APPLICATION DEADLINE LOOMING!

Posting by Jennifer Lumb, Admissions Officer

With only about a month left to go we have received over 3,000 applications already for entry in September 2012 and the Admissions Team is busy processing these applications, references and organising interviews for our applicants.

I know it has been a bit frustrating for some students who are still awaiting an interview date, but due to the record number of applications received this year it has taken a bit longer to organise these than anticipated. I would like to reassure these students that they will be hearing from us soon and to keep an eye on their email and/or online account.

So far we have held seven interview events and arranged appointments for over 2,300 students – we are still arranging Interview Events for April and May and so will be in touch as soon as we can if you have not yet heard about your date.

The Interview sessions have been great and it has been wonderful to meet our prospective new students for this coming September. The events are always very busy but have a great atmosphere and all staff enjoy this part of the process as they get to interact with new students and their parents.

If you have not applied yet and are wanting to do so please make sure we receive your application by 30^th March 2012 – the best way to ensure this is to apply online at www.solihullsfc.ac.uk as it is a secure way to apply and we receive it as soon as you submit it rather than hoping the post arrives on time!

If you have already applied or want to do so and have any questions please contact the Admissions Team on 0121 709 7803 or email admissions@solihullsfc.ac.uk and we will be happy to help!

Don’t be put off by the fact that so many people have applied already – there’s still time and as long as you beat the deadline for applications and you look to have the grades needed we will invite you in for interview.

We are looking forward to meeting the rest of our applicants as soon as possible and we wish you all the best of luck in your exams!

A Supreme Capital Experience

Posting by Bev Bishop, Marketing Co-ordinator

                                                           

One of the highlights in my education was always fieldtrips and this week I got the opportunity to join second year Law students on one of their fieldtrips, when I travelled down to London to visit the highest courts in the land.

The coach left College at just after 8.00am and we enjoyed a good journey until we hit the capital. Normal weekday traffic in London is very congested and the final leg of our journey was a snail’s pace through Central London. Our destination was the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand.

Having already visited Birmingham Crown Court, these courts are more what you might expect from a British court room, in that they include more old fashioned architecture. The walls are panelled with dark varnished wood and book cases with old bound law volumes.

Three judges sit in on the cases in these courts, hearing mostly appeals. This means that barristers and lawyers are present, but no jury and often the appeal is conducted without defendants or witnesses being present. The judges and barristers are all dressed in gowns and wigs and address each other with reverence and respect. That’s not to say that there isn’t ever any drama! One group of students sat in on a case in which someone in the public gallery got up and pounded the wall with their fist in anger and frustration when the case was not going their way!

Among the cases being heard on this trip was a complicated case about deportation. This is something that has been much in the news of late, and this particular case involved the Home Office wanting to deport an individual to Somalia. The individual in question is being held in custody while this is resolved and the case has been going on for many months.

In other court rooms, there were appeals for drug and violent crime convictions. These appeals hung on key pieces of evidence and testimony, including whether the accused knew that the package (labelled semolina!) contained drugs or not and whether witness testimony could be trusted.

After lunch, we took a short coach trip to Westminster and visited the Supreme Court, situated opposite the House of Parliament and adjacent to Westminster Abbey. After the inevitable security checks, we took advantage of the exhibition downstairs, which provides information about this newest of legal bodies. The Supreme Court was only set up in 2009 so that the highest court of appeal in the UK would be separate from the UK government. Previously, this was affiliated to the House of Lords.

Amidst the sumptuous surroundings of wood panelled walls and plate glass windows featuring coats of arms, we enjoyed a brief talk on how the Supreme Court works. We were told how the Supreme Court does not hold trials, but instead is where highly qualified barristers argue points of law in appeals, which if granted will then affect and change laws.

It is the final court of appeal in the UK and only cases which are deemed to be in the public interest make it to this court. Panels of Lord Justices sit in on these cases and make the final judgements. Any lawyer can apply to be a Lord Justice (even if they have not previously been a judge) and cases are heard by panels of 5, 7 or in very rare cases 9 Lord Justices.

The work of the Supreme Court is very complex, but we were given some examples of cases heard there which made the work done more easy to understand. This included the case of someone who was trying to make money selling Storm Trooper helmets from Star Wars, who had been sued by Lucas Film who made the films. We were also told of a privacy case involving supermodel Naomi Campbell.

After our talk, we got to sit in on a case being heard, regarding a tobacco company and corporate tax. I think I can speak for most of the staff and students when I say that most of it was far too complicated for us to understand, but the experience did give us all an insight into how the Supreme Court works.

It was a great day out and I think the students will have learnt a lot, not least how the whole appeals system works, which will hopefully really benefit them when they sit their exams. I also got to relive one of my favourite memories from my time in school!

The Great Egg Challenge

Posting by Ranjit Hayer, Business Studies teacher

Here in the Business department we like to make learning as interesting as we can. Often we like to get students to work in groups- it’s fun and developing team working skills is useful too.

This week, our second year Business Studies students took on the Great Egg Challenge! They were placed into small teams and given the challenge of making a parachute for a egg to drop from a 10 foot wall without breaking.

The exercise was aimed at developing the students’ strategic thinking, which is what their final A2 paper is based around, so it had a useful purpose as well as being a laugh.

There was plenty of hilarity as the students set to work and it certainly kick started Business strategy for the students. It was also a good fresh start after their recent examinations.

Chemistry Taster at Nottingham Uni

Posting by Hilary Woodward, Curriculum leader for Chemistry

The Sixth Form College, Solihull has an excellent relationship with the University of Nottingham and for several years, our A level Chemistry students have been benefitting from that association.

Last week, this year’s Chemistry students got a taste of undergraduate Chemistry at this prestigious university, as they enjoyed an afternoon of talks and demonstrations.

The School of Chemistry at the University of Nottingham hosted series of informative talks and chemical demonstrations. This included a session entitled “The Periodic Table of Videos” presented by Professor Martyn Poliakoff, a talk on how to become a chemist by Professor Chris Hayes, a presentation on nanoscience by Professor Neil Champness and a talk entitled “Exciting Chemistry!” by Dr. Jon McMaster and Dr. Darren Wal.

This was just a taster of what studying Chemistry at degree level is all about. Our A level Chemistry students are also being offered the chance to complete a project in association with the University of Nottingham. A full-day master class will take place on 4^th April 2012. This will involve practical exercises involving redox chemistry and quantifying the vitamin C content of food sources. Students will be introduced to advanced techniques such as infra red spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance.

The students who elect to complete this project will be required to follow up the work covered at Nottingham through further research on the investigation and the techniques used. Their findings will be recorded in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, which will be presented to an audience of academics at Nottingham University followed by visit to the University Open Day on 29^th June 2012.

This trip to Nottingham was an excellent opportunity for our A level Chemistry students to get a taste of what continuing their Chemistry studies after College would be like. They learnt that Chemistry at degree level is complex, but also a lot of fun.

We thank the University of Nottingham’s School of Chemistry for their time in hosting us. It was informative and enjoyable and many of the students are now looking at following it up by completing the project they have set.

BT Calls in on College

Posting by Ranjit Hayer, Career Academy Manager

It’s been another busy week for the Business Career Academy students. Following the second year students trip to London, the new first year students have welcomed a visitor into College in the shape of BT Project Manager Tracie Padro.

The visit from BT was for a rather grandly titled “guru lecture”, which is a part of the Career Academy programme, a national initiative that raises the employability of young people. Lectures such as this one, form an important part of the programme, with mentoring, external visits and paid internships also forming part of the experience for students.

Tracie began the afternoon lecture by explaining how her first job at BT (updating the phonebook) has lead to a life-long career with BT. She has not actually worked for any other firm, although she has done secondments and placements in the Customer Relations and Finance departments, amongst others.

Tracie explained to the students the benefits of working with a large business like BT, which spends a lot of time investing in its staff. Tracie is lucky enough to work from home so went through the different ways in which she conducts meetings as her ‘team’ is often scattered around the UK and meeting up can be quite difficult.

Tracie explained the skills that she has developed over the years and the students were amazed to learn that she has in the past worked with teams of up to 20-30 people and never met some members of the team because they lived so far away. She explained that having the right skills to communicate with people is essential to any professional person.

This kind of first-hand knowledge is invaluable to the students who will have to put such skills to the test in the summer when they complete 6-week internships at a variety of businesses.

We are so grateful to Tracie for taking time out to deliver this guru lecture. She works very closely with the College and is part of the mentoring programme and sits on the Local Advisory Board too. She was a part of the programme last year when we first launched our Business Career Academy and has continued to be a stalwart supporter this year.

Career Academy Visit to Westminster

Posting by Ranjit Hayer, Career Academy Manager and Business teacher

Perseverance was the name of the game with the Business Career Academy last week. We had organised a trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, but the fates seemed to be conspiring against us!

First, we had to contend with not one, but two broken down trains. The third train did get us to London, but not without some problems with the brakes! You might think it would have been better to turn round and go home, but not the Business Career Academy.

This was a trip for the Year 13 students and, now into their second year of the Career Academy, they are veterans of these sorts of trips.

The Career Academy is a national programme that raises the employability of young people. Visits such as this one, form an important part of the programme, with mentoring, guru lectures and paid internships also making up the experience for students.

This visit saw the students take in the sights of Big Ben, Westminster Cathedral and the London Eye, but primarily we were there for a tour of the Houses of Parliament.

During this tour, the students were told about how an Act of Parliament goes through the House of Lords and the House of Commons before it is passed as law. The guide also explained how the MPs address each other when they are sitting in Parliament and gave the students an insight into the aspect of theatre involved, such as when MPs shout ‘order’ when Parliament is sitting.

The tour included information about how the Queen officially opens Parliament each year and the different customs that have been set many years ago and which are still followed today. The students were also given a short history lesson about how past kings and queens have tried to change the way Parliament is run.

It was an eventful day, but enjoyable too. Getting to London proved to be quite an ordeal, but we managed it and it was worth it, because the visit gave the students a really valuable insight into the workings of government. This is important because legislation affects every aspect of business and seeing Britain’s seat of power for themselves will have helped them to understand that.

Tax doesn’t have to be taxing!

Posting by Ruth Sharp, Business Career Academy Co-ordinator

The latest intake of students into the Business Career Academy are still finding their feet, but there’s nothing like throwing them into the deep end, including a recent visit to an accountancy firm.

First they went through a nerve-wracking selection process with representatives from Lloyds TSB, then they met their ‘Partners in Business’ or mentors (from local businesses), and then it was a trip to London for Career Academies ‘Capital Experience’. The latest business experience has been a visit to Birmingham-based accountancy form Grant Thornton.

Maria O’Donnell, who is also a mentor to one of the students, hosted the students at their Edmund Street offices last week. She gave the students a talk and a tour of the business.

The presentation centred around the different aspects of accounting that Grant Thornton deal with, from large corporations to individuals such as footballers and from tax management and audits to buying and selling businesses.

The different routes for getting a job at Grant Thornton were explained, which was useful to the students – many of whom harbour ambitions to pursue careers in accountancy. The school leaver route was explained to the students, as well as the post-graduate route into employment. This included a lot of detail on the study required for accountancy, but also the rewards of working at Grant Thornton.

Maria also spoke to the students about possible career progression within Grant Thornton and this was quite motivational for our Business Career Academy students, particularly given their career plans.

Grant Thornton have been a great supporter of the College Career Academy programme since it was launched in 2010 and this visit was just one more example of that support.

As well as more visits like this, this new group of students can look forward to guru lectures from key business representatives, mentoring meetings and eventually 6-week paid internships. The first cohort of Business Career Academy students did all this last year and have been a help and inspiration to this new group of students.