We are now officially in February and hopefully spring is beginning to emerge. I would first of all like to remind everyone that it is a Staff Development Day tomorrow with our colleagues from the new academy trust we will be joining. We will focus on increasing diversity in our curriculum and how to better support disadvantaged students.

Next week sees the last week of term before we break up for the half term holidays, so Friday 9 February is the last day.

We are very much looking forward to the Year 7 Disco later and, hopefully, it will be a really enjoyable event to celebrate their time with us so far.

The Year 9 Parents’ Evening booking system goes live today, so please make sure you are booking your face to face appointments with teachers to help students understand their progress and also guide you with the GCSE option choice process.

Finally, we really appreciate parental engagement as it makes our job much more productive and purposeful. However, could I ask that if you would like to see a member of staff could you please ensure you phone to make an appointment. This will ensure the right member of staff can see you and come prepared to answer any query you may have.

Have a lovely weekend and I will see all students back to school on Monday.

Mr Pearce-Jones
Head of School – Medina College

We are now nearly at the end of January and it is hard to believe that we are already a month into 2024, time seems to be flying by. This week has been another busy week with Year 9 having the second presentation on their subjects for GCSE. Their final presentation will take place on Wednesday 31 January during period one where Mr Krista will give more information about the next stage of the process.

Thank you to the Year 11 parents who attended the Help Your Child to Revise Evening yesterday. If you missed this, all of the resources shared can be found on our website here. Please take a look and discuss revision plans with your child to ensure they make the most of the time they have between now and the summer exams. 

We had some excellent news from the Resilience Challenge competition run by EDWise this week, where Medina students won the award for the most innovative response. 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. Well done to: Archie, Imogen, Lily, Connor, Isaac and Charlotte. 

I also hosted our Hot Chocolate Friday winners for either top attendance or achievement points in their year for the last week. Well done to: Bobby, Joseph, Lexi, Jaiden, Liam, Harleigh, Daisy, Frankie, George and Maiya; it was lovely to celebrate your success!

Next week we have the Year 7 disco to look forward to on Thursday 1 February from 4.30-5.45pm. Remember tickets can be purchased through Arbor.

Next Friday, 2 February is a staff development day, so students will not be in school that day.

Have a lovely, restful and safe weekend and I look forward to welcoming students back on Monday.

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina 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. 

We are now officially half way through this half term and the weeks certainly seem to be flying by. I would like to thank about 99% of our students who are getting their uniform right day in and day out, it is very much appreciated. We will be starting to focus on ties from next week so please support us in ensuring that students attend looking their best.

We are also continuing to monitor and review attendance at school. As you may be aware, nationally school attendance is a major concern with it being at one of its lowest points. As of today our average attendance at Medina College is 87.1% compared to nationally of 91.4%. Today we have been particularly hard hit with only 82.8% of students attending. We have put together some helpful guidance on our school website which can help advise you as to when a child should attend school. Attendance Guidance for Parents/Carers

This week saw the first of our presentations to Year 9 on subjects they may wish to choose at GCSE. The next set is on Tuesday 23 January during period 1. We also had a parent voice meeting this week and it was lovely to meet some of the wider community.

In sporting news, well done to our students who competed in the Badminton competition at Christ the King College.

Finally, I would like to say well done to our Hot Chocolate Friday winners: Abigail. Amelie, Sophie, Ella, Tanisha, Matthew, Logan, Oliver, Lexi and Deegan. It was lovely to meet with you all and hear about your week and your views on the school.

Mr Pearce-Jones

Head of School – Medina College 

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 

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

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

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 

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