Team Gambia 2014

The Sixth Form College, Solihull participates in a Team Gambia project. The 2014 project has just concluded and staff and students are celebrating a highly successful venture and cherishing many wonderful memories.

First and most importantly is the great work this project has achieved. This is a project set up and run by Pete Evans at Hamstead Hall School. He built the Jemus Jungkung Jammeh Memorial Nursery School in Abuko and is responsible for paying the teachers and developing the school. We are just grateful to be able to be a part of it and to do anything we can to support the amazing work he has already done.

This Team Gambia 2014 project (which follows our first involvement in 2013) was 9 months in the making and students had to work hard before the trip to raise money for the school. The final fundraising total exceeds £8,500, which is a tremendous total and really good use will be put to that money. The school needs help paying teachers wages and buying resources and work is already under way to build new classrooms, which is much needed. There are still lots of kids not going to school at all in The Gambia because there is not room for them, so building these additional classrooms will ensure these kids get an education.

The trip itself has really enhanced the lives of the students who went. All have spoken of having their eyes opened by the sights they saw. It has made them all realise how lucky they are to have what they have. They have all built up their confidence, team working skills and gained valuable teaching experience too.

The students also got to experience a different culture. As well as working at the school, there was time for the students to experience more of the local culture, as a demonstration of traditional Gambian dancing was put on. They also went to a local crocodile park, a monkey sanctuary, the Albert Market in Banjul and the Parliament building. They visited a medical centre and another school, as well as enjoying some rest and relaxation at the hotel and on the beach.

All in all, the trip was a great success and the project as a whole continues to go from strength to strength. We look forward to doing this all over again next year!

To see some photos from this amazing trip, visit our Flickr page or view the Album on Facebook.

Roughing it for St Basil's

When staff and students get behind a good cause, there is a lot that can be achieved and that is exactly what happened this November, as the College staged a Big Sleep Out in aid of homeless charity St Basil's.

This challenge was many months in the planning and when staff were first approached about it back in July it seemed like a good idea. As the date drew closer and the weather turned, many staff were beginning to wonder what they had let themselves in for. By then, however, sponsorship had been sought and there was no backing out!

As with any challenge for charity, it is not supposed to be easy! If it were easy, why would anybody bother to sponsor you? This challenge - to sleep out in the cold with just cardboard and plastic to protect us - was not only difficult, but it also brought home to everyone who took part the difficulties that homeless people face everyday.

St Basils are the beneficiaries of this activity. They work with young people aged 16-25, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. They help over 5,000 young people every year across Birmingham, Sandwell, Solihull, Worcestershire and Coventry. Their services include accommodation schemes, homelessness prevention and support services to help young people regain the stability they need to rebuild their lives. This includes developing the skills they need to stand on their own two feet, get training and find employment.

27 staff and 45 students took part and we can all now appreciate what real homeless people go through. The only thing we tried to do was keep warm and keep dry and in that sense we got a taste of what being homeless is really like. Building a shelter is not as easy at it looks. It has to stand up to wind and rain and not all the shelters did that - here is a case in point!

Sponsorship is still being collected, but the fundraising from the staff alone exceeds £2,000 and that gives every member of staff who took part a great sense of achievement. We know that this will help St Basil's to do more of their wonderfully worthwhile work for young people in the West Midlands.

All staff and students who took part deserve a big "well done" for their achievement.

Why are Open Days worth attending?

It's Open Day season for schools and colleges up and down the country. Some are on Saturdays, some on weekdays; some during the day and some in the evenings and there are so many of them! You're probably thinking you have better things to do with your time, but this blog is urging you to get to as many open days as possible!

The Sixth Form College, Solihull is holding two events this term and they are as follows:

Open Day - Saturday 11 October 2014 (9.30am - 3.30pm, last entry at 2.30pm)

Open Evening - Thursday 13 November 2014 (5.00 - 8.00pm, last entry at 7.30pm)

Although on two different days, these events are essentially the same. Both give you the chance to hear from the Principal Paul Ashdown. At the October event, he is giving talks at 10.00am, 10.45am, 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.15pm and 2.00pm. At the November event those talks are at 5.30pm, 6.15pm and 7.00pm. He will talk about what you can expect from the College and explain the nationwide changes happening to A levels.

Open Days also give you the opportunity to talk to curriculum specific teachers and students studying courses that you are interested in. The teachers can give you expert advice, because they are specialists in what they teach; not only in terms of the content of the course, but also this level of education because they do not teach other year groups. Meanwhile, the current students can tell you what studying these A level and BTEC courses is really like.

Attending open days is all about setting your expectations. You will doubtless visit with an idea of what a school or college is like already, but visiting gives you the chance to put those expectations to the test. Not only can you see the facilities and meet the staff, but you will get a feel for the campus as a whole and whether students currently studying there are happy or not. It will help you to decide if it's a place you will fit in.

Expectation are not only important about the College as a whole, but also about the courses on offer. You may have a clear idea of what you want to do for a career or what course you want to study at university. You may have no idea at all, but just think that certain subjects sound interesting. Whatever your situation in, it's important that you know what you are getting yourself into. This means doing your homework and finding out a bit about what the courses involve.

When you come to one of our open days, we will give you a prospectus and a few other marketing leaflets. You can read up about our courses on the website at www.solihullsfc.ac.uk/courses, but you can also pick up subject leaflets at open day too. This details what is taught on the course, how it is assessed and what entry requirements we ask for. This is important, because you need to make sure that the course is what you expect it to be and you need to know what grades you need to get to achieve a place at sixth form.

Of course, college life is more than just the courses you study. Our support services will also be showcased at open days. This means you can talk to staff about the careers support we offer. You can also find out more about the additional learning support we offer, which helps students with dyslexia, dyspraxia, Aspergers and many other additional support needs. You can also talk to staff about our academic coaching programme, which is the support we offer to every student at the college (a bit like a tutor). With information available about enrichment too, you can find out whjat a varied and rounded experience college life can be.

Moving on from school to College is about growing up. Come to our Open Day or Open Evening and find out how we treat our students like adults and encourage them to embrace our learning culture. We try to help students to develop into independent thinkers, who can leave college for university, training or employment not only with the knowledge their courses have given them, but also the skills and confidence to think for themselves and flourish in the big wide world.

In the end, your choice of school or college after Year 11 is up to you! All we ask is that you make sure you understand all the options open to you and one of the very best ways to do that is to go to as many open days as you can. In the long run it will be worth your while.

Pre-registration is open for the October Open Day from now until Friday 10 October at https://apps.bigtopapp.com/solihullsixthform. Pre-registration for the November Open Evening will open from Thursday 16 October. Go to http://www.solihullsfc.ac.uk/open-days then for more information.

A levels are changing

There are big changes taking place nationally in education, designed to raise standards.  This means that the A Level and BTEC Extended Diploma courses we offer are undergoing reforms.  Not all the changes are coming in all at once, but they will be phased in over the coming three years.  This page provides an overview of the changes, but we have included more information on our website, which we would urge you to take the time to read.

The Department for Education is introducing new-style A Levels in three stages:  in 2015, 2016 and 2017.  The first phase of changes will affect students applying to start their post-16 education in September 2015.  All our courses are listed to the right and the schedule of changes is detailed below.

What are these changes?
A Levels are becoming linear two-year courses.  This means you need to study for the full two years to obtain the qualification.  We will ask A Level students to choose three subjects to study, although very able students may do four subjects. Hand-in-hand with this, we will be dedicating more teaching time to our A Levels in the first year, thus giving students more time with teachers to boost their learning experience.  As most universities and employers make offers based on a three A Level programme, we believe that the extra teaching time will help students achieve the best possible grades.

There will also be changes to the content of specific A Level courses, the amount of coursework, and to A Level examinations, not to mention more rigorous assessment for BTEC courses.  These changes are explained in more detail on our website.  “Old style” courses are still assessed using AS and A2 examinations and you can opt for a mix of old and new subjects.

What is changing?
• A levels are becoming linear 2-year courses – this means you need to study for the full two years to get the qualification.
• Coursework is being removed in all but exceptional cases and those courses that retain a coursework element will see it reduced from 40% to 20% of the final mark. In Sciences, assessment of practical work will not contribute to the final A level grade, but will receive a separate certificate of endorsement.
• A levels will include more synoptic assessment and more variety of questions will be asked.
• Examinations will be sat at the end of the two year course, not spread out over both years. Because of this, we cannot guarantee that re-takes will be available, as students will have to re-sit as external students, but we will try to support students who wish to re-take exams as much as we can. Please note that exam boards charge re-sit fees for each exam.
• There will also be changes to the content of specific A level courses and these are explained on our website on the specific course pages.

When are courses changing?
These changes will be phased in over three years, as follows:

Phase 1 – Students starting their studies in September 2015 should note that new-style A levels will be introduced for the following subjects:
English
History
Sciences
Art & Design
Business
Computer Science
Economics
Psychology
Sociology

Phase 2 – In September 2016, the following subjects will follow suit:
Mathematics
Further Maths
Modern Foreign Languages
Ancient Languages
Geography
Design & Technology
Physical Education
Dance
Drama
Music
Religious Studies

Phase 3 – In September 2017, the final round of changes will affect the following courses:
Classical Civilisation
Film Studies
Politics
Health & Social Care
 ICT
Law
Media Studies
Music Technology
Statistics

Don’t worry! Only the changes in September 2015 will affect you if you are starting your studies in that year. In other words, if you pick a course that is changing in 2016 (such as Mathematics), you will not find you are studying the old format in the first year and then suddenly change to the new format in your second year. The changes in 2016 and 2017 will only affect those students starting their A level studies in those years.

Why are these changes happening?
The Department for Education is aiming to raise standards by changing A level and BTEC qualifications. Changes are also happening to GCSEs from 2017, with this same aim in mind.  These new qualifications should better enable our young people to attain skills, knowledge and understanding comparable to the standards reached by the best of the rest of the world.

40th Anniversary Party

The College is 40 years old this year. Happy Birthday to us!

We marked the occasion by having a 40th Anniversary Celebration in the College grounds this week - a sort of garden party! Strawberries and cream, canapés and cupcakes were the order of the day as current staff mingled with many ex members of staff to celebrate 4 decades of offering outstanding teaching and learning in Solihull.

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, with lots of retired staff returning to wish the College well and catch up with old friends. Current Principal Paul Ashdown welcomed the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Kate Wild, as well as ex-Principals David Jackson, John Korzeniewski and Colleen Chater. The four Principals were on hand to do a ceremonial cutting of the ribbon to officially unveil the new look to Hampton building, as this building has had significant refurbishments this year.

Existing students were on hand to offer tours of the campus, which were particularly interesting for former staff who left ten or more years previously. In the last decade, the College has added an Art & Design School and a Dance Studio, as well as refurbishing the Refectory, Science labs, Music and Drama studios, lecture theatres and all classrooms in the College main (and largest) building. The exterior of the main building has also had a ‘face-lift’ in the last year too.

We are so grateful to everybody who came along to help us celebrate the College's birthday. The sun was shining (thank goodness!) and a good time was had by all.

To see more photos from this event, visit the College's Facebook page.

College Face Lift!

The Sixth Form College, Solihull has had a facelift! Both inside and outside the main building of the College (Hampton building) has been totally refurbished and we wanted to share the changes.

Thanks to the efforts of the contractors Stepnell, not to mention the hard work of our own Estates team, a long and very complicated job has been completed. What made this job so complex was that the work had to be completed during term time. We received a grant of more than £1million to renovate the first and second floor classrooms and re-clad the exterior of the building.

The project was completed in three phases, to minimise disruption to teaching and learning as much as possible. This meant that only sections of the building would be shut down, enabling lessons to continue in other parts of the building. Social Sciences, Humanities and Earth Studies were relocated first, moving to other parts of the campus for several months. When that section of the building was done, they were able to move back in and phase two started. This saw many Business, Maths and Social Science lessons relocate temporarily. Phase three refurbished the Modern Foreign Language, Maths and Business rooms, as well as two lectures theatres.

The refurbishment has seen some walls being knocked down to turn some small rooms into larger classrooms. New floors, ceilings, windows and doors, not to mention a new coat of paint and new furniture has added up to bright and modern new teaching facilities.

The external cladding is what is most noticeable about the building work, incorporating the College's green and purple corporate colours, as well as some of the College's secondary palette of colours too. It is bright, vibrant and eye-catching and makes the College look modern and welcoming. The new windows that have been fitted also ensure the College is more energy efficient as well.

The College celebrates it's 40th birthday this year and the refurbishments are particularly stark changes when compared to the original look of the College back in 1974. Back then, there was just one building, whereas now the College boasts eight buildings and state-of-the-art facilities.

Exam Season Comes Early For Drama Students

Most people think that exam season is the summer months. For our A level Drama & theatre Studies students their final assessed practicals have been in the last week!

The students, all in their final year of the course, have split into three groups to devise and act a short drama piece of approximately 30 minutes duration. The students selected a range of themes to base their productions on.

One group entitled their production 'The Chapter of Dido' and it concerned the founder and first Queen of Carthage, based on an extract from 'Aeneid' by the Roman poet Virgil. Here's a photo below from the dress rehearsal of this production.

Another group selected the 2002 film 'The Magdalene Sisters', written and directed by Peter Mullan, about four teenage girls sent to a home for 'fallen' women maintained by individual religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Again, the photo below shows the great costumes and set from this production.

The final production was based on Margaret Atwood's novel 'The Handmaid’s Tale', which explores life in a Dystopian society where children are harvested from lower class fertile women, who are enslaved to supply the ruling classes. As you can see, good use of costume, set and lighting helped bring this to life!

Curriculum Leader for Drama is Diane Dodd and she told us how pleased she has been with the students work. "The students have worked for over a term on the practical devised exam, they have worked tirelessly to bring their material to the stage and have produced some highly effective and moving plays," she explained. "They have researched a wide range of contemporary practitioners who are themselves renowned creative adaptors and have explored a wide range of acting and staging methods. The process is both physically and intellectually stretching and the students are now well-prepared for the next step at university."

Many of the students on the A level Drama & Theatre Studies course are also involved with the annual college production, which takes place in July. Entitled ‘Selkie’, the production is set in Cornwall and interweaves the past with the present, the ordinary with the supernatural, locals and seasonal migrants on one fine day in June. Selkie blends folk lore and contemporary lives and utilises live music, storytelling and dance to amuse and transport you. It will be performed at 7.00pm on Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th July in the College’s theatre. Tickets will be available after Easter, priced £6 for adults and £3 for concessions, by calling 0121 704 2581.

TEAM GAMBIA 2014

In December 2013, a group of students joined forces with students from Hamstead Hall School in Handsworth Wood to go on a week-long volunteering trip to The Gambia. This was all part of a long-standing project being run by Peter Evans at Hamstead Hall School, who built the school from scratch!

As you can see from the photos above, this is an incredibly valuable volunteering trip. The students got to work with the kids at the Jemus Jungkung Jammeh Memorial Nursery School in Abuko and also experience a totally different culture in this developing country.

With a year's experience under our belt, we are doing the trip again in 2014, but this time we're on our own! 24 students have signed up to embark on this exciting expedition, which takes place in December 2014. We have already started with our plans.

Students are being set a challenge to raise £400 each for this school. With it costing just £375 to pay a teacher there for one year, this fundraising target will do real good for the school in The Gambia. There is currently a large waiting list of children who want to attend the school, but they do not have room for them, despite class sizes of 50-60 children in a class. The money we raise will help fund the construction of two new classrooms to fill that demand. Staff and students will work together over the 10 months leading up to the trip itself to raise as much money as we can for the school.

We will add more information about this exciting trip and our fundraising plans as they are confirmed!