Month: March 2022

Girls’ Football Tournaments

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in Medina College, News - MC.

Girls’ Football Tournaments

On Wednesday 2 March, the U13 girls A and B teams attended the annual 6-a-side tournament at Cowes Enterprise College. Both teams had a ‘Football Activator’ as a team manager who coached and encouraged them during their games. It was a chilly evening but all the girls gave it their all and their behaviour was exemplary. Well done girls!

On Wednesday 9 March, it was the turn of the U15 girls at their tournament. After a slightly timid start and a couple of position changes the girls got stuck in and matched the physicality of the other teams. They improved with every game but missed out on the medals. Amazing effort girls.

DofE Practice Day Hike

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in Carisbrooke College, Duke of Edinburgh, News - CC.

DofE Practice Day Hike

12 Carisbrooke students took part in a practice day hike for their Duke of Edinburgh on Sunday. This entailed them practising navigation, cooking and putting up tents… all to varying degrees of success.

The weather could not have been better for the expedition on a sunny day with a slight chill in the air. Unfortunately, the conditions under foot were not so great with two students getting their shoes stuck in the mud as well as Mr Norman falling into the mud, although this did brighten up the students’ day as well!

All in all, the students thoroughly enjoyed the expedition and made some lasting memories.

Busy times for VI Form DofE students

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in Duke of Edinburgh, News - VI, The Island VI Form.

Busy times for VI Form DofE Students

What have our young VI Form DofE participants been up to lately? Well, despite all the time needed to complete their studies, there has been plenty of great stuff happening in support of achieving their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Chloe C has been using her free time to learn to GLIDE and play golf.
Daisy H has been dressmaking.
Leon K is busy counting penguins on Zooinverse.
Joshua S completed an open water lifesaving course plus learning to be a swimming instructor.
Sam B is learning the guitar.
Joe R and Jessica W are volunteering at the Mountbatten Hospice.
Ruby W completed her Bronze and was walking dogs for the elderly in her community.
Cleo M has been doing a great job instructing at St John’s Ambulance units.

Congratulations to Tom W who is off to Buckingham Palace to receive his GOLD DofE Award. This is a fantastic achievement.

Keep up the good work everyone!

Extended Project Qualification – Presentation Event

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in News - VI, The Island VI Form.

Extended Project Qualification – Presentation Event

On Tuesday 8 March, the Year 13 Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) students demonstrated quite how much work has gone into their research with a fabulous display of knowledge and enthusiasm in the presentation event. Covering a vast range of research topics – from the medicinal properties of honey to how to build a dinosaur puppet and whether gender selection should be considered on the NHS on medical grounds – the students brought a level of enthusiasm and excitement to the Hall that created a real buzz.

The EPQ is an opportunity for students to gain valuable academic skills which will give them a head start at University, in apprenticeships and in work, all while immersing themselves in a topic of their choice.

The presentation is a core aspect of the research project which launches to our current Year 12s next week; those who have been inspired by the work they saw can find out more in A2 at Breaktime next Thursday (17th March).

Head of School’s Blog – 4 March 2022

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in HoS Blog - MC, Medina College.

4 March 2022

Welcome to the first newsletter of the second spring half term.

Thank you for your support at the end of last term, which was brought abruptly to an end when Storm Eunice caused some disruption to our daily lives. We did sustain some damage to the buildings as a result of this, and repairs are either complete or in progress.

Year 9 parents/carers will have received a letter this week with details of the upcoming Pathways process, where students have the opportunity to discuss and show a preference in the subjects that they wish to study in Year 10 and 11. The in person Pathways Evening is on Wednesday 16 March and it is important that as many students/parents attend this evening, so they can explore the subjects on offer.

As you will be aware the Government changed the guidance in relation to COVID-19 over the half term break. The only change in relation to anyone displaying symptoms and testing positive is that it is now advice and not a legal requirement to isolate. The key areas that we are focusing on in school is maintaining good hand and respiratory hygiene as well as keeping spaces ventilated. The Government made the statement that ‘We don’t need laws to compel people to be considerate of others. We can rely on that sense of responsibility towards one another, providing practical advice in the knowledge that people will follow it to avoid infecting loved ones and others. So let us learn to live with this virus and continue protecting ourselves without restricting our freedoms.’ It is important that this is the sentiment we consider to help us all move forward.

We are aware that the international political landscape concerning the Ukraine is concerning some people. It is important that we focus on facts and not on conjecture or mis-information. Details of a collection for charities linked to Ukraine will be shared over the next week.

It is important that Year 11 remain focused on the time they have remaining before their exams. There will be revision sessions running over the Easter period, details will follow over the coming weeks. Focus, resilience and determination and key attributes that will help over the next few months.

Next week, I will be leading assemblies about Inspiration – the ‘I’ within our ASPIRE core values.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Head of School’s Blog – 4 March 2022

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in Carisbrooke College, HoS Blog - CC.

4 March 2022

Welcome to our first newsletter for the second half of the Spring term. I can’t quite believe a week has passed already.

Over half term some of our students were involved with the Story Festival. In order to write an article for the County Press, they interviewed authors, illustrators and presenters as well as members of the public. They then worked together to combine their efforts which they submitted to the editor on Monday lunchtime. It was a very tight deadline but they completely rose to the challenge. Our students were described as, ‘confident, hardworking and conscientious journalists who were a credit to Carisbrooke College’.

Well done to Lucy C, one of our year 9 students who has come first in her previous two rounds and is now representing the school at the Trampolining National Finals on 12 March in Macclesfield. This is an amazing accomplishment especially considering the time missed due to covid.

Year 9 students and parents will have received a letter inviting them to the options evening on Tuesday 15 March. This is an opportunity to find out from staff more details about the different courses that are on offer. We look forward to seeing you all.

Rehearsals are back up and running for the Dance Live final on Tuesday 3 May and the pantomime cast are earnestly rehearsing in costumes now for their performance on Tuesday 29 March. I am very much looking forward to both.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for the penultimate week of last half term . Year 7 Lucy H, Year 8 Phoebe H, Year 9 Isabella H and Harry M, Year 10 Samuel R and Year 11 Aidan B, Jessica S and Eve W.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for the last week of last half term – Year 7 River S, Year 8 Angel M, Year 9 Olivia S, Year 10 Benjamin M and Year 11 Grace S.

Have a lovely weekend.

Head of School’s Blog – 4 March 2022

Written by Gemma Long on March 11, 2022. Posted in HoS Blog - VI, The Island VI Form.

4 March 2022

Welcome back, I hope that you had a restful break and managed to fit in some revision for the exams coming up in the summer.

As I mentioned before the break, we are celebrating the finale of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) for this year’s cohort and simultaneously launching it to our current Year 12’s. The presentation event for students will be on Tuesday 8th March in our main hall during period 5. This will give Year 12 the opportunity to find out more and speak to students and staff who are completing / teaching the EPQ this year.

Below is a link to a guide to applying to University (UCAS) as this may help some questions Year 13 have about finance (page 18-27) as offers start to come through and also to provide general advice about the process for Year 12 students. We will share further information and go through this in more detail in the summer term. We will also be hosting a specific Student Finance funding talk from a local university representative. This event that will be held mid-March, will deliver a presentation to students during the school day and also include an Information evening for parents. https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/upreach/new_aspire-guide-2020?pid=MTE111704&p=19&v=9.1

Finally, I would like to thank the students and staff who attended the TEDx talks on Wednesday at The Riverside Centre. It was a great event and students found it enjoyable and rewarding, as well as being an experience to add to their personal statements for UCAS. The link below takes you to full coverage of the event as a live stream, presentations are about 10 minutes long and if you struggle with planning / organising yourself, the presentation at 52 minutes 45 second from James Green is well worth a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj3a8NFqpLU&t=432s

Astronomy and Climate Club Update

Written by Gemma Long on March 4, 2022. Posted in Medina College, News - MC.

Astronomy and Climate Club Update

Our dedicated team of astronomers is continuing to use the Faulkes telescope in Hawaii most Wednesdays when we meet, and we’ll soon be using the Faulkes observatory in Australia too, so we can get to see and image some of the objects in the Southern Sky, never visible here in the Northern Hemisphere. We are also doing a free online course ‘Astronomy With An Online Telescope’ as part of the Club sessions, which will provide access to the OU observatory in Tenerife.

We hope you enjoy the images below! And also please remember this is very much a work in progress… The learning curve is steep, but a lot of fun!

In other news, we are excited to have been awarded a grant of £600 from the Institute of Physics in order to purchase a GOTO telescope and imaging system for the Club and Science Department. Over the next month or so, we will be putting that together as we acquire all the components. Another project we’re looking at is designing and building a radio telescope – that will open up a whole lot of objects and ‘space stuff’ that are otherwise invisible to us, with the added massive advantage (especially in the UK) that you need neither night time nor clear skies to do radio astronomy!

Members (and your families and friends) please stay tuned for news of our first STAR PARTY. This will allow us to meet to do some ‘in person’ observing after sunset under the lovely Bortle 4 (1=darkest, 9=most light polluted) skies the Island has to offer. Possible locations are: the field next to the Vectis Astronomical Society’s observatory; sites in West Wight, for example Chale recreation ground, Whale Chine, the top part of Tennyson Down, the Jubilee car park near Brighstone. Students will be asked to come along accompanied by a responsible adult, as part of good safeguarding practice, although if this won’t be possible for any individual students, they are requested to discuss that with one of us (myself Mr Gray, Mrs Rowe, Mr Palmer or Dr Clarkson) so we can make sure they don’t miss out. Full details are to follow.

Finally, please also look out for weekly weather reports by our student meteorologists, using data and forecast models from our own weather station on the roof of Medina College. These will be published on our social media sites as well as the main IWEF website.

New members are welcome to join the club which meets every Wednesday, 3.10 – 4.30 pm in S1. You must have a signed consent form though which can be obtained from Mr Gray in Music or Mrs Rowe in Science.

Humanities Taster Day at University of Portsmouth

Written by Gemma Long on March 4, 2022. Posted in News - CC, News - MC, Uncategorized.

Humanities Taster Day at University of Portsmouth

Mr Havard-Swan and Mr Harrison took 27 year 8 students (15 from Carisbrooke College/12 from Medina College) to the University of Portsmouth for a Humanities taster day this week. The students were a credit to themselves and the colleges.

They really engaged with the 3 different workshops and the lecturers delivered to them. They were attentive, answered questions, and maturely articulated their own ideas on topics like genocide and humanitarian relief, and how citizens participate in government, including when working in teams with students from another school that they had only just met.

Their behaviour, including moving around the city between several different university buildings throughout the day, was superb. Overall, this was a great experience for the students which helped to open their eyes to what their future could like, if they choose to study a humanities subject at a higher level.

Junior Journos

Written by Gemma Long on March 4, 2022. Posted in Carisbrooke College, News - CC.

Junior Journos

A group of year 10 students have been working on a journalism project in partnership with Independent Arts as part of the year-long Creative Biosphere project — a partnership of five cultural organisations, five schools and colleges and five artists have been brought together through the Isle of Wight’s Cultural Education Partnership to inspire creativity in young people through the Island’s UNESCO Biosphere Status.

Grace, Jenson, Oliver, Devon and Lily attended the IW Story Festival at Quay Arts on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th February to interview authors, illustrators and presenters as well as members of the public, before working together to combine their efforts which they then submitted to the Isle of Wight County Press. It was a very tight deadline but they completely rose to the challenge.

You can read their article here: https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/19960439.isle-wight-story-festival-inspires-young-creatives/

The group are now in the process of pitching their ideas to the editor at Style of Wight magazine where their article will feature in their April edition.