Back in Time

  Tue 04 Jul 2017
  On Saturday, 1st July 2017 Oakley School was visited by 11 gentlemen (pictured below) who attended the school when it was called St Georges in the 1960s (the eldest of our visitors left the school in 1961).   At that time, instead of the current modern building, the school was a big manor house and was residential.    As part of their reunion (they had travelled from all over the country to get together) they walked around the site reminiscing about the old tennis courts, the croquet lawn and the various members of staff and their teaching skills (it was a very different style back then).  It was great fun listening to their stories and the things they got up to! There isn't much left of the old school from the 1960s but just being back on the site and walking around the grounds was enough to generate so many memories.  We hope that the Year 13 students who left us last Friday remember Oakley School as fondly.