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Month: July 2023

Newclose Cricket Ground Trip

Newclose Cricket Ground Trip

On Tuesday 11 July, students from Carisbrooke College were treated to a day out at Newclose watching a ladies professional cricket game. 

The game was between Hampshire Vipers and Nottinghamshire Blaze.  During the day, the students got to see some real talent on show and the game lived up to expectations with Nottinghamshire winning with only two overs left to play. 

During the day, students also got to take part in activities for a bit of fun with one of our students Wilfie T winning the batting challenge.

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Wavelength Project

Wavelength Project


During the week commencing 10 July, 60 year 7 students from Carisbrooke and Medina Colleges had the fantastic opportunity to take part in a project called ‘Wavelength’ with a local arts-based charity, Independent Arts. 

“Wavelength sets out to inspire and awaken our community to the very special geographical and coastal settings of the Island which have lent themselves to top-level, epoch-making design and testing firsts. 

In bringing the arts together with the sciences, we hope to help Island children understand how both disciplines have strong links and can inform one another, and to try to dissolve barriers that have arisen in recent times between the sciences, technology and the arts.” (Kerry Tindall, Programmes Manager, Independent Arts)

The project which was based at The Island VI Form, focused on the work of Robert Hooke, an Island scientist who is best known for his invention of the microscope. Independent Arts designed a number of workshops in response to the work of Robert Hooke, ranging from Suminagashi ‘floating ink’ to wire and stained acetate molecular cloud sculptures inspired by the work of  Minjung-Kim.

Students also had the opportunity to visit our science laboratories to gain experience of using the larger microscopes that we have available.

We were incredibly proud of all the students involved as they managed to produce some beautiful final outcomes that fuse the worlds of Science and Art together.

We are excited to announce that the work produced by our students will be on display at The Independent Arts Hub in Newport town centre from Wednesday 16 August – late September.







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Made at Home Competition

Made at Home Competition

The Medina College Design and Technology Department held a competition to celebrate the skills and creativity of our young people. Students were asked to submit photographs of the products they had made in their own time at home. The diverse range of entries made it hard for the judges, they were impressed by the range of skills demonstrated, these included: cookery, sewing, clay models, woodwork, jewellery making and crochet.

Year 7 winners – Kobi D and Marli I

Year 8 Winner – Mylea G

The winners were selected because of the quality of their products and the manufacturing information they submitted. Kobi was chosen, not only because of the fantastic product he made, he also listed the tools and techniques used to make his display stands. Marli’s product stood out not only for the quality, but the detailed information she gave about the 28 recycled pieces she cut for her light. Mylea demonstrated her creativity and explained in detail how she made the three parts, assembled and used the candle holder.

The competition will become a termly event for the next school year. We look forward to seeing more fantastic entries.

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Head of School’s Blog – 14 July 2023

14 July 2023

There will be a Year 12 assembly on Tuesday 18 July in the hall at 9.50 am and all students need to attend. I will be sharing important information about the last few days, the beginning of next term and also details of changes to the bursary scheme.

We have had a busy week with Year 7 students from Medina and Carisbrooke College joining us as part of an Arts and Science project: Wavelength. Thank you to staff from Independent Arts who delivered the workshops, the artwork will be on display soon. Year 9 students from both Colleges joined us as part of our PEP project and were trained as Mental health ambassadors. Finally, on Monday we welcomed all of Carisbrooke Year 10 students to their Introduction Day, as they start to plan for their post 16 education.

Next week is a bit quieter, but we look forward to hosting the Federation Summer Concert on Thursday 20, from 7.00 pm, which I’m sure will be a lovely evening.

Enjoy your weekend – despite the weather forecast.

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Head of School’s Blog – 14 July 2023

14 July 2023

I would like to start by celebrating our students at Medina College. We held our annual Awards Evening yesterday, which was a fantastic event showcasing a small proportion of the breadth of talent and skills, as well as demonstrations of dedication and perseverance that we have at Medina. Well done to all of our Award winners, who were nominated by their teachers, also thank you to the parents/carers for attending and to the staff for taking part in the evening. I was very proud to be Executive Headteacher and Head of Medina College.

Our PE team held a very successful Sports Day this week. It is great to see the students enjoy activities outside of the classroom. Thank you to all who were involved in this.

I will be writing to you next week with information for September and reminders about expectations, so please look out for this.

We have various trips next week and also a dedicated STEM day on Thursday, when students will be taken off of timetable to take part in an array of alternative activities. We hope they all enjoy what has been planned.

Have a great weekend.

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Head of School’s Blog – 14 July 2023

14 July 2023

Last Friday evening we had our year 11 Prom. We had some fantastic arrivals including a horse, a tractor, a convoy of Harley Davidsons and a beach buggy to name a few! It was an amazing evening and the students did Carisbrooke College proud.

On Wednesday we had our Awards Ceremony. This is an evening where exemplary students are awarded for their efforts. The evening was a great success and there was not an empty seat in the audience. Thank you to all of the parents/guardians who came along and supported the event and to our wonderful staff for making it happen. Most of all, thank you to all the students who won awards for their continued efforts and contributions to Carisbrooke College.

Next week we have our student Rewards Trips and on Monday at 6.00 pm we have a meeting for the parents/carers of the students attending the Vietnam Trip. Please come along if you can, as important information will be shared.

School will run as normal next week until 3.10 pm on Friday 21 July.

Have a great weekend.

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Sports Roundup

Sports Roundup

Year 8 Rounders tournament at Cowes.
At the end of June, the Year 8s played in their rounders tournament. They played well during the evening with Sonja and Lucy batting well and Mylea excelling herself on second post. It was a fun night with some tightly contested games.

PEACH Games
A group of lovely Year 9 Sport Leaders attended the PEACH games in West Wight. Over 20 Primary schools arrived to do a wide range of activities that were run by our leaders and a group of IOW College students. Despite some unfortunate weather, the leaders were outstanding and received many compliments from the Primary school teachers. It was also great to work alongside the leaders from Carisbrooke College who also did a great job.

Year 7 Rounders
Last week, the Year 7 rounders team headed off to Cowes for their tournament. We were missing some of the team unfortunately, but rather than pull out these girls took on the challenge of playing the other full sided teams. We borrowed players when we could and the girls got better and better with each game. Their team spirit and determination was excellent throughout the evening and they even managed to beat The Bay. I’m glad they chose to play. It was another day that one of our teams made me really proud of them. Well done ladies.

Miss Caddick.



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Victim Care Talk for Criminology Students

Victim Care Talk for Criminology Students

Last Friday we had a delegate, India Milner, from Victim Care – the IOW and Hampshire branch of Victim Support, come in and deliver a presentation to our VI Form criminology students.

Part of our course is to study the rights of victims and also look at the role of charities and advocacy groups involved in the criminal justice system. India created an informative presentation that detailed what victim care offers its service users; creating safety plans, support for ongoing cases and court preparation, providing security items, liaising with the police and other support agencies and producing supportive guides and resources.

India informed us of the three types of teams that cover the area which include the multi crime team, the domestic abuse team and the children’s and young person team. She took us on a journey of the criminal justice system and discussed in detail what the 12 rights of the Victims Code meant.

For more information what this fantastic group does visit: https://www.hampshireiowvictimcare.co.uk/

You can also find them on social media:
Twitter: @VCS_HantsIOW
Facebook: @Victim Care Service
Instagram: @vcs_hiow

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Year 11 Prom 2023

Year 11 Prom 2023

The year 11 Prom took place at the stunning Albert Cottage this year. The weather was on our side and the students certainly made their entrances in style with an Island Breezer bus, pick up truck, pink limousine and even Chitty Chitty bang Bang dropping students off! They were greeted with a welcome (soft) drink where the students and staff enjoyed the grounds.

Students enjoyed a buffet BBQ followed by profiteroles for dessert, some enjoying eating in the beautifully decorated main dining hall and others eating outside in the sun. It was then time to crown the students’ choice for Prom King and Prom Queen –Isaac S and Sara M.

Following the awards, students enjoyed the disco and karaoke with every student getting up on the dancefloor and having photos taken by the magic mirror.

Massive thanks to Wightfibre, Wightsweep and WRS Systems for their generous donations to make it all possible. Thanks also to DJ Dave Wiltshire and Ross Balloons-the evening would not have been possible without their support.




Executive Headteacher and Head of Medina College, Matthew Parr-Burman said “The Medina College Prom, this year held at Albert Cottage, was a great occasion to round off the students’ time with us. The students looked fantastic and seemed to enjoy the occasion including food and the dancing. The whole event was well run and had a lovely atmosphere. We wish them all well on the next part of their journey and look forward to welcoming many of them back to our VI Form in September.

It was a brilliant evening and a fantastic end to 5 years together.

Thank you to Mr Tennant and Mrs Keenan-Croad for their fantastic support and organisation of this event. 

Images courtesy of APV Services.


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