On Tuesday 7 June, 20 Carisbrooke College students and 7 Medina College students performed alongside a number of local primary schools and Isle Wight Music Centre ensembles at a spectacular Platinum Jubilee Concert at Osborne House.

The rain held off and the large audience enjoyed a variety of outdoor musical performances whilst indulging in cream teas and picnics on the lawn in front of the historic royal residence.

Carisbrooke College band ‘PG13’ (featuring year 9 Luca, and year 8s Cameron, Lucy and Nathan) were first up from IWEF with their powerful performance of Green Day’s ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’. This was followed with a beautiful rendition of Passenger’s ‘Let Her Go’ from Carisbrooke College’s year 7s Annelise and Tilly.

Medina College year 10 group ‘The Antiband’ (featuring Charlie, Hannah, Khai, Toby, Oliver, Alfie and Talia) captivated the audience with their harmonious cover of The Beatles’ ‘Here comes the sun’, and the final IWEF performance was from the Carisbrooke College Key Stage 3 ‘Sing’ choir with their touching performance of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Photograph’.

The concert was organised by the IOW Music Hub and provided a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with other Island schools and showcase the fantastic talent we have here at IWEF.

We would like to say a big thank you to our trainee music teacher, Jake Winsor, who leaves us at the end of this week. He has superbly supported not only this event but many other musical opportunities in his time here at the Isle of Wight Education Federation and we wish him the best of luck in his teaching career. 

Friday 20 May saw the return of the Interschool Team Show Jumping Competition having not run for the last two years due to Covid-19. Miss Begley and Miss Caddick had the pleasure of looking after the Carisbrooke and Medina riders. Phoebe T, Bailey P and Freya L made up the Medina team and Jessica I, Amelia M and Freya R the Carisbrooke team.

Unlucky poles meant that the Medina team were not in the placings but they all rode well and did us proud. Carisbrooke managed to finish on a total of 12 faults after two rounds but the fast times putting them in the individual placings meant that the team finished 2nd overall. Well done to both teams!

Year 10 Business students from Carisbrooke and Medina Colleges took part in the IWEF Business Innovation Challenge yesterday (Thursday 26 May), held at Medina Theatre. 

The event was the final stage of a four week project where groups of students were tasked with coming up with their own business proposals for a breakfast product. Judges (IWEF staff and external local business people from related industries) were able to sample products and question students on their proposals. 

Proposals included a full English breakfast smoothie, protein spread, breakfast bars and cereals made using locally/ethically sourced ingredients and many more. 

The students were a credit to the Federation and all received amazing feedback from the judges – who have all requested to come back for next year’s challenge! 

Well done to all of the students involved and thank you to Mrs Mackett for organising the event. Awards will be announced and presented after half term. 

This week, members of Carisbrooke College and Medina College’s Student Councils handed over a cheque for £1635.82 to Victoria Dunford of the East Cowes based charity, MAD-Aid. MAD-Aid provide support to Ukrainian refugees who are currently in Moldova and support to Ukrainian hospitals. In addition to the financial donation, students also collected and donated a large amount of toiletries and baby items.

The student council of each school is allowed to decide on which charities we support throughout the year through a termly mufti day. Both schools came together to support this one charity as they felt so passionately about helping those who are fleeing Ukraine. Here are some quotes from members of the student councils to further explain why they chose to support this charity.

“As a school, we chose a Ukrainian refugee charity to donate items to as people have been forced to leave their homes and their nation due to the war, and they have arrived in the UK and many other countries with nothing.”

“Student Council chose to support the Ukrainian refugees through MAD-Aid without hesitation as it’s clear to see the life changing work currently taking place for one of the world’s worst humanitarian events of our time. I hope our contribution supports Ukrainian refugees in need and makes a positive impact on their life.”

“Our student councils as a whole chose our mufti day donations to go to the Ukrainian refugees and we had heard of MAD-Aid that is based in East Cowes and the amazing job they are all doing! We are incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to help others and we look forward to welcoming the refugees into our community.”

“I felt really proud being a part of this experience. It was amazing seeing all of the donations of toiletries and baby products and huge amount of money raised that we can give to MAD-Aid who are helping the Ukrainian refugees.”