Feedback & Questions/Concerns

If you have any questions or feedback about our school, please use the contact button on the front page of our website.

What you have told us or asked us about our school:

PARENT COMPLIMENT

‘I attended your GCSE award evening last night and was once again bowled over by the warmth and pride the teachers, pupils and parents have for the school. The evening was lovely, a fitting celebration to the end of 5 years of hard work, commitment, support and belief in the pupils and their ability to succeed. The guest speaker was warm and funny, a perfect example of how a successful career can be built if the right foundations are in place.

Since my son joined Oakwood I have felt, as a parent, fully supported and completely happy that the school would help my son to become the best he can be. The belief in my son and his ability to succeed was in place from day one. His form tutor was unfailing in his support both as his tutor and in Art, his drama teachers absolutely believed in his ability which played an enormous part in building his confidence and skill. The ARC teams set in place every available support in school for him and were always around to update me on his progress and praise and encourage him in all aspects of his school work.

The list of wonderful, supportive, committed, enthusiastic teachers my son came into contact with is far too long for me to mention but your school is full of them. I was so proud to listen to the beautiful words read out when my son was awarded the ‘Elsie Sugden award for outstanding effort’ and I wish to thank each teacher who had an input in selecting him for this award, it was so deserved, he has worked so hard and has achieved so much I was thrilled to see this rewarded in such a special way.

My younger son is now at Oakwood and as a parent I speak with pride that both my children have attended your wonderful school. Please pass on my warmest, sincerest thanks to everyone in the school who deals with the pupils and parents in any way, as each and every one of them have made the school the wonderful place it is today.’

FROM THE DIRECTOR OF BILLIONAIRE BOY, MATT LIPSEY

‘Thank you for the support, you and your school showed us such immense hospitality and with great style, it was a pleasure to spend time working at Oakwood. The kids behaviour was exemplary and a credit to you and your teaching staff. I very much look forward to coming back for a screening later in the year and hope that in the meantime the school continues to flourish, as I know it will. Yours in admiration, Matt Lipsey’

PARENT COMPLIMENT

‘I am extremely proud to be sending my 2 sons to this school. The staff, the morals and the dedication to pupils and teaching is excellent.’

PARENT COMMENT

‘It would be helpful to see the subject on the behaviour logs, is this possible?’
We replied that we will ask all teachers to include this in the log and also look to see if our SIMS system can automate this in future.

PARENT COMPLIMENT

‘I want to say that the revision booklet that came home for Y8 ILE was brilliant from my point of view as a parent. It was clear and concise as to what they needed to revise and gave them good guidance as to different revision techniques they could use. It’s reassuring as a parent to know they are getting such good foundations now to build towards their GCSEs.’

FROM THE LEADER OF ROTHERHAM COUNCIL, COUNCILLOR CHRIS READ

‘The Deputy Leader, Councillor Gordon Watson and myself would like to thank you very much for the hospitality you showed us at the screening of Billionaire Boy.  We had a lovely evening and everyone involved clearly have much to be proud of.  You showed Rotherham in a brillian light to the rest of the Country and heartily deserve the limelight.  This is really positive for Rotherham’

FROM PAULA WILLIAMS, HEAD OF INCLUSION, EDUCATION & SKILLS, ROTHERHAM COUNCIL

‘As you well know we are approaching a phase of change within Inclusion in Rotherham.  With this in mind it is vital we celebrate and acknowledge the outstanding practice of those who have made an impact and a real difference to the lives of our children, young people and their families, undoubtedly improving their life choices.

It as been brought to my attention that you and your staff have worked tirelessly to offer our children and young people new opportunities when they have failed elsewhere, accepting them unconditionally and with positive regard; this has been through successful managed moves and following permanent exclusion.  It has been recognised that the profile of some of these young people could have potentially posed both risk and considerable pressure of staff and resources, but this has only served to demonstrate your levels of resilience and passion for inclusion.

On behalf of the children, young people and families of Rotherham, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for your efforts during the last academic year in improving the outcomes for our children and young people.  I would like to acknowledge the work that Oakwood High School has done, and hopefully will continue to do in future years.’

FROM ANDREW J COOMBE, HM LORD-LIEUTENANT OF SOUTH YORKSHIRE

“I have returned from a few days away and noted that I never wrote to thank you for the wonderful input of your pupils to the first Holocaust Memorial Day at Rotherham. Please accept my humble apologies. The clarity of the readings and the quality of the singing was excellent, especially so in the very difficult weather conditions.  I understand it was not only hold onto your hat, but also hold onto the marquee! Many congratulations to the pupils and to your members of staff for the time and effort they must have put in.  It was a credit to everyone involved; it all contributed to a very moving experience.

I must also apologise for not writing to you in person, but I have only got your email contacts to hand.  I would be most grateful if you would pass on my thanks to all concerned”.

PARENT COMPLIMENT

‘I just wanted to get in touch to pass on our thanks to you and the school for responding so quickly to the anxiety problems that our child has been dealing with. We weren’t sure how far the school could go in helping with the situation, but I don’t think we could have hoped for better – particularly with our Daughter having access to a mentor so quickly. It’s hugely reassuring to us – and I know our Daughter – that she’s got support in place at school, and already we’ve seen that it’s made a difference to how she’s coping with her feelings.’

And so a public thanks go to Anna and the ARC Team.  They do so much for all our pupils and get little thanks for it from parents.  The mentor in this case was Sarah Paddock, so thanks to her and thanks to the wider ARC team for all they do.

PARENT COMPLIMENT

“Hello Mr Naisbitt, Following on from our conversation at Parents Evening I am writing to give you feedback of our positive experience meeting some of our son’s teachers at his Y9 Parents Evening in March this year…. We are aware that he has historically struggled in a classroom environment, having some sensory difficulties which impact on his learning but also on his social and emotional well-being. We are also aware that his progress throughout his time at Oakwood has been inconsistent however whenever we have had the opportunity to meet our Son’s teachers over the past three years we have been left feeling assured that he is in ‘good hands’ with teachers who obviously take the time to understand him and his individual needs. This was particularly evident when accompanied by our Son, his father and I attended his most recent Parents Evening. We were impressed with how each teacher seemed to have a very good understanding of his strengths and weaknesses and spoke openly and honestly about their experience of him with warmth, reassurance, encouragement and good humour showing what a positive relationship they have built with him which was also reflected in his relaxed and natural interaction with them. We would particularly like to thank his form tutor Miss Throssell and Sports Studies teacher Miss Alyanak who over the past few years have consistently shown him sensitive and nurturing support whilst also being positive and encouraging in their guidance which we know has helped to develop his self confidence within his peer group but also helped him develop a keen interest in sports and make progress in his sporting abilities. I would also like to mention Jude Scholey and Louise Grice and the staff at Arc who from the outset of his time at Oakwood have offered him a sanctuary during the times he has needed one where he is met in an accepting and non-judgmental way. As parents we feel secure in the knowledge that our Son is being looked after well by teachers who know and want what is best for him. Thank you for your time”, Mum and Dad

PARENT COMPLIMENT

“Miss Bowater & Mr Jones,

I just wanted to say a massive thank you for all your hard work taking our son and the other pupils to London for the Drama trip.  He fully enjoyed it and I have seen him come out of his shell since helping with Drama this past couple of months.

I know he’s looking forward to your next trip to Kingswood in June.”

“Good Afternoon, Just a message to say thank you to all staff and pupils involved in the ‘Farewell to Oakwood’ day on Saturday. We had a lovely time wandering around and reminiscing and could have stayed longer. I went with people I had not seen for eleven and thirty-five years and we met up with others we had not seen for thirty-five years. We all had stories and memories and it was incredible how we could walk into a classroom and know exactly where we sat thirty five years plus ago. Once again thanks for the opportunity, the food and drinks were lovely too and I wanted to visit the plant stall but took too long walking around!” Best regards, Helen McLennan

From Peter J Murray, Local Author. 
‘Final call was to a school where we have a very strong connection – Oakwood High School.  Both my sisters attended this school and I lived close by as a boy for a considerable time. In fact some of my old school pals went to Oakwood. I attended a school called Old Hall, and I have fond memories of playing against Oakwood when I was a member of my school football team. The school has just been moved to a brand new building and Kath and I were more than impressed as we drove into the car park. We did a great presentation to a marvellous Year 7  – about 220 pupils in all – in the schools new hall/theatre setting with raised seating and a very large cinema-size screen. Brilliant!

Many of the pupils knew us from their primary school days and were already big fans of ours. It was a win-win situation for everyone! The next day we officially opened the new library and signed countless copies of the new book for our enthusiastic fans. 23 books were awarded as prizes for pupils who had completed work based on our books and our congratulations go out to them. Our thanks also go out to the two great librarians, Sally and Julie,  for all their help and enthusiasm. As we always say, great librarians are so essential in maintaining interest in reading and literacy in the school environment…a BIG thanks to both of them.’

From Ziadah Ahmed, Rotherham Council.

‘I Just wanted to say a big thank you to you, the staff and the pupils that took part in the Holocaust Memorial Day Yesterday.  Their performance was awesome and it didn’t help as it was freeqing cold.  the pupils of Oakwood helped the event to be successful and I really appreciate the commitment. Many thanks’

Parent Compliment

‘I feel I must write to you and express my gratitude I have for one of your many staff : Miss Wilson – My Son’s English teacher. Around 15 months ago we found that he was struggling with English, we expressed our concern to Miss Wilson and asked if she could support us with any extra work where we could work with him at home …  Over the past 15 months she’s supported and worked with our Son 100%.  His confidence is growing and this week he came home buzzing with some excellent news.  He’d been graded a level 6 in some work that they had been working on… We emailed Miss Wilson instantly to show our appreciation as the hard work seems to be paying off.  I would like to express our sincere gratitude to an outstanding member of staff.’

Feedback from a Media project focused on Domestic Violence

‘I would just like to say a HUGE thank you to not only you but the children who took part in today’s #YOYO Project – it was an absolute pleasure to work with you. Your student’s effort and input across the project this morning was fantastic. Each individual was polite and really gave it their all. The podcasts created are some of the best to date. Really well researched, produced and presented. Amazing effort from each individual so thank you again’

From Lee Bestell, RHS Lead Practitioner

Re the RHS project and school/staff garden plans.  He wrote …

“I’ve been working with the group of Y9 students for the past 10 weeks on the Green Plan It Challenge and just wanted to let you kow how well they represented the school today.  Many of them spoke with real confidence and honesty and impresssed the RHS assessment team with their knowledge and engagement.  I know that they are not the most academic group, but I saw a genuine difference in their knowledge and levels of engagement since we started 10 weeks ago.  I also have to give a huge thank you to Mrs Greaves.  She is so dedicated and enthusiastic towards the project and a great asset to Oakwood.  Her energy is infectious and really has worked hard to drive this project forward. It’s due to her involvment that I’ve enjoyed being involved with the project and will keep in touch to see what progress the students make over the coming terms”

From John McDonnell, Chairman of Shiloh

From Helen Duffy,  Sheffield Teaching School Alliance

‘I want to thank you both for welcoming me into your school and departments yesterday, especially on your first day back at school. I know it is always a busy time, but a first day back always seems an extra busy day! I don’t think a QA report actually does justice to the fantastic support and opportunities you give.I want to thank you both for the time, energy, patience and expertise. – THANK YOU!’

Chris Robinson reports, following school residential …

‘I got into a conversation with the main team leader on the last day and he asked me what school I was from.  I told him Oakwood High School, to which he instantly replied “All the instructors have fed back how you guys were ‘spot on’, kids and staff.  PGL staff were fighting over who was going to get one of the Oakwood groups!  The Oakwood teams became very popular around camp!  It’s not usual for us to give positive feedback to schools, it’s usually schools giving it back to us.  The behaviour of Oakwood pupils is amongst the best”.