St Brendan's News Bulletin 19.01.24 | St Brendan's Sixth Form College

19th January 2024

Dear Students and Parents/Carers,

On Monday 15^th January, the college experienced a power outage that affected our systems. After consultation with National Grid, we took the decision to close the college for the safety of our staff and students. Although communications were hampered by the lack of power, we were able to provide updates via our social media channels and college website. Contingency plans were put place in the event that the power outage continued, but by 3pm on Monday power was restored and our systems were operating as normal.

Whilst external exams continued, it did impact mock exams that were scheduled for Monday and these are in the process of being re-arranged. Students are advised to check their timetable. Mock exams are still scheduled to run until Wednesday 24^th January.

From Wednesday 24^thJanuary to Friday 26^thJanuary, Year 13 students will have digital learning days, which will be conducted remotely. We have organised these days to provide students with the valuable opportunity to focus on their studies in preparation for their upcoming exams.

Marian Curran

Principal

PROGRESS REVIEW

Save the Date! Progress Review Thursday 7^th March

As part of our commitment to parental/carer engagement, we are delighted to invite you to our virtual Progress Review event.

This will be held on Thursday 7^th March 3pm to 8pm and is open to parents/carers of ATL3 and Year 13 students at our College.

Please note that the College will be closed to ALL STUDENTS from 2.30pm on the 7^th March.

Click here for more information

YEAR 13 - TUTORIAL SESSIONS

This is the last term of tutorials for Year 13s and we’re covering some really useful topics, such as:

- Budgeting whilst on an apprenticeship wage (or whilst at uni)
- Cooking on a budget
- Borrowing (credit cards, mortgages and student loans)

It would be great if students can ensure they attend all of these sessions so that they don’t miss out on key information!

EMERGENCY REPAIR WORKS

Following an electrical outage over the Christmas holiday period, a previous repair on our incoming mains supply has failed and is currently operating via a temporary fix.

National Grid will be replacing the existing cabling with a new cable and this involves digging a channel the full length of the footpath from the new sports pavilion up to the crossing opposite the main College entrance. Work is underway and it is anticipated this may take up to two weeks to complete.

The works will be contained behind barriers but the width of the footpath will be compromised during this time. Please take care when walking up/down the footpath and allow additional time at peak hours due to congestion. You should still remain on the pavement at all times and not be walking on the drive.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your co-operation.

UCAS APPLICATIONS

If a student has applied to UCAS and not heard anything from universities or College, we would like to remind students to check the email they used on their UCAS application. This will not be their College email address.

If a student has started a UCAS application but has not submitted it, the College is sending out a text communication asking students to confirm if they are intending to complete their application. Students must reply to this message as the UCAS deadline is 31st January 2024.

Our careers team need enough time to quality check applications and send it in good time before the deadline. Any student wishing to submit an application after the deadline may do so and it will be treated as a late application. Please note, not all universities accept late applications.

SAFEGUARDING STUDENT VOICE - SIGN UP

As part of our review of student support, we are holding some student voice groups to get feedback about safeguarding.

The groups will involve discussing and sharing feedback on:

How effective your safeguarding induction in College was
How well you feel you know how to report concerns and who to report them to
What issues you are facing in your day to day experiences and what support you think College can offer
Ideas for improving safeguarding support in College and what is working well

We are running three groups in D2 on the 30th, 31st January and 1st February at 13:00.

Treats will be provided as a thank you for taking part and you will be signed out of your lesson if needed. Your feedback is very important to us!

As this is a forum about safeguarding, we will be discussing sensitive topics (harmful sexual behaviour, self-harm, unhealthy relationships) so please consider this and your own wellbeing before signing up.

Please sign up for your preferred group here by 19th January:

INFO FOR ATL3 PARENTS AND CARERS

Information for Access To Level 3 parents and carers about Level 3 applications

Here are some key dates and events for this term for Access To Level 3, and important actions for students.

If students have passed their English and/or Maths, these subjects will automatically be taken off their timetable. If a Grade 4 isn’t achieved, they will be entered to resit again in June.

Friday 9th February 16:00 is the deadline for Level 3 applications for St Brendan’s. Progress tutors will show students the form to use to apply for Level 3. Students will need to have 90% attendance, predictions of Merits in applied courses and predictions of Grade 4s in GCSEs in order to return. Students will also write a personal statement to support their application; students’ progress tutors will talk to them about how to write this and where to upload it. Students will need to attend tutorials this term so that they are aware of everything they need to do in preparation for next year.

Students and parents are also invited to attend a talk on the application process and our open evening on Tuesday 6th February. The talk will begin at 17:00 in D2/3 and will be followed by the opportunity to speak to subject specialists for Level 3 courses and the careers team about apprenticeships and other career options.

Please contact Helen Urbanowicz if you have any questions.

LIFEGUARDING & SURF COACH COURSES AT THE WAVE

Trainee Lifeguard & Trainee Surf Coach course vacancies have just gone live!

This is an in-house course that The Wave run, with a view to hiring all Lifeguards for their summer 2024 season and, if interested, giving those who can surf a chance to become a surf coach.

All training is paid for upfront by The Wave and equipment provided.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Reports for parents/carers detailing your young person's progress are now available on our parents' portal.

We believe that parental involvement is key to student success, and these reports are an excellent tool for staying informed and engaged with your young person’s educational journey.

If you have any queries please contact E Learning Support.

YOUTHTALKS APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

We are excited to open up the application form for this year's Youth Talks campaign. Click THIS LINK to sign up and find out more.

Our first year of Youth Talks was hugely successful and we cannot wait to build on this and hear from our students about their topics / areas of interest.

Deadline for sign up is Friday 26th January with a maximum of 10 spaces available.

You can also watch the videos of our three YouthTalk students at the recent BEP YouthTalks event below:

- Kaz Pomerance-Trifts

- Ryan Nzolameso

- Jeff Bird

We hope you enjoy and are as inspired by these talks as much as we are.

ATTENDANCE

Students have requested a reminder of the processes we have in place for following up on attendance.

We have created some FAQs so students and parents/carers know what communications are followed regarding attendance.

Please click here to read important information regarding attendance.

DEBATING SOCIETY

This week the house proposed that they would make the study of Maths and English compulsory to age 18.

The proposition asserted that this extended study would help people acquire basic skills, which is something desperately needed when 15% of adults have literacy skills equal to that of a 9 year old.

The opposition contended however, that this would divert people from their passions and rather advocated for an improvement in GCSEs over 2 additional mandatory years of Maths and English.

Both sides had exceptional delivery and convincing points, however it was the propositions knowledge and persuasive reasoning that swayed the decision their way. This is despite the members personal opinions that Maths and English should not be made compulsory post-16. — Charis Taylor, motions officer