Curriculum Update October / November 2025
Dear Students, Parents and Carers,
As we reach the end of the first half term, we hope all students are feeling settled into college life and enjoying their studies. It has been fantastic to see the enthusiasm, focus and commitment shown across lessons, and we are delighted with the positive start made by both our new and returning students this year.
For our Year 1 students, we would like to understand how the first half term has been and how well they have settled into college life. To help us gather this feedback, we are asking all Year 1 students to complete a short Settling-In Survey. This feedback is really valuable in helping us identify where students are thriving and where additional support may be helpful.
Report Cards
The Autumn Report Cards will be published on Monday 27th October 2025, on MyVarndean for students and through the Varndean Parent Portal. If parents or carers have not yet registered for the portal, please do so via our website.
Report Cards provide an overview of each student's progress across three key areas; Engagement in Learning, Independent Learning, and Overall Progress. You will also find feedback from teachers outlining how students can make further progress over the coming months.
For Foundation and Year 2 students, each subject also includes a Current Grade and a Working Towards Grade.
- The Current Grade reflects how well a student is currently achieving based on key assessments completed this term.
- The Working Towards Grade indicates the grade they are likely to achieve in their final assessments if current progress continues.
For Year 1 students, we are still very early in the journey of a two-year course, so the focus of this report is on engagement and learning behaviours rather than predicted grades. These early indicators provide valuable insight into how well students have settled into their subjects and the habits they are developing that will underpin success over the longer term.
We hope you find the Report Cards informative and useful in supporting continued progress. If you experience any technical issues accessing them, please contact our IT Support team via the Parent Portal.
Reading Week (w/c Monday 3 November)
Reading Week provides an important opportunity for students and teachers to pause, reflect and review progress midway through the term. Rather than attending their usual timetable, year 1 students will spend the week focusing on individual feedback, reflection and planning for the term ahead.
For Year 1 students, this will be their first experience of Reading Week and it forms an important part of the college's approach to supporting progress. Teachers will meet one to one with each student for a Progress Review to discuss how they have settled into the course, review their engagement and learning so far, and agree clear actions to help them make continued progress. These reviews are based on the information within the Autumn Report Card and provide an opportunity for meaningful reflection early in the two-year journey.
All Year 1 Progress Reviews will take place online via Google Classroom, and students will not attend their normal lessons during this week. However, in some cases, students may be given the option to attend their review in person, particularly where a face to face discussion would better support the review of their progress.
Instructions on how students can book appointments are available on MyVarndean, and the booking system will open to students on Friday 17th October. If any students require support accessing online meetings, we can arrange for them to attend onsite, please contact information@varndean.ac.uk.
Following Reading Week, there will be Parent Consultation Evenings for Year 1 and Foundation Year students on Wednesday 19 November and Thursday 27 November, where parents and carers will have the opportunity to discuss progress directly with subject teachers. Further information about how to book appointments will be shared after half-term.
For Year 2 students, Reading Week is an opportunity to consolidate learning and focus on progression planning. Students will receive independent study materials from each subject and should use this time to prepare for upcoming assessments and mock exams. Those applying to university will continue to meet with their HE Mentors, and the Careers Team will be running personal statement workshops and an Apprenticeships and Degree Apprenticeships talk during the week. Details and sign up links will be sent by email.
The Autumn Report Cards, Progress Reviews and upcoming Parent Consultation Evenings all form an important part of how we support every student to achieve their potential. We would like to thank parents and carers for their continued support and engagement, and we look forward to working together over the remainder of the term to help all students make continued progress.
Best wishes
James Gordon
Deputy Principal
