Welcome to this week’s newsletter. I can’t believe there is only one more week before half term.

We had our year 7 Tutor Evening on Wednesday. Thank you to all the parents/carers who attended. The tutors really appreciated meeting with you and starting the vital partnership with you in supporting your child’s time at Carisbrooke.

Year 11 assembly this morning started with Mr Mumford talking to them about the up and coming open evening on Thursday 3 November at the Island VI Form. They were then split into four groups based on their current levels of attainment and their SLP (Student Learning Profile) codes. Each group received some key messages about what they need to do now in terms of work ethic and attitude. The main message is that “if you want something to change then you need to do something different”. A number of year 11s are working well and on track to do exceptionally well in their summer exams. They need to continue on this path. There are some that need to reflect and look at what they can change to improve their outcomes. Over the coming weeks we will be looking at ways to support year 11. They need to be positive, get on the right path, work hard and ask for help.

Our Christmas production for this year is well underway and we are all very much looking forward to the next half term to watch the performance.

The DanceLive team for this year has so many students, it is now full! What a great achievement. They are working very hard ready for next year’s competition. Keep up the good work!

Last week’s trip to The Globe Theatre in London was a great success. The students behaved in a very mature and well behaved manner and the trip was enjoyed by all who attended.

Next week we have the year 7 Disco to celebrate how well they have settled into life at secondary school and a year 11 Geography Field Trip to Sandown and Yaverland.

We have a staff development day on Monday 31 October, so we are closed to students (except for those students sitting an exam at The Island VI Form).

Have a lovely weekend.

Welcome to this weeks’ newsletter.

This half term is definitely flying by. Tutors have been working with their tutor groups to create Aspire & Achieve boards. I think you would agree that they are impressive. Our core values are built around ASPIRE which are Ambition, Success, Progress, Inspirations, Respect and Equality. These are now integral in our rewards system.

Assemblies in school this week have been supporting Black History month. The theme for this year’s Black History month is “Time for Change: Actions Not Words”. The purpose of this theme is not just to educate people on Black History but to inform and empower people to be true allies in the anti-racism movement.

Some of our Year 7 students have been learning about Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ as part of our ‘Literacy week’ activity. They had a trip to the beach, which I had the pleasure of attending with them, and working with a resident artist. They have been creating artwork, musical responses and physical performances based on The Tempest. This way of learning, we hope, will have helped them enjoy and appreciate the text. They attended a performance of The Tempest at The Globe Theatre in London yesterday which they were buzzing about this morning.

Next week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, our Year 7 students will be sitting CATs (Cognitive Abilities Tests). No revision or prior learning is required. This involves three tests over the three days. Results from the tests help us to understand learning styles and highlight potential difficulties that students may be facing.

As the college continues to improve, we continue to raise our expectations on our students getting the basics right. Our focus currently is on piercings, rings, make-up, nails and false eyelashes. Can I please remind parents of our uniform policy around these and have attached a link https://iwef.org.uk/carisbrooke-college/uniform/.

Attendance is really important and there have been some assemblies on the impact of student outcomes that can be linked to attendance. Can I remind you on the process to report absence from school – https://iwef.org.uk/carisbrooke-college/attendance/

Year 7 Tutor Evening is taking place next Wednesday. If you haven’t already booked your appointment and would like to, please use this link https://carisbrooke.schoolcloud.co.uk. This appointment will give parents/carers the opportunity to discuss how their child is settling into secondary school life. We are looking forward to meeting our new parents.

As a reminder, half term is approaching, which is w/c 24 October. We have a staff development day on Monday 31 October, meaning we are closed to students (except for those students sitting an exam at The Island VI Form). This is one of our five days that all schools allocate at some point throughout. We will be expecting students to return on time, in full uniform and ready to learn on Tuesday 1 November.

Have a lovely weekend.

Welcome to this week’s newsletter which is full of information regarding our extra curricular activities for all year groups. This information has also been shared on our social media platforms this week, please follow us on one of these to keep up to date with all of the interesting activities we have on offer.

At our Open Evening on Tuesday, we opened our doors to the year 6 students on the island and their parents/carers. I would like to say a huge thank you to our staff who were on hand to talk to our visitors and to all our fabulous students who helped on the evening as tour guides or in the classrooms demonstrating lessons, I was extremely proud of you all. The feedback we have received from parents/carers is excellent with regards to the information on the evening from both staff and student helpers. The deadline for applications is 31 October. If anyone was not able to attend and would like to see the school they can contact reception to book an alternative visit.

On Wednesday, all our students had their individual photos taken and details of how you can purchase these will be sent out in the next couple of weeks. I was very pleased with the students as they were well behaved for the photographers and made the process quick and easy.

Year 7 parents will shortly be receiving an invitation to the Year 7 Tutor Evening. This will give parents/carers the opportunity to discuss how their child is settling into secondary school life.

Please see a separate update from the Executive Headteacher, Mr Parr-Burman, regarding the IWEF/HISP consultation that ran prior to the summer break.

Have a lovely weekend.

Thank you for your support and understanding during the first two weeks, where our newsletter needed to reflect the period of National Mourning.

I can’t believe that we are already three weeks into the new term. We have had a very positive start to the academic year and students have returned with a positive attitude. I have been very impressed with the engagement in learning that I have seen whilst walking around and popping into lessons. Our new year 7 cohort have started well and are already getting involved in Carisbrooke life.

I had the pleasure of leading the year groups’ first assemblies where I revisited our expectations – students need to be on time, in full uniform and ready to engage in their learning. As you know, our core values are built around ASPIRE which are Ambition, Success, Progress, Inspirations, Respect and Equality. Students have been putting together their individual tutor charters and creating a display about what Aspire and Achieve means to them and to us as a college.

Rehearsals are well underway for a number of events that are coming up: Dance Live! and our IWEF Christmas performance. It has been great to see so many students take up these opportunities. You can read more about this further in the newsletter.

A timetable is being put together of all our extra-curricular activities and will be available for all to see via our social media and website. If you do not already follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, please do, as there are regular updates and good news stories shared on these platforms. Information will also be shared about Google Classroom and our parent portal over the coming weeks.

Next week we have the pleasure of opening our doors to the year 6 students and parents/carers at our Open Evening. I know a large number of our students are going to be around that night working with departments and acting as guides. They are our best ambassadors as they can share their experiences of life at Carisbrooke.

Next week on Wednesday we will have a photographer in school taking individual photos of students. These will be available for parents/carers to purchase and further details will follow.

Have a lovely weekend.

Message from Mr Parr-Burman, Executive Headteacher

We would like to start this week by thanking the students and school communities for the respect that they have shown over the past week. We have had Books of Condolence on each of the Federation sites which students and staff have been able to add messages to. Some of the messages have been clearly thought about. 

As communicated this week, we will be observing the National Holiday on Monday for the State Funeral, so as this is considered a Bank Holiday, work will not be set for the students. We will be open as usual on Tuesday 20 September. 

We do have upcoming Open Evenings as Year 6 and Year 11 parents look to the next academic year. These evenings are:
Tuesday 20 September 5.00 pm – 8.00 pm – Medina College
Tuesday 27 September 5.00 pm – 8.00 pm – Carisbrooke College
Thursday 3 November 5.00 pm – 8.00 pm – The Island VI Form

We will be returning to our usual newsletters next week, but for this week, we will continue to show our respect to The Royal Family by keeping our update short. 

9 September 2022

Message from Mr Parr-Burman, Executive Headteacher

We start this term with a very different first message.

Following the extremely sad news yesterday evening from Buckingham Palace that Queen Elizabeth II has died, we have now entered a period of national mourning that will continue until the end of the State Funeral. 

It is especially important during this time that we do not speculate about timelines, events and closures. We will, as we have always done, follow officially shared Government guidance and information. Please be assured that as soon as we are able to update you with information, we will. The initial guidance from the Department for Education issued yesterday evening was that schools should remain open.

This is a momentous time for our nation, and in fact many nations around the world. It is very unlikely that a reign of 70 years will happen for many many generations to come. The Royal Family website is being updated with articles and a Book of Condolence if people feel they would like to contribute. This can be found here: www.royal.uk.

We are not going to add lots of other details to the letter this week as it is important that we show the respect that The Queen deserves.

Further school updates and information will be shared directly and via our social media accounts over the coming days.

Welcome to the penultimate newsletter for this academic year.

It has been a very busy – and warm – week at Carisbrooke.

On Monday we hosted the year 9 Federation Games. Carisbrooke won the overall trophy and much fun was had by all. Special mention to Mr Fleming’s tutor group who performed highly throughout.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had the year 6 students, who will be our new year 7, spend two days with us for transition. The students had a ‘taster’ of what life is like at secondary school, taking part in lessons, break times, enjoying the canteen, catching the school bus…etc. It was a great couple of days. Thank you to Mrs Lythgoe and all the other staff involved in organising such fun and informative days for all.

On Thursday we had the virtual parents’ evening for year 7. Thank you to all the parents/carers who booked appointments, it was a very positive evening for all involved. These appointments are a great opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with their individual subject teachers.

Next week is another busy one with all years attending their celebration assemblies. We have students attending rewards trips to Splashdown in Poole, Thorpe Park and even our own Blackgang Chine.  Wednesday is sports day for years 8 and 9 and Friday is sports day for year 7.

Whilst the weather is so warm, please remind your child about the importance of sun screen and staying hydrated.  As our message on Wednesday stated, due to the heat, students are permitted to wear their PE kits to school.  Please remember that this is official Carisbrooke College PE kit only.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and manage to enjoy the sunshine.

Message from Matthew Parr-Burman, Executive Headteacher

The formal consultation period ends at 3.30 pm today. Thank you to all those who have provided feedback. We will update you further once the Governors have had time to look at the representations made. We are also in a period of due diligence which means there are many other avenues of questioning and conversations taking place to ensure that once we have all of the information collated, a full picture can be reviewed.

I had the pleasure of attending our year 11 Prom on Wednesday night. It was so nice to once again be able to hold this event. It was fantastic to be able to celebrate a very unusual five years for this amazing year group. They all looked stunning (and so very grown up!) and the array of vehicles (and a horse) used to get to the prom was brilliant. Thank you to Mrs Hookey, Mrs Lythoge and Mrs Edkins-Wherry for their hard work in making the Yacht Haven look so special. Feedback about them from the DJ and staff at the venue was very complimentary. It was lovely to have so many staff support the evening. 

Thursday year 7 students, and today, year 8 students, from both Medina and Carisbrooke College have taken part in The Federation games based at Medina College. The year 9 students will welcome Medina year 9 to Carisbrooke for a similar day on Monday. Thank you to the staff who have made this event happen. Talking to year 7 this morning, feedback was that they had really enjoyed their day.

On Wednesday I accompanied year 7 on a geography field trip to Sandown and Yaverland beaches. Well done to Mrs Harvey and Mr Westby on running it and taking the whole year group out! Year 7 did not let us down – they engaged well and were a pleasure to spend time with. It was a great opportunity for them to see the curriculum in real life and be able to associate it with the Isle of Wight

It is the year 7 Parents’ Evening on Thursday 14 July. Information has been shared with parents/carers this week and there is still time to book virtual appointments. It is an opportunity to discuss how your child has settled in and been progressing in each of their subjects this year. 

Next Thursday and Friday is work shadowing for year 10 – hopefully most are making the most of this valuable opportunity.

We are looking to welcome our new year 7 next week for transition days. On Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 July. 

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week – Year 7 Kyle, Year 8 Louis (second week running!), Year 9 Charlie and Year 10 Benjamin

Message from the Executive Headteacher, Matthew Parr-Burman

As a reminder, the consultation process is open until next Friday 15 July. An update from our Governors about questions regarding Governance and a little more detail about the process so far will be shared early next week. The consultation information can be found on our website here. 

Have a lovely weekend, the weather is looking like it might be warm!

We have had a busy week this week at Carisbrooke. On Wednesday we had a monitoring visit by the Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS). They visited many lessons and chatted to staff and students. We will receive a written report over the next few weeks but in our initial feedback from them we are very much continuing in the right direction as a school.

Last night we held our transition evening for our Year 6 into 7 students. It was very well attended and gave the students and parents the opportunity to hear brief details about what they can look forward to on their Transition days and at the start of term in September. I was so proud of our 5 current year 7s who spoke and performed – they were an absolute credit to us. Ella, Maddie, Annalise, Evie and Rebecca. Transition Days are Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 July.

There is a lot happening next week. I am really looking forward to the Year 11 Prom next Wednesday at Cowes Yacht Haven. We have the return of our Federation Games. This is a great event and epitomises the Federation at its best. The sporting activities see Medina College and Carisbrooke College come together for round robin tournaments, followed by ‘finals’ in the afternoon. As we have been unable to run this for the last couple of years, we are giving Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 a separate day each to enjoy this great opportunity, as usually this is a Year 7 only event.

It is the Year 7 Parents’ Evening on Thursday 14 July. Information has been shared with parents/carers this week. Please take this opportunity to book virtual appointments and discuss how your child has settled in and been progressing in each of their subjects this year.

Next Thursday 7 July our Year 9 students Final of Young Enterprise Challenge Birmingham NEC. We wish them luck and look forward to the results.

As part of our PSHE programme on Tuesday 5 July, we have organised a road safety workshop for years 7 and 8. The workshop focuses on key road safety messages including: distractions such as phones and music, identifying and coping with peer pressure and personal responsibility and behaviour.

Feedback about Year 10s behaviour and attitude to the mock exams has been exceptional. They have really taken it seriously and settled into the routines and expectations seamlessly. The results of these will inform staff of the next steps required for each of them individually as they enter Year 11.

Please remember that we will be holding a consultation meeting for parents/carers next Monday 4 July starting at 6.00 pm in the Hall. There will be a brief presentation if you wish to attend. There will be staff available to also either answer questions or make notes of questions which we can feedback to.

Congratulations to our top achievement point winners for last week – Year 7 Rhyanna, Year 8 Louis, Year 9 Malika and Year 10 Darcy and Lennon. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Wednesday night we held the Carisbrooke College awards evening at Medina Theatre for this academic year. It was so nice to once more be able to hold this very special event. This is one of the highlights of our calendared events as it is when we recognise individual students for their contributions to lessons and other wider curricular opportunities. There were over 70 deserving recipients across the year groups. We could have presented double, if not triple the number of awards – I know there have been numerous discussions in department areas on who the recipients should be. I would like to congratulate all our award winners – You should be very proud that you have been recognised by your teachers for your hard work and excellent attitude. Well done to all our students who participated in the musical performances during the evening. You were all amazing. I would also like to thank the fantastic staff that have helped develop these young people.

You may have noticed that we have a large stone just inside the gates. It will be turned into an incredible sculpture to form the legacy piece of our Biosphere Project. Both students and staff across the Federation will have the opportunity to make their mark on this sculpture, working closely with our Artist in Residence to capture elements of the beautiful biosphere reserve in which we all live.

Students from both Carisbrooke and Medina College are attending a floral workshop at the Independent Arts Hub where they will be making centrepieces for the tables at the Royal County Show. They will be using pressed flowers, foraged from our local Biosphere to tie in with our current project relating to the local environment.

Well done to all our students that performed at the festival last weekend. You are a very talented group of young people and I look forward to more of your performances.

Year 11 sat their final exam on Thursday this week. They should have received an invitation to the Year 11 into 12 Pre-Enrolment on Monday 27 June 10.30 am to 12.30 pm. We are very much looking forward to seeing them at their prom.

Year 10 start their mock exams next week. This is an opportunity for them to get a feel of how their GCSEs will run next summer. Morning exams start at 9.00 am. Students are expected to be in the student entrance by 8.45 am. Afternoon exams will start at 1.00 pm. They will have an early lunch on days when they have exams in the afternoon. Again they will be expected to be in the student entrance at 12.45 pm to make sure they are ready to enter the exam hall for a prompt start. They had an assembly yesterday setting out our expectations and we ask that you reinforce the importance of not having a phone or watch on them in an exam. Phones must be turned off, even if it is in their bags and all alarms disabled on both phones and watches.

Have a lovely weekend

Message from Matthew Parr-Burman, Executive Headteacher, Isle of Wight Education Federation

I delivered assemblies to all students this week about the consultation that we have open. They listened maturely and in some cases asked some very considered questions – I am very proud of them. Please remember, if you have a comment that you would like to contribute regarding the consultation , please do complete the form which can be found here. This can be a concern but can also be a message of positive support, both are important to know. If you have questions or would like to discuss your concerns then please email, anna.mursell@iwef.org.uk who can arrange a phone call with me. This may then help inform a representation you may wish to make.