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Confidence in the Kitchen

A shining star! This term we have been delivering an exciting developing independence module with LG3. We have been focusing on developing cooking skills and kitchen competence by using a range of ingredients and cooking resources to make our own meals! One student in particular has really stood out as having the skills, drive and determination to become a really good cook! Shakil has shown a real enthusiasm and a good understanding of how to prepare food, he is working at a high level and developing his independence weekly, a real example to everyone. Well done Shakil and all of LG3!

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.

Bronze DofE Award for V Group Students!

We recently had a visit from Vicki Hamilton the North West branch Operations Officer of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. She came in to verify the work that pupils from the V Group have done for their Bronze award.

we are glad to announce that all of the pupils involved have achieved their Bronze award. Congratulations to them all.

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.

Student Attendance Update

The 1st 2020 Attendance update.

KS3 & 4 attendance has increased to 91.1% and Sixth form has also increased to 88.2%.

These are over a 1% increase, which is huge when it comes to attendance figures.

We are now well above the national average (90.6%) for special schools

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. 

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.

Melland FIFA 20 Tournament

FIFA 20 Tournament

Over the past 3 months students at Melland High School have been competing in a FIFA 20 tournament on the PS4. The format was similar to the world cup with player being drawn into groups and needing to come 1st or 2nd in their respective group to advance.

Then it was down to the knockout stages, last 16, quarter final, semi-final and then final. Over the course of the competition 65 matches were played and over 230 goals scored.

It wasn’t always clear who would get through to the final but in the end it came down to two sixth form students, Azman and Baazi. The friends had a very competitive match and the final result was 3-1 to Azman.

A huge thank you to all the staff that went out of their way to support the tournament, especially Mr Morgan and Mr Saddoo for letting us use the multimedia studio and the lunchtime organisers for being so flexible.

6th form students explore the world of work

Pure innovations in conjunction with The Careers and Enterprise company have supported organising a number of work related learning trips for different groups of 6thform students.

Transport for Greater Manchester welcomed 8 of our students to its head office. Here they provided a tour of the printing room, warehouse and offices, described a typical working day and set up a number of activities including using specialist computers and printers to label bus stops.

The staff were welcoming and engaging and the students thoroughly enjoyed the day. We even bumped into an ex pupil who is now working in the office for TFGM!

A group of students will be going to the Rowlinsons Knitwear Factory at the end of November and Australasia in January.

Many thanks to Pure Innovations for organising these discovery days.

Interviews For New Student Leaders

Michelle Bennett from Cedar Mount joined Dean Beddows, Julie Barnett and the Melland Student Leaders in interviewing 11 prospective candidates to become our new student leaders.

The candidates were selected from over 20 applicants who filled in an expression of interest application and they all interviewed with confidence.

Thanks to all the Melland tutors who prepared them so well for their interviews, they certainly did you proud. After much discussion and debate amongst the Student Leaders, three candidates were selected and will join the team for their next meeting. They are Saracen, Lily and Kias.

As a result of this collaboration between Melland and Cedar Mount Student Leaders we are making plans for new and exciting future joint projects. Also a big thanks to Ann Dimelow Head of Catering at GEV for updating the Student Leader team on the new recycling plans to be implemented.

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