Dear Parent, Carer & Guardian 

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and hoping that the festive season treated you and your families well. With the New Year also begins a new term and a new focus for the young person in your care.

Foundation Year Progression Day

At this point in the year, Foundation Year students will focus on Progression and making plans for September 2025. All Foundation Year students will attend a Progression Day on Friday 17 January starting at 10.10am in the Gym at Varndean College to understand the re-application process at Varndean College and understand their options. 

During this event, students will hear from our Careers experts about progression options, access guidance on Advanced Level 3 courses at Varndean College and learn about the progression criteria. They will also complete the bespoke application form with expert support and guidance to ensure that their choices enable them to progress to their desired future destination. This is a compulsory event and will offer students a valuable opportunity to further consider their future options and to access guidance. In my previous letter I relayed the Progression Criteria that students need to meet in order to progress on to Level 3 studies in September 2025, this is also available in our Admissions Policy available through the main College website. 

Foundation Year Pastoral Curriculum

Following this event  students will also be given time in Tutorial sessions to further explore progression and access support from their Personal Tutor. With this in mind a focus on progression is the feature of our pastoral curriculum this first Half Term. In the second Half Term students will have Tutorial sessions focused on themes such as voting, active bystandership and study skills. 

External Support Services

Through the course of the term we have arranged for external support services to attend the College and students are able to speak to these teams informally or in a more formal arrangement if it is requested in advance. These speakers include representatives from RU-OK?, Young Carers, Brighton Sexual Health and Contraception Services (SHAC) and Brighton Youth Police.   Students will be aware of when these visits are planned through their Tutorial sessions and the Student Bulletin which they can access via My Varndean and a schedule has been attached here for your reference.

Having carefully considered the content, if you have any concern and you do not wish the young person in your care to attend the sessions detailed above, please email information@varndean.ac.uk to notify us of their absence from a particular session in advance. 

Yours sincerely

George Marshall

Director of Pastoral and Safeguarding & Head of School (Foundation Year)