Oaklands Catholic School

History

Oaklands was established in Southsea as a convent school for girls (The Convent of The Cross) in 1902 by the third Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth William Timothy Cotter with a group of Sisters of the Cross and Passion from Boscombe, Bournemouth. The school moved into the Oaklands estate in 1947. It had previously belonged to General Sir Charles James Napier and consisted of the land around the White House up to Purbrook Way in addition to several servant houses along Stakes Hill Road.

In 1959, the younger students moved into their own building, Holy Cross Junior School, which later became known as St Peter’s Catholic Primary School. The Convent of The Cross and St Teresa’s Portsmouth Catholic Grammar merged into Oaklands Convent School in 1966. In 1971, due to an urgent need for Catholic school places for both boys and girls, it became a voluntary-aided co-educational comprehensive school.

Buildings

The school is made up of eight houses and consists of seven different blocks, separated into different subject groups. Three new blocks were developed (Music, Humanities, sixth form) during an extensive site improvement programme; each of these were built incorporating a Christian cross in different coloured bricks. In 2012, a major refurbishment of the Maths/Science blocks was also undertaken.

Uniform

The school uniform was redesigned for the September 2009 academic year; the expense of the uniform caused criticism. A press release was issued claiming that many of the facts published by newspaper articles were incorrect, and that due to the controversy, the school would start a cheaper uniform shop.

Notable former pupils

The Convent of the Cross

• Michelle Magorian, novelist

Oaklands Catholic School

• Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock, crossbench peer and former government official
• Jonathan Cruddas, politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Dagenham and Rainham from 2001 to 2024
• Comedians Flo and Joan (Rosie and Nicola Dempsey)
• Caroline Dinenage, politician, MP for Gosport from 2010
• Martin Montague, businessperson
• Penny Mordaunt, politician, MP for Portsmouth North from 2010 to 2024.
• James Ward-Prowse, footballer

References

References

1. "BBC NEWS - Education - League Tables - Performance results for Oaklands Catholic School". BBC.
2. "Find an inspection report". Ofsted.
3. "History of the School". Oaklands.
4. (September 2013). "Oaklands News". Oaklands.
5. Wainwright, Martin. (17 August 2009). "Comprehensive defends new school uniform costing nearly £100".
6. "School News & Activities". Oaklands.
7. Magorian, Michelle. (10 May 2021). "A 40th Anniversary In Lockdown".
8. (2021). "Casey of Blackstock".
9. Stanley, Megan. (2022-05-16). "The musical comedy duo you didn't know grew up in Hampshire". HampshireLive.
10. (8 August 2016). "Caroline Dinenage is named early years minister".
11. "'I'm not ashamed of where I grew up'". [[The News (Portsmouth).
12. "Mordaunt, Rt Hon. Penelope Mary, (Rt Hon. Penny), (born 4 March 1973), PC 2017; MP (C) Portsmouth North, since 2010; Minister of State, Department for International Trade, since 2021". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO.
13. "Southampton's golden boy – but James Ward-Prowse's heart remains in Portsmouth". The News.