OAKBANK CELEBRATE 50 YEARS

ROOTED IN SUCCESS

Leighton Buzzard special school Oakbank icelebrating its 50th anniversary on Thursday with a birthday bash attended by local MP Alex Mayer, pupils, staff and governors past and present.

Ms Mayer unveiled a commemorative plaque marking five decades of Oak Bank School. (pictured)

Among those returning were Richard White, one of the school’s original teachers when it opened in 1976. He taught Maths at Oak Bank until retiring ten years ago and still remembers helping the first pupils settle into the brand-new Sandy Lane building.

During the visit, Headteacher Phil Collier showed Ms Mayer a 1970s newspaper advertisement recruiting his predecessor, the school’s first headteacher for a school with 40 boarders and 20 day pupils.

From those beginnings, Oak Bank has grown into a thriving school of 120 young people, including a sixth form, supporting pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs.

The school has continued to develop its facilities and services over the years. A major expansion in 2018 brought a climbing wall, dance studio and fitness suite, while from 2021 to 2024 Oak Bank supported schools across the country as a Department for Education Lead Behaviour School.

The reunion also celebrated 25 members of staff who have each dedicated more than 10 years of service to the school.

Oak Bank has been rated Outstanding since 2015 and continues to achieve strong outcomes for its pupils. 100% of its students who left the school in Year 11 during summer 2026 moved on to employment, further education or training.

Looking to the future, Oak Bank will begin supporting other schools to help staff identify pupils’ needs earlier and put the right support in place more quickly, as part of government plans to transform support for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Alex Mayer MP said:

“From little acorns, mighty oaks grow. Oak Bank has come a long way over the last fifty years and continues to change lives. Here’s to the next fifty years of branching out and reaching even greater heights.”

Sarah Drake Hammond, who has worked at Oak Bank for 20 years, said:

“I have seen a lot of changes over the years, with staff and students coming and going. But at its heart Oak Bank is still the same. It’s an extended family of people who want to make a difference.”

Hayley Blount, Safeguarding Lead added:

“No two days at Oak Bank are ever the same. Being part of the school feels like being part of a family. It can be fun, challenging, heartbreaking and incredibly rewarding, sometimes all in the same day.”

Headteacher Phil Collier said:

“Fifty years of Oak Bank is a story about people, and about remarkable improvement: from a residential school in 1976 to three Outstanding inspection judgements in the past decade. Behind those milestones are generations of staff, trustees and members who have kept showing up for young people with social, emotional and mental health needs. Of the 73 staff who have served between seven and 40 years, 43 are still with us today – a testament to an Oak Bank Family culture that embraces our families, external providers and linked professionals and charities.”