First of all, I hope that you all had a restful Bank Holiday weekend. It has been a shorter week for us here at Medtia but, as always, a busy one! On Tuesday night we had our parents’ evening and it was lovely to chat to some of our parents in person. If you were unable to make it but would like an update on your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to arrange a time to chat with your child’s teacher over the phone.

On Wednesday we were visited by three of the Directors of the Future Finders Employability College – Phil Palmer, Ken Stapleton and Sarah Lockwood. They were joined by our CEO Mr Quinn and by our VIP for the day, Nikki Chowdry from the Department for Education. The purpose of the day was to give an insight into our employability offer within the New Bridge MAT and to see our students out on placement. During the day we visited Dr Kershaw’s Hospice, David Lloyd Gym, The Atrium Café and The RSPCA and to say that they were impressed would be the understatement of the year! It was really wonderful to once again hear from our partner employers of the impact that our students have on their places of work. Comments included:

• ‘We’d be lost without them’
• ‘We couldn’t function without them’
• ‘We rely on New Bridge students’
• ‘They are very much a part of our team’
• ‘Our staff and customers love your students!’
• ‘We see them grow so much over their placement in confidence!’

We all thoroughly enjoyed our day. Thank you again to our amazing students for doing us proud and to our partner employers who continue to support our young people.

Back to Medtia now and over the past few weeks I have received a number of letters from students to suggest ways in which we could improve our college! I absolutely promote this and I love that our students have the confidence and imagination to approach us with such brilliant ideas! Today we met up for one of our ‘Medtia gatherings’ as a full college, where I gave a response to some of the suggestions..

Students: Why do we have Maths on a Friday afternoon? Why do some of the students get to go home on a Friday afternoon and not others?

My response: Good point! We all agreed that Maths on a Friday afternoon was exhausting for both staff and students and that this wouldn’t happen again next year! I also shared with the students that from September we will be giving a choice to students and families around Friday afternoons; one choice being that students can go home, another choice being that students can access fun enrichment activities. This seemed to go down well!

Students: Can we have ID cards like other colleges so that we can get discounts in shops, free cheeseburgers at Mcdonalds and can be easily identifiable when we’re in the community?

My response: YES! Brilliant idea – they should be ready for after half-term. If I wear one, will I get a free cheeseburger too?!

Students: Do we have to wear uniform every day?

My response: We discussed this at length as a group and we decided that actually on some college days, students could wear their own clothes. Each pathway are going to come up with their own policy around when it is appropriate to wear uniform and when it would be OK to wear their own clothes. I will send a letter home to you regarding this before half-term and we will implement their policy after half-term.

Thank you again to our fantastic students! Some great ideas, which will make a big difference! Now let’s hear more about what they’ve been doing this week..

Colette……My week

This week I have been at Dr. Kershaws – I am loving it here!!!! It is different every day! On Tuesday I had some visitors come to see and find out what I get up to on placement. I introduced them to my manager Deborah and I spoke to them about what I do whilst I am on placement and how the café works..

Now I need to get back to work..

Wednesday was another busy in the day in the café and I spent the day with Deborah, cleaning the café, serving customers and talking to them about their day. Deborah has been telling me all day what a great job I have been doing and she has written a letter today for my Grandma and Grandad to tell them what a great job I am doing.

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On Thursday we had early celebrations for my birthday!

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I’ve been told I can’t open my presents until Sunday and I can’t wait – thank you to all the staff that have treated me for my birthday.
I am off to get ready for my birthday treat of a tour of the Emmerdale studios and I can’t wait. Have a great weekend everyone!

Brittany has also been enjoying her new placement..

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Have a wonderful weekend,

Daniel
Head of College

You can view our previous blog entries here

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