Medina College

Medina College

Motto	Aspire and Achieve
Established	2011 (as Media College), 1976 (as Medina High School)
Type	State
Head Teacher	Mr Nathan Thomas
Chair of Governors	Dr Tara Dean
Specialism	Performing Arts College
Location	Fairlee Road Newport Isle of Wight PO30 2DX England
Local authority	Isle of Wight
DfE URN	118217
Ofsted	Reports
Students	985 (school) 245 (sixth form)
Gender	Male / Female
Ages	11–19
Colours	Grey
Website	Medina College

Coordinates: 50°42′40″N 1°16′57″W / 50.711111°N 1.2825°W / 50.711111; -1.2825

Medina College is a trust-supported secondary school on in Newport on the Isle of Wight, formerly Medina High School.

History

Medina High School was founded in 1976 on the current site. By the 1990s, the school suffered from a falling roll and finances, with Richard Williams brought in as head in 2002, the fifth head in 2 year. In 2004, blazers were reintroduced to replace polo and sweatshirts, with procedures from a number of schools include troubled school in Birmingham introduces to help discipline.^[1]In 2008, the school was deemed "Outstanding" in an Ofsted inspection.^[2]The longest serving teacher is Crispin Keith.

In September 2008, the school decided to pursue trust status, becoming a foundation school on 3 February 2009 and also a trust school, with partners University of Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust, the Quarr Group, Solo Agency and Quay Arts.^{[3] [4]} The school also introduced International Baccalaureate courses.

As part of the reorganisation of the education system on the Isle of Wight, Island Innovation Trust (formerly Medina Innovation Trust), formed by the school's trust, was successful in their bid against Academies Enterprise Trust and again Island Innovation Trust without a hard federation to take over the school. In 2011, the school opened with the age range extended to Year 7 to Year 13. It is now one of 5 secondary providers on the Isle of Wight, with the school in a hard federation with Carisbrooke College.

In January 2010, the current head Richard Williams announced he would be stepping down no later than Easter and moving on to become principle of an academy school in Kent, partly influenced by the school's re-organisation.^[5]

As Medina High School, the school was made a a specialist Arts College and received the Artsmark gold award in 2007.^[6]The school has won medals in local and national trampolining competitions including the British Schools Trampolining Competition in March 2009.^[7][8]Also, Medina took part in the White Air extreme sports festival held at Yaverland.^[9]

The 2011 pass rates for the school were 84.5% 5+ A*-C for GCSE and 77% A*-C and 97.7% pass rate for A Level in 2011. ^[10][11]

The school will share a 6th Form Campus with Carisbrooke College on the former Nodehill Middle School site, utilising some of the Downside Middle School site in the interim.

Until his death on 18 March 2008, Anthony Minghella served as the school's patron.^[12]

Facilities

The Medina Leisure Centre and Medina Theatre

Former Medina High School Logo

The school's facilities include Medina Leisure Centre, with a gym, climbing wall, swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts and sports hall, the Medina Theatre, which has 425 seats, and an arboretum.^[13]

Fusion

The main entrance when it was known as Medina High School

The school during an 'Arts Blast' week

Fusion is a quarterly magazine produced by students at the school, targeting young people across the island and distributed islandwide. It was first published in summer 2007 as part of the school's 'Arts Blast' week and contained a documentary of the Isle of Wight Festival. 5 issues have been published, with the first two issues supported by Creative Partnerships. The magazine is free and relies on advertising revenue from Island businesses. ^[14]

References

1. ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Trust is the key in head's big plan"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/trust-is-the-key-in-heads-big-plan-24390.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-23. 
2. ^ "Medina High School News - "OUTSTANDING"". www.medina.iow.sch.uk. http://www.medina.iow.sch.uk/folders/school_news/outstanding_1.cfm. Retrieved 2009-03-23. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Medina High plan for charitable trust"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/medina-high-plan-for-charitable-trust-22647.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
4. ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "IW gets first trust school"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/iw-gets-first-trust-school-24234.aspx. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
5. ^ "Heads set to leave". Isle of Wight County Press. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/heads-set-to-leave-30890.aspx. Retrieved 2010-01-23. 
6. ^ "Artsmark - Awarded Schools, awards database". www.artscouncil.org.uk. 2008. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/artsmark/index.php?location_id=94&rows=200&offset=3200. Retrieved 2008-06-20. 
7. ^ "Medina bounce to GB finals". Isle of Wight County Press. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/medina-bounce-to-gb-finals-24370.aspx. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
8. ^ "School jumps to British gold". Isle of Wight County Press. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/trampolining/school-jumps-to-british-gold-25096.aspx. Retrieved 2009-04-14. 
9. ^ "White Air events report 2007". www.whiteair.co.uk. http://www.whiteair.co.uk/section/event_reports/event_reports_2007. Retrieved 2009-04-14. ^{[dead link]}
10. ^ "GCSE results best yet". Isle of Wight County Press. http://iwcp.co.uk/news/news/gcse-results-best-yet-40360.aspx. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
11. ^ "2011 PROVISIONAL A-LEVEL RESULTS SHOW RISE IN PASSES". Isle of Wight Council. http://www.iwight.com/home/pressreleases/frmView.aspx?prid=1495. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
12. ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - "Minghellla backs Arts College bid"". www.iwcp.co.uk. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/minghella-backs-arts-college-bid-8098.aspx. Retrieved 2008-10-21. 
13. ^ "Medina Theatre - About". www.medinatheatre.co.uk. 2008. http://www.medinatheatre.co.uk/about.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-20. 
14. ^ "Isle of Wight County Press - Magazine Hopes For Fusion With Business". www.iwcp.co.uk. 2008. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/magazine-hopes-for-fusion-with-business-20896.aspx. Retrieved 2008-06-20.