Since I last wrote, we have had Armistice Day.  In school we had an observed silence and one of our Sixth Form students played the last post.
At Oaklands we think carefully about the place of such events in our curriculum. Questions about war and peace can be addressed across the curriculum, particularly through History, English and Religious Education. This forms part of how we address issues raised by Catholic Social Teaching.

Last week was Anti Bullying Week and the events are coordinated across England and Wales by the Anti-Bullying Alliance.  This year the theme was Reach Out; a theme which encourages children and adults to reach out to do something positive to counter the hurt that bullying causes.

All of our students have participated in anti-bullying assemblies where a number of issues have been discussed including on-line bullying. Further work has been undertaken during tutor time. We are also in the process of introducing a system that will allow students to report any issues related to bullying with a degree of anonymity.

Earlier this year I directed parents to the Havant Federation of Schools’ statement on bullying. This can be found by following this link.

Before COVID, the school worked on achieving the Diana Award. This award recognised the work we do at Oaklands to promote an anti-bullying culture.  It was our intention to move to the next stage in the award category. Sadly, over COVID the organisation responsible for this could not provide the service. I am pleased to say they are now up and running and this work now continues in school.

Finally, last week Year 10 experienced their Mission Day. The day focused around the Beatitudes, students listened to a number of external speakers and engaged in various workshops. The day concluded with the celebration of Mass.  Thank you to the Chaplaincy Team for the work they undertook to make the event work so well.