Our Lady's Abingdon - Contact Us

Contact Us

How to contact our staff

Our reception staff will be happy to forward a message to a member of staff during working hours.  Should you wish to contact them directly, please use the details provided in the staff lists below.

To contact any member of staff, use their first initial plus surname, followed by @ola.org.uk
For example, the email address for Dr Best Teacher, would be bteacher@ola.org.uk

Say hello…
Please click here to contact our Admissions Team to arrange a visit, or for any other enquiries regarding admissions and entry requirements.

Who To Contact

Pastoral

• Lower School – please contact the class teacher (see right)
• Senior School – please contact the respective Head of Section (see right)

Academic

General

  • Years 8-11 and OLA 6th
    You should have received a welcome email from the tutor of your child. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the respective Head of Section:
    Head of Years 8 and 9 Mr Jeral Cooper jcooper@ola.org.uk
    Head of Years 10 and 11 Miss Jennie Simpson jsimpson@ola.org.uk
    Head of Sixth Form Dr Elizabeth Lawson elawson@ola.org.uk

Leadership Team

You are, of course, always welcome to contact any member of the Leadership Team with any queries or feedback.  The OLA Leadership Team reports to the Executive Leadership Team and manages all academic and pastoral matters across the wider OLA community.

Absence

Lower School

  1. For absence due to illness please call the School Office 01235 524658 or email attendance@ola.org.uk.
  2. For medical and dental appointments please email your child’s Form Tutor to request permission for absence.
  3. For all other planned absence please make your request in good time to the Head of OLA at headspa@ola.org.uk. All requests are considered on an individual basis.

Senior School 

  1. For absence due to illness please call the School Office 01235 524658 or email attendance@ola.org.uk in the first instance. If you also ‘cc’ the Form Tutor as a secondary source, this will ensure that the registration process is completed appropriately and avoids any situation in which a pupil will be misregistered.
  2. For medical and dental appointments please email your child’s Form Tutor to request permission for absence.
  3. For all other planned absence please make your request in good time to the Head of OLA at headspa@ola.org.uk. All requests are considered on an individual basis.

Out of Office Hours

  • Overnight 5.00pm to 8.30am (Reception hours of opening)
  • Weekends, Bank Holidays, School holidays* (see below)
    Please be aware that parents and/or pupils may not receive a response until the next working day if a member of the School staff is contacted during the above times.

EMERGENCY DURING OUT OF OFFICE HOURS (overnight, weekends and Bank Holidays)
A parent or pupil may email a member of the Leadership Team during out of office hours if there is an emergency about which the School needs to be aware. A response will be provided as soon as possible.  The Leadership Team Emergency Email address: LTemergency@ola.org.uk
Examples of emergencies which may require out of office hours contact:

  • A pupil breaks their arm on a Sunday and they have a public exam on Monday morning.
  • Family bereavement.
  • Admitted to hospital with a serious injury or illness.

Where a parent or pupil has a serious concern for the immediate safety or wellbeing of a pupil, including themselves if it is a pupil, the following are important points of contact:

  • Police 101 or 999
  • Children’s Social Care 0345 050 7666
  • Childline 0800 1111
  • Young Minds Text YM to 85258 for free 24/7 Support
  • Papyrus Hopeline UK 0800 068 41 41
  • The Samaritans 116 123

*CONTACT DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
The Business Office is open during the School holidays, please email either:  Mrs Wheatley (Business Manager) TWheatley@ola.org.uk or Mrs Dobson (PA to COO) coopa@ola.org.uk
Each member of the Leadership Team will monitor their emails periodically and will respond as soon as they can. If a parent or pupil requires a response within 48 hours, a member of the Leadership Team will be monitoring the following email address:  LTcontactholidays@ola.org.uk

OLA Medical Centre

Ensuring that children at OLA feel safe and well cared for, the school also provides a School Nurse.  Our medical centre is located within the lower school and is accessible to pupils and students across the lower and senior school during the school day. We have two assessment rooms linked to our consultation area where students discuss their medical needs as they arise.  Our School Nurse is in regular communication with parents in order to support their children with acute or chronic needs and the medical centre is always accessible as a drop in throughout the day.  Please forward any questions to nurse@ola.org.uk

Counselling & Learning Support in School

We are proud of our pastoral offering at OLA and feel confident that we can provide a supportive and nurturing environment where students can thrive. Please do get in touch if you have any questions.

  • A Counselling Service is available in school to support pupil’s mental health and wellbeing.
  • Our Learning Support team works very closely with the pastoral team and teaching staff, to ensure our pupils with specific learning differences are offered the highest level of support enabling them to access lessons and have extra tuition when appropriate. Where a pupil is highlighted as having difficulty accessing their learning, we will gather information and put support in place.

School Details

Address: Radley Road, Abingdon-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX14 3PS.  Telephone: 01235 524658

Email Addresses:

OLA Support Staff

  • Julie Dobson – Office Manager, PA to COO and Clerk to Governors, Anna Simpson & Elaine Hager – Secretaries and Rebecca Lai – Reception
  • Julie Braley – Head’s PA and HR & Compliance Officer
  • Lorna Downs – DDSL (Deputy DSL)
  • Clare Kimbell – Academic Administrator
  • Tina Wheatley – Business Manager
  • Helen Baker – Accounts Manager
  • Kelly Parry – Business Assistant

Admissions & Marketing

For Admissions, please contact Laura Purcell Admissions Manager, Laura Totton Admissions and Marketing Assistant or Karen Sutton Director of Marketing & Admissions.

For Marketing, Website, eNewsletter and/or PR enquiries, please contact Karen Sutton.