Dear Old Cat

2020 was quite a year, no matter your age, occupation or geography the pandemic has had a profound impact on all of our lives. I am pleased to report that Caterham School met the challenge well and had a successful transition to remote learning. Pupils and staff utilised different technologies to keep connected and to keep their education on track.

The wider Caterham Community came together via online quizzes and webinar information evenings, which were very well attended. We have become familiar with the Zoom way of connecting and it is great to see how the School kept moving forwards during a most exceptional time.

The Old Caterhamians’ Association (OCA) has supported online activities and also outreach activities such as the initiative where Sixth Form pupils are contacting our alumni aged over 80, calls which have been warmly received and an initiative that we intend to keep running. We have held online wine tasting for the over 60s, kept in touch with Old Cat uni students through Instagram live with the ‘Postcards from Uni’ series and we are looking at how best to celebrate those recent leavers in 2020 who were not able to have their usual end of school celebration.

The annual OCA Collaboration and Innovation prize continued in 2020 with a dynamic duo from the Sixth Form winning the £1000 prize for their innovative software to help pupils improve charitable donations. The OCA have also worked closely with the School executive to launch the next generation Shadow Board which is currently being recruited for.

The OCA refreshes its committee members every year, if you are interested to join the OCA Committee and be part of the Caterham community it would be good to hear from you.

The OCA meets formerly four times per year and our focus is supporting the Old Cat community through social events, producing the annual Omnia magazine, growing the Old Cat networking capability along with opportunities for mentoring alumni and current pupils, as well as supporting bursary pupils. The OCA is supported by a small dedicated team based at the School and we are always interested to have committee members who are willing to actively participate and contribute to the Caterham community.

To apply – just click the following link to apply via the OCA website: https://www.oldcaterhamians.com/our-community/joining/ .

If you would like to discuss your potential involvement prior to registering your interest please contact oldcats@caterhamschool.co.uk 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Clive Furness
President OCA