Friday 31 March 2023
The S6C spring term has ended with a flourish with our Healthy Relationships and Sexual Health Development Day. Thank you to everyone for approaching the day with maturity and helping to explore this important area of personal development and safety.
Last week we were visited by two representatives from Challenge Partners and after an intense couple of days I am thrilled to share some highlights from the resulting report:
- The college’s values foster a welcoming, inclusive and purposeful culture;
- the student union offers opportunity for leadership and these students are empowered to bring about change in the college – and they do;
- High quality pastoral provision is diverse and assiduous in addressing students’ needs;
- Students speak very positively about the induction process;
- Google classroom is integral to college life and facilitates high levels of student engagement with their learning;
- The life skills curriculum is well-planned, sequenced and adapted in the light of student feedback, local need and/or recent events and influences;
- High quality careers education and guidance, with extensive opportunities to explore and experience careers, is led by a well-qualified careers advisor who has ensured that all of the Gatsby benchmarks have been met and all pathways are valued.
“One student spoke of how her work placement in the hospital has led to a future apprenticeship in health.”
- Warm relationships abound at all levels;
- Students…have a pride in their work and a readiness to learn;
- Students are confident in speaking about their learning and they recall knowledge well.
“Students expressed appreciation of the Head of College’s support, the changes he has made and his humour.”
Such a positive outcome and one which I am sure you will all be delighted in sharing with me. As always, there are ways in which we can improve and next term we will be implementing the suggestions made in order to ensure a robust pedagogy and exceptional learning environment.
Over Easter, S6C will open during the second week of the holidays for some additional revision sessions in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Geography, Environmental Science, History and Religious Studies. Please encourage your child to attend wherever possible. These sessions may make a huge difference to exam results and will help everyone to get the grades they need to achieve their goals.
I hope you all have a restful Easter break and I look forward to seeing everyone back at college on Monday 17 April for the start of the summer term.
Regards
Ben
JOIN US AT S6C
This is an exciting time to be a part of Further Education and at S6C we are committed to providing the highest quality teaching to our dedicated and focused students. Our ethos is to provide a welcoming and friendly atmosphere in which to learn and for everyone to achieve their full potential. We are currently looking for highly motivated full and part time teachers in the following subjects:
Physics – Law – Geography – Business Studies – Esports – History – Environmental Science
If you are not a qualified teacher but are looking to train we would be interested to hear from you as well. You would ideally have industry knowledge or a relevant degree. Our starting salary for an unqualified teacher is over £26,000.
If you would like to find out more please call 01722 597970 or email me directly at bhillier@s6c.mlp.college for an informal conversation.
Sport Trip to FTY Lab, Poole
Emma Thomapson – Teacher of Sport
On Monday some sports students spent the morning at the Football Gym. This is a hi tech football inspired gym where they took part in different tasks and fitness tests to analyse their performances. Students competed against each other in a 20 metre sprint, reaction tests, shooting drills, passing accuracy and hill sprints. The students all worked really hard throughout their session and had a great time.
Fine Art and Photography
Sophie Bellars – Teacher of Fine Art and Photography
Year 13 Fine Art and Photography students have started their externally set assignment. They now have 13 weeks (including holidays) to complete a wide range of experiments and development of ideas that will lead towards their 15 hour exam. The dates are:
PHOTOGRAPHY
19 April, 20 April, 24 April
FINE ART
25 April, 26 April, 27 April
Life Skills
Rebecca Anderson – Pastoral Lead
In Life Skills, Year 12 are continuing with their pathway on Community and Values and Year 13 are still Looking Ahead to a more independent life. With these focus areas in mind, everyone has had a chance to think about the political spectrum, the values that define modern Britain and make it a safe place for all, about the nature and danger of radicalisation, and about LGBTQ+ history (which we celebrate in February, and throughout the rest of the year). Year 13 have also had a talk and discussion on online influence, and have been encouraged to choose their role models and online inspirations as. carefully as they would choose their friends. Year 12 have had additional support from their tutors in choosing a work experience placement which will really benefit them. Students have had a chance to feedback their thoughts and take home points on all these issues, and we are in dialogue with them as they shape their ideas. We encourage them to base their ideas on sound evidence alongside open mindedness, and to share them with sensitivity. We take opportunities to address any misconceptions, misunderstandings, or potentially unhelpful ideologies, in the course of our main sessions or with individuals. It is a real privilege to be working with a group of young people who are reflective and keen to learn, willing to stand up for what is right, and always looking out for each other’s welfare. Please do get in touch if you would like to talk with us about any of these issues or would like to know in more details what has been covered.
1:1s
Rebecca Anderson – Pastoral Lead
Every term, every student should be seen by their tutor for a 20 minute Performance Review appointment for a chat about their attendance, progress, development of skills and experiences, online safety, personal development, citizenship, and wellbeing. Young people should remind their tutors if they are yet to be seen and must make themselves available at a time that works for their tutor. This is an amazing opportunity for us to get to know our young people and for them to feel seen and heard and supported. We can put a huge amount in place to help academically, personally, financially – and for emotional, physical and mental health – but only if we know. Please keep in touch with us – we really value direct communication with parents and carers and students.
If your financial circumstances have changed since joining S6C and you feel you may be eligible for a bursary, please complete the form in the attached link.
