St Brendan's News Bulletin 27.09.24 | St Brendan's Sixth Form College

27th September 2024

TERM 1 VALUES:

Justice & Service

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

I hope you’ve all had a great week. We’d like to thank you for your continued excellent behaviour around the College and for making sure your lanyards are always visible. It's been good to see so many students actively participating in their enrichment activities. If you or your parents/carers have any academic or pastoral concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Progress Tutor, who will be your first point of contact. Please note that our course change process has now closed.

Just a quick reminder: the purpose of this weekly bulletin is to keep all students and parents/carers updated with key information, important dates, and any essential College news.

Have a lovely weekend when it arrives.

Marian Curran

Principal

KEY DATES:

Friday 27^th September – Internal UCAS deadline for Early Applicants
Friday 27^thSeptember – Course Change closes
Monday 30^th September – Music Conservatoire Deadlines
Wednesday 2^nd October – Year 13 parents information evening (Attendance and Careers Guidance/advice). Click here to book tickets
Saturday 5th October - Open Day for current Year 11 students. Our applications will also open on this day. Please spread the word to your friends.

Information Evening for Parents/Carers of Year 13 students

When: Wednesday 2nd October from 17:00

Where: St Brendan's Sixth Form College

Please click the button below to book ticket(s) for this event. The booking system will open at 17:00 today (27/09/24). Do not worry if you are unable to attend, we will share all of the information and recordings shortly after the event.

Please note this event is for parents and carers only (students do not need to attend).

BOOK HERE

Year 12 & Access To Level 3 New Parent/Carer Information Evening Presentations:

Please access the presentations by using the links below:

Safeguarding & Support Resources for Parents & Carers

Being a parent or carer of a teenager can present many challenges and a lot can happen over the course of a student’s journey with us. Students may experience issues around their wellbeing, mental health, relationships and identity to name just a few examples. Navigating this as a parent or carer can feel overwhelming, especially if you are not sure where to look for help. To help, we have put together resources on a range of topics to help you navigate supporting your child with tips and advice on everything from how to talk to your child about their mental health, to checking their privacy settings on social media. You can access the resources here. Please keep checking back as we will be adding to them throughout the year.

Home Learning

Student independent study is a crucial element required for success in all of our courses. Each week all students should be spending up to 4.5 hours per subject completing independent learning set by their teacher. This can include, pre lesson reading, completing class notes and organising their files, completing assessed work at home. Please support the College through checking that this is being done and if you have any questions about what needs to be done please get in contact with the class teacher. It is very important that effective study habits are established early and are re-established in their final year of study.

Enrichment Programme

Our recent Freshers Fair launched our enrichment programme. We offer teacher led and student led clubs and societies so if students have ideas of what they would like to see on offer, please speak to our Enrichment Co-ordinator, Beth Wilson.

The purpose of enrichment is to support your personal development and to help you develop employability skills that will support your transition to university, apprenticeships or employment and includes opportunities such as work experience and volunteering.

More information on these can be accessed via our Careers Team.

Social & Study Spaces

Students are not to socialise on stairwells in C, D or E Blocks. It is not a space for socialising or studying and is a health and safety issue as chairs are being removed from classrooms and placed onto the landings or in front of fire exits. There are ample spaces for students to go including; Café Max, Café Min, LRC, study spaces on D Block bridge and A Block and this is where students will be asked to move to if they are found to be in the areas which our off limits.

Wellbeing Support

We offer a variety of ways to support student wellbeing at the College:

Each student has a Progress Tutor, who not only oversees academic progress but also offers pastoral care. Many of our tutors are mental health first-aid trained and are highly knowledgeable about the range of support available to students.
Our tutorial sessions cover important aspects of wellbeing, focusing on strategies for building resilience and maintaining emotional health.
For those who need additional help, our dedicated Mental Health and Wellbeing team offers one-to-one support. They are always on hand to listen and provide guidance.
Our Safeguarding team is available for any student with concerns about their safety or wellbeing.

16-19 Student Bursary

A reminder to all students about the 16-19 Student Bursary. More information can be found on our website here.

Printing

As a College we are striving each year to reduce our Carbon Footprint and printing is one of the many strategies we are employing across the College to do this.

You will notice teachers using a variety of digital approaches to enhance your learning, whilst respecting the environment.

SB Bus Routes

We now have 7 direct bus routes to our College! (SB1, SB2, SB3, SB4, SB5, SB6 & SB7)

The full timetables for all SB routes can be found on our website (please use the button below).

Click here for bus routes & timetables

The following routes operate once a day to/from College, arriving at 8:27 and departing at 16:10:

SB3
SB4
SB5
SB6

The following routes operate twice a day to/from College, arriving at 8:27 & 9:44, and departing at 14:55 & 16:10. When you don't have a lesson in the first and/or last period, we would strongly recommend using the 2^nd services (9:44 arrival and/or 14:55 departure):

SB1
SB2
SB7

Parent & Carer Handbook 2024

Our Parent & Carer handbook contains important information about your young person's time at College.

In the handbook you will find key dates and contacts, information about the College, and details for logging in to Pro-Portal so that you can monitor progress and attendance from home.

Parent & Carer Handbook 2024

CLUBS & SOCIETIES

To see the timetable for all clubs and societies click here.

If you'd like to take part you can either turn up on the day, or email bwi@stbrn.ac.uk to be added to the Teams page.

Governor Vacancies

We are always looking for external governors to serve a four year term. If you would like to be a foundation governor and are practising Catholic, please contact PrincipalsPA@stbrn.ac.uk for more information.

We also see parent governors which would be for a two year term, again if you are interested in this key role representing the voice of parents, please contact the above email also.

Turning Right during the end of the day

A reminder to all students, parents and carers to please turn right only, when exiting the College between 15:50 – 16:20 at the end of the College day.

Please see the letter attached here for directions back to the A4, if needed.

Work Experience & Vacation Schemes Workshop with Sarah (Teacher of Law)

Join one of our Law Teachers, Sarah, to learn how to get work experience and vacations schemes in Law.

This will be a LIVE session hosted on her TikTok channel on Friday 27th September from 20:30 - 21:30.

simplylaw.by.sarah

CAREERS

Careers News

Head over to the Careers News page for lots of useful resources and opportunities.

Read the latest edition here!

Access to Bristol

What is Access to Bristol?

The Access to Bristol scheme is for local students taking A-levels, BTECs, Access to HE courses or equivalents.

A unique way to experience what studying at the University of Bristol as a local student might be like
A chance to discover more about a subject you are interested in from current university students and academic staff
A fantastic enrichment opportunity that will offer tailored information, advice and guidance to help students make an informed decision about higher education

Successful completers of the scheme will be guaranteed a contextual offer/interview from Bristol, a top ten UK university (QS World University Rankings 2025).

Click here for more information and to apply: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/outreach/post-16/access/

Applications close on Sunday 6th October.

Next Step Bristol

This programme is a collaboration between current students, societies and the Widening Participation team.

You will receive advice, information and support during your final year of school or college and we will support your transition to becoming a University of Bristol student via a series of virtual events.

Examples of events include a programme launch, with a student panel for your questions; transparent conversations about the lived experience of Asian and Black students at Bristol; academic taster sessions and student-led society events. You will also receive support with your UCAS and student finance applications and, where applicable, support with interviews (for Medicine and Dentistry applicants) and information about the support you can receive when you are a student at the University of Bristol.

Click here for more information and to apply: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/outreach/post-16/nextstep/

Applications close on Tuesday 1st October

HE+ Programme - University of Cambridge

HE+ is a programme that is designed to support highly able students throughout Year 12 to become competitive applicants to highly selective universities. Highly able students are not only those who have high attainment but also those who have the potential or capacity for high attainment.

HE + Programme:

Module 1: Preparing for university – Attend information, advice and guidance sessions which aim to help you prepare for university decision and applications, as well as university life and teaching methods.
Module 2: Learning beyond the curriculum – Take part in mock seminar sessions and lectures led by student at the University of Cambridge.
Module 3: HE+ Project – Participate in the HE+ Project and develop an independent academic research project for entry into our competition.
In-person opportunities: Potential to attend hub events or visit Cambridge

Click here to apply: Apply to the HE+ Programme (qualtrics.com)

RUH Careers Evening (17th October)

We are excited to let you know that the RUH is hosting their next Careers Evening on Thursday 17^th October 2024.

Key details:

Date: Thursday 17^th October 2024

Time slot 1: 17:00-18:00

Time slot 2: 18:30-19:30

Venue: Education Centre (E7), Combe Park, Bath, BA1 3NG

You can register here - only one ticket is required per person and this will automatically include 1 parent/guardian.

The event is for students from Year 7-13 and provides them with the opportunity to speak to NHS colleagues, find out about careers in health care and take part in interactive activities. Just some of the departments attending will be Maternity, Vascular Studies, Radiology, Apprenticeships and Research & Development.

Burges Salmon Legal Apprenticeship now open for applications

The Burges Salmon Legal apprenticeship provides the opportunity to qualify as a solicitor by completing the Level 3 Paralegal and Level 7 Solicitor apprenticeships over a period of six years, whilst earning a competitive salary.

This is an amazing opportunity for students in Year 13 who are interested in pursuing a legal career and would prefer an alternative to the university route.

Applicants must apply here by midnight on Friday 15th November 2024 to be considered for this apprenticeship: Burges Salmon Careers | Legal Apprenticeship 2025 (burges-salmon.com).

They are holding an open evening for the Legal Apprenticeship at the Bristol office on 2nd October 2024 from 18:00 – applicants can register here: Burges Salmon Careers | Legal Apprenticeship Open Evening - Bristol 2024 (burges-salmon.com).

They are also holding a virtual open evening on 8th October 2024 from 18:00 – applicants can register here: Burges Salmon Careers | Legal Apprenticeship Open Evening - Virtual 2024 (burges-salmon.com).

Calling All Potential Sponsors!

St Brendan's is seeking sponsors to support our sports and health enrichment activities! We have several exciting opportunities where your contribution can make a real difference to our students and College:

🏅Team Kit Sponsorship
⚽ Training and Equipment
🧘‍♀️ Yoga Classes
🚴‍♂️ Fitness Equipment
📚 Health Workshops
🎖️ Awards and Trophies
🌳 Outdoor Activities
🛠️ Facility Upgrades
💡 Innovative Programs

We are open to any ideas — no offer is too big or small! In return, we will offer media coverage across all our social platforms and much more. Partner with us to foster a healthier, more active community!

Interested? Get in touch here!