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Head of School’s Blog – 12 January 2024

Head of School’s Blog – 12 January 2024

I write my blog this week off the back of a really successful Parents’ Evening for Year 11 last night. Last night provided a real vibe of positivity with 80% of parents booked to see teachers. I know from speaking to staff how valuable they found this opportunity to be able to work with parents to be able to maximise the potential success for students in their last year with us.

A gentle reminder about two upcoming events for Year 11: our Helping your Child to Revise Parent Information Evening is on Thursday 25 January from 4.30pm – 6pm, and Year 11’s next set of mock exams on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 of February. Finally, in terms of GCSE exams, the last possible day for GCSE exams to take place is Friday 26 June 2024 (which is the exam contingency day).

This week we have had lots of sporting success for our boys’ football teams, auditions held for our next school production and all of the school clubs are back up and running. Please encourage your child to get involved in our extra curricular offer.

The next Parent Voice meeting will take place on Wednesday 17 January, 6-7 pm. All parents and carers are invited to attend.

Lastly, congratulations to our first Hot Chocolate Friday winners of 2024: Ally-May, Dominic, Ethan, Amelie, Ethan, Esmee, Thomas, Mary, Jessica and Amber. These students were invited because they either gained top achievement points in the previous week or attended 100% of lessons in the last week. Mrs Barnes hosted this for me this week and I know she enjoyed celebrating their successes with them.

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to welcoming students back for their third week back on Monday!

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 5 January 2024

Head of School’s Blog – 5 January 2024

I would like to start off by extending a warm welcome back to our community and I hope that you have all had a restful holiday. It is hard to believe that it is 2024 already! Some key events this half term. Year 9 will start to choose their GCSE options and Mr Krista will be writing to you shortly about the process involved. Year 11 are now in the final countdown to their GCSE exams with only one full term left. Please don’t forget parents evening which is in person on Thursday 11th January between 4-7pm, appointments can be made through Arbor.

As a point of information I have had a few queries about access to toilets. Throughout the day we have a few toilet facility options available through the day: one set of unisex toilets by the canteen, then a further set of female and male toilets half way down the metro and a Year 11 only toilet set at the far end of the metro. The set of toilets half way down the metro are only closed for 15 minutes at the end of lunch to assist with cleaning and students making their way promptly to lessons. We do however encourage students to make use of these facilities during break and lunch so they do not miss valuable learning time.

I would like to finish by reflecting on the very sad news we received this week of the death of Vicky Lloyd. Vicky worked at Medina College for over 10 years serving many different roles as Science Teacher, Head of Year and Form Tutor. All of these roles she served with passion and commitment to the students in her care. One of the most significant contributions was setting up the Agriculture course, which provided an exciting and enriching opportunity for our students. Our thoughts are with her family as they come to terms with her death. If any student within our community is struggling with this news please use the School Pastors who have been on site since Wednesday, or speak to the year teams who will help to offer support and guidance.

Mr Pearce-Jones
Head of School – Medina College

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Head of School’s Blog – 15 December 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 15 December 2023

We have made it to the end of term and I would like to wish you all a relaxing and safe holiday period. I have thoroughly enjoyed joining the Medina College Community. A day does not go past when the students within our community don’t make me full of pride to belong to the teaching profession. So many of your young people conduct themselves with politeness, humour, passion and respectfulness. They are clearly keen to be the best version of themselves. 

As we continue on our journey to outstanding, our students work with us to raise expectations around behaviour, uniform, lessons and extra curricular life. This term I have spoken to 120 students to gain their opinions and views on college life and they are at the heart of helping us to form the community we are a part of. I would also like to thank parents for their engagement with the school, being strong advocates for their children and helping us to provide the best support for students. 

I will finish off by saying well done to our final Hot Chocolate Friday winners of 2023: Leo, Sofia, ZinZile, Owen, Teigan, Harry, Amelia, Sonya, Eleanor and Apryl. 

We look forward to welcoming all students back on Tuesday 2 January 2024!

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College

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Head of School’s Blog – 8 December 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 8 December 2023

It has been another busy week in school with some Christmas themed activities taking place. It was lovely seeing Medina students perform in their panto on Tuesday night, it was full of excellent comedy and strong performance skills. Well done to Daisy, Grey, Avalon Martha, Evie, Earlisa, Lily, Charlie, Bea, Lily, Riley, Ellie, Katie, Ruby, Ellenie, Daisy, Poppy, Melissa, Summer, Sapphire, Lauren, Macey, Millie, Megan, Bethany, Destiny, Logan  and Carys. Thank you also to all those staff who supported making this event possible.

Next week we have Christmas dinner on Wednesday and we have Santa Dance on Friday P.4&5 for Years 7- 9. For the Santa Dance event, you must sign up through Arbor as it is a charity event which requires a £3 entry fee to be paid. 

Two pieces of information have come out this week, firstly a letter on vaping and some resources that have been produced by the local authority. Can you please take the time to look over these and help to highlight to students of the dangers involved in vaping. Secondly, I sent a letter on uniform, please ensure that you are looking over this and ensuring students are complying with this. In particular, we have noticed an increase in the wearing of leggings. If you are suffering economic hardship and are struggling to purchase the correct uniform please let the relevant year office know and we will see how we can support. 

Finally, well done to our Hot Chocolate Friday winners for either 100% attendance in the previous week or top achievement points in each year group. The winners are Archie, Matilda, Lucia, Ella, Kimberly, Ofelia, Hamish, Lucas, Louis and Bradley.

Please remember the final day of term is Friday 15 December and we return to school on Tuesday 2 January.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 1 December 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 1 December 2023

It is hard to believe we are now moving into the Christmas season! On that note, please don’t forget that the school panto is on Tuesday at 7pm and is being held at Carisbrooke College. You can purchase tickets on Arbor. 

This week has been another busy week with Year 11 completing their mock exams and Year 8 also completing their trial exams. Well done to the vast majority who conducted themselves in an excellent manner. A lot of Year 11 students also had the opportunity to attend taster sessions at our VI form on Thursday and report that they had a fantastic day.

There have been lots of sporting opportunities this week with our Netball teams playing Ryde Academy and Thornden. I know all teams played exceptionally well, so well done!

As the weather turns colder can I please remind everyone about some key uniform expectations. Leggings are not allowed and under skirts it is either tights or socks please. If students would like to wear a jumper, it must be a school jumper not a hoodie or other such jumper and coats are highly recommended but they need not to be worn inside the school otherwise students won’t appreciate the benefit when outside.

Finally well done to our Hot Chocolate Friday winners: Jack, Abbie, Scarlet, Katie-Lea, Dillon, Brooke, Penny, Summer, Conor and Kate.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 24 November 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 24 November 2023

This week has been a busy time in school with Year 11 completing their mock exams. They have still got two more days next week, but their conduct this week has been really impressive, so well done!

Yesterday we hosted another Island Cross Country event, well done to all who participated and thank you to the students who helped to marshall this event.

Last weekend our Warhammer club entered the annual Armies on Parade competition at the Warhammer shop and they gained silver in the Youngblood category with Harry in Year 8 picking up Gold.

This morning I met with our Hot Chocolate golden ticket holders, well done to: Lucas, Owen, Cian, Lou, Tehya, Lacie, Charlotte and Archie. It was lovely to hear about your week and your thoughts on the school.

Next week, on Thursday 30 November, we will have a taster day for some of our Year 11 students at The Island VI form. This is a great opportunity and will assist with making post-16 choices.

Finally, can I take the opportunity to remind everyone in our community that vaping is not allowed in school or whilst in school uniform and could result in a suspension. It is illegal for students to be purchasing vapes and they can be highly damaging to students’ health. Can we please ensure we are re-iterating the dangers of vaping at home.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr Pearce-Jones
Head of School – Medina College

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Head of School’s Blog – 17 November 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 17 November 2023

It is hard to believe that we have already been back two weeks; this term seems to be flying by already!

As I am sure you have noticed, the weather has been very poor and we are heading very much into the winter season, so please can we ensure students are bringing coats to school to keep them warm and dry.

Next week sees the start of our mock exams for Year 11 and we wish them luck as they enter this nervous time. There will be a free breakfast available in the canteen to help set them up for the day. I would also like to remind students to revisit the assembly they had last week about expectations in the exam room.

Congratulations to our Hot Chocolate Friday winners this week: Isabelle, Jess, Harry, Ashleigh, Alex, Eloise, Ryan, Chloe and Skye. This week this was hosted by Mrs Barnes as I was finishing off the last of our Call it Out assemblies. As a reminder, we have a dedicated email address where incidents of prejudicial language can be reported: callitoutMC@iwef.org.uk

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 10 November 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 10 November 2023

Welcome back to a new half term!

I hope all students have had a restful half term and have come back to school refreshed for the weeks ahead. For our Year 11 students in particular, it is a busy half term with mock exams taking place, so please encourage them to access as many after school revision sessions as possible. We also have our VI Form Opening Evening taking place on Thursday 16 November (at The Island VI Form campus) between 5-8pm, please come along and see what we have to offer. 

You will have hopefully seen the letter I sent out about our ‘Call it Out’ campaign this week. This will be launched to students during assemblies next week. We strongly encourage you to continue to have conversations with your children about the power of words and using ones which inspire positivity rather than negativity. 

Congratulations to our boys football team who managed to play a game against Ryde Academy (despite the weather!) and secured a victory of 7-1. We also hosted an excellent cross country running event for all secondary schools on the Island yesterday. Well done to all involved! Remember, we have a host of after school and lunch clubs that students can get involved in, sporting and non-sporting. 

This morning, we held our Act of Remembrance and took part in a two minute silence to honor those who have served and remember their sacrifice. Unfortunately, the weather meant that we were not able to come together as a whole school community as we usually would. My thanks go to Mrs Southwell who organised a virtual alternative where we were able to broadcast the Act of Remembrance into every classroom. Thanks also go to Mr Len Pullinger from Vectis Brass Band who came in to play the Last Post and Reveille. 

Please can I draw your attention to this letter from the Violence Reduction Unit Director for Hampshire and Isle of Wight regarding knife crime awareness.

Lastly, well done to our hot chocolate recipients this week: Jacob, Niall, August, Grace, Jayden, Harrison, Marika, Adam, Millie and Tommy.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 20 October 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 20 October 2023

We are now at the end of our first half term and I would like to say a big thank you for all your support over the last 7 weeks. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking on the role of Head of School and I am very impressed with the young people within our community; the eagerness to learn, the respect, the politeness and the ambition I see on a daily basis is a pleasure to be a part of. 

We have had our final Hot Chocolate Friday of the half term, so well done to Samson, Imogen, Nicholas,  Ellenie, Jake, Erin, Freddie, Ruby, Aiden and Logan. We also continue to have many sporting fixtures occur alongside an excellent variety of clubs that students can be a part of. In terms of extra curricular, some of our students are currently in Vietnam and from the reports we are receiving are having an absolutely amazing and enriching experience. 

Many thanks to parents who are supporting keeping students safe at the beginning and end of the day by parking sensibly. Can I just take this opportunity to remind parents that we only have a staff presence outside the main car park in front of the school. It is therefore important that students cross roads safely, using road crossings that are available and conduct themselves in an orderly manner back home.

After half term we will quite quickly have mock exams for Year 11 students, so please ensure they are using some of their half term holiday to revise and access any revision sessions that they may find useful. These have been shared on arbor and will be on social media for you to access. 

Finally, can I wish you all a safe two weeks and I look forward to welcoming students back to school on Monday 6 November.

Mr Pearce-Jones
Head of School – Medina College 

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Head of School’s Blog – 13 October 2023

Head of School’s Blog – 13 October 2023

Today is Friday 13, so I hope today has not brought you any bad luck! We are now approaching our last week of this half term so, with that in mind, it is important students utilise every moment of learning. For our Year 11 students in particular, it is important that they have equipped themselves with everything they need to carry out effective revision over half term, ready for their mock exams in November.

As always, we like to celebrate student success loudly and proudly whether this is in school or outside of it. Many congratulations to Megan M in Year 7 who is now South Regional Floor Champion in Gymnastics and has been invited to train with the Hampshire squad. In terms of school sporting fixtures well done to Year 7 boys who won both games against CTK and Carisbrooke. Well done also to the Year 8 and 10 boys who put up a strong game against CTK and the Bay.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned parking at the beginning and end of the day. Can I please reiterate that there should be no parking on double yellow lines as this stops our buses entering and exiting the bus loop. It also causes a safety hazard for students as they exit the school grounds. We have now contacted the traffic warden to assist with this safety issue.

Our Hot Chocolate Friday winners this week were Carter T, Jaiden D, Alice H, Ralph H, Lacey-May T, Indy M, Jake G, Brooke W, Toby M and Leo H. Well done all of you; it was a pleasure to celebrate your successes and hear your opinions this morning.

Finally, I would like to wish those students who are travelling to Vietnam on Monday morning a very safe journey and an enjoyable trip. This is a Federative trip with Carisbrooke College and The Island VI Form. Please keep an eye on our social media channels for updates from them!

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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