Oaklands Says Goodbye to our Leavers

At the end of our annual End of Year Celebration, which took place in the Auditorium of the Herongate Club on Thursday 16th July, we said goodbye to three of our pupils, Isaiah, Jamie and Trinity, who are now moving on to continue their education at college. Many tears were shed as we celebrated their time with us as Oaklands pupils and waved them off with good wishes for their futures.

Each pupil was presented with a leavers hoodie and a framed certificate in recognition of the contribution they had made to school life.

We also shared the following poem with the parents, carers pupils, staff and invited guests which was set to music and featured photos of the graduating pupils throughout their time at our school.

After our End of Year Celebration, Melissa, the mum of one of our graduating pupils, Isaiah from Ash Class, gave a speech at a special reception the family held to mark the end of Isaiah's time with us as a pupil at Oaklands School. It brought everyone to tears!

Melissa has kindly allowed us to share her speech which you can read below. Just make sure you have some tissues at the ready!

Good afternoon everyone,

For those who do not know me, I am Isaiah's mum, Melissa.

Today is a celebration, but for our family it represents so much more than the end of a school journey. It is the celebration of hope, resilience and a young man who refused to give up, even when life placed obstacles in his path.

The song you are about to hear speaks deeply to our family's journey.

"Some day things will work out for my good. I've cried in the dark, but I understood."

There were many years when those words felt painfully familiar.

Isaiah was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome when he was just five years old. From an early age, it was clear that he experienced the world differently. Yet he found himself caught in the gap that so many families know only too well. He was what I often call an "in-betweener" — not severe enough for some people to recognise the challenges he faced, yet unable to thrive in a mainstream environment without the right support and understanding.

On paper, Isaiah was bright, intelligent and capable. What many people did not see was the anxiety, the exhaustion and the daily effort it took just to navigate a world that often did not make sense to him.

His primary school years were difficult, and when he moved to mainstream secondary school, he lasted only two weeks.

After that, Isaiah spent two and a half years at home. Two and a half years is a very long time in a young person's life.

There were moments when it felt like we were living the words of this song:

"The journey of life is a heavy road, bare feet on the stones, still I carry hope."

As parents, we carried hope because that was all we had.

Hope that someone would see beyond the diagnosis.

Hope that someone would recognise his potential.

Hope that one day he would find a place where he truly belonged.

The song says:

"They talk like they know how my story ends, but they weren't there..."

Many people thought they understood Isaiah's story. Many saw a diagnosis. Many saw the difficulties. Very few saw the incredible young man underneath.

Then came the light at the end of the tunnel: Oaklands School.

For the first time, people looked beyond the labels and saw Isaiah for who he truly was.

Today I would like to thank Ian, Phil and Georgios. Thank you for taking a chance on an in-betweener. Thank you for seeing what others sometimes overlooked. Thank you for recognising that success is not measured solely by academic ability, but by understanding the whole child and helping them flourish.

I would also like to thank Chris for his commitment, dedication and the countless ways he has helped make Isaiah's journey a positive one.

Thank you to Rhys for your support, encouragement and belief in him.

And thank you to every member of staff at Oaklands. Every single person who played a role in helping Isaiah feel safe, valued and understood.

What makes Oaklands special is that you see children as individuals. You see the young people who do not fit neatly into boxes. Most importantly, you refuse to allow them to become another statistic or become lost in the system. Instead, you give them something incredibly powerful: a chance.

The song reminds us:

"Step by step, we move. We rise."

That perfectly describes Isaiah's journey. It was one step at a time, one challenge at a time, one achievement at a time, and one person believing in him at a time.

Isaiah, we are incredibly proud of you. Not because of qualifications or grades, but because you kept going when things were hard, found strength when life tested you, and never stopped moving forward.

The song ends with the words:

"Zwi do luga – it will all come through."

For many years, we held onto those words without knowing what the future would bring.

Today, standing here at the end of your Oaklands journey, we know they were true.

Things did work out. Not because the road was easy. But because you kept walking.

Congratulations, Isaiah. And from the bottom of our hearts, thank you to Oaklands School for believing in our son, for seeing his true potential, and for helping him find his place in the world.