Oaklands Catholic School/Academy is a Roman Catholic

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

co-educational school and

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...

with academy status located in

Waterlooville Waterlooville is a market town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town has a population of about 64,350 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendwort ...

, Hampshire, United Kingdom. It opened in 1966, although its history can be traced back to 1902. Around 1400 students attend the school with over 150 in the Sixth Form. Oaklands has been a Specialist Humanities College since September 2005.

Buildings

The school consists of seven different blocks, mainly separated into different subject groups. There have been an extensive site improvement programme seeing the replacement of prefabricated buildings with purpose designed brick-built buildings. The three new blocks consist of a new music block, Humanities block (Formerly C block, now John Paul II block) and Sixth Form Block. Each of these blocks has been built in a similar style, often incorporating a cross in different coloured bricks. 2012 has seen a major refurbishment of the Maths/Science block with Maths moving to A Block and the labs being update in three phases with completion eventually around Summer 2013. The grounds incorporate many mature oak trees, giving the site its name. There are many different blocks that follow this order 2022. J block : History/Geography/Languages A block : Design N block : English/IT/Food Kolbe block: Science R block : PE C block : Music W block : Languages/R.E The White House, which houses admin and religious education, is a

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

structure built for General Napier.

Ofsted

The school received a 'Good' Ofsted report in 2017, however were accredited, with 'many outstanding features'.

Section 48

The school received an 'outstanding' section 48 report in 2019. (Inspection of Religious education aspects.)

Subjects

The Religious Education (RE) department offers a GCSE course that is compulsory for all students; the course is an AQA course and students learn about two religions, Catholic Christianity and Judaism. They also study themes. An

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

course is also available for sixth form students, educating about the

new testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

, and the 'themes' on the course at the time. The maths department located in the upper floors of

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

block, offering GCSE and

courses. The maths department uses e-education resources such as MathsWatch and MathsBuster for student homework tasks. Students can choose their exam board for this subject. The music department offers GCSE and A level music and instrument tuition. There are currently three school bands, the Oaklands band, the Concert band, and the Big band. For GCSE the exam board is AQA. The Geography department is situated in the top of new John Paul II block. The team teach for GCSE and

. The technology department located in Angelico block accommodates Art, Electronics, textiles, metal work, photography and resistant materials. The food preparation technology is located in the 2 new kitchens on

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

block. A GCSE course is available in all technology subjects.

courses are available but only in fine art and design.

Alumni

Alumni of Oaklands School include: *

Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock, (born 29 March 1965) is a British government official working in social welfare. She was the deputy director of Shelter in 1992, head of the Rough Sleepers' Unit (RSU) in 1999, a director of the n ...

attended Oaklands between 1976 and 1983 * Jon Cruddas, elected in 2010 as the Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, having been elected in 2001 for the preceding Dagenham constituency. *

Caroline Dinenage Caroline Julia Dinenage, Baroness Lancaster of Kimbolton, (born 28 October 1971), also styled as Dame Caroline Dinenage, is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport since 2010. She was ...

, elected in 2010 as the Conservative MP for Gosport *

Penny Mordaunt Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) ...

, elected in 2010 as the Conservative MP for

Portsmouth North Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP. Boundaries 19 ...

and former

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

. *

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

team captain and

England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

player

Uniform

The school uniform was redesigned for the September 2009 academic year; the expense of the uniform caused controversy. A press release was released on the school website claiming many of the facts written by the newspaper articles were incorrect, and that the uniform was very hard wearing due to its materials. As a response to the controversy, the school started a nearly new uniform shop where the uniform could be brought cheaper.

References

External links

School history
{{authority control 1966 establishments in England Academies in Hampshire Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth Secondary schools in Hampshire