ear parents and guardians. Thank you for taking the time to look at our website. I hope that the information it contains is helpful and gives you a flavour of life at Oakbank School. Many of the strengths of the school will be evident to you as look through it, though it is difficult to convey the warm and friendly relationships which makes Oakbank such an attractive place to learn and work.

Oakbank continues to be very successful. In June 2007 Ofsted reported on Oakbank School: “Among the many particular good features were all aspects of the Sixth Form provision."

Oakbank is a school for all students. A place where everyone matters. We cater fully for the needs of all students through the Gifted and Talented programme, learning mentors and our Learning Support Unit.

Specialist Provision

We are a specialist Sports College and Technology College. We have a huge range of team and individual sports. Additional funding provides more teachers and coaches, better facilities and equipment, close links with national sporting associations and with higher education. All these, I must emphasise, are extras. They are not instead of what the school already offers.

In my first four years as Headteacher I have enjoyed working with a first class team with a proven track record of moving Oakbank from strength to strength.

So Oakbank continues to be a 'moving on' school which has a 'can do' attitude as a positive response to change and increased expectations.

We are a well-resourced school with excellent facilities. This summer we continued to upgrade our reception areas and our student social areas. With our own grounds staff the school continues to have excellent outdoor facilities for a whole range of sport.

The Sixth Form Centre opened just under four years ago and has had a significant impact on the provision for post-16 students. In 2006 we also opened a new vocational building which is an excellent facility for older students.

Expectations and Achievements

Oakbank is a lively place – visitors and new staff very quickly pick up the vibrancy and sense of things happening. Days can start with tea and bacon butties and other snacks in the canteen from 0800 and can end at 1630 in IT drop-in rooms or the Homework Club or even later with sports and clubs. There is a friendliness as well as purposefulness, and there are good relationships between students and our younger than average staff.

We expect a lot from students and from staff. Teachers and support staff are extremely committed. Teachers have targets to reach and so have students. We’re into achievement because only if students achieve will they fully enjoy life’s opportunities after school.

We also give substantial help to those students who are less academically inclined: a big programme of reading support, link courses in practical subjects at Keighley College, a wide work experience programme and a pioneering off-site course for those students who are poor attenders or who have serious problems coping with mainstream schooling.

But it’s certainly not all about the classroom. Dance, Drama and Music flourish (instrumental music lessons are still free); we enter students into national competitions in Maths and Science, we have our own Oakbank-owned outdoor pursuits centre in Galloway in Scotland, we have annual trips to France and Germany. There has also been a sports trip to Spain and a music trip to Holland. Students visit universities and employers, theatre and dance companies visit us.

A major thrust for us is creating opportunities for students to take on responsibilities and develop teamwork and leadership skills. The major vehicle for this is the House system and Student Council. We also have a Duke of Edinburgh Scheme and through this we have taken part in Leadership Challenge.

We aim to work in partnership with parents.

We want our parents to be fully informed about their children’s life at school. Our pastoral system is very strong – year teams and tutors are key links between parents and school. We aim to contact parents sooner rather than later to deal with problems and concerns promptly and openly. There are Review Days and Parents’ Evenings, written reports and grade reports which assess behaviour and effort in class, quality of homework and whether or not a student is reaching his/her target grades. Parents also have access to data on their child’s attendance, punctuality, rewards achieved and detentions given. Only if we all work together can a student be successful.

Yours sincerely

Chris Thompson
Headteacher