© Ovingdean Reunion 2003 - 2012 Created Ovingdean Reunion Association

ORA Newest committee member   We welcome Rosalind Waterfield as the newest committee member; she was an ex-Ovingdean pupil from the late 60’s to early 70’s (forgotten the exact date!).
Future plans    We decided against having a reunion in 2012  due to the London Olympic & Queen’s anniversary. We will organise two or three social events for 2012. We may add more social event if we warrant enough supports to make it happen.
 Bultins – 70’s adult weekend – March 2012   Bultins change the date from March 9th to 12th to 16th to 19th. Reason begin, Bultins couldnt book the bands they wanted until a week later.   70’s pop bands appearing on the weekend – John Rossall, The Three Degrees, Dr and the Medic, The Real thing, Bay City Rollers  Brotherhood of Man.   Due to change of date, we had a handful dropped out but still got 41 peoples going. We may have room to spare, please contact Roy Sims for further information’s.
Crawley 10 pins bowl – more date is plans   This is mainly smaller group from the local district but you are welcomes to come along if you wish to join the fun. Contact Rosalind for more details.
Field Reunion The Reunion 2013 will coincide with the 65th anniversary of the school. We shall hope to  hold a reunion on one Saturday in the month of July. Nothing is confirmed until January meetings (see below).   1 - Paul Defty made progress with the Ovingdean College staffs and hope to have meeting with them in January to discuss the date and cost. We were warned that the field will not be free and we shall have to pay for the use of the ground. Finger cross that the cost will reasonable.   2 - Clifford Mitchell approached St Dunstan and they are happy to let out the field but will need to discuss more with them first. The ground & parking isn’t ideal compare with Ovingdean but we need to have a 2nd option just in case we cannot have or afford the college field.
Pub Night There shall be No Pub night after the Reunion day. Make your own arrangement ok? We decide for our own peace of mind, not to organise a Pub night after the reunion as we had grief’s 2 years ago. A committee got into a nasty dispute and we received complaints regarding the pub night (Tickets and outsiders).
 Caribbean Night – final Closure of ORA (Ovingdean reunion Association)    On November 20th, we visited the London Dock  boat venue to discuss with the staff about our plan of a Caribbean night.  It’s still an early stage and we are still gathering information’s and cost to see if we (you?) can afford the event we are planning to have on.  Basic details (subject to change!)  Possible date late September 2013  The ticket will be limited to approximate 150 to 200 maximum at approximately from £30 to £35.  This for 6 hours of music and dance, drinks (wines, juice and water) and Caribbean buffets will be on your table for you to choose.  Parking is free  You get excellent view of Canary Wharf from the upper deck.  We hope to sell tickets by next spring if all plans go well.  This is will be the ORA last organise event and shall be no more after that.  We are making this a little bit special and hope that many of our friends and peers will be able to come along and join us for the very last time.
Can you Help ?   A message from John Walker, Convenor of Deaf Studies, University of Sussex. John is asking for your help and if anybody is willing to help, please contact john. Thank you. Did you go to Hamilton lodge, Ovingdean Hall or St. Thomas schools? Did you go to Ovingdean Hall, Hamilton Lodge or St. Thomas schools between 1967 and 1977? Would you like to record some of your memories and place them in an archive (i.e. stored forever)? If you are, we would like to interview you and record your stories.

Why are we doing this? In 1972, a film was made about the lives of deaf children in three schools by the University of Sussex, led by Dr. Bill Watts. The film challenges assumptions about education and the university unit visited the schools to improve their teaching practice from 1968 to 1977. We want to find out what the children thought of their education at the time.

This work is part of an EU funded projects, called Hidden Histories, led by the Centre for Community Engagement, University of Sussex. We have trained 5 people in interviewing skills and able to record interviews on camera. They have been trained to interview you sensitively, and ensure that you have full control over what is recorded. If you would like an interviewer to visit, get in touch.

Next year, we will have an exhibition to bring to life what we have discovered from the interviews and our research.

If you would like to participate and be interviewed, please contact the coordinator (John Walker) on j.walker@sussex.ac.uk.


John Walker
Convenor of Deaf Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton mailto:j.walker@sussex.ac.ukshapeimage_11_link_0
Ovingdean Reunion 2013 Sadly we cannot hold a reunion on the Ovingdean Hall ground. The college has imposed too many strict rules and asking too much money. Ovingdean College want to charge £2000 for the ground hire and £3000 deposit in case of damages. We cannot view or use in any of their buildings or allowed to use their Tennis ground We are not allowed our own put up our Tent/Marquee; we MUST hire the professional & MUST have flooring, chairs and Tables. Not allowed to use the college toilet and we MUST have cabin toilet We MUST have St John or Red Cross 1st aiders, not allowed to chose our own! The college had appointed an event organiser to organise our reunion, we don’t have any say on how we want it. The cheek of it all, we have to pay the event organiser to organise our reunion! If we went ahead, the total cost would have cost us £7000 to £8000 each for an afternoon. This will work out £15 per person (500 peoples), I am sure you agree that is far too much money. Hope this explain why we are NOT having a reunion at Ovingdean hall. At least there some good news, we have found an alternative ground, the Lonhghill School (Falmer), the site has got everything we need for an outdoor reunion quite cheaply. More detail to follow once we have a committee meeting to decide further.
Eastbourne Air show – Saturday 11th August 2012 Eastbourne Air show – Saturday 11th August 2012 (yes, I know it will clash with the Brighton’s Gay pride!) The Air show was good last year and it all FREE, just buys the programs to support the show. We meet up at the Buccaneer Pub 10 Compton Street, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN12 4BW. Meet up at 12:00 (Before) OR 5:30pm (After) For more information’s - www.eastbourneairshow.comhttp://www.eastbourneairshow.comshapeimage_13_link_0
News from Ovingdean (Evening Argus 25-02-12) Trustee of Ovingdean Hall School for Deaf children, which closed 18 months ago, have been using the proceeds from the sale of the school's buildings to assist charities that support deaf children. The trustees recently brought a house opposite Hamilton Lodge deaf school & college for the use of the college's boarders. Hamilton Lodge Principal , Graham Sheppard said "We are very grateful to the Ovingdean hall school trustees for their generosity in supporting us in this way. I am delighted that the house will be named 'Ovingdean House', not just to mark their financial support but also to honour the great contribution of Ovingdean Hall School to education for the deaf children over many years" Ovingdean & Hamilton (Hamilton Lodge School’s website) Ovingdean Hall School, for the hearing impaired, sadly closed its doors 18 months ago. However, its Trustees are making donations to charities that assist deaf children using the proceeds of the sale of its buildings. One of the donations it has made is the purchase of a house opposite Hamilton Lodge for the use of Hamilton Lodge Further Education boarders. Hamilton Lodge expanded its provision from primary and secondary education into offering assisted college places in conjunction with City College Brighton & Hove & Plumpton College last September. This has proved so popular that more accommodation is needed; OHS Trustees have stepped into help. Hamilton Lodge College Principal, Graham Sheppard, said; “We are very grateful to the Ovingdean Hall School Trustees for their generosity in supporting us in this way. I am delighted that the house will be named ‘Ovingdean House’, not just to mark their financial support, but also to honour the great contribution of Ovingdean Hall School to the education of deaf children over many years. Some of our students attended Ovingdean and this will act as an important reminder for them of the good times they had at their former school.” Father Martin Morgan, Chair of Trustees for Ovingdean Hall School, said; “After the sad closure of our school it is good to be able to support the great work of Hamilton Lodge, and to use some of our charitable funds right here in Brighton. We are very proud to support the expansion of Further Education for hearing impaired children; we want to help students gain confidence so that they can play their full part in the wider community.” Pictured left to right; Father Martin Morgan (Chair of Ovingdean Hall Trustees), Charlotte Holtam (Chair of Hamilton Lodge Trustees), Martin Redshaw (Former Hamilton Lodge student and Vice-Chair of Trustees), Kabwe Kabosha (Former Hamilton Lodge student and College Governor), Hamilton Lodge School and College students and Graham Sheppard (Principal Hamilton Lodge College & Head Teacher Hamilton Lodge School). This story is reported on the SEN Magazine website – press here to read their article https://www.senmagazine.co.uk/news/884-school-closure-prompts-charity-donations.htmlshapeimage_14_link_0
EWING FOUNDATION Announcement from the Trustees of the Ewing Foundation and Ovingdean Hall School Please click and read information http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/http://www.ovingdeanhallschool.org.uk/shapeimage_15_link_0shapeimage_15_link_1shapeimage_15_link_2shapeimage_15_link_3shapeimage_15_link_4