To all College Students and Apprentices

To all College Students and Apprentices

Welcome back to the start of the summer term! It’s been a very unusual year, and I know the current circumstances will be difficult for many of you. I sincerely hope that you and those close to you are well and staying safe, and that you enjoyed the Easter holidays.

Firstly, I want you all to know that for everyone at the College, the most important thing for us is that you remain safe. That’s why it’s critically important that we follow the instructions from government and stay home.  Remember, we should only leave home for one of these reasons: essential shopping for food or medicine, to help with the needs of a vulnerable person or those self-isolating or for a daily session of outside exercise. When doing any of those things, it’s very important to remain at least two metres away from others who are not from your household. I’m sure though you’ll all be finding new ways of using your time, as well as using technology to keep in touch with your networks more frequently, and in new ways.

Secondly, all of us at the College want you to know that we are doing, and will continue to do everything we possibly can to make sure you achieve on your qualifications this year. I’d like to congratulate all of you to adapting so quickly to learning and training online. After all though, a college is not the buildings and the classrooms – a college is the collection of people learning.  It’s really important that you keep engaging with your teacher, trainer or tutor every week at the specified times, and work on all of the assignments they set you. Remember, at the beginning of the year I spoke to as many of you as possible, guaranteeing that everyone who attends, and does what their tutor asks will succeed – we know that because 94% of those who finish with us every year move up to the next step of their journey. And that remains true now, even when we are all working from home. There have been some important recent announcements from the government about exams and assessment, which will affect all of you:

For the majority of BTEC, Vocational Qualifications and Access to HE, it is now very likely that your tutor will be submitting calculated final grades for you, based on the previous work you have done and the work you do from now onwards. For GCSE English, Maths and Functional Skills this has already been confirmed.

For Apprenticeships, the government has asked that colleges do everything they can to allow you to continue training, and working with your employer and your End Point Assessment Organisation we are reviewing all of your situations so that we can aim for you to complete your apprenticeship on time, wherever this is possible.

So as we begin our final term, it’s vital that you engage with the work your teacher is setting you and that you communicate through the particular portal your group uses. This is how you can now progress and complete the qualification you came to the College for.

Remember, your Tutor and Progress Coach are there to help you, so if there is any aspect of work you need support with, if you have questions or queries or any problems using technology, contact them immediately. If you are an apprentice and your work situation has changed or you have questions about your progress or assessment, contact your training adviser immediately. In addition, our full range of support from the Student Zone, Student Services and Careers Service is available as ever, online.

Finally, we really can’t wait to open our doors again, once the current measures are over! At this moment, we can’t know exactly when that will be. However, we are ready to begin as soon as we are able to. So in the meantime, keep yourselves, your families and loved ones safe, and better times will be here soon, I am sure.

All the best, and I wish you every success with the remainder of your course this term.

Grant Glendinning

Principal