Sport’s Report – 26 September 2012

Posting by Courtney Ingram, BTEC Sport and A2 English Language student.

Football

SSFC 1st team vs N.E Worcestershire College

N.E Worcestershire College travelled to SSFC. It was very competitive all the way through, with a goal from Joe Clarke to open the score in the Sixth Form’s favour. N.E Worcestershire came back to equalise. This was a very close game; it could have gone to either team and both teams played equally well. The final score was 1-1.

SSFC 2nd team vs Birmingham Metropolitan College

SSFC travelled away to Birmingham Metropolitan College for their first game of the season. SSFC went behind in the first 5 minutes, but managed to get back into the game very quickly by scoring two lightning goals by Matt Pemberton and Ben Stuart. Birmingham Metropolitan equalised just before half time, but missed chances in the second half. However, it was only a matter time until Birmingham Metropolitan took the lead and scored again just before full time, to go onto to win 4-2.

Congratulations to Keelan Reilly, who was awarded Man of the Match. 

Hockey

The first men’s British College’s league game was against Hereford Sixth Form College Although the team lost 4-3, the team’s performance was consistent and the lads stayed positive throughout.

Andy Newman was awarded Man of the Match for his exceptional play and for the hatrick he scored.

Basketball

SSFC vs Warwickshire College

The first quarter was close, with the score being 20-23 to Warwickshire. The second quarter was also very close with Warwickshire out-scoring SFCS 12-14 to make it 32-37 to the visitors.

In the third quarter, Warwickshire seemed to come out stronger, with the score 13-22 to Warwickshire in that period; 45-59 overall.

The fourth quarter went exceptionally well for both teams, and was a well-played quarter as SFCS evened up the scoring 18-18. Nonetheless, it was too little too late and the final score was 73-63 to Warwickshire College.

Netball

Due to the bad weather conditions, their game against King Edward’s Stourbridge had to be cancelled. This game will be re-arranged for later on in the season.

GEARING UP FOR OPEN DAY

Post by Bev Bishop, Marketing Co-ordinator

We’re only two weeks into the 2012/2013 academic year, but already we’re thinking about the 2013/2014 year! Open Day is the best opportunity that young people have to take a look round the College and learn more about what we can offer to them and it’s fast approaching!

 

Our Open Day is taking place on Saturday 13 October 2012. We are open from 9.30am until 3.30pm, although last entry is at 2.30pm and we are asking all prospective students to come accompanied by a parent/carer or another adult. This is because we want to involve parents in the decision making process. After all, this next step in a young person’s education is an important choice, so it’s important to get it right!

 

We think we are a great option for young people after Year 11. But, why is that?

Well, choice of courses is one reason. We are a large sixth form college and that can intimidate some people, who worry we won’t be able to offer personal attention to young people. The reality is that our size allows us to offer a large range of courses that smaller institutions would not be able to do, but because we have a team of dedicated teachers and academic coaches, the support network is also available to young people.

 

Academic coaches are another of our strengths. They are support staff whose job it is to support students in their studies. This means they are there to help them with any problems they have and guide them towards making the most of their opportunity at College to stretch their potential. It might be that they help them with personal difficulties they have or offer assistance with university or job applications. They are there to help!

 

The teachers themselves are a huge reason why we are successful. For a start, they are specialists, not only in their chosen subject, but also in 16-19 education. Because they teach just A level or BTEC Extended Diplomas, they can really dedicate themselves to this advanced level teaching. They are enthusiastic and make use of excellent resources to ensure that teaching is enjoyable as well as informative. They are available outside of lessons for extra support if needed too. We pride ourselves on the fact that we always offer assistance whenever it is asked for.

 

I don’t expect you to take my word for all this. The people you should really ask are the students themselves. There’s a chance to do that at Open Day, as well as talking to teachers in all subject areas and hearing from the Principal Paul Ashdown, who will be giving talks throughout the day.

 

You can also check out student testimony on our website at http://www.solihullsfc.ac.uk/prospective-students/student-testimony.

 

That’s what we say about The Sixth Form College, Solihull. Now it’s time for you to make up your own mind about us. Come along to Open Day and decide for yourself. To learn more about Open Day and to pre-register your details for this event, please go to http://bit.ly/Ribueu.

 

See you on the 13 October! J

SPORT'S REPORT – 19 September 2012

Posting by Courtney Ingram, BTEC Sport and A2 English Language student.

Football

1^st team vs Henley College, Coventry

The Sixth Form College, Solihull’s team travelled to Henley College, Coventry for their first game of the season. SFCS believed that this was going to be a tense occasion and also a tough one for them as the College has never been able to beat Henley at their ground over the past 5 years.

Henley started the game very positively by breaking the deadlock very soon on into the game. The game started to settle down with the Sixth Form on track, battling for the ball, getting players more involved, and came close to equalising with shots from Joe Clarke and Matt Stanley. However, the Henley goalkeeper was well situated to keep his team in the lead up to half time.

Early into the second half, Henley came back out stronger with very quick play, which lead to them scoring another two goals but SFCS was still battling for the ball. With the score 3-0 to Henley this meant that the Sixth Form needed to up their game; they changed their formation and started to play very well, with a couple of strong efforts coming close.

Finally the deadlock was broken with a superb effort by Year 12 student Ben Stuart, who placed his effort into the bottom corner of the goal. As soon as that goal came, SFCS turned into a different team, using all their last minute energy up, attacking the ball consistently, with shot after shot, but it was just too late.  The whistle was blown and the final score was 3-1 to Henley College.

Congratulation to Year 12 Ben Sutton, who played very well in with the Year 13’s, and who was awarded Man of the Match. 

Basketball

SFCS vs Worcester College

The Sixth Form College, Solihull’s team travelled to Worcester College for their first game of the season. The final score was 74-78 to Worcester College, which shows it was a very close game. SFCS were 20 points behind at one stage, but got back into the game very quickly and stronger to trail by only 4 points by the end of the game. It was a very confident first game from SFCS.

Netball

1^st team (Year 13) vs Alcester

SFCS were at home for their first game of the season, which set the players in a comfortable position. The Sixth Form played very well around the court, using the space effectively and involving all the players. GS (Goal shooter) Frankie Rudge and GA (Goal Attacker) Sophie Wills played outstandingly well, placing every chance they had into the net. It was really good to see SFCS playing as a team for the first time altogether and they were a superior team. Alcester was also a strong and competitive team, who didn’t give up. They defended really well and they were quick to get the ball to other end of the court. It was a very close game in ability wise, and both team played exceptionally well.  The final score was 29-11 to SFCS.

2^nd team (Year 12) vs Alcester

As it was SFCS 2^nd team’s first game of the season, the Sixth Form looked very nervous, but when they started to play, they really shone. However, Alcester just kept coming back strongly. SFCS didn’t give up; they kept going until the whistle was blown. With it being SFCS’s first game, it really showed ability throughout the side and demonstrates that it is only early days for the team and that development will take time. Unfortunately the final score was 25-8 to Alcester.

Rugby

SFCS  vs Old Swinford

SFCS went away to play Swinford. The 1^st team played exceptionally well as it was their first game of the season all playing as a team and they played very confidently to get a score line of 31- 10, a brilliant score for the first game.

SFCS’s 2^nd team played very well too, for their first game of the season. The final score was 22 – 17. So a great start for both rugby teams.

Hockey

SFCS vs Solihull School

SFCS travelled to Solihull School for their first game of the season, and although they lost 7-0, it was their first game as a team and the lads played very well together. The Sixth Form team is made up of a mixture of some club and no club players, therefore this was a great achievement as there are different abilities throughout the team, but it’s still early days. A big mention goes to Harry Reynolds, who took on Captain’s role and carried this out very well.

START OF A NEW YEAR!

Post by Bev Bishop, Marketing Co-ordinator

We are one week into the new 2012/2013 academic year and new students and returning students are settling in well.

But before we look at the start of the new year, I just want to reflect for a moment on the year we have just finished. According to the media, A level standards fell for the first time this year, but not at The Sixth Form College, Solihull and our students (not to mention the teachers) deserve huge praise for that.

I won’t quote statistics at you here, but suffice to say results were up on the year before and if you want to see exactly how our students did this summer, check out our Success leaflet, available online now at http://bit.ly/Rm7f3s.

We’ve also added a number of success stories to the College website too so you can get some examples of students success and progression – check them out at http://www.solihullsfc.ac.uk/results/success-stories.

Back to the start of this year and enrolling thousands of students is no easy task, but the College adopted a new system this year and big thanks must go to our Web Development Team, who have created a great online enrolment system.

Students moving from Year 12 into Year 13 were invited for the first time to enrol online and so were able to do this from home or even from abroad while they were on holiday. Many chose to do this and enrolled quickly and easily. Some chose to come into College because they wanted to discuss their options and a few were asked to come in too. For the first time, enrolment was available as soon as they picked up their results and our first online enrolment came at 6.02am on Thursday 16 August – just two minutes after A level results were published!

Inevitably, enrolling new students into Year 12 is a slightly more complex issue, as we have to check GCSE results, gather contact information and provide them with appropriate advice, amongst other things. As such, all new students came into College to enrol and staff enrolled them using the online system, which we have christened Tyber.

Every new student went away with a starter pack this year to set them up for their studies. This included a College draw-string rucksack, a ring binder (with the Student Handbook inside) and a College pen. These materials are already being put to good use in the first week of term.

It’s only the start of a brand new year, but we’re looking forward to the challenge ahead. Keep your eye on the blog for more news from around College.