Newsletters

6 March 2026

Weekly Updates from the Leadership Team

Welcome to the second newsletter of this short half-term.

We have had a busy week here in school.

Firstly, thank you to all Year 9 parents/carers who supported their child by attending the Year 9 Pathways Evening on Wednesday. It was really well attended. We hope you found the evening useful and thank you to any parent or carer who has already provided feedback. It is an important decision for your child, so please do take time to consider what is right for them. Please make sure that the completed form is returned to us in school by 13 March. We look forward to welcoming Year 8 parents/carers into school on Wednesday 11 March from 4–7 pm.  If you have not booked yet, please do, as it will be an important opportunity to celebrate what is going well as well as being able to offer support where there are areas for focus and development. 

Year 11 have had a successful trial exam period – well done Year 11!

Year 7 had a fantastic visit from Fit4Life yesterday. This is a program that delivers tailored physical fitness, mental wellbeing, and personal development sessions to improve student confidence, resilience, and the health of students. Such an important area for everyone. 

Year 8 had workshops with the Police on Exploitation on Tuesday, so they know what to be aware of and how to keep themselves safe. 

Year 9 have been buzzing about their possible pathways for KS4; we look forward to meeting with each and every one of them to discuss their form responses. 

Year 10 had an opportunity to hear from a representative of Trinity College, Cambridge. She delivered a session on an Introduction to Higher Education and the importance of Subject Matters. The valuable experience, really focusing on future opportunities, has supported our theme this week during National Careers Week. Every student giving themselves opportunities and keeping every path open is so important. 

In addition to this, it has been a busy week for assemblies where the whole school heard about the Anti-bullying strategy of the 4 Us; you received a letter about this earlier in the week. An assembly on careers was also delivered, as it is important to always look forwards, even though a lot of young people don't know what they want to do at this stage, it is vital to explore different pathways and opportunities.

All of these activities bring our school values of Ambition, Courage, Confidence and Kindness to life. #WorkHardBeKind. 

Thank you to all parents/carers who have completed the survey that we sent out via Arbor regarding mobile phones and uniforms. If you have not yet done so, please take a couple of minutes to give feedback. It is important that we collect parent/carer voice about future decisions as we want to work together as a community to make the changes that have been outlined by the government. 

Finally, we are aware that some island schools have put out a communication about a possible large unlicensed gathering at Priory Bay that has potentially been moved to tonight instead of tomorrow night. Some students are also talking about trying to change the venue but we believe it still to be at Priory Bay. We wanted to give parents as much information as possible to be able to keep your children safe. This information originally came from the police. 

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Paul, Mrs Mursell and Mrs Sandiford

Executive Headteacher and Co-Heads of School

KS4 Pathways Evening

Thank you to everyone who attended our KS4 Pathways Evening on Wednesday 4 March. It was a fantastic event and wonderful to see so many students and families in attendance.

The evening began with an informative talk in the Theatre outlining the KS4 options process and what students can expect over the coming months. Afterwards, families had the opportunity to explore subject displays and speak directly with staff about the courses on offer.

Choosing KS4 pathways is an important step for our students as they begin shaping their future. It was great to see so many thoughtful conversations taking place, with students showing our core values of Ambition, Courage, Confidence and Kindness as they considered the opportunities ahead.

Thank you to all staff who supported the evening and to our students and families for making it such a successful event.

If any families were unable to attend on Wednesday, please see the Year 9 Pathways page on our website for a copy of the Pathways Booklet and the Presentation that was shown. 

#WorkHardBeKind  #WeAreMedina

  

Trinity College Cambridge

As part of National Careers Week, our Year 10 students had the fantastic opportunity to hear from Heather, a representative from Trinity College, Cambridge, who visited us on Tuesday to deliver a session on An Introduction to Higher Education and the Importance of Subject Matters.

Heather spoke with students about how the A‑Level subjects they choose can shape their future pathways, particularly when applying to highly competitive universities. She encouraged them to think carefully about their strengths, interests, and long‑term aspirations, and highlighted how subject choices can open doors to a wide range of academic and career opportunities.

Students responded incredibly positively. Many shared that the session gave them a clearer sense of direction and helped them understand the importance of staying engaged and focused in their learning. It was inspiring to see their ambition grow as they learnt more about the possibilities ahead of them.

Having access to guidance from a world‑leading university is a valuable part of helping our students own their future, and we look forward to building on this momentum throughout the rest of National Careers Week.

 

Detentions – An Update

Dear parents/carers

We have reviewed our approach to detentions and I would like to take this opportunity to explain the changes and the reasons behind this. Detentions are issued when students do not make the right choices, such as disrupting lessons, disrespecting their peers or the school environment. Our data shows that students are not sitting their detentions, nor taking accountability for their actions. In order to address this issue, we have reviewed the process to help support students to be accountable for their actions, whilst also maintaining positive relationships with staff, who want the best for them. 

In the event a detention is issued by a member of staff, students will be issued a sticker in their Medina black book to inform them of the detention. In addition, parents and carers will receive an email to inform them of the detention, and students will be told during morning lines. This provides students three opportunities to know about their consequences and become more accountable for their actions. 

Detentions help provide the opportunity for a restorative conversation to discuss ways to improve the learning experience and remind students of our expectations around being ready to learn, respectful to others and keeping themselves safe. Once a student has had this restorative conversation, their detention is finished and they can resume their break time.

Typically, students would have two opportunities to sit in detention during the school day; one session during break 1, and a second session during break 2. We have reviewed this to hold one detention session during break 1, providing students the opportunity to maximise their social time during break 2.

If a student does not sit their break 1 detention, this is automatically escalated to an SLT detention after school until 4pm. Parents and carers will be informed of this via email, and we appreciate your support in advance with encouraging your child to sit their detention. To extend this, if the SLT detention is not sat, students will be placed within reflection as a consequence of not sitting the detention. Simply put, it is better for your child to have the initial conversation during detention than letting things escalate. 

Thank you for your continued support in helping your child to make better choices.

Joe Murdoch

MA, PGCE, BA (Hons)

Associate Assistant Headteacher – Behaviour and Culture

Mental Health – An update from Kooth    

Dear parents and carers   

My name is Carly, I am engagement lead for Kooth.com, and I may have already engaged with some of your children before in their education setting, but I feel it is very important that parents and carers know where their children and young people can turn to if they need mental health support and what safe support we can offer them.

So, I am offering the following 2 FREE information sessions to let you know all about our services:

Thursday, 12 March · 19:30 – 20:00pm - https://meet.google.com/qfw-ciww-nrk

Friday, 13 March · 13:00 – 13:30pm - https://meet.google.com/kkt-pqdx-hom

 

The sessions will include:

• Supporting your child during difficult times

• How to talk to your children about their feelings

• Parents/Carers Kooth FAQs

We understand that for parents and carers, talking to their child about complex mental health and wellbeing issues is rarely easy. We have a lot of information about our service that you can both access here.

Please also find some ‘hints and tips’ below that might be useful, and I shall look forward to seeing you at an information session.

 

Careers Week Assemblies

Throughout National Careers Week, students from every year group have been taking part in assemblies centred on this year’s theme ‘Own Your Future’. This focus is especially important as all students are now working towards the qualifications and habits that will help them build a strong foundation for their future careers.

In the assemblies, students explored the everyday skills that contribute to success both in school and beyond. These included being organised with equipment and uniform, maintaining good timekeeping at the start of the day and between lessons, working effectively as part of a team, and communicating clearly with others. We discussed how these simple, consistent habits form the building blocks of confidence, independence, and long‑term achievement.

Students are beginning to recognise that as they move towards their future pathways, school plays a key role in helping them develop the resilience to try, practise, ask for help, and take the opportunities available to them. National Careers Week provides a valuable moment to reflect on what they can achieve and how they can take ownership of the steps ahead.

Yr 9 Boys Football match V the Bay  

The Year 9 boys played a friendly football match against The Bay on  Tuesday afternoon. It was an enjoyable and competitive game, with both teams scoring some excellent goals.
All players showed great effort and determination throughout the match, working hard for their teammates and displaying positive attitudes on the pitch. It was a great afternoon of football and a good opportunity for the team to develop their skills in a match environment.
The match finished 6-6 with goals coming from Kayden x1 and Theo x5.

Well done lads!

Supporting your child with exam stress – Kooth

Dear all

I'm delighted to let you know we are offering two webinar dates for parents, carers and family members who are supporting children through exams this year. Please find more details below and do please share with families in your networks. 

How you can support your child to manage exam stress
Join Kooth for a free 45-minute webinar, and you’ll hear from one of our community engagement team, alongside a clinician from Kooth. 
They will offer expert tips on:

• When to take action
• Share practical ideas to help children manage their anxiety 
• Discuss how Kooth can provide extra support.

The content has been written predominantly for families with secondary and higher-aged children sitting GCSEs, A- Levels or Nationals and Highers in Scotland. 

Book 9th March, 6:00pm
Book 16th March, 7:00pm  

U15 Boys indoor cricket 

We played a high-scoring game against CTK. They scored 130 from 12 overs, and we scored 104 from ours.
Owen scored the bulk of the runs with an excellent 36no.

Thank you to CTK for hosting.

Well played lads. Looking forward to the outdoor cricket season now.

 

Useful Links

Term Dates and College Day

Attendance

Arbor (Communications and Payments)

Latest News

School Clubs

Attendance If a student is unable to attend the school for any reason or has an appointment then you can register this using the Arbor App links below.  You are also able to contact the school using the Attendance line on 01983 538055 Try using the Arbor Parent App available on the following links ANDROID or APPLE with Guidance on use HERE