We started off the week with a visit from Mr Quinn, who wanted to come and speak with the students and find out what they have been up to this term and celebrate some of their successes. I am sure Mr Quinn will share this in his blog this week.

On Tuesday morning, Mrs Nelson, Miss Begum and the girls group went to visit the children’s ward at Oldham Hospital – they have raised money and asked for donations so that they could buy the children presents (more of this later in the blog).

On Wednesday the whole of the Pathways, Pre Interns, Bridging the Gap and Future Finders celebrated Christmas with our college Christmas dinner at the Atrium. A wonderful festive time was had by all!

On Thursday we all went off to see ‘The Secret of Christmas Eve’ which has been put on by Oldham Theatre Workshop.

This week all areas are going to share with you what the students have been up to this term starting with our Pre Interns, as our job coach Nicola explains..

It’s near the end of our first term and our pre-interns have continued to work hard. In Employability the students have been completing their second unit of their qualification understanding a work experience placement and have used their iPads in their work placement to research and collect the evidence they need to complete the unit in their e-portfolios. The main focus has been Health and Safety and their work placement organisational details.

It hasn’t all been work on the iPads. Alan wanted to know how to make stuffing so we got out the mini blender and had a go. We even had Jay and Jermaine join us from Activ8 and I was very proud to witness the lads getting stuck in and cleaning up when they had finished.

I would also like thank Josh, Kamran, Sarah and Nathan for supporting in the Atrium when it was Christmas dinner. The milk, tea and coffee needed to be replenished, the conference room needed setting up, dinners needed to be served, rubbish needed to be moved and then there was the big clean up. The students all worked together to get the jobs done and without their hard work the day wouldn’t have been as successful.

So where to next for our pre-interns?…..

• Ethan who joined our pathway a little later than the other students is going to work at David Lloyd in Cheadle and is looking forward to continuing to develop his personal training skills.
• Nathan who once wanted to work at the RSPCA and nowhere else has asked if he can stay in the Atrium because he loves working with the customers and working in the kitchen.
• Alan is going work at David Lloyd Cheadle as this is the only placement he hasn’t tried yet and he wants to get as much experience for his CV as he is now actively looking for paid work.
• Jade will continue to work in the Atrium but is stepping out of her comfort zone and will work at David Lloyd Cheadle one day a week.
• Kieran will continue to work at the RSPCA one day a week but will try David Lloyd Middleton a few days a week so he can get a good understanding of different working environments.
• Sarah has been amazing in the Atrium and feels ready for a change and is looking forward to working with Tish at David Lloyd Middleton.

I’m sure the students will be amazing in their new placements and will continue to work hard and we look forward to updating you all about their progress in the new year.

Our job coach Colin has an update for us on our second pre intern group..

This term has been crazy busy with the Pre Interns 2 – the students have worked tirelessly over the last 7 weeks with attending placements and keeping on track with work in Maths and English and continuing to build portfolios in ICT and Employability.

During the Employability qualification lessons, students this term have been working on 3 units; Personal Action Planning, Personal Protective Equipment and also Customer Service. Students have been working on their understanding in the classroom based sessions on Friday mornings, as well as putting their learning into action when attending placement, further building on skills and knowledge.

Earlier this term at Medtia, the college received an Ofsted inspection that lasted two days and kept us all on our toes, Ofsted visited the college and also placements including The Atrium and David Lloyd North Manchester where they were wowed by what they saw at both.

Congratulations to Kamran on being awarded this week’s ‘Worker of the Week’, well done!!

We have had some positive outcomes also this term, with students securing paid work and volunteering hours across various placements that they have attended. Here is what they have to say..

• Josie – ‘”College has been amazing this term. I have seen the job coaches, I am very proud of getting my job at David Lloyd gym as a cleaner and looking forward to starting another placement in the new year.’’
• Kamran – “This term has been good, I have enjoyed placement helping in housekeeping and learning new skills.”
• Dominic – “This term has been excellent, it has improved my confidence with communication and speaking and I have enjoyed everything about placement.’’

This week has had a Christmassy feel with lots of different activities happening at college, from Christmas dinners at The Atrium Cafe to Pantomimes at the Oldham Library.

We are back on the 6th of January, we will see you all refreshed after the Christmas break. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Now over to Mr Thornton for news of Activ8..

As we close in on the Christmas break, now would be a great time to look back at some of the highs and lows, here in Activ8. A new staff team was in place; Mr Lawrence, Mr Newton and Mr Thornton. Activ8 students welcomed us to their family like environment with open arms.

A number of Activ8 students entered the race for student council, each of them discussed their policies and views with their peers. The elected person then spoke on behalf of the team in series of meetings and put forward many fantastic ideas.

We have been extremely fortunate in the way we have been able to access top class facilities, such as: David Lloyd, Isaan Gym and Manchester City’s Etihad Campus. A group such as Activ8 thrives when out and about in the community.

Activ8 have risen to the challenge during competition this year, representing the whole of Medtia and showcasing their skill across multiple different sports, including: Football, Table Tennis and Basketball. David Lloyd has also been a venue of choice during our fitness and dodgeball sessions.

Everyone here in Activ8 would like to say a big thank you to Tish, for helping us sort out David Lloyd, a facility that has proved to be hugely beneficial to the Activ8 team. During the first half term the guys made the most of this fantastic opportunity, using our time to improve basketball skills and general knowledge of the sport. The knowledge the team gained proved vital. While officiating a basketball tournament, our referees showed great character during play, their confidence and ability beamed.

`The Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme’ is a huge part of what we do, allowing our young people to access their community. Students are working at different levels within the scheme and attempting to attain a qualification. Whether rain or shine, every expedition, no matter how tough, has been thoroughly enjoyed.

A number of students active on the pathway have shown great courage, leadership and commitment during their many hours of work experience. As the weeks have gone by, our Sports Leaders have gained much valued experience and confidence. They have worked with various different groups of secondary school pupils at New Bridge School. Together, they have formed a fun and enjoyable environment for younger pupils to learn, building trusting relationships in the process. Working with children in both academic studies and physical education, our Sports Leaders have represented Activ8 tremendously well. We look forward to seeing them progress further throughout 2020.

Throughout this term, Isaan Gym has been the home of our weekly kickboxing sessions. Many of our students have relished the opportunity to come out of their comfort zone and try something new. During their sessions, Activ8 have studied different aspects of the sport, including: kicking technique, clinching, as well as being put through their paces with circuit training and pad work. The group has particularly enjoyed using the fantastic equipment at their disposal, not limited to: heavy bags, speed bags and, of course, the boxing ring. All of us here At Activ8 would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Steve at Isaan Gym.

During this half term, our students started a boys’ club, led by former New Bridge pupil, Jack B. The focus of the group is to allow young people to talk about how they feel and to relieve any stresses that teenage life can bring. ‘The teenage fan club’ is centred around tackling mental health in young men. This has been a huge success and we hope we can continue to give others somewhere to turn.

On their return in the New Year, Activ8 students will start the Sports Leaders Level 2 qualification. Our team is extremely passionate about sport and look forward to obtaining a qualification that will stand them in good stead in the future.

Team bonding is a key focus within Activ8. With this in mind, staff arranged and attended several rewards trips. First of all, we attended ‘Total Ninja’, students and staff alike had a fantastic time and left the arena smiling. More recently, the group attended team-karting. On this occasion, the competitive spirit was a little more apparent. Bragging rights were on the line during a series of races. Although enthusiastic, some of our drivers’ skills left a little to be desired. Every competitor left the track a winner though, as everybody had a truly fantastic time. Racing will commence later in the academic year, when the team return to Team-karting.

Activ8 recently represented Medtia at the Heads Up football tournament. Our team was made up of both staff and students. The group gave a good account of themselves, showing fantastic effort, resilience and, more importantly, sportsmanship. We made our way through some tricky encounters to win the tournament, coming from behind to win the final 3-1. The trophy came home with us and sits proudly in the Activ8 classroom.

This term has been both hectic and eventful and, of course, presented many different challenges. We look forward to picking up where we left off when we return in January. Finally, The Activ8 team would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Mrs Preston brings us news of Lumenus..

Wow, what a half term it has been! This half term has been jam-packed with lots of exciting things for Lumenus. Here are just some of the highlights..

• 06.11.19 – We had a workshop from Ben Cain from Oldham Coliseum, as part of our involvement in Secondary School Partnership. In July Lumenus KS4 and KS5 will be performing in a pop-up theatre in Oldham town centre along with other schools in the partnership. This year the theme is ‘Times are changing’. Ben delivered lots of warm up games, activities and we were presented with a script called ‘Instagran’. This is the stimulus we will use to create our piece for July. We began to devise our piece and worked on it following this workshop. Lumenus performed the work they have produced so far in the Christmas Show.
  
• 28.11.19 – We had a Physical Theatre Workshop by Ben from Oldham Coliseum. Lumenus have been studying Physical Theatre all term, creating a piece inspired by the work of Frantic Assembly. Ben gave the students suggestions about their piece and delivered a rehearsal and performance workshop to the students.
• 05.11.19 – Drama practitioners came from The Royal Exchange to deliver a performance skills-based workshop. Lumenus were interactive with the workshop and really enjoyed learning new skills. This is part of our involvement with the SEND festival at The Royal Exchange this year. The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Celebrating Differences.’ We will be performing in the theatre in March. At the beginning of January, Connor and Jacqueline will be taking part in work experience back stage.
  

With all the upcoming performances, 2020 is going to a super busy year for Lumenus. Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year, Lumenus

Our Bridging the Gap students have been working hard at the hospital..

As this term comes to an end we would just like to say Merry Christmas to you all from the team at Bridging the Gap – Royal Oldham Hospital. This term has been a brilliant start of the BtG experience for our students and we have had lots of fun getting to know each other and getting stuck into the qualification work and making some brilliant progress in learning work skills on job placements.

This week has been a busy week full of Christmasy-ness – with a trip to bowling and for lunch Amanda and Nathan both won a game, Christmas lunch at The Atrium and the Panto the time has flown by …. ohhhh no it hasn’t 🙂

Students’ comments from BtG:

• “This first term has gone really well, I have really enjoyed working in the post room and Portering” – Mr Nathan W.
• “This term has gone well and I have worked in EBME and also in the cafe” – Mr Dylan M.
• “I have loved my placement in the shop. I have worked as part of a good team and got along with the staff” – Miss Cherrie G. 
• “This term has gone well and I have liked getting to know the team in laundry as well as working with Julie on Portering” – Mr Patrick B.

We will finish off with two cheesy festive jokes by Nathan…..

Q. What do you call a reindeer with cotton wool in his ears?
A. Anything you want, he can’t hear you!!!!

Q. What happened when the snowman’s dog melted?
A. He had a slush puppy!!!!

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

Down at MMU, our job coach Genna has been busy too..

Hello all from Manchester Metropolitan University, the term is nearly over and what a term it has been!! Josh is moving to the Student Union to work in the gift shop!!

We have also attended the university MAD awards for staff at the university who have Made a Difference, which many staff have for our students by supporting them and Bridging the Gap, thank you to you all!!

And finally but definitely the most important ….we went bowling with the student ambassadors this week as a treat and look at the scores!!! I won!!!! (Not that it matters because it’s all about the taking part…..but I did win 🙂 )

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and to all my students for working hard and sometimes making me pull my hair out, but you have made me proud! Lots of hard work in the new year, targets to be boxed off but first of all its two weeks off and its Chriiiiiiiiistmas!!!! Happy Holidays All!!

 

Miss Begum has news of our Girls Group..

Since September Mrs Nelson, Miss Begum and Miss Jackson have been running the Girls Group at Medtia. This term the girls have been working hard on their personal qualities and recognising the qualities within themselves and others. They have been supporting each other with given tasks and looking at what a good friend is.

We have also been decorating and selling goods to raise money to buy presents for the Royal Oldham Hospital children’s ward. We raised a total of £210 to buy presents.

On Tuesday Mrs Nelson and Mrs Needham took the girls down to the hospital to deliver the presents in person. The girls gave the presents to the nurses and got to meet some of the children who the presents were going to. The children at the hospital were very grateful, had big smiles on their faces and were really excited to meet all the girls!

Thank you to all those who donated money and gifts! Please look out for all our upcoming projects in the new year. We wish you all have a lovely Christmas. From The Girls Group at Medtia.

We’re running out of room to fit in all our news, so our Digit4ll update is here where you can find out just how hard everyone has worked to get all the Christmas Show DVD orders completed on time.

Finally, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the very best for the New Year. I hope you all have a wonderful time.

See you in the new year,

Jaina
Head of Key Stage 5 Pathways

Click here for this week’s news from Graham

You can view our previous blog entries here

News from the Learning Centre and New Bridge School can be found here