It is often the case that the shortest of half terms feels like the busiest and this half term has certainly been full of great events and achievements. I hope that you have been able to enjoy some quality time with your loved ones this Easter break.
As the start of the exam period draws closer, the focus has been on supporting our Year 11 & Year 13 students with the tools they need to prepare for their exams. Year 11 students have all received a personalised revision pack full of revision tips, exam papers and other essential materials to support their revision. We have provided dedicated support sessions for both the Year 11 students and Y13 students, if needed, over the half term period and Y13 students have been issued with a 6-week plan for each of their subjects. We have been so impressed by the continued hard work demonstrated by the students, as they strive to achieve their full potential and the support we offer them will guide them every step of the way.
We were so excited to hear about the recent success of Y9 Gymnast Erin Broughton in the recent British Gymnastic Championships. To think that she is now ranked 8th in Britain is truly a remarkable achievement and hearing today that she has been selected for the Junior GB Squad 2024! Hearing of students' achievements outside of school always makes me so proud. Erin is an inspiration to others and is proof that hard work, dedication and a deep self believe is the perfect recipe for personal success in any form. I look forward to following Erin on her journey.
#Letgirlsplay was once again popular among the KS3 girls and it was great to see so many of them taking part. I do hope that some of them continue to play football by joining the local team. The campaign continues to be a success with more girls choosing to take up the sport both professionally and just for fun.
It is amazing to see so many of our students taking up opportunities to go on trips, and we continue to offer these, where we can, to all year groups. This half term students have travelled locally, to London and overseas to Barcelona. The participating students and staff involved have all had some amazing experiences, making memories that will stay with them for a life time. Trips like these provide so much academic enrichment to the students but even more than that, they provide opportunities for students to grow and develop as individuals.
Congratulations to Sophie Etherington on being awarded the Mansfield Rotary Club Courage Award. You thoroughly deserve to be recognised for continuing to work so hard whilst supporting your mum through really difficult times. I know how much your mum appreciates your support and we are so proud of you!
Finally, I want to thank you all personally for your continued support, not only to our school but to the charity events we hold, the latest of which was to raise money for Comic Relief. Our non uniform event raised almost £500 which is amazing and will be greatly received by the charity. I am constantly overwhelmed by the support of our school community who are always willing to help other people.
Best wishes,
Mr J Smith (Headteacher)
'Just a little girl with a big dream' is how Erin Broughton's mum described her when we first talked about Erin's gymnastics success
in 2023. Who could have imagined where this dream would take her!
To talk to Erin in school, she appears just like an ordinary 14 year old girl, she works hard at school, she loves sport and she laughs and jokes with her friends. Beyond that beautiful smile of hers is a young girl who has always dreamed of being a gymnast; someone who has dedicated so much of her time to training and working hard to be the very best gymnast she can be, with a unique determination that is admirable. Erin doesn't boast about her achievements, in fact if you didn't know you would never guess that she is one of the most talented gymnasts in Britain.
In March 2023 Erin was overjoyed to have secured herself a place competing in the British Gymnastic Championships, at the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool. This was both a dream come true for Erin and a remarkable achievement, as she then ranked an impressive 31st out of 55 British gymnasts in her age group.
Determined to improve on this and to compete at her very best, in true Erin style she continued to work so hard, once again earning herself at placed at the British Championships 2024 from 14-17 March in Liverpool at the M & S Arena.
Here she competed against Britain's best gymnasts aged between 13 & 15 years of age. Out of the 71 gymnasts that competed there, Erin achieved the following results:
Click here to watch Erin on the Beam
Click here to watch Erin's performance on bars
Click here for Erin doing her floor routine
In the all around competition Erin came 8th on the floor activities which qualified her to compete in a floor final which took place on the Sunday. In this competition Erin achieved 5th place and was only 0.1 away from getting a bronze medal.
Erin now ranks as the 8th best gymnast in her age group in Britain, which is an absolutely amazing achievement!
Even more exciting is the the news this morning that Erin has been selected for the JUNIOR GB SQUAD 2024!!!! WOW!
Erin is fully supported by her family and I know how proud her mum and dad are of her achievements. We will be following Erin's progress over the coming months and will bring you more news when we receive it.
Massive congratulations to Erin! Nobody deserves is more than you, we are all so very proud of you and excited to follow you on your journey. It just shows what you can achieve when you work hard and are so determined but most of all when you truly believe in yourself! Good luck!
'Just a little girl with a big dream!'
It is always a pleasure to be invited to nominate one of our students to receive a Courage Award at the Mansfield Rotary Club Annual Ceremony, and this year was no different.
Mansfield Rotary Club have held the Awards Ceremony for the last 32 years and this year the 33rd Courage Awards took place on 12th March at Portland College.
Choosing just 1 student is always the hard part, as there are so many of our students who we could nominate for this award. After much consideration it was decided that one student stood out above all the others.
Sophie Etherington, a Year 11 Meden student was nominated by our Safeguarding Officer, Mrs Callaway who has worked closely to support Sophie over the last couple of years through what has been a very difficult time for her and her family. Late in 2022, Sophie lost her grandmother and just a short time after her mum was diagnosed with Cancer which meant she had to undergo chemotherapy treatment and lost her hair. Throughout the whole period Sophie remained by her mum's side and was a tremendous support. At times when Sophie could have neglected her school work in fact the opposite was true, Sophie remained dedicated to her studies and to achieving her very best.
As a result of this whole experience Sophie has been inspired by the caring and dedicated staff that took care of her mum and wants to follow the same career path, working for the NHS. She applied and successfully gained at place at College and is looking forward to finishing her GCSEs and going on to study Health & Social Care.
We couldn't be prouder of Sophie. She is a truly inspirational young lady who deserves the very best and we wish her every success in her chosen career,
We'd like to send our sincere thanks to the Mansfield Rotary Club for organising this annual event and for helping to recognise these amazing students who overcome very difficult personal circumstances.
Photos were taken by Spike Photography
During the last week of term, students in Y9/Y10 and staff departed on an educational trip to Barcelona.
Weeks of planning went in to ensuring that the trip ran smoothly and when the departure date finally arrived, everyone was so excited.
The trip was aimed towards students choosing to study Spanish and was packed with so many opportunities for students to soak up the spanish language and culture.
Walking over 20,000 steps a day, students and staff made the most of the few days they were there achieving so much. Experiences included:
To view all of the photos uploaded from the trip go to https://www.medenschool.co.uk/page.php?d=lang&p=barcelona_2024
Here is a small sample:
Students and staff had an amazing time. Trips like these give our students opportunities that they may never experience otherwise and for some of them it was full of those first time events; first time abroad; first time on an airplane; first time away from their family. As a school it is always a pleasure to offer such wonderful opportunities because we know that the memories made during just a few days on a trip will last a lifetime.
The behaviour of the students was impeccable and they represented their school and their families in an outstanding way. All the students looked after each other and made sure everyone was included, even when they didn't form part of their usual friendship group. It was wonderful to witness them grasp every opportunity to utilise their language skills, speaking to the shopkeepers and in restaurants and even haggling on price! They really appreciated being offered the chance to visit Barcelona and gave the following feedback.
Our Forest School continues to grow from strength to strength.
Here is what students have been doing this half term.
Thank you to donations from the Woodland Trust, students have been planting trees and finding all sorts of creepy crawlies in the process. In total 90 trees & 150m of hedgerow have been donated.
Students in Y11 have been using the skills taught to them in lessons to make hanging baskets, whilst the Y8 & Y9 students have created flowerbeds and woven fences.
and to finish off the end of term some Easter marshmallow toasting over the fire pit.
APPEAL FOR SUPPORT
As the warmer months approach us, we would like to ask for your help.
Have you got any gardening tools or equipment that you no longer need and are willing to donate to our forest school?
For more information contact Keith on kfarnworth@medenschool.co.uk
We always have many sporting events to report on each half term but this half term was dominated by the annual #Letgirlsplay, dedicated to getting more girls involved in playing football.
#LETGIRLSPLAY
In preparation for the event some of our Y9 girls visited the University of Nottingham at the end of February, for a Let Girls Play Football Leadership Day. As part of the day the group enjoyed a theory session developing ideas on how they could encourage more girls to get involved in the sport, followed by a practical session after lunch. This was a great opportunity for the girls and another chance to raise the profile of girls football. Well done to the following girls who took part in the event.
As in previous years we organised another fantastic event on March 6th, to support the #Letgirlsplay event with more than 140 girls participating. All the games were played with great fun and sportsmanship. Well done to everyone who took part!
The winning teams were as follows:
Y7 - 7A - Mr Land's tutorial
Y8 - 8G - Miss Holmes (second year running) - shout out to 8B who lost on penalties!
Y9 - 9D - Miss Clarke .... last years winners 9G threw it away after looking like certain winners for the second year running.
On top of what turned out to be a fabulous event, we welcomed a visitor from a local girls football team who was able to encourage some more girls to join the team.
Big thanks go to Bracken Harrison, Poppy Smithand Scarlett Bettridge who officiated the games and help run the sessions and to the PE team who gave up their free time to run the sessions as well!
OTHER SPORTING EVENTS
Y7 Sportshall Athletics
Girls came 6th out of 7 - Evie A was the top performer for the girls winning 2 out of the 3 races she competed in.
The Boys came 3rd out of 7 - Eddison M won 1 of his races, Kai C also won the 6 lap race - The boys were very consistent coming 2nd or 3rd in the majority of the events that they competed in.
Well done to all those students who took part in the event!
YEAR 8 FOOTBALL
The boys played incredibly well to get to the semi finals against Brunts but despite a good effort on the night lost 2-0.
All the boys played hard and should be very proud of their performance.
Big well done to the whole squad -
YEAR 10 FOOTBALL
After reaching the Semi Finals, the team lost to Garibaldi who achieved a last minute goal. The lads played incredibly well even to reach the Semi Finals and were really unlucky to lose. We missed loads of chances and hit the bar twice. At one point in the game we were 2-0 down then brought it back to 2-2 with a screamer of a free-kick from Jack B and a nice finish from George D. Then in the last minute Garibaldi secured the win with an overhead kick.
Big shout out to all the team that showed an outstanding attitude even in defeat.
YEAR 7 NETBALL
We were fortunate to host a Netball tournament at Meden and were represented by 2 Meden Teams who all played well. Special mention to Poppy Johnson who was player of the tournament!
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of their deep and continuing needs, is good for them” - Maya Angelou
WORLD BOOK DAY
On Thursday 7th March we celebrated World Book Day! The aim of World Book Day is to establish a longstanding love of reading to the students. The library was filled with activities and competitions for the students to take part in. It was great to see the students excited and engaged. Here is an insight into some of the things we did:
AND SO MUCH MORE!
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Also, every Year 7 students was given a voucher to get a free copy of a World Book Day book or £1 off a book of their choice!
A huge thank you to our librarian Mrs Kennedy for organising! We can't wait for next year already.
BIG READ
This term students in all year groups have taken part in their termly BIG READ. During the big read sessions students have had the opportunity to read and listen to staff read while they follow the text. They were then be given the opportunity, via the big read sessions to explore the big ideas in the text and learn more about what it can teach us about the world.
KS3 continued to read their fiction books, trialing different reading strategies such as choral reading.
KS4 & KS5 read and discussed recent news articles focused on the current XL bully ban legislation.
Year 11's spent the session reading through some reading revision tasks for their GCSE English Literature exams.
DID YOU KNOW?
The average reading age in the UK is 9 YEARS OLD.
So, what can be done at home to break this cycle?
Here is also a link to the National Literacy Trust website to helpful tips and information https://literacytrust.org.uk/
RECOMMENDED READ FROM MISS WILSON
Each term, staff from each subject will recommend books that will support students with their studies and that we believe students will enjoy. This term English Teacher and Humanities Teacher Mrs Little has given her recommendation:
"Yellow Wallpaper is my favourite story because it beautifully showcases the experiences of women in the past, portrays mental health struggles, and explores escapism through imagination.
I studied the history of asylums at university which helps me understand the context of mental health treatment. My empathic personality connects me with the protagonist's emotional journey. These factors make me appreciate "The Yellow Wallpaper" for its insight into mental health and the human psyche." - Mrs Little
WRITING COMPETITION
Students in years 8 and 10 will be taking part a writing competition. Each student will be submitting an entry that will provide them with a chance of having their own story published in a book... more details to come next half term on this.
YEAR 10 SCIENCE
Who said that learning science can't be fun?
10m7 Science students were in for a real treat in their lesson when they modeled atoms using chocolate & sweets, including the protons, neutrons and electrons that make up an atom of Lithium. Of course they got to eat them afterwards!
In addition to this Students in Y10 who are currently studying the topic 'using resources' in Chemistry lessons visited Veolia Materials Recovery Facility to gain first-hand experience of how recycling works in a real setting.
YEAR 9 TEXTILES
Year 9 students have been working incredibly hard on their quilting in KS3 Textiles with Miss Cave. Here is a selection of some of the amazing pieces being produced
ART EXHIBITION
Students visited the National Coal mining museum at the end of February to explore the exhibition, featuring some of their amazing art work. A group of student has previously had a session at the museum and it was the art work they created during their visit, that was being publicly displayed.
The free exhibition, 'Painting with light' is available for public viewing until 14th April. Here is the link for more information https://ncm.org.uk/whats-on/painting-with-light/
YEAR 9 SPEED NETWORKING
Representatives from the NHS and Mansfield District Council visited to do some Speed Networking with our Y9 students to help them develop their oracy skills and to build on their confidence speaking to unfamiliar professionals a skill that is vital for any future interviews. Students though nervous at first had a great experience!
MOCK INTERVIEWS
The Mock interview event is a fabulous opportunity for our Year 10 students .
It allows us to demonstrate to the students, the importance of employability skills and extracurricular activities to boost CVs and encourage students to talk positively about themselves with confidence to employers. This year, every year 10 student in school participated in an an interview with one of our 15 local employers. Though extremely nervous beforehand, every student came out smiling, saying how they found it "not as bad as I thought" and that they'd got something positive out of the experience.
Students can take this experience with them to help them in college interviews or interviews for jobs/apprenticeships. What a successful day!
YEAR 9 STUDENTS VISIT LONDON
Y9 students were offered the opportunity to spend the day in London with a trip to the Tate Modern Museum followed by a matinee performance of Lion King. For some of our students this was their first visit to the capital and they were so excited.
A long day but what an experience!
ATL REWARDS
As you know each half term we reward our students for outstanding ATL and also those who have improved the most and the rewards trip was a trip to Laser Tag and a trip to McDonalds. There were so many students receiving perfect scores of 1 for their ATL which is amazing, that it wasn't possible for everyone to go on the trip. For those unable to go on the trip we held a movie afternoon on the last day of term. Over 200 students received ATL awards this half term! Keep up the good work!
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Personal development continues to form a very important part of students tutorial sessions each week,
Here is a short video of what topics have been covered this half term.
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. Already many of the local Y6 students have been visiting Meden over the last half term for taster sessions and it has been great to see you all.
Welcome letters are being posted home to all families whose children have been allocated a place with us. If you are a Y6 parent and have changed your address/email recently please contact office@medenschool.co.uk for guidance.
We are busy 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.
During the coming months it is really important that we hold the most up to date contact details; address; email and mobile number for you so please contact us if any details have changed since you made your application (office@medenschool.co.uk).
Transition days will take place on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd 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.
This will take place on Tuesday 9th July 3 – 5pm at the school house off Burns lane.
Students will be able to try on uniform , which ensures the correct sizes are ordered on-line – Orders placed within 7 days after the ‘Fitting Event’ will receive Free home delivery on their order.
If you want to have a look at the information on our website, then go to www.medenschool.co.uk
Meden School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT