Number 5 11 December 2015

Christmas Tree!

A big thank you to Hyatt of

West Sussex Showground,

who kindly donated a real 7ft

Christmas tree. Not only does the

tree provide a sensory experience

by perfuming the room for our PMLD learners,

it also enables the students with the wonderful

sensory tactile activity of dressing it. The class

enjoyed a trip out to choose the tree and bring

it back to school.

Carols by Candlelight & Festive

Singalong Songs - 16 December

This will take place from 6:00pm to

7:30pm at Oak Grove College.

Please come along with your children and enjoy a

festive fun evening. Refreshments and mince

pies will be available. A selection of students

will be performing (your child will receive a

separate letter if they are involved).

Variety Show

A huge thanks to everyone that came to

support our excellent Variety Show in

November. We were lucky enough to enjoy

some very high quality and entertaining

acts which included magic, music, drama,

dance, singing and comedy. All the

students worked extremely hard - many

of them in their own time - and should be

very proud of their efforts and talent!

‘Link to Hope’ Christmas shoe box appeal

A massive thank you to everyone who either

donated a shoe box or supported the appeal

by sending in items. We are very proud to

announce that we dropped off a whopping 36

boxes at the depot… the most to date!

Thank you everyone. Class CA.

Christmas Fair

Thank you to everyone who came along to

support our Christmas Fair on Saturday.

It was well attended by families, elves and

even Santa! £594 was raised, thanks to

The Friends of Oak Grove College. Thanks also for supporting the Special

Olympics stall at the Christmas Fair - we

raised over £250, which will go towards

the Nationals in Sheffield.

6th Form raise £147.52

The 6th form ASDAN group

raised £147.52 for this year’s

Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Well done.

Paraplay Day

Eight Koa students attended

Paraplay Day, which was run by

Brighton F.C. and Chichester

University. All students were

fully engaged throughout the day

and took part in a range of

different activities, including

football, blind target games,

tennis, boccia, rounders and

wheelchair basketball.

Students had a fantastic time.

Well done Thomas, Shami,

Alessia, Felicity, Maisy, Hakim,

Barnaby and Connor.

Boccia Tournament

Nine students competed against

twelve other teams in the Boccia

tournament last Monday. They all

played very well and used the tactics

they had been learning. Our top team

of Ammie–Leigh, Befinn and Holly

came second in their pool and went on

to the play-offs where they drew the

Angmering A team, comprising of

national players. They put up a good

fight and narrowly lost 3-2. Overall positions:

Oak Grove A Team - 8th

Oak Grove B Team - 4th

Oak Grove C Team - Joint 11th

Wheelchair Masters

Eight sports leaders went to the Olympic Park in London

on Friday to watch some wheelchair tennis. They

travelled by train and got a chance to go on the high

speed service from St Pancras to Stratford

International. Once in the park, they had to learn how

tennis is scored, find out what the difference is

between wheelchair tennis and able bodied tennis, and

listen for the umpiring phases. Students were met by

volunteer Margaret who took them round the venue and

to the court for the match. Afterwards, the students

got to go to the activity zone where they played a

variety of games which they will practise, then deliver

to year 7 in the summer term. They also got to meet

and play tennis with John Bercow (Speaker of the

House of Commons).

Bad Weather Procedures

As the winter brings the colder weather,

please ensure that you listen to the local

radio (Heart FM, Splash FM & Spirit FM),

where news of school closures due to

snowfall will be broadcasted.

Should you have concerns about whether

school will be open, please check the

school’s website

www.oakgrovecollege.org.uk which will be

updated by 7:00am on each morning of

possible closure. We will also send a text

to parents – please make sure we have

your most up to date mobile number.

If county transport is not running, do not

bring your child into school unless you are

prepared to collect them too.

Puzzle Day

Last Tuesday we had our annual OGC Puzzle Day.

The whole college swapped lessons for a jam-

packed day full of problem solving and team

building activities. Students spent the day in

their family groups, meeting new friends and

working together. Animus students started off

in The Space with some giant board games

before heading off to Rebound Therapy for the

morning. Students enjoyed completing jigsaws

of staff with their silly selfies and getting tied

up in knots during the rope challenge. Both staff

and students across the college took on the

challenge of building 3D structures with Kapla

bricks. Things got competitive with geocaching

and speed stacking challenges. We had special

guest 'The Puzzle Man', and ended the day with

a whole school assembly with Dan the Hat.

Para Triathlon

The final total raised from the Para Triathlon, which took place during the summer term, is

£2254. This will be shared with the school to buy outdoor gym equipment. Please note 7th

August 2016 in your diaries to take part again next year. Below is a link for you to see what

we did and inspire you to join in. There is also a video on the second page which shows our

students taking part. http://www.tribalseries.com

Christmas Post!

The Christmas postbox is back and

our Literacy elves are primed to sort

and deliver your festive good wishes.

Please remember to help them by

adding: Surname

Class or Family Group Many thanks,

The Christmas Post Fairy

Friends of Oak Grove Well, the Friends have been busy since September! To start the term, we managed to secure all the funding for the

Acheeva bed which has now been purchased and is being used in the

PMLD classes. We then focused our efforts on the Christmas Fair.

Thank you to everyone who donated toiletries and chocolates on the

two mufti days. We were inundated with donations, and a team of

mums and staff helped sort and label all the items ready for our

tombola stall. We also ran the café at the fair on Saturday and we

were delighted to raise £594 across both stalls and the sale of the

DVDs. We are very close to raising the £6,000 needed for the outdoor PE equipment and we are

hopeful that by the end of the year we will be in a position to order the equipment. The

next item that the college have asked us to help purchase is a new minibus! They have

already been successful in a bid from the Lord Taverners charity, but they have to match

fund an amount of £14,000 to qualify for the new bus. Although it is a huge amount of

money I think the “Friends” can rise to the challenge with the help of everyone at Oak

Grove College, and raise this money so that all our children can go out into the community

more. We have already got lots of exciting things to share with you. Early next year we will be

launching “Lucky Lotto” where you can pay a £1 a week and choose a number and every

week someone will win £30. We also have a mufti/activity day on Friday 29th January in

school and a race night is booked for Friday 11th March. More details will follow in the

New Year, or you can keep up to date with all the news on our Facebook page. If you are

not already a member please go to the page and ask to join and we will happily approve

you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/oakgroverparents/ For now though, we all wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year. Debbie May (On behalf of the FOG Committee)

Forthcoming dates for your diary:

16 December Carols by Candlelight

17 December Carol Concert

18 December Last day of term, non-uniform

21 December — to 1 January Christmas holidays

4 January Return to school

22 January Inset day

26 January KS3 Parents Evening

9 February KS4/5 Parents Evening

15 to 19 February Half Term