Welcome to the blog for this week.

As part of the support we have for Carisbrooke following our Ofsted, faculty leads are working with leads in HISP, looking at how formative and summative assessment is used to check pupils’ understanding – an area for development in our Ofsted report. 

Year 10 had the start of their trial exams this week.  These exams are an excellent opportunity for the students to experience working in exam conditions and how the exam papers look. The students were well behaved and respectful of each other and I hope they continue this behaviour into next week.

On Thursday 7 March, we have the Pathways Evening for parents and students in year 9.  This is an opportunity for parents and students to speak to individual subject teachers about the lessons on offer to study in KS4.  Please try to attend this event as there will be valuable information shared to help your child make their final decision for their subject choices. 

Next week, our year 11 students have their Food Technology practical exams.  I have the pleasure of being one of the official ‘tasters’ and look forward to savouring the delights from their menus.  Good luck to them all!

We will be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 7 March – lots of exciting things will be available for students to get involved in. Information will be shared with the students on Monday.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners this week.  Year 7 – Evie, Summer, Tulisa, Year 8 – Jackson, Year 9 Liam, Year 10 – Xanda and Year 11 Bethany and Mia.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College

Welcome to the first blog for this half term.

This week I have enjoyed delivering assemblies linked to our Aprire and Achieve strap line and the word ASPIRE which focuses on our core values. The main theme this time was on inspiration. Other key messages were around our expectations in terms of attendance and attitude to learning.We held our Year 9 Parents’ Evening on Wednesday and it was a great success!  Thank you to those parents who

came along.  If you were unable to attend but would like an update from your child’s teachers, please email the school for this to be arranged. 

There will be a Pathways Evening for Year 9 students, parents and carers on Thursday 7 March, please add this to your calendar.

Year 11 had their core subject trial exams Thursday and Friday this week.  These exams are an excellent opportunity for the students to experience working in exam conditions and how the exam papers look.  They were all extremely well behaved and respectful of each other.

Next Wednesday we have the School Immunisation Team coming in to administer the Teen Booser vaccinations to those students whose parents/carers have given consent.  If you haven’t completed the consent form, you will have been sent an email with the details.  If you require any assistance with this, please contact the school.

As You will have seen on our social media platforms and further in this blog, we are already looking to arrange our end of year reward trips: Year 7 – Friday 28 June – Splashdown in Poole, Year 8 – Wednesday 26 June – Paultons Park, Year 9/10 – Thursday 27 June – Thorpe Park. These are offered to the top 45 students in their year group with regards to the following:

• Highest Achievement Points
• No or few Behaviour Points
• Good attendance (above 95% for the year unless appropriate evidence has been provided)
• Overall, behaviour and attitude will also be taken into consideration.

Please do speak with your child about their achievements, attitude and attendance and stress to them that they have until the end of this term to gain as many positive achievement points as possible and to improve their attendance if needed. 

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners this week.  Year 7 – Riley, Year 8 – Jackson, Year 9 Taylan, Year 10 – Solomon and Year 11 Eleanor.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College

Reward Trips 2024

Welcome to the final newsletter for this half term.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate all the students involved in the Dance Live! competition. They have been rehearsing regularly and have worked so hard. I was a very proud Head on Wednesday evening at the Guildhall in Portsmouth, watching them perform. Thank you also to the staff involved who have given up so much of their own time. You were all an absolute credit to Carisbrooke College! We didn’t get placed but won the Technical award (for lighting, LED content and backstage efforts) and Soundtrack award, which is the next best thing.

I have thoroughly enjoyed attending our Celebration assemblies this week. Students were rewarded for their behaviour, engagement, progress, attitude and attendance throughout this half term with ASPIRE Awards (achievement points). It was a pleasure to read, sign and give out so many Headteacher Awards. A number of students received certificates for 100% attendance. Congratulations to all of the students who received a reward – keep up the good work!

Attendance is still an issue at the moment. We understand that students get ill and need to take time off school occasionally but it is really important that they return as soon as they are well enough and catch up with any work missed. This week letters were posted out to the parents/carers of those students whose attendance is below 95% so far this academic year. Please support the school in encouraging your child to attend school every day.

Expression of interest forms went out to our year 9 students last Friday and they have taken the first step to choosing which subjects they would like to study in Key Stage 4. Thank you to parents for supporting students with this. Year 9 Parents’ Evening is Wednesday 21 February. If you haven’t already booked your appointments, please do so using the Arbor App. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their individual teachers and any concerns around the Pathways process. The Pathways Evening for both parents/carers and students will take place in March and further details will be sent out after half term.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week. Year 7 Mario, Year 8 Olive, Year 9 Kyle, Year 10 Khalisha and Year 11 Luca.

Have a lovely half term break and we look forward to students returning to school on Monday 19 February at 8.45 am in full uniform and ready to learn.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College

Welcome to this week’s newsletter. February already! It does not seem possible that we have just one more week of the half term left!

Year 9 had the last of their option assemblies on Wednesday. They will have received an expression of interest form that needs to be filled in by Monday morning. There will be a Pathways Evening on Thursday 7 March. The year 9 Parents’ Evening is the first week back after half term – Wednesday 21 February. Please use the Arbor App to book your appointments. This is a great opportunity to discuss your child’s progress in school with their individual teachers. If you have any problems booking the appointments, please contact donna.keogh@iwef.org.uk.

The year 9 students also had an assembly on Thursday led by the School Immunisation Team who spoke to them about the Teen Booster coming up. If you would like your child to have the immunisation but haven’t yet completed the consent form that was sent out, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any problems, please contact the school.

Next Wednesday we have the Dance Live! competition at Portsmouth. I am really looking forward to watching their performance. The students have been working very hard in rehearsals for this and we wish them all the best for the evening.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week. Year 7 Riley, Year 8 Tobi, Year 9 Lucas and Daisy, Year 10 Cameron and Year 11 Bethany.

Don’t forget that tomorrow is a development day so students are not expected into school. We break up for the half term on Friday 9 February at 3.15 pm and return to school Monday 19 February at 8.45 am.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley
Head of School – Carisbrooke College

Welcome to this week’s newsletter.

It was lovely to welcome parents to our “Help your Child Revise” evening on Thursday. Many thanks to Miss Jones and Mrs Clarke for their time in supporting our year 11. This was an opportunity for parents/carers of year 11 students to see how they can help and support their child with the revision leading up to their exams in the summer. If you couldn’t attend, all of the resources that we shared are on our website here.

We had a group from the Army in to deliver an Insight Presentation to our year 10 students this week. The afternoon was a great success and even included live music! This gave a lot of food for thought to a number of students with regards to a career in the army.

Congratulations to our year 10’s (Leo, Deacon, Gabe, Amelia, Isaac and Chloe) who took part in the Resilience Challenge run by EDWise, where Island schools and colleges had to respond to an emergency situation and put relief plans in place. They all demonstrated great career capital skills of: public speaking, teamwork, creative thinking, leadership and creative problem solving.

Please can I remind you to support your child by encouraging them to complete their homework. Maths homework is set weekly on sparks for all year groups. For English all students in years 7, 8 and 9 should now be completing their weekly Bedrock homework. Years 10 and 11 should be doing the daily Tassomai challenges in the core subjects as well as their subject provided homework on google classroom.

I have mentioned attendance in previous newsletters. Attendance figures for a number of students this week have been well below our expectations. We will be reviewing individual students’ attendance at the end of this term. I appreciate there are coughs and colds as it is January, but it is really important that students are in school. Attendance in school is crucial as absence disrupts the education of the individual student. Lower attendance clearly has an effect upon the academic progress of students. Studies show that a student with 92% attendance or lower will on average achieve GCSE results that are one grade lower than their peers. In addition to this, absence from school can cause pastoral issues such as feeling lonely or isolated at school.

On Tuesday, we had the second of our Pathways Assemblies for year 9 students covering the Creative subjects. Thank you to Mr Wiseman, Mrs Wesby and Mr Lyle for presenting their courses.

A reminder that next Friday, 2 February is a staff training day and so students will not be in school.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week. Year 7 Stanley and Shayna,  Year 8 Ryan, Year 9 Alice and Brooke-Lynn, Year 10 Sid and Year 11 Hollie.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College 

Measles

There has been a rise in cases of measles in London and the West Midlands recently. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has now declared a national incident in order to focus actions to limit the spread. To support this, the Department for Education has published What to do if you think your child has measles and when to keep them off school. Please take a look at this link. Measles can spread very easily and for some people can cause extremely serious problems, so it is important to be aware of the symptoms. 

Welcome to the third newsletter for this term. It does not seem possible that we are halfway through this half term!

Year 9 students had their first Pathways assembly this week. It is time for them to start thinking about what subjects they would like to study at GCSE level in KS4. A Pathways Evening will take place after half term for parents to join their child in school and speak to the teachers of each subject available.

Thank you to those parents/carers who attended the Parent Voice meeting yesterday. Your opinions and comments are always welcome and valued.

Next week we have our Help Your Child to Revise Evening in school on Thursday 25 January at 4.30 pm. This is an opportunity for parents/carers of Year 11 students to see how they can help and support their child with their revision leading up to their exams in the summer. We will share with you links to useful resources and share tips to assist your child at a very important, and sometimes stressful time in their school life. There are also extra revision sessions taking place at lunchtimes and afterschool. Please see the list here.

A reminder that Friday 2 February is a staff training day and so students will not be in school.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week. Year 7 Shayna, Year 8 Daisy, Year 9 Mia, Year 10 Molly-Nora and Year 11 joint winners Charlotte and Bethany.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College 

Welcome to the second newsletter for this term.

It was lovely to have so many year 11 parents attend their first face to face Parents’ Evening on Wednesday night. This is a critical time for Year 11 and we want to make sure that they are getting all the help and support they need. We have our Helping your Child to Revise Parent Information Evening coming up 25 January at 4.30 pm. This will show you how you can support your child in preparing for their GCSE exams.

Year 9 students will have their first Pathways assembly next week. It is time for them to start thinking about what subject they would like to study at GCSE level in KS4. A Pathway Evening will take place after half term for parents to join their child in school and speak to the teachers of each subject available.

Attendance remains a key focus for us. Good attendance helps children to make good progress in school and fulfil their potential in life. Miss school, miss out – Every day counts – Going to school regularly and being part of the school community gives children and young people a sense of belonging and means that they benefit not only from lessons and learning, but also can see friends and teachers, ask for help, join clubs, go on school trips, have a clear routine and can get mental health support.

Whole school attendance for this year is currently 92% which is well below where we should be – our minimum target is 95%. Year 8 attendance is a concern as they have the lowest attendance as a cohort.

The next Parent Voice meeting will take place next Thursday 18 January. We will meet in the Drama studio at 6.00 pm. All parents and carers are invited to attend.

For your information, Friday 2 February is a staff training day and so students will not be in school.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for the last week of the Autumn term. Year 7 Sofia, Year 8 Warrick, Year 9 Alice, Year 10 Keira and Year 11 Alfie.

Have a lovely weekend.

Miss Begley

Head of School – Carisbrooke College