Author: Lora Shephard

NatWest – Next Big Thing Challenge

Written by Lora Shephard on May 3, 2023. Posted in Careers, Medina College, News - MC.

Natwest – The Next Big Thing Challenge

Last Tuesday Year 9 were given the opportunity to participate in the NatWest – Next Big Thing Challenge. The event was delivered by The Inspirational Learning Group.

The day began with a personality quiz where students discovered their ‘personality animal’. The quiz posed questions such as: Do you think before you speak or do you think out loud? Do you work better in a team or are you more comfortable working alone? Apparently if you get ‘Black Bear’ you’re a natural leader! The quiz helped the students decide who would take on which role within the team; who would lead, who would delegate tasks and who would motivate their team.

You can find out your own animal personality here: https://launchyourcareer.com/p/quiz

The students were then invited to think about what might be ‘the next best thing’ for their peers. Students were given lots of advice on marketing, money management, forecasting, choosing an ambassador, designing logos and coming up with slogans. Towards the end of the day students were able to present their business idea and act out the advert they had devised to promote it. Presented were a wide variety of unique ideas, such as: SOLVIT – a foldable shoe to save space; SWEETS 4 U – custom made sweets to order and SIMPLI FOOD – a lunch box that keeps your food warm!

Mrs Southwell and Mrs Clarke were given the difficult job of judging the fantastic ideas! TEAM were announced the overall winners with their business idea of a social media app focused on current issues where students are able to discuss and share their views, while being able to shop for ethical clothing and products. Well done to August, Oliver, Mason, Chloe, Ella and Eleanor form TEAM!

The students engaged well with the challenge and came up with some very exciting, innovative ideas. Well done Year 9!

NatWest – Next Big Thing Challenge

Written by Lora Shephard on May 3, 2023. Posted in Careers, Carisbrooke College, News - CC.

NatWest – Next Big Thing Challenge

Last Wednesday Year 9 got the opportunity to participate in the NatWest – Next Big Thing Challenge. The event was delivered by The Inspirational Learning Group.

Find your animal personality by doing the quiz: https://launchyourcareer.com/p/quiz

Miss Bracegirdle and Mrs McDowall were given the tricky task of judging! SPRAYED were announced as the winners, with their business idea of a vegan shoe spray to keep shoes smelling fresh! Their chosen ambassador was Usain Bolt. Well done to Matthew, Jack, Flynn, Harvey and Ellis from team SPRAYED!

We are very proud of the whole of Year 9, not only for their impeccable behaviour on the day but we were also amazed by the creative ideas that they came up with!

Head of School’s Blog – 28 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 28, 2023. Posted in HoS Blog - VI, The Island VI Form.

28 April 2023

Dear parents, carers and students

UCAS:

What is clearing? Clearing is when Universities offer all unfilled courses/places that they have available for September 2023.

Clearing starts on 5 July and will close on 17 October 2023. You might want to look if you are worried about achieving your ‘Offer’ from your University or if you didn’t receive any offers or applied late.

Student guide

Parental guide

We have a student finance talk from Solent University which we recommend that all students planning on going to University this Year (September 2023) should attend, it will be in the hall at 10.30 am on Tuesday 9 May.

Make sure that you respond to your offers in time (8 June if you have had all of your offers by 18 May): https://www.ucas.com/ connect/blogs/think-carefully- when-you-reply-your-offers

Other key dates for Year 13: Leavers photograph (morning break) Friday 5 May, Celebration assembly (morning break) Thursday 18 May and Prom Thursday 29 June (7.00pm till 11.30pm) at Landguard Manor.

UCAS for Year 12 will be covered after half term, where we will share the “buzzword”, key dates and advice for applicants wanting to start University in September 2024.

Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend.

Head of School’s Blog – 28 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 28, 2023. Posted in HoS Blog - MC, Medina College.

28 April 2023

Welcome to the newsletter for this week.

Year 11 have less than two weeks until the exam season starts. As always, please take a look at our website and stay up to date – Exams (logistics) – Exams (revision and support).The revision booklet can also be found here. We are also offering breakfast before school to students who wish to come into school at 8 am to revise on site and use the computers. Any students who would like breakfast need to arrive between 8 am and 8.10 am.

Year 8 parents/carers, if you have not already booked appointments for the in person Parents’ Evening next Wednesday, please do so. This is an important opportunity for you to be able to talk about the progress of your child.

We have updated the extra-curricular club offer. The timetable can be found here.

Please remember that it is Bank Holiday on Monday (1 May) and there is industrial action on Tuesday (2 May), so we will be expecting all students in as normal at 8.45 am on Wednesday, 3 May. A link to the industrial action letter can be found here.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Head of School’s Blog – 28 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 28, 2023. Posted in Carisbrooke College, HoS Blog - CC.

28 April 2023

It has been another busy week. Apart from our usual learning in lessons, we have had NatWest in doing ‘The Big Event’ with year 9 and have started Bikeability sessions for our year 7. Feedback about our students from our external visitors was fantastic. Super proud of them all.

I hope that our year 9 students got a lot out of their ‘Take your child to work day’. This is an excellent opportunity for them to find out a bit more about a day at work. Hopefully some have been inspired.

Next week we return to face to face parents evenings for year 8. The evening will run from 4pm to 7pm and we look forward to welcoming you into school. If you haven’t already booked your appointments, please do so using the following link. This is an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their individual subject teachers.

Please click on the link to see all of the extra curricular clubs that we offer in school.

Just as a reminder, we have a bank holiday on Monday and an Industrial Action day on Tuesday (where we expect all year 11 students to attend school as normal). We look forward to students in years 7-11 returning to school on Wednesday 3 May.

Enjoy your bank holiday weekend.

Rosettes Galore for Carisbrooke’s Show Jumping Team

Written by Lora Shephard on April 28, 2023. Posted in Carisbrooke College, News - CC.

Rosettes Galore for Carisbrooke’s Show Jumping Team

There was success for Carisbrooke students at the Inter Schools Show Jumping last Friday. Carisbrooke A placed 2nd in the team standings and Carisbrooke B finished 3rd.

Lucy got the team off to a brilliant start with two clear rounds on Djocovic, progressing through to the jump off to win third place in section A with Jess also having a good round, placing 5th on Crunchie.

In Section B Amelia went clear in her first round on Monty but just got four faults in round two to take 5th place.

Lastly, in Section C Freya was able to replicate her performance from last year’s competition on the very same horse – Captain, by going clear to secure her place in the jump off, where she achieved the fastest time to take 1st place.

Well done to all of the students taking part, it was a great team performance with lots of fantastic individual achievements!

A special thank you to Jess and Amelia who have consistently represented Carisbrooke at both dressage and show jumping over the years. Jess and Amelia will be leaving us at the end of the year to continue their agricultural studies at Hartpury College – good luck girls.

Head of School’s Blog – 21 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 21, 2023. Posted in HoS Blog - VI, The Island VI Form.

21 April 2023

Welcome back! I hope you had a productive Easter break.

The first exams have started for Year 13 Arts based students and BTEC examinations will be starting soon as well. This is always a very fast moving term, so make sure that you are fully prepared and ready. Remember that we will also have two bank holiday Mondays (1 and 8 May), so speak to your teachers about upcoming workloads.

Study leave for Year 13 students starts on Friday 19 May, staff are still available if you wish to see them during lesson time after this date. Please can I remind you that you need your student lanyard for every exam as proof of ID. Individual exam timetables will be shared via email with students and parents next week. Hard copies will also be available to collect from Student Services.

Also coming up: Celebration assembly and awards, Leavers photo and Leavers Prom – Thursday 29 June at Landguard Manor, tickets will be available from reception (payment via school gateway).

Year 12 students will be on study leave for the period of their trial exams from 29 June to 7 July inclusive. BTEC / Arts based students need to check with teachers when they require you to attend ongoing lessons.

Follow your revision timetables, ask for help, attend revision sessions and look after your well being (exercise, breaks, routine sleep patterns etc.)

Head of School’s Blog – 21 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 21, 2023. Posted in Carisbrooke College, HoS Blog - CC.

21 April 2023

We have had a very good start to the term. Students have arrived dressed smartly and settled back into routines well. I have enjoyed leading the assemblies this week to the year groups on ‘Progress’ – what it means and why it is important. As you know, our core values are built around ASPIRE which are Ambition, Success, Progress, Inspirations, Respect and Equality.

Thank you to parents/carers who attended the year 10 virtual parents’ evening on Wednesday. The year 8 parents’ evening will be held in school Thursday 4 May. Further details will follow. These events give you an opportunity to speak to your child’s individual subject teachers and discuss their progress and any concerns that they may have.

Next Thursday 27 April is a strike day. A letter has been emailed out to parents/carers detailing the arrangements for the day.

Have a lovely weekend.

Head of School’s Blog – 21 April 2023

Written by Lora Shephard on April 21, 2023. Posted in HoS Blog - MC, Medina College.

21 April 2023

Welcome to the first newsletter of the summer term.

Thank you to all Year 10 parents/carers who made and attended Parents’ Evening appointments yesterday evening. We hope that you found it helpful in supporting your child.

The following two Parents’ Evenings for Year 8 and Year 7 will be in person. Details will be sent to you directly.

You will have received a letter regarding the upcoming industrial action days today – thank you for your continued support.

Year 11 are in the final approach to their upcoming exams. We have two helpful pages on our website, one covers logistics and one covers revision and support. Please take a look and stay up to date – Exams (logistics) – Exams (revision and support).

I led assemblies on Progress (one of our core values) this week. It demonstrated that progress is not linear, it does not happen at the same rate for everyone, but the important thing is to try, put effort in, not excuses.

DofE Bronze Expedition

Written by Lora Shephard on April 21, 2023. Posted in Duke of Edinburgh, News - CC, News - MC, Uncategorized.

DofE Bronze Expedition

On the Thursday and Friday before Easter, 45 brave students from Carisbrooke College and Medina College set off on their Duke of Edinburgh bronze expedition. The expedition was a two day adventure that required the students to navigate their way around the Isle of Wight using only a map and compass. Despite the rainy weather and strong winds, the students persevered and completed the expedition successfully.

On the first day, the students set off from the Island VI Form and headed out into the wilderness. They were immediately faced with strong winds and rain, but they remained determined and focused. The students used their navigational skills to find their way to the first checkpoint and were pleased to discover that they were having a good time. However,as they continued on their journey, the weather became even more challenging, and the students had to work harder to stay on course.

As the day progressed, the students faced several difficult obstacles. At one point, they even got a little lost, but they quickly regrouped and found their way back on track. Finally, after a long day, the students arrived at the camping site where they would spend the night. Despite the challenging conditions, the students were in high spirits, and they enjoyed a well deserved rest.

The second day of the expedition was no less challenging than the first. The students set off early in the morning and continued their journey around the island. The weather had improved slightly, but the students were once again battling strong winds. Even with the tricky weather conditions they were able to navigate their way to the finish line successfully.

Overall, the Duke of Edinburgh expedition was a fantastic experience for all involved. The students learned valuable skills such as navigation, teamwork, and perseverance. They also had the opportunity to challenge themselves physically and mentally and to experience the beauty and wonder of the great outdoors. We are incredibly proud of all the students who participated in this expedition, and we look forward to more adventures in the future.