OAKGROVE
INTEGRATED COLLEGE
LEARN • BELIEVE • ACHIEVE • TOGETHER
Principal's Welcome
THE OAKGROVE WAY
Welcome to Oakgrove! We hope you will join our journey, to make the Oakgrove story your story too! Oakgrovers tell us constantly that coming to our school is a great way to find your successful, happy future. Here in the city’s only planned integrated college, we build a community which reflects the diversity of the world outside where we achieve the best academic results. In the Oakgrove way, we learn, we believe and we achieve, together.
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Oakgrove is a unique place, founded by the vision of a group of parents who wanted the future to be better than the past. In a city which was segregated and in violence, they wanted to bring people together, in peace. They started with the youngest in society, who would grow up having learned a different, better, and united way to see the world, and always learn together. Every day, we keep that courageous vision alive.
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We want the best for every child, and, here, every day, teachers and support staff work together to help everyone to achieve their potential. In families, you don’t compare your children, so here we don’t compare, but help everyone to achieve their personal best. We provide support for those who need it, and challenge for those who excel. Different people have different talents, and we cherish and develop everyone, meeting their needs in the right way, at the right time.​
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John Harkin
Principal
Oakgrove Integrated College
Some schools choose students by academic selection, but we have never used a test for entry. We welcome everyone, because it is by bringing everyone together that we reflect the society we want for all.
Children develop in different ways, at different times. Teaching for learning should meet the needs of children where they are, and help them to exceed all expectations. Oakgrove sets the highest academic standards, finding courses to suit the needs of individual learners. We constantly review and improve our curriculum offer, so that each student’s needs are best served.
Most children here go to schools with people just like them. In integrated schools, we mix with people who are like us, but not the same. Choosing us will help your child to take safe risks, stepping out of comfort zones to enter a school which prepares them for the real world, a world where difference is celebrated.
Our view of life is shaped by our experiences. For many, life has kept communities away from each other. Here, community is at the heart of all we do: our staff and students work together all the time, naturally showing the normal way to live - together, not apart. Only by coming to our school, to meet people who are different will your child really know what makes us human.
Knowing that we have a shared past means that we remember it. In Oakgrove Integrated College, every day is shared with others in an integrated space. Oakgrove is an adventure from which people never look back. With us, your child can see the world in the integrated way and you will see what dreams they can fulfil.
All identities are equally cherished and valued. We learn from as well as about each other. We want a school and a city where Protestant, Catholic and other backgrounds learn together beside each other every day. Our city has a rich but divided history. Children joining our school will soon be the decisionmakers of the future.
Learning in The Oakgrove Way means that they will be ready to build a community which values everyone equally, respecting difference and knowing that we are always stronger together.
Join us, and keep alive the vision of a better more successful future, together.
