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Carisbrooke College Weekly Updates – Friday 10 July 2026

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10 July 2026

Weekly Updates from Carisbrooke College

What a busy and exciting week we have had at Carisbrooke!

On Tuesday, we welcomed our Year 6 students for Transition Day, and it was fantastic to see them spending the day experiencing life at Carisbrooke. They had the opportunity to meet staff, explore the school, take part in lessons, and begin to feel part of our community. We hope they enjoyed their day and are looking forward to them joining us in September.

We also held our Transition Evening on Tuesday, and I would like to thank all the families who attended. It was wonderful to meet so many parents and carers, and we appreciate the time you took to come along and find out more about the next exciting chapter of your child’s journey with us.

This week has also been full of enriching experiences beyond the classroom. Our students have enjoyed a number of fantastic trips and activities, including the Goodwood Festival of Speed trip, the Year 10 Geography coastal field trip, and our students representing Carisbrooke at an inter-school dressage competition. These opportunities allow students to develop confidence, independence, and skills that complement their learning in school.

Looking ahead to next week, we have plenty more to look forward to. Our Year 7 and 8 students will take part in a sports event on Tuesday, and our Einstein students will be enjoying a trip to Blackgang Chine. We are also building excitement for our much-anticipated Awards Evening on Thursday. If you have received an invitation, please remember to confirm your attendance by completing the Google Form.

Letters have been sent home regarding our Activities Week, which begins on Monday 20 July. There are so many exciting activities planned, and we are looking forward to seeing students making the most of these opportunities.

As the weather is due to cool down slightly next week, it will still be hot, so students can wear their PE kits all week. 

As a reminder, the final day of term is Friday 24 July, and students will finish school at 12 noon. Buses will run as normal.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

Natalie Sheppard
Headteacher

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Feel Good Friday!

This week’s Feel Good Friday reminds us that we don’t have to weather life’s storms alone, encouraging us to build resilience and appreciate the people and resources that help keep us afloat.

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Water Safety This Summer

As the warm weather continues, we would like to remind families of the dangers of swimming in reservoirs, rivers, lakes and other unsupervised bodies of water. While these locations may appear safe, open water can present serious hidden risks, including cold water shock, strong currents, submerged obstacles, sudden drop-offs and harmful algae.

Please take a few moments to talk to your child about staying safe around water and encourage them to use supervised swimming facilities wherever possible.

For more information, please see the infographic above. Additional resources for parents and carers are also available to download here.

Together, we can help keep our children and young people safe this summer.

10 Jul 2026
Inter Schools Dressage
At the Inter Schools Dressage Competition on Thursday 9th July, the Carisbrooke riders delivered an excellent set of performances in the Prelim 2 test, showcasing not only their riding ability but also the time, effort and dedication that goes into preparing for competition. From bathing and groomin...
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Last Tuesday, we were delighted to welcome our incoming Year 7 students for their Transition Day.

The day began with students meeting their tutors and the classmates they will be sharing their tutor groups with in September, providing an excellent opportunity to make new friends and begin settling into life at the school.

Throughout the day, students enjoyed a range of engaging taster lessons, including Music, Art, Drama, Mandarin, Science and PE. One of the highlights was everyone successfully earning their Bunsen Burner Licence during their Science session, while the tug of war activities in PE encouraged teamwork, determination and plenty of smiles.

In the evening, we were also pleased to welcome parents and carers to our Year 7 Information Evening. We hope the event provided useful information and helped answer questions as families prepare for the exciting transition to secondary school.

We would like to thank all the students, families and staff who made the day such a success, and we look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 cohort back in September.

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Great British Summer Savings

Families can save money on days out this summer through the Government's Great British Summer Savings scheme.

From 25 June to 1 September 2026, VAT has been reduced from 20% to 5% on children's meals at participating restaurants, family tickets to cinemas, theatres, concerts, exhibitions and many attractions. Children aged 5 to 15 can also enjoy free bus travel throughout August in England.

To find participating attractions and offers in our local area, visit the Government's Summer Savings attraction finder at: summersavings.gov.uk

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On Wednesday 23rd July, students, parents, staff and governors enjoyed a fantastic showcase of work from the Art department and a programme of performances from our Drama Club and Music department. 

The canteen was transformed into a vibrant gallery for the evening, showcasing an inspiring exhibition of artwork created by students from across the year groups. The display celebrated not only the creativity and imagination of our young artists, but also the impressive progress they have made in developing their artistic knowledge, technical skills and creative confidence throughout the year. Visitors were able to admire a diverse collection of work demonstrating a wide range of media, techniques and processes, underpinned by thoughtful research, experimentation and refinement of beautiful artwork from students across the year groups, including some recent Year 11 coursework. 

Students from our Drama Club performed various scenes from plays 'Blood Brothers', ‘Brainstorm’, ‘The Three Musketeers’, ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Wendy and Peter Pan’. These performances reflected their growing confidence, strong stagecraft and increasingly accomplished acting skills. Their commitment to regular rehearsals, perseverance in learning lines and enthusiasm for developing characterisation, vocal delivery and physical performance were clear to see. 

Musical performances were given by various ensembles from across the year groups as well as performances from the ‘Song Cafe’ singing group, 'School of Rock' club and a number of soloists. Musical repertoire ranged from close harmony renditions of The Mamas and Papas’ ‘California Dreaming’ and Alex Warren’s ‘Ordinary’, to energetic band covers of songs by Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Arctic Monkeys, and quieter acoustic numbers from artists including Aurora, George Ezra and James Arthur. There was even a novelty performance of the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ theme by piano & drums duo Joseph and Rowan! The evening ended with a phenomenal full-length version of Prince’s iconic anthem ‘Purple Rain’, with powerful vocals from Year 11 leaver Annelise and a guitar solo that stunned the audience from fellow year 11 leaver Mason. We are incredibly proud of every student who performed, whose hard work, perseverance and passion for music were evident throughout the evening. 

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our school community for coming together for such a special evening and celebration of the incredible creative talent we have here at Carisbrooke!

The evening was free and unticketed, but if you would like to make a voluntary donation to our Creative Faculty to support the purchase of equipment for our department and help resource events and opportunities like this in the future, then donations can be made by Friday 17 July at the following link: Carisbrooke College Summer Showcase - donations to CC Creative Faculty  Thank-you 🙂

If you would like to get involved in any of these creative activities or future performance opportunities, then please speak to Mr. Lyle (Drama), Mrs. Peckham (Music) or Mrs. Westby (Art).

Comments from Arbor:

Well done, it was a brilliant night!!!

Thank you for providing the opportunity for so many talented students to shine. It was a wonderful evening with such a variety of performances, and the artwork was exceptional too.

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Dates for your diary

Year 7/8 Sports Day
11:30am – 3:15pm
14
July
Awards Evening
5:30pm – 8:00pm
16
July
Einstein Rewards Trip to Blackgang
9:30am – 3:00pm
17
July
Freshwater Loop Coastal Walk
8:30am – 5:00pm
20
July
Year 7 Trip to Splashdown
7:30am – 7:10pm
21
July
Year 8/10 Trip to Paultons Park
7:00am – 6:30pm
22
July
Music Festival in a Day
8:45am – 3:15pm
22
July
Y9 Beach and Bowling Day
9:30am – 3:30pm
22
July
Last Day - 12pm Finish
8:45am – 12:00pm
24
July
Development Day - Students not in school
All Day
27
July

Useful Links

Term Dates and College Day

Attendance

Arbor (Communications and Payments)

Latest News

School Clubs

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