Welcome to the second newsletter of the Summer term. I hope you managed to enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend.

I would like to start on a very positive note, by congratulating our Dance Live team for their performance on Tuesday evening. They worked incredibly hard and did themselves and the Federation proud. They competed against Dance and Performing Arts schools and did not look out of place sharing the stage. Well done to all of the students and staff involved. I was and am a very proud Executive Headteacher.

Year 11 exams start next week with a couple mid week, and then in bulk the following week. Students have had reminders in assembly today about expectations, guidance reminders and some positive motivational messages. The exam guidance tip for this week is that students need to empty their pockets before their exam. They must not have any written materials, mobiles, watches or any internet enabled device on their person. They must only take into the exam room what they need for the exam. Important and useful information can be found on our website here: Examinations. Please encourage your child to revise, do leisure activities that they enjoy and feel relaxed doing, eat and drink regularly and sleep well. As always make sure they talk to staff if they have concerns.

Thank you to all Year 10 parents/carers who had meetings with their child’s subject teachers yesterday evening. These meetings were important and I hope you found them useful.

Please remember to follow us on social media as you will be able to regularly keep up to date with activities that happen during the week, and see useful reminders and general information. These posts include activities such as the Be Spark programme run by the Isle of Wight Cricket Board, PE club reviews, upcoming trip opportunity reminders, transport updates and careers opportunities. Links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, as well as our website are available at the bottom of the emailed newsletter.

We are now in a pivotal term for our Year 11 and Year 13 students. The exam season is very nearly here and it is important that students are focussed on their own learning and revision schedules. If they have concerns, please encourage them to talk to their tutor or the year team. The top tips for this week in relation to the process and revision are:

Make sure they know the dates of their exams and to be on time. Allow themselves plenty of time to arrive at school and get to where they need to be. While they will be allowed to sit the exam if they arrive late, the exam board may refuse to mark the paper.

Set goals they want to achieve every time they sit down to revise. This will ensure they are getting something out of every revision session and will provide an inspiring sense of achievement throughout.

Final reminders will be given to students as time goes on so please be assured that we are here to encourage, motivate, and support them.

Next Thursday is Year 10 Parents’ Evening. If you have not already booked appointments then please do so. This is an important time for this year group as they will be sitting trial exams at the end of June. Knowing how your child is doing at this point in their GCSE journey is vital to making sure they address any challenges now, rather than delay these conversations until Year 11.

We have an exciting event next Tuesday evening, the Dance Live final. It is being held at Portsmouth Guildhall and I am very much looking forward to going to watch this. All of the students have worked so hard, and whatever the result, they should all be immensely proud of themselves. I would also like to extend my thanks to all of the staff who have worked tirelessly to support this entry. This is an example of The Isle of Wight Education Federation working as one team, at its best. I look forward to updating you next week.

Please remember we have Bank Holiday on Monday, so all students need to be recharged and arrive on time ready to learn on Tuesday morning. Details regarding the IW Festival weekend will also be shared next week.

I hope you have a good weekend.

This term has seen a variety of activities take place and most excitingly, the return of many off site visits, as well as events that have not been possible for the last two years. It has been great to see students interacting more and enjoying themselves in ways that some have not been able to experience in their secondary school journey so far.

We have had the pleasure of holding celebration assemblies this week, and I know the students and staff love seeing success being acknowledged. The first week back after the Easter break, I will be leading assemblies on the ‘Respect’ element of our ASPIRE core values. I will explore the message that I am sharing in the first newsletter of the new term.

Carrying on from my exam tip about mobile devices and watches last week, this week we have an exam venue guidance and a revision tip.

Food and drink : Students may not take food into an exam (except in exceptional circumstances and by prior arrangement). Drinks must be in a clear/see through bottle, with no labels, writing or logos of any kind. Chilly bottles, or similar metal bottles, are not allowed.

Revision timetable: If students have not yet created a revision timetable then now is a great time to do that. They can use the Easter break to look at the dates of their exams (which can also be found on our website here). It will help them focus and ensure that once exams have started they are revising the right subjects at the right times. It will also take some of the potential stress away if they feel organised and in control.

Next term has some important and exciting events, including the Dance Live final, Year 6 in to 7 transition, which will be in person this year, Awards Evening, the Year 11 Prom, Parents’ Evenings for Years 10, 8 and 7, as well as the GCSE and A Level exams. We will be sharing information and write ups about these using all of our usual methods of communication.

We hope the students and staff who are travelling to Austria over the Easter break to go skiing have an amazing time – we look forward to reading about it on their return.

Thank you for your continued support and, as a general reminder, please ensure that all students start the new term positively, by being on time, in full uniform and equipped, with a positive attitude, ready to learn.

Welcome to the penultimate blog post of this half term.

I would like to start by congratulating and thanking the cast who performed, and the crew and staff who supported the production of Treasure Island yesterday evening. The delivery of the roles by the cast was funny, engaging and I was proud to watch them enjoy themselves and entertain the audience so much. I look forward to the next production! Please look out for a full report, with some photos of this event next week.

Thank you also to our Year 9 parents/carers who attended the virtual Year 9 Parents’ Evening, we hope that you found this useful. The KS4 Pathways forms have been sent home with your child this week, following analysis of the straw poll that we did a couple of weeks ago. The straw poll gave us an early indication of which subjects and combinations of subjects would be popular. This feedback then enabled us to produce the Pathways form with the final lists of the subjects available in each of the four timetable blocks. Before you complete the form with your child, please consider all of the information that has been available. A link to the information on the website is here. If you need further conversations, please contact your child’s tutor in the first instance.

We are another week closer to the Year 11 exams starting, I will be adding a tip every week from now on about exams, both the preparation for and the sitting of them. The first tip is regarding mobile devices. We remind students several times on the way into the exam hall, and before, that no mobile phones or watches may be worn or carried on their person during the exam. These must be turned off and left in their bags. If a student is found in possession of one of these items, it will need to be reported to the exam board as malpractice. Depending on the individual circumstance, this could result in them receiving zero marks for that particular paper, potentially the subject, or even all subjects that season. This is a very basic expectation but unfortunately each season we do need to report an instance of this. The students have all worked extremely hard in some challenging circumstances, please make sure that they do not risk any of this by not complying with this rule.

Thank you for your ongoing support in general, it is very much appreciated.

Have a good weekend.