On Tuesday 15th November, the Young Enterprise Company Programme teams from both Carisbrooke College and Medina College attended a Dragon’s Den style presentation.

The presentation took place at One Holyrood in Newport where the Dragon’s were enlisted to listen to the teams speak about their business ideas.

Carisbrooke College students, also known as Wicks of Wight (Mia G, Sophie B and Jo M) presented their aesthetically pleasing, aromatic candles with a focus on environmentally friendly packaging and ingredients. The team explained that their next step was to design the packaging in the style of a cereal box.

Medina College students (Ruby H, Dillon D and Elsie May P) impressed the Dragons with their original app idea ‘Open Up’; aimed at teenagers and young adults who might struggle with mental wellbeing. The app takes the form of a game, which is designed to provide positive vibes for the user.

Both teams secured a well deserved investment injection of £50 from the Dragons who were impressed with the organisation and hard work both teams had shown. The Dragons were particularly impressed at how confident the students were.

27 students from across the federation gathered together at the Island IV Form last Saturday for a federated singing workshop with Mrs. Peckham and Mrs. Brear, to rehearse their repertoire for our upcoming musical events.

We are very excited to be performing in the Durbar Room at Osborne House on Tuesday 29 November in partnership with IOW Music Hub and English Heritage, and at our IWEF Christmas Concert on Thursday 15 December. Our singers will also be featuring in the upcoming Isle of Wight Education Federation production of The Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Wendy and Peter Pan’ at Medina Theatre on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 December.

Mrs. Peckham runs our CC ‘Sing!’ choir at Carisbrooke College on Monday lunchtimes in S11, and is always keen to welcome new members! Please speak to Mrs. Peckham for more details.

We had excellent feedback from students and parents following the workshop on Saturday, we are so please that everyone enjoyed themselves!

On Friday 11 November at 11 am, staff and students at Carisbrooke College came together in an Act of Remembrance.

Students Danica M and Baily H presented the wreath to Headteacher Ms Begley, this was followed by Danica reciting the Exhortation and Baily the Kohima Epitaph. It was also a great pleasure to welcome Mary Teague to the College, who kindly performed the Last Post.

Prior to our Act of Remembrance the students spent the week focusing on the subject of remembrance. Students in Year 10 researched the names of former students of Carisbrooke Grammar School, who had lost their lives during World War 1 and 2. The names of those former students are on the wooden boards in the hall, Students used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website to do this. Remembrance assemblies were also held through the week, led by Mr Havard-Swan.

Observing all our students stand in silence, throughout the service, in such a respectful way only cements how proud we are of them all.

The wreath will now be laid at the war memorial in St Thomas’ Square.

On Thursday 3 November, a group of 180 students from Medina and Carisbrooke Colleges travelled to Southampton to watch a production of the play An Inspector Calls at the Mayflower Theatre.  This play forms part of the GCSE English syllabus. It was an opportunity for our students to experience the play which will enhance their understanding and hopefully their enjoyment of the text.

An Inspector Calls, one of J B Priestley’s best-known works, was written in 1945, although the action takes place over a single night in 1912.  The play centres on Inspector Goole’s interrogation of the Birling family, following the death of a young girl called Eva Smith. Are they to blame?

Students were asked, “What was the best part of “An Inspector Calls”? Over fifty students responded. Here are a few of their views on the performance.

I liked the added details, for example the group of people near the end of the play representing all of the ‘John and Eva Smiths’ who are suffering silently in society.  Oliver K.

I liked the part where the house fell down because it resembled the family falling apart. Ruby B

I really enjoyed the stage set and how the rich were above the poor, really highlighting Priestley’s view on social responsibility.  It really helped me understand the text better and will benefit my revision massively. Emily B

The house collapsing as the relations between the family fall apart – the sparks flying around, the house falling to its side, and the plates just smashing – definitely caught me off guard. Set was a 10/10, I would see it again. Francis C

I thought the set was really good and my favourite part of the play was the end when the family realised the inspector wasn’t actually from the police. Jack C

My favourite part of seeing the play was the inspiration I got from the set design. I am also taking drama for my GCSEs, so to see how the set designer took the text and the era, as well as the characters and reflected that through the set and the costume was very interesting and inspiring.  Summer G.

I loved all the hidden messages we see on set. First, the children suffer in silence and the inspector is the only one able to talk to them as he’s a socialist. Then the umbrella is the only thing left behind by the inspector and that is being used to cover Shelia, showing that she is no longer sheltered by her parent’s capitalist views. Lexie G

I think that it was a thought provoking play with a very spectacular set! Isabella H.

The best part for me was when the house went boom and tipped over, I think they did it to give us a visual that the family was falling apart after they each found out what they had done to this girl. And I liked how the house went back up when the person on the phone said there wasn’t a dead girl there, Mr and Mrs Birling basically thought everything was okay and the house going back to normal really showed that. George S.

I loved it, before I didn’t understand the whole story line of An Inspector Calls but watching it really helped me understand what was going on and how each of the characters felt. Jaszmine W.

As you have read, the students not only enjoyed the play but they have also reflected on it. We hope that this will assist their understanding of the play and their revision for their upcoming GCSE exams.

As always, our students were a credit to their respective Colleges. Thank you to all the staff who supported the trip – it is much appreciated.

On Wednesday Key Stage 4 Music and Drama students from both Carisbrooke College and Medina College travelled to London, to see the musical ‘Wicked’ at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London!

The show features one of our GCSE Music set works ‘Defying Gravity’ so provided valuable context and experience to those students studying this piece, and more broadly offered a fantastic opportunity for all our students to see a professional live stage production.

Our students behaviour was impeccable and we had lovely comments from members of the public.

On the first weekend of half term, when many staff and students were enjoying the start of the holiday, twenty four students and four staff were gearing up for a weekend of hiking around the Island as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme. 

The students endured torrid weather conditions.  We had one year 10 team and a mixed year 10/11 team from Medina College as well as a year 11 team from Carisbrooke College.

The intention of the expedition section of the DofE award is to give participants a chance to learn and use skills such as map reading, route planning, preparing and cooking a meal, first aid (to learn but hopefully not needed), time management and the country code. This is all done whilst learning to work well as a team, improving personal fitness and developing stamina. 

Day one saw the explorers walk along the Tennyson trail and across to Brighstone Forest giving them some much needed shelter from the wind before continuing onto Calbourne Mill where they were ferried back to school. A few groups got lost in the forest but soon managed to find their way through.

Day two started at Calbourne Mill. The students took in the sights from the long stone before heading down to Tapnell Farm, crossing the middle road before climbing Compton Down and Westover Down to return to Calbourne Mill. Most of the groups managed to cover almost 20km during the day whilst one member of a group took a particular liking to a cow pat. 

Day three, the Carisbrooke group braved the heavy rain for their final day. Starting at the Island VI Form they soldiered through the rain along the old railway line out to Newbridge before finishing at Calbourne Mill.

At the end, students gave feedback about something that they enjoyed and something that they learnt. The most popular elements of the weekend that students enjoyed were the cooking, the views, being in nature and playing games with others. In addition to the skills learnt, students also reported that they had learnt a fun-fact about a team-mate; got to know others from their year group better and learnt to never give up and trust in themselves more. 

Congratulations to all students involved. A huge thank you to Mr Burnett, Miss Young and Miss Bryan as well as Ms Ryan and Mrs O’Callaghan for being our home based contact.

Mr Norman 

On Thursday, 47 year 11’s visited Sandown Bay as part of their GCSE Geography course. Students were required to consider the coastal management strategies employed between Sandown pier and the far end of Yaverland beach.

Students investigated the impact that coastal management strategies are having on the natural processes in the area as well as the impact on the local population and economic activities.

Although the weather started off extremely wet and gloomy, by lunchtime all the students and staff were enjoying the sunshine and surprisingly warm weather. Students were able to successfully collect data for a variety of investigative methods including beach profiles, land use and environmental quality surveys.

All students were incredibly well behaved, hard working and are a real credit to themselves and the school. Well done Year 11!

A group of students from years 8 and 9 recently attended the inaugural Isle of Wight meeting of the Equality and Rights Advocates (EARA) group at Christ the King College. EARA was created by a school on the mainland to “Challenge the way both students and teachers think and view our world and our fellow inhabitants and aspire to reduce the discrimination that students of different groups face at school, whether it be down to their race, sexuality, appearance or lifestyle”.

The EARA group addresses many of the nine characteristics protected under the Equalities Act of 2010. They consider how prejudicial attitudes and behaviours towards those who share those characteristics impact on their school community. The group decides which aspects to focus on and discuss ways in which to advocate within their school.

The EARA Group’s aims are to:
Promote the Equality Act
Enhance pupil voice
Challenge discrimination and prejudice
Advocate for the rights of the child (UNCRC)
Encourage positive attitudes towards difference
Develop pupil confidence and life skills
Support vulnerable students
Increase participation and engagement

Our students were fantastic ambassadors for the school during their visit to Christ the King College. The group found the meeting very insightful and they told us that “The EARA group is a group that stands for children’s and young people’s rights, and for a safe environment in school, free of discrimination”.

Keep a lookout for updates about our group’s project!

Over the summer, the Library ran a Summer Reading Challenge. The challenge was designed to get students reading a wide variety of materials in a variety of places and to try something new.

Students read poems from John McCrae, Simon Armitage and Christian Rivera; books from authors such as Alice Oseman, JK Rowling, Daren Shan, Susan Collins and James Dashner to name a few. They also enjoyed reading non-fiction books on nature, conservation and animals to artificial intelligence and true crime.

PRIZES AND REWARDS

There were over one hundred entries into the draw for an Amazon Fire Tablet. The lucky winner was Phoebe from Year 8. Congratulations to you Phoebe!

All participants received a certificate, achievement points and a book. Well done to everyone that took part!

Keep reading, Ms Ryan and Mrs O’Callaghan.