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

• More FE fun in France!

  Wed 17 Jul 2019

  After their close encounters with snails the previous day, on Tuesday, 16th July the students and staff went to a French market to buy their lunch before going to an Aqua Park and playing sports/games on the beach.  They had such a wonderful, fun day as you can see in the photos below.  

   

  Back at base we have been trying not to be too green with envy (and/or green at the site of the snails) and were absolutely thrilled to get the e-mail below, from the Hotel where they stayed:-

   

  From: Info <info@hotel-moulinauxdraps.com>
  Sent: 17 July 2019 08:53
  To: Sam Perryman 
  Subject: Thank you Oakley!

   

  Hello Sam,

  I’m Justine, assistant manager in Le Moulin aux draps in Desvres.
  I am sending a mail to say you thank you ! We loved your group and it was the first time for me and several members of the staff with a group like you. It is a very great experience because they taught so much. They can do everything, it was a very great pleasure for us! They were so polite, cleaner than another groups, less wasteful. SO just Thank you!! I hope that they enjoyed the trip.

  Justine Debeaulieu

   

  Hotel Restaurant Le Moulin aux draps

  Rue de Cremarest

  62240 DESVRES

  info@hotel-moulinauxdraps.com

  Tel : 03.21.10.69.59

   

  We are all so proud of our students, who are on their way home now, having visited a bunker which has been converted into a museum today. We look forward to hearing about their adventures, although we are expecting them all (staff included) to be fatigue (as they say in France)!

  

• Further Education (FE) trip to France!

  Tue 16 Jul 2019

  Bright and early on the morning of Monday, 15th July a group of Further Education (FE) students headed off for a residential trip to France!  Having arrived safely, they started their French experience with a visit to a snail farm, before exploring the beautiful town of Montreuil-sur-Mer and then enjoying an evening in the beautiful surroundings of their hotel.  Today, Tuesday, 16th July they are going to a market, before going swimming and enjoying playing games on the beach - sounds wonderful!

  

• Another superb Summer Fair

  Mon 08 Jul 2019

  Saturday, 6th July was Oakley's annual Summer Fair.  This year, in addition to all the usual activities and treats on offer, we had the official opening of our MUGA - Multi-Use Games Area - a new outdoor facility thanks to The Wooden Spoon Charity and their generous grant.  We were lucky with the weather, it was so lovely and warm which attracted so many of our children and young people, their families and friends. The Fair had a lovely, friendly atmosphere with the pupils showcasing some of the things they do in school; our Makaton Choir sang for everyone, our Speech & Language Therapist demonstrated just how much fun the children have with Attention Autism to support their learning and some of our pupils demonstrated Tag Rugby.

   

  There are so many people to thank for the success of the day; the Friends of Oakley (our PTA) who give up so much of their time to organise the event, Oakley staff who make donations and help out on the day, our parents and carers who support everything we do and finally our wider School community; local employers and businesses who donated raffle prizes, local supermarkets who donated fruit, the local emergency services who let the children climb all over their vehicles and charity and individual supporters and fundraisers.  Collectively, it made the Summer Fair a joyful and memorable occasion.

  

• Final update and photos from Wales

  Fri 05 Jul 2019

  Our intrepid Welsh mountaineers are on their way home.  No-one can quite believe how quickly the week has gone and how lucky they have been with the weather.  We are expecting some happy but very tired young people and adults home later.

   

  Yesterday, their last full day, they started by walking to the lake and building 2 rafts with the help of Karl and Jez who were their instructors for the morning. They were shown how to do a reef knot to secure the wooden poles and plastic drums together. Once they had built their rafts, each team got on and raced each other on the lagoon. Each team won a race and both rafts stayed afloat, which was a huge relief! 

   

  Yesterday afternoon was spent at Caernarfon Castle, where the Prince of Wales was invested. In fact it’s the 50th anniversary of this and filming was going on around the grounds of the Castle in recognition of it. Everyone was very impressed with how big the Castle was and how well kept. 

  

• Wales Trip Update

  Thu 04 Jul 2019

  Yesterday was another fantastic day. Our intrepid group walked down to the lake after a hearty breakfast and spent the morning kayaking. Two kayaks were joined together to make it more stable and 5-6 of the group were in each of the kayaks. There was lots of laughter, splashing and bumping into each other initially but once they got going and got the art of how to use the oar, they were off!

   

  Back to the house for lunch and some of the pupils decided to rest for the afternoon and watch a film whilst the rest of the crew went mountain climbing. Our young people were so brave and adventurous, all attempted the climb and felt so proud of themselves afterwards. Once at the top of the mountain the views were breathtaking. The Kent Mountain Centre staff have been so accommodating for all the needs of our pupils and are making their experience such a memorable one. Last night was piggery pottery, which everyone had been looking forward to.

  

• The latest news from Wales

  Wed 03 Jul 2019

  Everyone had a wonderful day yesterday walking around LLyn Ogwen.  It was a long and tricky walk, up a steep rocky hill at first and was challenging for a few of our young people but they did so well, with the help of their friends.   They all felt extremely proud of themselves. They walked up to the lake, had a lovely packed lunch and some even enjoyed a paddle and threw stones.  Continuing around the lake, the views were incredible and everyone very much enjoyed it.  One of the pupils said it was his type of holiday and that he never wanted it to end.  Another said it was one of his highlights of Year 11!  

  

• Years 10/11 Residential to Wales

  Tue 02 Jul 2019
  Yesterday morning a group of our Phase 3 pupils headed off to Wales for a week's residential.  It was a long journey by coach but they all coped so well, arriving safe and sound in time for tea.  They had to make their own beds before getting into them, but had a great first night's sleep before getting up to make their own breakfast this morning, in preparation for all the day's fun activities.