TERM 3 VALUE:

Compassion

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

We hope all our students have had a positive and productive week at college.

This week, students took time to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, providing an opportunity to reflect on the importance of remembrance, the consequences of hatred and discrimination, and our shared responsibility to stand up for dignity, justice, and humanity. These moments of reflection are an important part of our wider commitment to education that shapes not just academic success, but values and character.

We have been incredibly impressed by the compassion, leadership, and initiative shown by our Student Union and Chaplaincy team, who have worked together to establish our very own college food bank. This thoughtful initiative reflects our ethos as a college community that looks out for one another and responds with care and dignity when support is needed. We are proud of our students for leading this work and of the staff who have supported them to make it happen.

We are also very aware that some students can arrive at college without having had time for breakfast. To support wellbeing and readiness to learn, we are now offering free toast, tea, and coffee at the very start of the day. This supportive provision, delivered in partnership by our Welfare Team, Chaplaincy, and Student Union, is a simple but important way of ensuring students feel welcomed, cared for, and ready to engage in learning.

Looking ahead to next week, we are excited to welcome students, families, and visitors to our upcoming Creative Arts Exhibition, where we will be celebrating the creativity, skill, and dedication of our talented Creative Arts students. It promises to be a wonderful showcase of their hard work and imagination.

Our final Open Evening for applications for September 2026 will take place on Tuesday 3rd February. A huge thank you in advance to our Student Ambassadors, who generously give their time to welcome prospective students and share what makes St Brendan’s such a special place to study.

For students currently studying on our Access to Level 3 programme, a reminder that applications for next steps should be well underway, with all applications in process by the end of half term. Please do speak to your tutors or Progress Coaches if you need support with this.

Finally, I wanted to confirm that 4 February is not an inset day, and so students are in college on that day.

Kind regards

Marian Curran

Principal

Students are reminded that all stairwells are not areas in which they can sit and/or socialise. This is due to the Health and Safety issues associated with doing so. Recently, and owing to a serious injury caused by misuse of a stairwell, we have had to close down some access routes in C & E block to be strictly emergency access only.

We ask all students to continue to respect this and also to be reassured we are looking to find additional spaces for socialising and coming together as well as encouraging students to make use of existing spaces such as the cafés and sports hall area (open for sports and wellbeing activities and time together at published times).

In order to enhance site security/safety at the college, we will be locking the secondary entrance/exit gates by the new sports pavilion in the times between college coach drop offs & pick-ups ( 09:45 -14:45)

This will allow our security personnel to concentrate on one single point of entry to site that is within line of sight from their position at the barrier.

However, this will mean that for staff/students entering/leaving site between 09:45 – 14:45 the main entrance gates at the end of the drive will be the only access/exit option.

As the weather gets colder and wetter, we’re all spending more time indoors. Let’s keep our college a clean, welcoming place for everyone. Here’s what we expect:

✅ Pens belong on paper, not on walls, desks, or chairs. 🖊️
✅ Toilet paper = toilet use only. Not stuffed back in the holders, not on walls, not anywhere else. 🚽
✅ Bins are for rubbish – keep floors and tables clear. 🗑️
✅ Treat furniture and equipment like you’d want it treated at home. 🛋️
✅ Respect each other’s space – no mess, no stress.

🤝Why? Because a clean, safe, and welcoming environment benefits everyone. It’s about pride in our college and respect for each other.

Bottom line: If you wouldn’t do it in your own home, don’t do it here. Let’s keep our spaces looking good and ready for everyone to enjoy. 💪

The College takes the safety of students and staff very seriously. Students should not invite friends who do not attend St Brendan’s onto the site and must wear their student lanyard and ID at all times on campus. (Students should obtain a temporary student lanyard from the main reception if they do not have their ID card with them.) Our campus personal patrol the site and can be approached if any student is concerned about their own safety or the safety of others.

St Brendan's is a cashless campus so please make sure you have a card and/or contactless payment on your phone.

If you need to purchase print credit you can do this on the College “Store” which you can access on our website or by using this link St Brendan's Sixth Form College Store

When prompted to login, click on the “Sign in with Microsoft” option, where you can use your College email and password. Your print credit account will automatically update after payment has been approved.

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.