Medina College Parent Portal - Weekly Updates from Medina College

Welcome to this week's update.

We would like to start by congratulating our Year 11 students on how mature they have been during the first few exams this week. We have our first whole cohort exam on Monday morning with the English Literature exam. Please remember that we have important information on our two website pages – Year 11 Support and Exams. If your child has any questions or concerns, please do encourage your child to speak to their tutor, the subject teacher or a member of our exams team.

This week we were lucky enough to have assemblies delivered by the RNLI. The work that they do, through lifeboat search and rescue, lifeguards, water safety education and flood rescue is invaluable and so important. Given we are a small Island the chances of someone we know needing their support at some point in their lives is higher than in other areas of the country. Respecting the sea is a key to being able to enjoy using it.

Next week on 13 May we look forward to welcoming our Year 7 parent/carers into school for the rescheduled Parents' Evening. This will be a vital event to make sure that students have a successful end to the year and understand what has been going well and what could help to make things even better.

If you do not yet follow us on social media, please do find us on facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or on our website as these will all keep you up to date with important messages, updates, our good news stories and upcoming events.

You may also have seen in recent media posts that there is a fantastic 50 years of 'Medina' event being planned for July. Please see the poster further down the newsletter for details.

Thank you to all parents/carers who have completed the Parent Voice survey sent out earlier this week. If you have not completed it yet, then please take a few moments over the weekend to do so as we will be closing it on Monday morning. The link has been sent in a letter via Arbor to your email address. Your voice is important to us.

With only a couple of weeks of this half-term left, please remind your child about our basic expectations in regard to respect of themselves, each other and our school environment. It takes all of us to play our own individual parts, for it to be the success we all want it to be. Our rewards shop continues to be popular, and we await with excitement our next set of deliveries of prizes!

We hope you have a lovely weekend and if you are taking part in any route of Walk the Wight this weekend – well done, we hope that it goes well!

Mrs Paul, Mrs Mursell and Mrs Sandiford

Executive Headteacher and Co-Heads of School

Mr Rock's 100 Challenge

Our Head of PE, Mr Rock, has successfully completed an extraordinary 100-mile endurance challenge, raising thousands of pounds and inspiring the entire Isle of Wight community in the process.

Mr Rock crossed the finish line last Friday afternoon after completing “Mr Rock’s 100” – a gruelling challenge which saw him walk 100 laps of a one-mile course around our school fields without sleep.

The challenge began at 4am on Thursday 30 April and continued throughout the night before finishing on Friday afternoon, cheered on by students and staff.

Mr Rock undertook the challenge to raise awareness and funds for the Huntington’s Disease Association, a cause that is deeply personal to him and his family. He lost his father to Huntington’s Disease, and both he and his brother have tested positive for the condition and are symptomatic.

Despite the physical and emotional demands of the challenge, he showed incredible resilience and determination throughout. During the early hours of Friday morning, at around 1am, he faced one of his toughest moments and seriously considered giving up. However, with the support of those around him and his unwavering commitment to the cause, he pushed through and continued on to complete the full 100 miles.

As part of the event, students from Medina College and other local primary and secondary schools joined Mr Rock for sections of the challenge, helping to raise awareness of Huntington’s Disease among young people across the Isle of Wight.

On Friday, our school community also held a non-uniform day in the charity’s pink and green colours before gathering together to welcome Mr Rock across the finish line.

Mr Rock's challenge has so far raised an incredible £5,500 for the Huntington’s Disease Association, through his Just Giving page and money raised by the school.

Everyone at Medina College is enormously proud of Mr. Rock’s achievement. His courage, positivity and determination have not only raised vital funds, but have also helped educate and inspire young people across the Island about Huntington’s Disease and the importance of resilience in the face of adversity.

Thank you to everyone in our community who supported the challenge through donations, walking with Mr Rock and sending kind words of encouragement. Thank you to Biltmore Printers for donating a fantastic custom 'Congratulations' banner to help us celebrate the finish line moment and, finally, thank you to the following schools who joined us during the challenge to walk, gained sponsorship money and even held their own separate fundraising events back in their own schools: