Oakhyrst Grange School Joins the Award-Winning Caterham Family of Schools
Thriving and much-loved Surrey preparatory school, Oakhyrst Grange School, has announced that it will be joining the multi award-winning Caterham Family of Schools, marking an exciting new chapter in the school’s 75-year history.
Set within five and a half acres of beautiful Surrey Hills lawns and woodland, Oakhyrst Grange School is renowned for its nurturing ethos, strong academic foundations and exceptional pastoral care. Combining traditional values with innovative learning opportunities, the school provides an inspiring environment where children are encouraged to grow in confidence, develop a love of learning and achieve their full potential.
The partnership brings together two schools that have enjoyed a close relationship for decades and share a commitment to educational excellence, pupil wellbeing and innovation. Oakhyrst and Caterham already share many families and alumni, and both schools are united by a belief in providing outstanding opportunities for every child.
Oakhyrst Grange is proud of its exceptional facilities, including a heated indoor swimming pool, sports hall, Multi-Use Games Area and dedicated Forest School provision, all of which support a broad and ambitious curriculum. The school was also recently recognised nationally with a Pearson National Teaching Award Bronze Award for Early Years Team of the Year, celebrating the outstanding quality of its Early Years provision.
Gemma Mitchell, Headteacher of Oakhyrst Grange School, said:
“Joining the Caterham Family of Schools is a hugely exciting opportunity for Oakhyrst Grange and comes from a position of strength. This partnership builds upon a long-standing and successful relationship between our schools and reflects our shared commitment to educational excellence, innovation and pupil wellbeing.”
“Oakhyrst will retain its unique identity, values and close-knit community, which are so important to our families. We are incredibly proud of the warm, supportive environment we provide and remain ambitious for every child in our care. This partnership will enable us to build on our many strengths whilst creating even greater opportunities for our pupils, staff and wider school community.”
“Most importantly, families can be confident that their children will continue to enjoy the exceptional education, pastoral care and breadth of opportunity that define an Oakhyrst education. We will continue to prepare and support pupils for a wide range of senior school destinations, whilst also providing a smoother pathway to Caterham School for those families who choose that route.”
Ceri Jones, Headmaster of Caterham School, commented:
“Both schools have given their wholehearted support to this partnership, which reflects a shared educational vision, common values and a commitment to excellence. We are delighted to welcome Oakhyrst Grange into the Caterham Family of Schools and look forward to working together to enhance opportunities for pupils, families and staff alike.”
The Caterham Family of Schools includes Caterham School, Caterham Prep School, Copthorne Prep School and The Hawthorns School. The family is recognised for academic excellence, exceptional pastoral care, innovation and sector-leading approaches to digital learning and wellbeing.
Caterham School was named the Times Educational Supplement’s Independent Senior School of the Year and is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading co-educational schools. It is also the founding school of the East Surrey Learning Partnership, which brings together independent and state schools to enhance educational opportunity for young people across the region.
This partnership marks an exciting future for Oakhyrst Grange School, ensuring that its distinctive ethos, strong sense of community and commitment to educational excellence continue to flourish for generations to come.
Year 2 and 3 Netball Club joined by Essendene Lodge School for training session Wednesday 25th November 2024
The Year 2&3 Girls who attend Netball club have been working really well recently, and were rewarded with the opportunity to combine a session with another local school, Essendene.
Together as one big group, the girls got to know each other and were divided into 3 teams. The teams rotated around 3 different activities which involved shooting, passing and catching, with the aim of scoring as many points as possible within a time limit. They showed excellent teamwork and encouragement to one another throughout and every team scored over 100 points!
After the drills, the girls all had the opportunity to play in some mini-netball matches where they transferred the skills learnt from the practices into game play. They all played with a smile on their face and loved every minute of it – even if it was very cold!
Thank you to Essendene for visiting us and we hope we can continue this relationship moving forward.
Well done everyone!
Mr Smith & Miss Hopkins
Events w/c 25th November 2024
Monday 25th
Nasal Flu immunisations for children from KG to Year 6 – all morning
Tuesday 26th
LAMDA Examinations – all day
Wednesday 27th
Junior Netball Club collaboration with Essendene Lodge School at 3.30pm on the MUGA
Friday 29th
ABRSM examinations – BWA Hall – all day
ISA National Swimming Championships, London – all day
Chamber Choir, Orchestra, Flute and Cello Ensembles perform to the Cameo Group at Oakhall Church – 21.11.24
On Thursday 21st November, Chamber Choir, Orchestra, Flute and Cello ensembles performed at Oakhall Church in Caterham on the Hill. Forty excited children with Reindeer antlers were transported via minibuses to the venue to perform for the Cameo club (over 60’s) who meet every other Thursday for tea and cake for an hour from 2.30pm.
The church kindly extended the invite to any grandparents or parents to attend as well. The audience were treated to tea and cakes whilst we performed a varied programme which of course included the customary ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ alongside traditional carols. Our Cello ensemble and flute ensemble performed some Christmas songs beautifully and the Orchestra had fun starting the afternoon off with ‘Wellerman’ . Chamber Choir sang the song they are rehearsing for our Carol Service which is being held on 10th December.
I must extend a big thank you Mrs Budgen for her invaluable support and help with transporting instruments and for her expertise in conducting the orchestra and Cello ensemble. Also to Mrs Baker who came and ‘wowed’ the audience with her flute ensemble.
Oakhall Church were so friendly and welcoming to us and we are extremely grateful to them for all the help and support they gave us in order to be able to perform there. Also for their generous hospitality in providing the most amazing choice of cakes! We are hoping that we will be able to return in the Spring to do another concert and continue to build a relationship with Oakhall.
Thank you to Mr Gear, Mr Marek, Mr Smith and Miss Bechelet for all their help in making the concert happen.
We are so proud of all the children and the music they make. Thank you!
Mrs Debbie Stevens
Head of Music
Year 5 & 6 Netball Matches this Autumn Term
Both Year 5 and Year 6 girls have been working extremely hard on their netball this Autumn Term. We have had many fixtures up against two amazing friendly schools Aberdour Prep & Cumnor House
On Wednesday 9th October all Year 5 and Year 6 girls went to Aberdour Prep for a great afternoon of matches. We played 5 a side and worked well getting those goals in. They worked together as a team on and off the court supporting each other throughout.
Year 6
Team 1 won – 10- 2
Team 2 won 8 – 1
Year 5
Team 1 won – 10-1
Team 2 won – 5-2
On Wednesday 20th November all girls took part in a home fixture against Cumnor House playing 7 aside. Despite the cold sunny weather, the girls played extremely well. They were such tight matches, but they all performed beautifully.
Year 6 won their match 10-9
Year 5 won their match 8-7
Well done to all girls for this term of netball, you have really shown incredible work and I couldn’t be prouder of all of you.
Miss Lomax
Girls Sports Teacher
Year 3 & 4 Girls Netball Match Vs Cumnor House – 19.11.24
On Tuesday 19th November our Year 3 & 4 girls prepared themselves for an afternoon of netball. It was a very cold and wet experience but all girls really pushed through the weather conditions.
We played Cumnor house and did 5 a side. We had two teams of Year 3 and two teams of Year 4. They rotated on and off the court getting lots of play time. After the matches we enjoyed a lovely match tea in the warm dining hall.
The final score wasn’t how we wished it would be, but I couldn’t be more proud of all girls who took part.
Well done for a great term of netball. Keep it up! Great start to their sports year as Year 3 and 4.
LAMDA assembly for parents from Years 1, 2 and 3 performing LAMDA exam pieces
Chamber Choir, Orchestra and Flute Ensembles performing at local community Church to the Cameo Group – 2.30pm
Swimming Gala at Caterham School – 12.11.24
2 children from Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 took part in a gala today, Tuesday 12th November 2024 at Caterham School.
The gala started with the individual races, backstroke, breaststroke, frontcrawl, and butterfly, there were some really tight finishes and excellent swims from all of the children. Next, all of the children swam in two relays: medley and freestyle, both girls and boys from each year group swimming against each other and a big shout out to the two boys in year 3 having to swim 2 legs each, very well done. A big thank you to the children who swam up for their age and who stepped in to swim at very short notice.
The scores were announced. OGS scored 216 and Caterham won with a score of 307 – it was a tough gala.
Very well done to the whole swimming team and thanks to the parents who helped with the transportation to the gala and the large amount of parents cheering and lastly a massive thank you to both Mrs Cox and Mr Smith for helping me on poolside.
Mrs Michelle Evans
Lead Swimming Coach
Events w/c 11th November 2024
Monday 11th
Anti-Bullying week commences
Remembrance Last Post 11.00am – all children observing 2 minute silence on the playground
Tuesday 12th
Odd Sock Day – all children to wear odd socks to celebrate their uniqueness in a fun and exciting way. These can be worn in place of their normal socks and instead of or in addition to their tights.
Selected Years 3 to 6 Swimming Gala – leave OGS 3.00pm
Wednesday 13th
KG to Year 6 Inter-House Cross Country – commences 1.00pm parents welcome
Thursday 14th
LKG to Year 6 Parents Evening – 10 min appts – Cameron Hall 5.00pm to 9.00pm
U10 & U11 Football v Chinthurst – home – Wednesday 6th November 2024
On Wednesday, all of our boys in Years 5 & 6 took part in a football match against Chinthurst School. We split into 2 teams, with the ‘A’ team playing a 40 minute match on the grass, and the ‘B’ team playing a round robin 6-a-side competition on the MUGA.
A team:
The team fought really well during the game, particularly in the first half. Despite trailing on a number of occasions, the team were quick to equalise and reduced the deficit to 3-2 at half time. The second half didn’t quite work as efficiently with Chinthurst scoring some early goals to put victory out of reach for Oakhyrst. We did pull a late goal back to respectively half Chinthurst’s score. It was a great game and everyone played with the right spirit and attitude.
Final result: 8-4
Goal scorers: Jude, Milan (2) & Caiden.
Player of the match: Milan
B team:
This was most of the boys’ first football fixture so a mixture of excitement and nervousness was present. The team played 2 matches against both Chinthurst teams. The results didn’t go Oakhyrst’s way however they showed great improvement and effort throughout. Some excellent saves were made by our goalkeepers as well as Charlie scoring our only goal of the afternoon.
Player of the team: Rahnal
A great effort by everyone and we look forward to the next football fixture against Essendene Lodge in December.
Mr David Smith, Head of Sport
Years 3 to 6 Swimming Gala v Royal Russell – Tuesday 5th November 2024
32 children from years 3, 4, 5 & 6 took part in a gala at Royal Russell School, South Croydon and for several children it was their first gala.
The gala started with the individual freestyle races, followed by backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. There were some outstanding swims from our children which led to many exciting close races.
The relays were next, freestyle and medley. Again, there were some nail biting finishes. Royal Russell added a squadron relay to finish the gala, 2 girls and boys from each year group.
Mrs Cox and I are so proud of you all, well done!
Thank you to all the parents, grandparents and siblings who came to cheer the team on, we really appreciate your continued support.
I am very grateful to Mrs Cox and Mrs Gorman for supporting me on poolside, without you both, the galas would be difficult to attend.
Each school had 4 year group wins. Overall win for Oakhyrst Grange by 16 points.
