What a very busy term it has been for our staff and students and we look forward to this chance to relax and re-energise over the Easter break! Work continues however, during half term for Year 11 students, who will be focusing on revision for their GCSE examinations and taking advantage of our Masterclasses throughout the Easter break.
This half term students have had the opportunity to participate in a range of trips, visits, and extra-curricular activities across all year groups. Our Year 7 and Year 8 students visited Hagg Farm outdoor activity centre in the Peak District. Despite only being there for a few days, students were able to experience so much. Activities included caving, rock hopping problem solving and rambling, and it was great for me to visit and see them having fun in a different educational context. We are committed to developing our provision for outdoor education and this has already begun. Over 40 students in year 9 have enrolled and are working towards achieving their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. We are also developing our own Forest School and outdoor curriculum with further information to follow.
Safety is something we all take seriously in our community which is why we have organised for a specialist group to visit our students to talk about safety on the roads. Y7 and Y8 students have already taken part in the sessions this half term and this will continue for Years 9 and 10. It was great to see students engaged throughout the workshops which are designed to highlight the dangers and keep our children safer on our roads, traveling to and from school.
A large number of our Year 7, 8 and 9 female students were involved in the Football Association's Let Girls Play initiative, aimed at encouraging more girls to play football in schools. Over 130 girls played against each other in friendly but still competitive spirits. It was a great way to celebrate International Women's Day in action and indications were that some of the girls intend to sign up for local football teams to continue to play the game outside of school.
Charity work has been at the forefront of our community work this half term, with monies raised for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day and the Alzheimer's Association. In total over £1500 was collectively raised. Well done to the College and School Student Leadership Teams who organised bake sales and other events to raise money. Thank you for all the cake donations, we were overwhelmed!
This newsletter showcases some of the amazing achievements of our students and it was great to celebrate with students in the Attitude to Learning (ATL) celebration assemblies in the last week of term. This term's ATL rewards trip was a great success, where students with the best and most improved ATL scores enjoyed Laser Tag and McDonald's lunch. Well done all those who have achieved amazing ATL scores this half term! Keep up the good work!
I know that we all have very high expectations of our students both in lessons and around school. It is important that students take responsibility for themselves in their day-to-day life in school, working to maintain our high standards in terms of behaviour, uniform and attendance. Please could we ask for your support in the following areas after the Easter break:
Mobile Phones: These are not permitted to be used during the school day. If students are seen with their phone between 8.50am and 4pm, they will be confiscated and kept in a safe location until the end of the day, when they can be collected. To support the school in managing this, please could we ask that you do not contact your child during the day on their mobile phone. In the case of an emergency where you may want to contact your child urgently, please contact our reception team who will be more than happy to facilitate calls and will pass on a message accordingly.
Attendance: In order for students to perform their best academically, it is essential that they aim for their attendance to be at least 96%. Pupils who do not attend school frequently may fall behind with their work and be less likely to do well in their exams and assessments. In addition, those students who do not attend school for more than 5 days are at risk of a Fixed Penalty Fine from the Nottinghamshire Education Welfare Service. We offer a variety of support and guidance if you are experiencing difficulties in getting your child to school, please contact the attendance team for more information. Please click here for attendance information.
Uniform: We encourage all of our pupils to be proud of their school and our uniform represents our school identity. We would be grateful if you could support us in ensuring that your child wears their school uniform. Should you need support in purchasing a uniform, please contact Miss Gargas, Student Services Officer. Please click here for our Uniform Guide.
I would like to thank all parents/carers for their ongoing support of the school and take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very peaceful and restful Easter holiday.
Best Wishes
Mr Smith
It was fantastic to be able to offer our students the opportunity to go to Hagg Farm for the first time since lock down.
The trip is always a popular one with the students, but no-one anticipated that the 80 spaces would be taken up in just over 24 hours though it is easy to understand why when you speak to students who have experienced the adventure. The trip was split in to 2 different groups with one group leaving on Sunday until Wednesday and the other leaving Wednesday until Saturday.
Such a lot of activities were achieved in a few days at Hagg Farm and students came back having experienced things they never would have; some having overcome their fears and all of them with memories that will last a life time.
Whilst at Hagg Farm, students were able to experience
and more... including hide and seek and a night line experience, campfires and ghost stories.
Students were a credit to both parents and the school and they all came back thoroughly exhausted.
Mr Smith managed to visit both groups and share some quality time listening to the daytime fun the students had enjoyed whilst at Hagg Farm. The evening ended with marshmallow toasted on the campfire. Perfect end to the day.
Photos of the trip can be found on the school website use QR code below.
Mansfield Rotary club presented their 32nd Courage Awards Luncheon at Portland College on Tuesday 14th March 2023.
Meden School nominated Dylan Zhuta Year 11 for his hard work and determination to succeed in his studies, despite facing some very difficult personal challenges.
A bit about Dylan... In the summer holidays of 2022, before returning to school in September to start his most important year, Dylan became very unwell. He was back and forth to the doctors and hospital, which created more questions than gave him answers. Dylan lost lots of weight and it was such a worrying time for both Dylan and his family. Despite everyone telling him to rest and get better, he was determined to get back to school and focus on his education as soon as he could.
Dylan returned to school just as we were starting our mock fortnight. We once again advised him to take it steady and to not put pressure on himself to complete the mocks. Unsurprisingly, Dylan was determined to succeed and tried his best.
Sadly though, just as Dylan began to get back on his feet, his family experienced a traumatic event, which further knocked his confidence. Dylan showed real resilience and came back to school as soon as he could, supporting his little sister Klarissa, who is in Y7 and as equally as amazing as Dylan. In February this year, the family had to face losing grandfather Bill, a very much loved member of the family, which has been devastating for all of them.
Tests into the cause of Dylan's health issues are still ongoing and he still suffers from fatigue and sickness, but you would never know this as he still turns up every day, with a smile on his face and ready to learn.
Staff have been blown away by the grit and determination to succeed shown by Dylan, who has put all his efforts back into his studies. It has been amazing to be able to recognise his efforts by way of this award, which he thoroughly deserves!
The presentation was attended by Head of Year Miss Wild, Dylan and his parents and it was a fantastic day and at times very emotional.
Thank you to Asmech Systems Ltd who sponsored our table & to Mansfield Rotary for including Meden School in such a fabulous event.
Year 7 and Year 8 Art Enrichment have been taking part in a Students Rebuild Campaign.
Students Rebuild was originally established in 2010 to enlist young people to help their peers after a devastating earthquake in Haiti. The response was phenomenal. Students and teachers around the world have united for collective action every year since, using a unique combination of art and philanthropy as a doorway to greater global understanding. (Map of countries involved in the project)
What's great about this initiative is that, through art, students develop a greater understanding of the challenges others face and practice compassion by generating funds to help. Students also have the opportunity to connect through webcasts & experience the positive feeling of working with others to make a difference.
The charity donates $5 for every artwork submitted to help refugees. So far Meden have raised $195. Please find the link to our Team page:
https://www.studentsrebuild.org/teams/QI0ZS9RDKUO1
Well done to all those students who are making a difference by submitting their artwork.
This half term has been a busy one for fundraising and we couldn't have achieved it all, without your support!
Both the Meden College Committee and the School Leadership Teams lead on fundraising opportunities in school and they take their role very seriously. Working collaboratively, the groups of students planned events for Valentine's Day, Comic Relief and then in support of Alzheimer's UK.
Bake sales are always popular with our students and staff, and it is hardly surprising when you witness the quality of treats you can but for 20p -£1. The support we get through donations from our Meden Families and from staff is phenomenal and something we really appreciate.
Along side the bake sales, the students organised flowers for Mothers Day, fun events like 'Name the Teddy', 'Guess the number of sweets' and a tombola; all these events raised extra money on the day. Unfortunately due to the soggy weather we postponed the walk for Alzheimer's UK, but we will reschedule this later in the year.
What is really amazing about the charity events is that , not only does the school raise money for worthwhile charities, but students from all year groups work together through the whole process from planning what they want to achieve, raising awareness of the event with posters etc and then actually running the events on the day. The atmosphere is so positive with so many students supporting each other to achieve their goal, which is to raise as much money as possible.
This half term we have managed to raise an amazing £1500 for charity which will be split accordingly between Comic relief and Alzheimer's UK.
Well done to all of the students involved and a massive THANK YOU to you all for your continued support.
As part of International Women’s Day, Meden School signed up to take part in the Football Association’s latest initiative to get more girls playing football in school #Letgirlsplay - Biggest EVER Football Session
Girls in Years 7, 8 and 9 were encouraged to form tutorial teams with the support of their tutors and the response was massive. Over 130 girls took part in the friendly competition, playing with great spirit against their peers to battle for first place. Mr Hamer, Head of PE at Meden School, invited local football coach from Meden Vale Colts Girls FC to come along to the event, to promote his local club.
It was a great atmosphere and the girls, some of whom had never really played football much before, had a great time and were so inspired by the session that they are looking to sign up to play with Meden Vale Colts Girls FC.
All the girls played their hearts out but the overall winners were
Year 7 - Congrats to Miss Holmes and 7G
Year 8 - Congrats to Mr Cheetham and 8G - Big shout out to Miss Clarke and 8D who lost on penalties in the final!
Year 9 - Congrats to the "green team" captained by Kacey C
Headteacher Mr Smith who had the opportunity to watch some of the girls play, said “ International Women’s Day is so important, and I am thrilled we were able to take part in the football initiative, as part of this day. I was truly humbled by the effort put in by all of the girls taking part. Staff got involved by supporting their tutees. It was an amazing atmosphere! We do so much work in school around removing prejudice and giving everyone the same opportunities which forms part of our “Everyone at Meden Matters” and this is a great example of why this is so important”
Congratulations to all participants and many thank to the staff without whom this would not have been possible.
Her mum describes her as 'Just a little girl with a big dream' and this is such a true description of Erin Broughton Y8 at Meden School.
March 2023 became a time for dreams to come true, as Erin secured herself a place competing in the British Gymnastic Championships, held over 4 days at the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool.
Being 1 out of only 55 Junior gymnasts, competing from all over the country in the women's junior competition is a truly remarkable achievement and marked a memorable moment in Erin's gymnastics journey! Erin competed against the best gymnasts in the country in a range of events including the vault, floor, uneven bars, beam and finished overall 31st out of the 55 participating gymnasts. Her best event was the 2 vault average where she ranked 18th. WOW!
Anyone who has ever attempted to participate in any competitive sport ,will know the sheer amount of time you need to dedicate to the sport to be the best you can possibly be.
This takes up evenings after school and weekends when all of your friends are hanging out; there will be days when you just don't feel like it; and then there is the pressure of school work and keeping up with homework and projects. These are all things that you somehow have to juggle to fit in everyday and this takes massive personal sacrifice and commitment.
All these things you do, if you are as passionate and determined to succeed, as Erin is.
Erin is undeniably an amazing gymnast, but this isn't something she has been handed on a plate, but a dream that has taken so much effort, true grit and determination and a desire to succeed. Hours of dedication to practice and many times when she has perhaps felt that she would never get there.
Erin you are a true inspiration to young people and we look forward to hearing more about your future gymnastics successes over the months/years to come.
I know how proud your family are of everything you have achieved. Everyone at Meden School is proud of you too!
For fun and to generate a bit of competition, students were given the opportunity to enter a competition to take a picture of the most unusual place to read a book.
After an overwhelming response, the reading competition has now come to a close.
Our winner is Lacie Handley with the following clip
It was so hard to judge a winner. Here is a sample of some of the entries.
Jane Sipson
Jack Pickering Kirkham
Indie Twinn
Ryan Brewitt
Coby Hilton
Sarah Hardingham
Oliver Dyson
Well done to our winners and for all those who took part!
It is that exciting time of year again where we start to prepare to welcome the new cohort of Year 7 students who will be joining us in September.
Welcome letters have been posted home to all students who have been allocated a place with us. If you are a Y6 parent and haven't received one then please contact office@medenschool.co.uk for guidance.
We are busying behind the scenes working on getting our Transition Portal ready to go live. The portal is very comprehensive and contains a lot of information and answers to most questions. Postcards with access information will be sent home. Please make sure if you have moved during the last 12 months that you check with us to ensure we have your correct address details. (office@medenschool.co.uk)
Transition days will take place on Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th July and on these days we welcome our new students to attend Meden as students and we will give them a taste of what September may feel like. We will also be holding a Parent/Carer event and there will be the opportunity to met the uniform supplier for guidance on what sizes to order on line. All information will follow soon.
If you want to have a look at the information on our website, then go to www.medenschool.co.uk
Here is a flyer we have been asked to share by the uniform company who supply our blazers/ties/PE kit etc.
click to enlarge
Meden School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT