The MHST are the Mental Health Support Team, an NHS organisation. They are partnered with the school and are running a series of parent/carer webinars over the April-June period on the following topics:
– Supporting your child’s big feelings
– Supporting Exam wellbeing
– Supporting change and (school) transitions
Parents/carers can sign up via the links below.
Supporting your child’s big feelings:
Supporting Exam Wellbeing:
10/04
01/05
Supporting your child with change and transitions:
29/05
Staff and pupils at Monkton Wood Academy in Taunton really got into the spirit of the magical World Book Day.
World Book Day provides a fantastic opportunity for students to focus on reading for pleasure, supporting children’s autonomy in book choice, and embedding a habit of reading that brings a wide range of benefits.
Students from the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) made a splash at their first swimming gala.
The event took place at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre in Weston-super-Mare, with five CLF academies showcasing their aquatic prowess.
To read the full story on the Somerset County Gazette website click here.
Monkton Wood Academy Under 15 boys rugby team took on Ralph Allen School in the quarter final of the Somerset Cup at Monkton Wood Academy.
Both teams started strongly in what proved to be a fiercely contested fixture, with the away team scoring three early tries.
However Monkton Wood came back strongly, scoring two tries through Drew and Sam, before Seth kicked the extra points to make the score 14-15 at the break.
Ralph Allen scored very early in the second half, but the Monkton boys didn’t let their heads drop and found a rich spell of form in a second half purple patch.
MWA went on to score 26 unanswered points to finish the game with a sizeable winning margin. The final score was 40-20 – and Monkton Wood march on to the semi finals.
Monkton Wood Academy’s Music Department is proud to announce that four students – Josiah, Chloe, Lucy and Verity – have been selected as members of Somerset Youth Concert Band.
The Concert Band, run by Somerset Music, has a long history of excellence in performance, and gives students the opportunity to work at a high level with other musicians from across the county. Selection for the band is via a very tough audition.
The department is also delighted to see Monkton Wood Academy percussionist Robert earn a place with Somerset Youth Orchestra.
All five musicians attended courses during the school Christmas break, culminating in Christmas concerts to large audiences from across the region.
Music teacher Sian Bowen said: “We are all very proud of you! This is an excellent achievement, well done and congratulations!”
Monkton Wood Academy has offered a massive thank you to staff at a Taunton nursing home after receiving a special Christmas delivery.
Every year, the team at Mountbatten Nursing Home donates various items to the Taunton school, including sports equipment, games, chocolate, hygiene products, vouchers and much more.
This year’s box of Christmas goodies will be split and shared among some of the school community’s less fortunate families to enjoy over the festive period.
Shelly Ford, the Principal’s PA, said: “We are very grateful for this wonderful donation and we would like to wish everybody at Mountbatten Nursing Home a very merry Christmas.”
A Taunton secondary school has embarked upon an important new chapter in its long history by becoming an academy, joining a successful schools trust – and unveiling a brand new name.
The former Heathfield Community School has today (Friday) achieved academy status and become Monkton Wood Academy – a name chosen after consultation between school leaders, staff and students, and designed to reflect its location and semi-rural environment.
Additionally, Monkton Wood has today formally joined the Cabot Learning Federation, a trust with a strong track record of delivering improvements to schools throughout the South West.
The impact of close collaboration with the CLF has already been seen in a recent Ofsted monitoring visit, which heralded an ‘ambitious vision and clear plan’ for school development which has already led to improved student attendance and behaviour.
Hannah Jones, Principal at Monkton Wood Academy, said:
“We are immensely proud of our school and the positive way it has impacted lives throughout this community over many years. It is now time to begin a new phase in the school’s journey, and we are hugely excited about our next chapter.
“Our new name has been chosen after consultation throughout our school community. We feel it continues to respect our history, and reflects our location and environment. I am pleased the change has been so warmly welcomed.
“Looking ahead, we are delighted to be working within the Cabot Learning Federation family of schools as we continue to build upon the improvements noted by Ofsted during their recent visit.”
Picture caption: Monkton Wood Academy Principal Hannah Jones unveils the school’s new name and logo with students (from left) Maisie Durman, Noah Day-Hitchen, Bethel Chitambira and Aretha Agere.
Heathfield Community School Year 10 boys’ rugby team have been having quite a year so far in Rugby County Cup, racking up some high scores in a so-far-unbeaten cup run.
The XV started the season in impressive style with a win at Taunton School in a pre-season tournament.
They then had a bye in the first round of the county cup before meeting Westfield Academy, Yeovil, on the road where they chalked up a convincing 72-17 win.
It was a victory which took them to the last 16, where they travelled away to Backwell, near Bristol, and came away with a resounding 47-19 win, after what had proven to be a hard-fought contest.
Mel Pattemore, Head of PE, said: “This is an impressive run in a cup that encompasses many great rugby schools in Somerset. Thank you to Mr Roberts and Mr Chalk for your coaching across the miles. We have a home fixture, at last, against Wellsway or Ralph Allen in the quarter finals – let’s get behind the team.”
The close relationship between Heathfield Community School and Bridgwater and Taunton College (BTC) is helping to address critical workforce challenges in Somerset’s NHS.
BTC was recently honoured with the award of a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize in recognition of its efforts to help train new generations of health workers to address shortages.
And with nearly half of Heathfield’s students progressing on to BTC after completing their GCSE education, that close relationship has been celebrated with a cake presentation. BTC’s Lisa Pearce visited Heathfield to present the team with three cakes as a mark of gratitude for the strong links between the two education providers.
Shelly Ford Head’s PA said: “We are delighted that so many of our students choose to join BTC for the next stage of their educationally journey.
“Each year nearly half (135) of our students choose BTC for their post 16 provision. Our students take advantage of the wide number of routes that BTC offers, from traditional A-levels to apprenticeships and T-levels.
“Next year we have students who are planning on studying a huge range of courses from A-levels in languages, law, sociology and history to courses in police dog handling, nursing, and aerospace engineering.
“We also have students planning on completing their apprenticeships through BTC to become nuclear engineers, electricians and carpenters, to name a few.
“It was a lovely surprise visit from Lisa – we enjoyed celebrating BTC’s achievements and the cakes went down very well with all the staff.”
A team of Year 11 students from Heathfield Community School Debating Society took part in a Model United Nations Conference at Queen’s College, Taunton, alongside teams from across the South West.
Guest speaker, Mayor of Taunton Nick O’Donnell, addressed participants about the purpose and importance of political and international awareness among young people from all walks of life.
Model United Nations is a re-enactment of the United Nations for students in which students organise, run and chair the event themselves. The various international committees taking part look at worldwide issues of the day and delegates debate these issues from the viewpoint of the countries which have been assigned to them. This of course may mean that students (delegates) have to adopt views they may not share themselves, helping them to develop a keen sense of empathy.
Heathfield’s Debating Society Co-ordinators Simon Bament and Anna Chamberlain said: “We were immensely proud of the way the students handled the experience of their first MUN Conference. They rose to the challenge and represented themselves and the school with distinction.”
