This week we held our Parents’ Evening at Medtia Square and it was lovely to catch up with some of you on Wednesday evening. If you didn’t make it but would like an update on your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to get in touch to arrange an appointment with your child’s teachers.

Well, this week my blog has a curriculum focus with updates from our Key Stage 5 pathways here at Medtia and from Mr Holland, our English and Maths teacher. So firstly to Mr Bright for the latest from Digit4ll..

This week in DIGIT4LL the students have been filming for another job they’ve received. The project is to create a promotional video for a new initiative called the Oldham Pledge. As part of the video they are going around several schools and colleges to see some of the exciting things pupils and students are doing to meet each pledge. Today the students were at Broadfield Primary School to capture footage of their sports leaders, and also interviewed some of the pupils to find out what they think about the Oldham Pledge. Mitchell, Lewis and Luke were the students filming this week and they are now so experienced at setting up and capturing the shots needed, I hardly need to be there!

After a hard morning of work the boys were treated to a coffee break. Lewis and Luke happily posed whereas Mitchell couldn’t believe his eyes…no flake in his drink!!!

The DIGIT4LL students are at Hathershaw College and the Millennium Centre next week. Look out for the promotional video in a few weeks’ time.

The video production is one of two enterprises the students run. It is making them lots of money, with a profit of £3,000 so far this year! The other enterprise they run is printing. The students print mugs, canvases and mobile phone cases. Here’s Luke packaging one of the mugs ordered this week..

Take a look at the flyer below and get in touch if you need anything printing..

As well as running the enterprise, the students have been working hard on their qualifications. The students are undertaking a Level 1 or Level 2 Certificate in iMedia. The qualification involves several units including: Digital Animation, Digital Graphics, Video Production and Website Design. Take a look at the students as they review and improve their qualification work. See how excited they are!!!

On a serious note, the students are working extremely hard making sure all the criteria are met so they gain the qualification. Take a look at the their first drafts of some of their work. The digital animation unit requires the students to create a keyframe animation to promote the enterprise New Bridge Productions. The digital graphics unit involves designing a high quality poster for the BFI Film Festival. These are just their first drafts but they are looking great already. Well done guys!

Cam –

Eliot –

Hasnain –

Jordan –

 Josh –

Lewis –

Luke –

Matty –

Mitchell –

Reece –

Now to Mrs Chappell with an update from Lumenus..

After the exciting and exhilarating experience of ‘The Jungle Book’ production where the students’ talents shone, Lumenus have been busily getting ready for their next challenge. In April I announced that Lumenus had been selected to represent Oldham in the Royal Exchange’s inaugural SEND Performance Festival. The students have begun exploring the theme of acceptance and understanding, both in discussions and practical experiences. On Thursday 10th May Amy and Emily came from the Royal Exchange to deliver a workshop using the word ‘Roots’ as a stimulus for movement and drama. The students worked together to make a duet and began exploring freeze frames to tell a story..

The work will be shared with other schools involved in the Festival on the 16th July on the actual Royal Exchange stage, more info to follow!

In addition, Oldham Coliseum came in on the 3rd May to perform a forum theatre piece that had been devised from a collaboration with the Police. All the pathway students watched short scenes exploring issues around Grooming, mate crime, anti-social behaviour and cyber bullying with a Q&A opportunity after. The issues brought up approached some of the students’ real life experiences and were dealt with in an informative and stimulating manner. All the young people listened and contributed thoughtful answers, challenging the actors with complex questions at times..

Lumenus will be attending a thought provoking and challenging piece of immersive theatre by disability led company Access All Areas on 23rd May. The students will be exploring the history of disability through a workshop and the performance. This will hopefully give the students a lot of material to inspire their RET devised project.

And now let’s see how Activ8 are getting on..

Activ8 have had a busy few months, making the most of the more pleasant weather recently. They have been on practice Duke of Ed expeditions..

..and some of them have even been to the Palace to collect their Gold Awards…..but more of that soon!! We have got back out onto the rugby pitch and rugby in the sports hall. The group have been recapping on their tackling and passing technique recently, moving on to how to offload the ball in the tackle..

..as well as working on some more tactical play with Mr Molloy down at Spring Brook. The boys have really benefited from Mr Molloy’s professional input as a former RL pro, his influence has been clear to see on the sessions..

The lads have continued to work in the gym at Oldham leisure centre twice a week. The passes we have allow them to work independently in their own time as well as the more guided session we do in timetabled sessions. The cardiovascular endurance and strength is really starting to show..

And finally an update from Mr Holland..

In the Pathways English and Maths lessons over the past few weeks, we have been focusing on achieving academic qualifications.

Three of our students will be commencing their GCSE Maths exams this Thursday. Our other higher group students are continuing their progress towards sitting their Functional Skills (Level 1) qualifications in July. All of the students have been working hard and taking the qualifications very seriously. Classes have become faster paced, as more of the students have gained confidence and been able to solve or discuss their issues with solving a problem.

The English lessons are also focused around gaining Level 1 Functional Skills, again this July. We have been investigating the features of various types of text and working on accurately answering comprehension questions. We have done some work on creative writing, in particular looking at how to mix various types of sentences in a piece of writing. All the students have applied themselves really well and are making good progress – well done!

Next week I will be in sunny Salou with our Future Finders students, keep an eye out on our facebook and twitter feeds throughout the week for updates!

Have a wonderful weekend in the sun – fantastic weather for a special wedding, don’t you think?

Daniel
Director of Employment & Co Head of Site at Medtia Square

You can view our previous blog entries here

Click here for this week’s news from Graham