Dear Parent/Carer and Students,
I hope this finds you and your loved ones well.
Before we finish for the Spring break, here is some key information for next term.
Ofsted
As you are aware Ofsted inspected the College from March 4th- 9th. At the moment there is still an embargo on the outcome of this until the report is published. We are expecting this at the beginning of next term. I am able to say however, just how fantastic the students were and just how impressed and proud we all were of them. I am not surprised by this but they were just such wonderful support to one another and to the staff going through the inspection. As well as great examples of young people, they really were one of the real positives of what was otherwise a pretty intense week! Obviously we will be sharing the report and our comments with you once we are able to next term.
Building works
I have updated you several times with regards to our quad development. While the externals have overrun the internal spaces are up and running and students have been able to use Q1 as an additional library/ study space. The outside of both quads will be open on the first day of next term to all students. We still have planting to do and the SU and College student climate champions will be organising this so we can all get involved.
Citizens UK
We continue to be an active member of Citizens UK, the UKs biggest, most diverse, and most effective people-powered alliance. Our students are involved in many social action campaigns and have experienced some real stand out successes, including campaigning to ensure that more scand colleges have access to Unizone discounts, saving hundreds of thousands of pounds on transport costs for young people across the city and recently securing £200,000 of investment from Brighton and Hove City Council to support hundreds of young people with counselling across the city. Students are currently taking an active role in the voter registration and education campaign, as well as a campaign that focuses on young workers rights. Our work with Citizens UK allows students the invaluable opportunity to understand the power of community organising and be part of social change in Brighton & Hove.
You are invited to the next Citizens Assembly taking place on Thursday 25th April at 6pm at Brighton Salvation Army, please see a link to the invitationhere
Key dates for the Summer term have been collated into aQuick View Summaryhere Parent Quick View Summary on key dates (with information links)
Further to dates; ourlatest term dates are now availableto assist you with organising family time or holiday bookings.
Information on Upcoming Year 1 Practice Exams can be found here: Year 1 A level Students - Monday 22nd April - Friday 26th April
Latest News
Our Spring term has been action packed full of celebration and performances of one kind or another. Highlights of some of the events are below:
National Careers Week w/c 5 March
The Careers Team ran 3 careers pop-ups and encouraged students to head to the Careers site to make sure they knew how to keep up to date with Apprenticeship opportunities, CV writing and other employability essentials.
Drama A level exam performance 6 March
Congratulations to our Drama department for an evening of entertaining and thoughtful performance. Our A level Drama students performed their Theatre In Action practical exam pieces (featuring the plays of Caryl Churchill, Ella Hickson, Shelagh Stephenson and student devised pieces) to an invited audience. Friends and family celebrated and were rightly proud of the commitment, work ethic and high quality student performance.
A testament to our brilliant young citizens of the ol was the highly popular Culture Day, an event which celebrated our diverse student population. Food, live music, a fashion show of traditional dress, a quiz AND in less than an hour, our wonderful College Community raised £330.06for the charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF)!
International Women's Day 8 MarchOur library team took full charge and photographed our staff for an in house celebration, and in addition promoted women's writing in a unique display in the library.
IB Art Exhibition Private View 13 March
Parents, grandparents, cousins and invited guests attended the first IB Art Exhibition and saw a diverse range of superb work.
Our Big Green Week 11-15th March saw a fantastic array ofstudent activities and guest speakers, from an eco display milk float from 1974 to a clothes swap event. Our students led on this and it was an informative, educational and fun week. As summary of the activities can be foundhere
Apprenticeship Fair 14 March
Over 360 students attended our annual Apprenticeship Fair and gained valuable insights into apprenticeship opportunities from over 20 visiting organisations including the NHS, Gatwick Airport and Sussex Police - students were also able to sign up for lunchtime breakout talks including Apprenticeships in Engineering and Degree Apprenticeships.
University Information Evening 26 March
Over 240 parents and carers visited the college to hear about the support students who are considering university receive while they are with us. We also had a talk on student finance given by University of Brighton and current university students told us how they manage to budget while on their courses. Optional talks were well attended and covered support the college gives to students applying to Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities through our Aspire programme, the Art Foundation course and Medicine, Veterinary Science and Dentistry. Please see thislink for the main talk slides.
Spring Update
For a more detailed and broader summary of what we have been up to please do have a read of our new Spring Update which can be foundhere. It's a really uplifting read.
Upcoming Events
A few things worthy of attention:
Work Experience Week -All first year students will have the opportunity to have work experience during their time at College. We have a progression week (1-5 July) involving university visits, work experience and employer engagement. Please see the information links below, sent to Year 1 students earlier this week. If you can offer any placements from one day upwards, please do contact our Careers team oncareers@varndean.ac.uk
Breaking Boundaries - Varndean College Dance students are performing at The Old Market in Hove on 3rd May 2024. The production features a selection of choreographic work from Year 1 students, the dance enrichment groups and ends with the debut performance of the Year 2 students' full length piece that explores the theme of Distorted Narratives. There will also be a guest performance from alumni Munya Muchati's hip-hop dance theatre company, Visual Poets.
Tickets are availablehere.
Helpful reminders
The best reminder of all - term begins again on Monday 15 April!
We appreciate your support as parent and carers in promoting the importance of good attendance. A reminder that any absence from college needs to be reportedhere.
Support on offer for students revising - teachers have provided a range of resources on Google Classroom to help with revision The library will be open 10.30 am - 4.30pm in the week of the 8th April. A reminder that if students require help with their well-being during exam season they can emailwellbeingzone@varndean.ac.uk
As we come closer to the exam season I know our Year 2 and Foundation students will be spending some of the Easter holidays revising and preparing for their final term if they are Year 2. Our library is open to support students the whole of the second week, Monday 8th April- Friday 12th April. 10:30-4:30.
I do hope everyone is able to enjoy some rest and recuperation for some part of the Easter holidays. Wishing you, your family and loved ones a break which is happy, hopeful and full of sunshine.
Best wishes
Donna-Marie Janson
Principal
