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National Careers Week 2020

National Careers Week took place last week with lots of new opportunities and activities to inspire students and open up their outlook for the future. Throughout the week students and staff have taken part in employer led talks, careers based class activities, off site visits, practical demonstrations and networking events.

Monday was the introductory day and kicked off with Andrew Harris from Northern Rail offering advice on the dangers of the railways and an insight into the roles and responsibilities and employment opportunities for young people in this growing work sector. Our KS4 students visited Aerozone at Manchester Airport to look at all the new building developments with Mr Barlow while a GMP Community Police Officer came in for a Q&A and to answer any questions on careers in the services for our KS3 pupils. Additionally Rosie Gill one of our careers advisors led a day of workshops with KS3 and KS4 pupils to look at their aspirations.

Tuesday welcomed visitors from Autotrader and a scientist from Astrazenica while KS5 pupils gave inspirational presentations to KS3 and KS4 about the work experiences they have accessed and the skills they have developed. Cory was particularly inspiring telling everyone about his work experience as a caretaker at Rushbrook Primary Academy. KS5 students travelled to HOME Theatre to experience a unique Hunt and Darton café event.  Performance artists Hunt and Darton have been hired this year to curate the award winning Barbican Box Project. This is the third year that Melland High School has been invited to join 7 other Manchester schools to make and perform an original piece of drama to be showcased in June at HOME. At the HOME café students were enticed to purchase and taste a range of fondant delicacies, try twisted drinks and sample art type happenings including: ‘poetry on the side’, ‘Not The Great British Bake Off’ and ‘you are the buffet’. Reactions changed from reality check and mute astonishment to full participation and shared laughter once the students were in on the joke. As part of the Barbican Box process Melland will be visited by an Artist Mentor to provide support and encouragement to create our own artistic dishes for you to sample.

On Wednesday KS3 and KS4 pupils accessed a collapsed timetable where all lessons were based around a variety of sectors including; construction, manufacturing, horticulture, creative media, graphics and hair/beauty. Students took part in a wide range of activities linked to these sectors learning new skills and gaining insights. KS5 students from LG2 visited community radio All FM where they accessed a presentation to tell us about the 100 active volunteers, the legacy of previous training projects, producing and presenting a range of shows. The students were then given a tour of the 2 studios and interviewed three members of the crew. They were lucky enough also to sit in on a live session up close and personal to see exactly how the shows are presented. All FM offered some great opportunities and will hopefully be working with Melland to set up a project with our young people and offering the skills to present and produce their very own radio show.

SLT shortlisted and held interviews for students to take part in a unique opportunity to work in school in a variety of roles. LG1 took part in discussions with James Gill from TFGM and found that they employ a number of our students, who had followed a pathway supported by James who manages 25 staff in a team of 500 revealed that employees with certain skills such as keen focus, an eye for detail and a passion for numbers are a valuable asset in logistical work and he would like to employ more of our students as they have proven to be hard working, reliable and popular with their colleagues.

Thursday was probably our busiest day for employer encounters as our Speed Networking event organised by our careers advisor Steve Leach took place with eight outside agencies available for quick fire questions. These included representatives from; Bruntwood, Digital Advantage, O2, Princes Foods, One Manchester, Manchester Community Central, Stroke Association, Lendlease and All FM. Students from all key stages took part and were joined by students from the Grange School.  The aim of the event was to broaden student horizons and to gain an insight into what employers are looking for. KS5 students were visited by staff from the Contact Theatre to discuss volunteering opportunities and to signpost students to their excellent weekly spoken word and drama workshops which are open for our students to access. In the afternoon LG1 and 2 enjoyed a demonstration of wood- turning with Andy Trevor and were given an opportunity to discuss career pathways into the construction industry for self-employed workers studying carpentry an dry wall construction techniques.

The Melland Pupil Media Crew had a short break from filming on Friday when they had a Q&A with both Skillset and Phil Wood, producer from Mersey TV.

Also Friday saw celebrations for all the hard work of the students from the whole week. Students received awards for developing and demonstrating employability skills, for communication, problem solving, team-work, confidence and employees of the week. Careers week was a huge success and a huge thank you again to the whole careers team and all staff and contributors for creating an amazing and inspiring experience for all our young people.

LG4 Environment Project

Over the past half term LG4 have been learning about the environment and how to keep it clean. Incorporating work related learning into this LG4 have become ‘outdoor environmental quality caretakers’.

As part of this they have had to survey the quality of the outdoor space and then plan a course of action to improve it. The most immediate action was to remove any litter from the environment, this has been something that have done consistently for the last 6 weeks come rain, shine, or frost!

The next step of this job will be to create an awareness campaign for our school in order to reduce the amount of litter being dropped outside. Hopefully, with all their efforts the outdoor spaces will be looking good for all our students to enjoy once the weather finally improves.

V Group’s Journey Around the World

This term, the V group are beginning their cultural encounters topic: The World Around Me.

As part of the newly developed Semi-Formal Curriculum; V group will be exploring various modes of transport and encountering different cultural celebrations and festivals.

We will navigate our cultural journey alongside the classic story: Around the World in 80 Days.

V group started our worldly adventure just in time for the Chinese New Year. We celebrated with a tea party and traditional Chinese treats. We also explored various Chinese artefacts and enjoyed traditional Chinese music.

We look forward to a new term of joy and prosperity as we navigate the world around me. 

Global Scholars – 3E

As part of the Global Scholars Program we are studying the topic of ‘Nature in our Cities’. We are looking at the different Flora and Fauna that can be found in our city. Some major world cities such as New York and London have huge public parks in the centre of them.

We in Manchester have a few small parks. Therefore, the students decided they would like to visit St John’s Gardens in central Manchester. They took photos and discussed the different types of flora found in the park.

They were intrigued to find out that it was previously occupied by St John’s Church and its graveyard whose tombstones have been covered over by 18 inches of soil except for that of John Owens, founder of Owen’s College, which later became Manchester University.

The garden was awarded a Green Flag in 2012 and is part of the St John Street conservation area.

G1 group’s social Interaction programme

As part of their social interaction programme two students from the G1 group visited the 6th form café this week. As you can see by the delighted look on their faces, they were both very excited to be there!  After looking at the menu on the tabletop, they both chose something appetising to investigate further before settling themselves at a table to await the arrival of more students. They are looking forward to visiting the café again next week and to further developing their social interaction skills.

Christmas Hampers for the Elderly

As part of PSHCE the students and staff collected food items so that they could make up Christmas Hampers for ‘Age UK’ based on Mount Rd , Gorton. We do this every year and a select group of students are chosen to go and deliver the hampers.

Mr Gleeson, Mr Morgan, Mr Beddows and Miss O’Brien took 13 students to the day centre. Whilst there, they sang lots of Christmas carols and got to meet the older ladies and gentlemen from the community who were absolutely over the moon by the generous donation and the performance of the students. The students thoroughly enjoyed the whole visit too and we look forward to doing the same again next year!

Merry Christmas from the PHSCE Choir!

KS4 Students create Care Boxes for the Homeless

The Key stage 4 group 4C at Melland High School have been working with the Leonard Cheshire organisation towards a City and Guilds certification in Building Communities.

The Leonard Cheshire coordinator Sandra has been coming into school and leading sessions covering a range of activities, which focus on getting active and healthy; developing confidence and learning new skills.

On Wednesday the 4th December, the group took part in a nationwide project “ Care and Share”. This involved groups of young people across the United Kingdom preparing and delivering care packages to homeless shelters across the country.   

The pupils and Leonard Cheshire teamed up with Manchester United player Marcus Rashford’s “In the Box” project helping the homeless in Manchester. Each pupil prepared a care box with essential items to help combat the winter conditions and wrote messages of good will to include in the parcels.

This project was so exciting that the ITV network sent their reporter Rachel from Granada Reports to cover the event. The 4C group were amazing throughout – following instructions, asking thoughtful and reflective questions and really connecting to the project. As well as developing a real understanding of the community and the importance of helping others, the pupils worked on their key skills of teamwork, communication and gaining confidence whilst having a great time. A fantastic morning and many thanks to all involved. Hope you all caught us on Granada Reports!

The Key stage 4 group 4C at Melland High School have been working with the Leonard Cheshire organisation towards a City and Guilds certification in Building Communities. The Leonard Cheshire coordinator Sandra has been coming into school and leading sessions covering a range of activities, which focus on getting active and healthy; developing confidence and learning new skills. On Wednesday the 4th December, the group took part in a nationwide project “ Care and Share”. This involved groups of young people across the United Kingdom preparing and delivering care packages to homeless shelters across the country.

Sixth Form Students meet the High Sheriff

Melland Sixth Form students and volunteers at Garden House Farm Marple meeting the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester.  Melland students who are volunteers, work on a range of projects from growing vegetables, planting wild flower gardens to feeding and keeping good care of a range of animals.

Mark Isaac Adlestone OBE DL is the current High Sheriff, who represents the queen, a role that has existed since King Henry 2nd.

The High Sheriff was visiting Garden House Farm to support Kevin Swindles and all the fantastic work he and his volunteers do in the community.

Melland Goes Global

As part of Citizenship lessons this year Melland students will take part in a programme run by The Global Scholars network. Throughout the Global Scholars programme, students will be able to communicate directly in e-classrooms with other students across the globe. Multimedia projects invite Global Scholars to explore connections between each year’s global topic and their own cities. Students advance in digital literacy, language communication, and other key learning outcomes  while showing us the world through their eyes.

The Melland students will be investigating “Nature in Our Cities” They will learn about different topics and share their results with their peers across the globe. This will also give them the opportunity to see how nature flourishes in our city and in other cities throughout the world. At the start of the programme they will make a video introducing themselves, their school and where they live. The project will culminate in them carrying out a ‘Community Project’ of their choice relating to nature in our city.

The Global Scholars programme covers 25 countries and 51 cities, including 13 cities in the U.S. and 38 vibrant international cities.

Students Join the Protest for Climate Change

Friday 20th September a group of our sixth formers took to the streets in protest, joining millions of students all over the world to be part of ‘climate strike day’ in what will go down as a historic day of action in support of the climate change agenda.

Armed with homemade placards, loud voices and determination, our students marched through Manchester to join thousands of others gathered in St Peters Square to make their voices heard.

The Sixth Formers represented Melland fantastically throughout the morning and took the crowds and noise in their stride as well as making some noise themselves. Not only did they impress us but they also made their mark on the protest by attracting attention from the local media and giving an interview to the BBC. Special mention to Marshall Collins who spoke to the camera with such enthusiasm and confidence about the issues that young people face. Watch this space for the interview piece!

 

Proud to part of the Bright Futures Education Trust
Melland High School
Gorton Education Village
50 Wembley Road, Gorton, Manchester, M18 7DT
Ofsted CEOP