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Head of School’s Blog – 21 April 2023

21 April 2023

Welcome to the first newsletter of the summer term.

Thank you to all Year 10 parents/carers who made and attended Parents’ Evening appointments yesterday evening. We hope that you found it helpful in supporting your child.

The following two Parents’ Evenings for Year 8 and Year 7 will be in person. Details will be sent to you directly.

You will have received a letter regarding the upcoming industrial action days today – thank you for your continued support.

Year 11 are in the final approach to their upcoming exams. We have two helpful pages on our website, one covers logistics and one covers revision and support. Please take a look and stay up to date – Exams (logistics)Exams (revision and support).

I led assemblies on Progress (one of our core values) this week. It demonstrated that progress is not linear, it does not happen at the same rate for everyone, but the important thing is to try, put effort in, not excuses.

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Head of School’s Blog – 31 March 2023

31 March 2023

Thank you for your support this term.

Firstly I would like to thank all of the amazing students and staff for the time, effort and care they put into the Spring Concert on Wednesday evening. It was a delight to see students performing, supporting each other and showcasing some fantastic talent.

We have had a few enquiries about development days for the next academic year. These have now been set as:
Friday 1 September 2023
Monday 4 September 2023
Monday 18 December 2023
Tuesday 19 December 2023
Friday 2 February 2024

Details about the start of term in September will come out towards the end of the summer term, but we wanted to share these with you now to assist in any planning that you need to do.

For parents/carers of year 11 students, please encourage your child to continue revising for their upcoming exams over the Easter holidays, take advantage of the revision sessions on offer and also take some well earned ‘time out’.

We look forward to welcoming all students back to the new Summer term on Monday 17 April at 8.45 am in smart uniform and ready to learn.

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IWEF Spring Concert

IWEF Spring Concert

This Wednesday we held our first IWEF Spring Concert at Carisbrooke College. The concert was titled ‘Sound Minds’ and featured a programme of songs linked to themes surrounding mental health with over 50 students coming together to be creative and express themselves through the powerful medium of music!

Audience members gathered in the school canteen before the event to view a display of some of the fantastic work being done in our Creative Arts Faculty, while Year 11 student Oliver Kurt, from Medina College, serenaded everyone on the piano and our Parent Voice and School Pastors served refreshments.


The concert began at 7pm and featured a variety of musical performances from our CC School of Rock groups, MC Band, CC Ukulele Club, IWEF Stage Band (comprising of students from Carisbrooke, Medina and The Island VI Form), various soloists and both our CC and MC choirs performed.

Tilly S, a Year 8 student from Carisbrooke College, delivered the first ever live performance of her song ‘Jealousy’, and we were later treated to another original song from Tilly G, a Year 13 A-level Music student at Island VI Form. All of our performers then joined together to perform a concert finale of The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ having learnt and workshopped the song earlier in the day.

The concert was raising funds for the IOW Youth Trust and we were grateful to Michelle Moorman (IOW Youth Trust Fundraising and Communications Manager) for coming along to share some words about the valuable work they are doing in our local community.

In many ways this event encompasses the Five Ways to Wellbeing ‘Give’ that we have been focusing on as a federation this term. If you were unable to attend the concert but would like to contribute towards this event’s donation to the IOW Youth Trust there is an option to do so on School Gateway.

Thank you to all the students, staff, parents and governors who came along to support this lovely evening, and to our Creative Arts Faculty for organising this fantastic event. We are thrilled to see so many of our students so keen to perform at live music events, and look forward to all the exciting opportunities Summer 2023 will bring! All students are warmly encouraged to take part in our musical clubs and activities: please see your Music teacher for more details about how you can get involved in our next event.

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Head of school’s Blog – 24 March 2023

24 March 2023

Thank you to all parents/carers who came to the Parent Voice meeting this week. It is great to have your thoughts as a parent body. One of the the topics this time was student reports and this is part of our review of our reporting system.

Next week we will be holding our celebration assemblies, which we all enjoy. Students are constantly working towards the various ASPIRE certificates and badges so it will be great to see the students being rewarded for their achievements. The six areas that are rewarded are Ambition, Success, Progress, Inspiration, Respect and Equality.

Next Wednesday we have our Federation Spring Concert. This is being held at Carisbrooke College in the Hall. Doors open at 6.30 pm, where refreshments will be available, ready for a 7.00 pm start.

I hope you have a good weekend

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Year 10 Basketball Winners

Year 10 Basketball Winners

Year 10 have been very busy lately! Our Year 10 Basketball team played in a tournament on Tueesday. They played the first game against a well drilled CTK team and took an early 4 point lead however CTK grew into the game and scored some great baskets to win 7-4. 

Medina then played Cowes in the second game and created many opportunities but couldn’t capitalise. The scores were close and Caiden G hit an awesome 3 pointer to win the game for Medina 5-4. 

The third game was against a strong Bay team. Medina started the game excellently taking an early 7 point lead. The Bay struck back with a couple of baskets of their own but Medina held on to win 9-4. 

The final game was against Carisbrooke. Medina came out on top in a tight contest winning 6-4.  

With three teams winning three games and losing one a Penalty shootout competition was done to decide the final standings. Caiden G and George B scored theirs to win the competition for Medina. 
Well done!

Yr 10 Basketball team with their winners medals and trophy – Caiden, Jaymee, George H, Ryan, Keoni. Missing from pic – George B and Eesa.


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The Solomon Theatre Company

The Solomon Theatre Company

Last week, Year 10 took part in a production and subsequent workshops from The Solomon Theatre Company, the production was entitled The Power of Love.

The play explored exploitation, abuse, cyber safety and the significance of healthy relationships, respect, equality, trust and goodwill. After the production, students were then given the opportunity to take part in a question and answer workshop, where the actors assumed their characters and were able to ask questions which questioned the behaviours which had been exhibited by the characters.

This was kindly funded by a legacy from the Isle of Wight Quakers.

Year 10 students said…

“The play was well done and although personally I could not relate to any of the issues, I could see how it might affect others. It made me feel a bit angry and also sad that people can treat others like this.”

“The play got to me personally especially when the actor playing the abuser hit the female actor which made me feel really sad and emotional, just because she was not doing what he wanted her to do.”



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Head of School’s Blog – 17 March 2023

17 March 2023

A very creative based Head’s update from me this week.

Year 11 Food and Nutrition students have been creating culinary delights in their practical exam this week. The quality of their food has been truly outstanding.

Schools across the Island were invited to contribute to an upcoming exhibition, in collaboration with the Partnership for Education, Attainment & Children’s Health (PEACH). Year 8, 9 and 11 students from our schools have entered a number of exciting pieces, ranging from printmaking, wire work, mixed media and photography. This is being displayed in the Clayden Gallery at the Quay Arts, Newport. and will run from Saturday, 18 March to 8 April. Please do go and support our incredibly creative students!

Also celebrating creative activities, as a bit of advanced warning, we have our Federation Spring Concert being held at Carisbrooke College on Wednesday 29 March, 6.30 pm for 7.00 pm start. Please make a note of this in your diaries.

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Hampshire Finals

Hampshire Finals

On Tuesday our U13 Girls’ 7-a-side team travelled to Eastleigh to compete in the Hampshire Finals. Medina College won the Isle of Wight league and Cowes Enterprise College came second so both teams were representing the Island.

Medina played four games in the group stages against Testwood, Wyvern College, Henry Court and Brighton Hill. Results ended with two wins and two draws, securing second place in the group and having the highest points for second place across all three groups.

The top eight teams then entered a knockout round, where we lost and ended up in the playoff for third and fourth place. We had beaten the team in the group round but couldn’t replicate the score.

Final placing was fourth out of fifteen schools, which is an incredible acheivement. Mrs Caddick was so impressed with the teamwork and determination she saw on Tuesday – fantastic work girls!

Cowes Enterprise College came sixth overall, so a huge well done to their players too!

Team: Mylea, Belle, Poppy, Lyla, Amelia, Imogen and Kayla


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Head of School’s Blog – 10 March 2023

10 March 2023

Firstly, thank you to all of our Year 11 parents/carers who attended one of the Year 11 ‘Help your child revise’ sessions this week. It was great to see attendance of Medina College parents at the Carisbrooke College event too – a huge benefit of our Federation. Here is a link to our website page which has a copy of the revision booklet, links to resources for parents and for students, as well as some revision tips. Parental support during Year 11 for students is so important.

You will have received a letter this afternoon about the two days of proposed industrial action by the NEU next Wednesday, 15 and Thursday, 16 March. Please ensure that you read it and you discuss with your child the expectations.

Please keep up to date with our good news stories on our social media pages and website. We love celebrating the great things our students do on them.

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Medina College awarded Green Fund from Wightlink

Medina College awarded Green Fund from Wightlink

Last week our agriculture students accepted a cheque for £754.95 from Wightlink. The cheque was presented by Martin Gulliver from Wightlink.

The funding was granted following an application Mrs Lloyd, Teacher of Agriculture, submitted as part of Wightlink’s Green Fund for Schools initiative. As part of the application process schools were asked to outline how they would use the funds on an environmental project.

The funding that has been received will be used to add bat boxes, bird boxes, bug boxes and hedgehog houses around the school site. We also plan to purchase a camera, which will be added to one of the nest boxes so students can observe nesting and hatching.

Mrs Lloyd and the agriculture students are now looking forward to moving forward with their project! We will be posting updates so that you can follow the project as it develops.

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