LAW TRIP TO ASTON UNIVERSITY

Posting by Law student Christopher Gray

The Law trip to Aston University was both an educational and informative one, as well as giving us a chance to improve team working skills.

On our first trip to Aston University we were given an introduction about Aston University itself. We were told about what University provided, with a variety of different courses, and were given more information about the university itself such as: student life, accommodation, groups students can join and finally what students should consider if they are going to apply to Aston University.

After this Introduction to Aston University we were briefed about the case study on contract law, which we would be answering questions about, and were given the option to take part in this activity. This was seen as both a challenge and a good reference for UCAS forms.  Following this we were given a tour of the university, by a student currently studying there; here we were shown the different areas such as the gym, fitness areas, library and various other resources and recreational activities.

Furthermore we were shown what student accommodation was like, in campus buildings, helping us to get a real feel for student life. Moreover we were given information about what type of activities students can do, and what students night life is like, helping us to get a real feel for the social side of university life and what it would be like moving away from home.

After this informative tour of the campus we were escorted back to a lecture room. Here, we were given information about how to contact the university with any questions and were given the new university prospectus, providing all the information about each of the courses. This is where we finished and we would return with our finished presentations.

During the month we had to prepare our answers, we were communicating in our groups to produce a collective presentation, which we would present to a panel of lecturers, we would be working independently on our question. Using a variety of resources such as the Brighlinks site, which allowed us to contact students from the university if we needed help, and used a variety of law books to help us find the relevant information relating to our questions. During this we each produced a presentation, with the facts of what we had found about each question, and were ready to present it to the panel when the time came. Activities such as these help to encourage team work and independent working, really helping us to get a feel to what it would be like to study a law degree at University.

Finally, the date arrived for us to present our presentations to the panel. Once we had met up with one another in reception, we were escorted to a lecture room. Once we were organised, we were welcomed back to Aston University, where we were given a description of what was happening for the afternoon, then it was time to present.

After a quick coin toss to decide who would go first, my group were the unfortunate few. We presented to the panel in a formal manner, explaining in-depth the different aspects of each question, evaluating and analysing each question, as well as applying it to the scenario. Being confident and informative, we presented the presentation in a fun and informative presentation. The panel of lecturers gave feedback on our findings and gave positive comments. This was also the case with the other group, who presented their presentation with lots of informative facts, and they were able to both add points and reinforce points. The main aim of the presentations was to see if we were able to work independently and in a team and this activity really showed this.

Finally we were given a presentation by a trainee solicitor, named Sally. Sally provided us with lots of information about the different courses which universities do and the best way to get into law and she talked about what would be beneficial if any student would like to study law or pursue it as a career. These included things such as work experience and activities such as the law presentation, and gave us a talk on the different aspects of law which we could do. Ending on this we were thanked by the panel of lecturers at Aston University for taking part in the presentation, which helped us to get a real insight of university life and what it would be like to study law at university level.

COLLEGE PHOTO SHOOT

Posting by Bev Bishop, Marketing Co-ordinator

A photo shoot! Doesn’t that sound glamorous? The College had a photo shoot on Wednesday 1 May, as a professional photographer came to College to take photos for the new College prospectus. So, did we all feel like Hollywood movie stars as a result? Well, as someone behind the scenes, probably not!

 

The reality of a photo shoot like this is that it’s quite hard work. We hope the resulting photos will look fantastic and make all that hard work worthwhile, but the organisation needed to get it done is very high.

The type of photo we were after for the prospectus were very “real”, authentic action photos, so we were not asking students to strike a pose, but instead act naturally and try to pretend the photographer was not there (easier said than done!). The photographer who undertook this work was called Tim and the College has worked with him before. He’s a very talented photographer and a master at making people feel at ease, which I think helped the students get on with something that actually feels quite unnatural.

We had more than 40 students volunteer to be in these photos. A big thanks goes to them for their wonderful, supportive attitude towards the College. We managed to involve them in such a way that they were each detained for just a short period of time (a maximum of 30 minutes each) and we did not impinge on their lesson time. That in itself is quite a difficult thing to organise, because every student has a different timetable and we needed to get photos in so many different locations around College in just one day. Our efforts were not helped by a fire alarm mid-morning, which put us slightly behind schedule for the rest of the day, but students were very understanding of this minor delay.

We visited the Refectory, Costa, Internet Café, Library and Learning Resource Centre, Art and Graphics studios, Biology and Chemistry labs, Modern Foreign Language multimedia labs, Dance Studio, Music recording studio, Fitness Suite and IT classrooms – all in one day! No wonder, we were exhausted at the end of the day.

We have not yet had the chance to go through the photos yet. Our Marketing Agency Box Clever Marketing – who we must thank for directing the photo shoot – will go through them all and pick out the best for use in the prospectus. All I have seen so far are a handful on the camera itself and what I’ve seen looks really good, so I’m looking forward to seeing them in print in September.

For now, I just have to again pass on my thanks to everyone who was involved (students and staff) and ask you to watch this space…

For now, here are some behind the scenes shots to keep you a flavour of the shoot.

STUDENT BLOG: ANCIENT HISTORY TRIP TO CAERLEON

Posting by Tom Warden and Aneesa Fernandez, Yr 12 Ancient History students

On the 26th of March, us Ancient History students were pretty excited to spend the day in Wales, marvelling at various Roman things. On top of that, it was the last day of term so we had the chance to feel superior and wear smug looks on our faces while everyone else was stuck in college.

We were supposed to leave college at around 8.15, but that didn't go according to plan, because the coach only showed up about 40 minutes later... Not that any of us really minded. I think on the whole we were just happy to catch a break from all the work. The journey was entertaining, as most are, with bizarre conversations and dramatic (not to mention seriously out-of-tune) singing of ABBA resounding through the coach. When we got there about 2 hours later, we were separated into Column E, who made their way over to the bath house, and column F who went to the legionary museum. By the way, I'd like to make a note here about the weather in Wales. We had received many, many warnings of the temperature being unbearable, as well as the snow being twice as heavy as in Solihull. Lies. After piling on the layers in paranoia, some of us ended up carrying them around with us instead.

Our group was column F, and so visited the legionary museum first, where we saw a LOT of inscriptions and a bunch of other stuff including pottery, utensils and jewellery. We learned important things such as how the army was divided up and how the Roman coinage system was done. We also got to try on Roman armour which was fun (we discovered that they must have had pretty big heads because the helmets wouldn't fit properly on anyone). Our next destination was the Roman Baths, which were fascinating. The place was illuminated in a way that made it look like there was actual water in there, when of course there wasn't. To put it into perspective for you, I recall someone saying that they were even tempted to jump in there although they knew they would just fall flat on their face, but it looked far too refreshing to resist... In reality it was the ruins of the old bath house, but set out in a way you could imagine the original.

 

Our next stop was the Amphitheatre. It was huge, and most of us decided to sit in or around it to have our lunch. A small group found a totally secluded area in the amphitheatre - we contemplated whether it had actually been a toilet because it sure seemed like it... well whatever it was, we had our lunch in it (we later found out this spot was a shrine to the gods) and after a while, we realised that we were the only ones left there. To make things worse, the temperature had finally started to get bad, so we left the amphitheatre and headed towards the coach.

We were met by Duncan who informed us that everyone was now on the coach and waiting only for us. We were horrified! Let me just say, I had always sworn that I would never be one of those students who made everyone else wait on the coach, but it seems these circumstances overpowered that vow... After the awkward walk of shame onto the coach and an explanation to satisfy the people's stares, we finally set off home.

STUDENT BLOG: BIRMINGHAM COLLEGE OF LAW VISIT

Posting by Louise Davies, Year 12 Law student

On Wednesday 13 February, 10 AS law students went to the College of Law in Birmingham, to a careers convention.

Upon arriving at the College of Law, we sat and listened to a presentation on the variety of different legal professions available, we also got the opportunity to listen to a question and answer session from people who have very varied legal jobs.

We gained an insight into their careers from a solicitor working in a 2-person partnership, to a head barrister’s clerk who worked in a set chambers of over 100 barristers. They told us all about how they got to where they are now and some of the roles they undertake.

After this we got the chance to have a networking session with these individuals to ask them questions we had about their profession. We were also lucky enough to gain a contact from this experience and we are hoping to complete a mini pupillage as a result!

Finally we rounded off our morning by completing a negotiation activity, where we had to look at a case study and try and reach a deal on behalf of our client. This gave us an idea as to what we may have to do if we decided to take up a legal career one day.

Bustling Information Evening

On Thursday 7 February, The Sixth Form College, Solihull held its final recruitment event of this academic year, when Information Evening took place. My sore feet today indicate only one thing – that the event was a success!

Thanks to everyone who visited us. We had visitors from 67 different schools! We hope you got all the information you wanted and had all your questions answered. We had staff from all subject areas working, as well as quite a few current students, all there to talk about what studying their subjects is really like.

Rather than open up the whole campus – which we do for our Open Day in October – this event was concentrated in our Sports Centre. In effect, it had a careers fair “feel” to the event – giving prospective students and parents the chance to see all that we offer in one place. Our Sports Hall was packed with 33 stands for different subjects and College services. With the Principal Paul Ashdown also giving talks to packed audiences in our Dance Studio, there was no shortage of things to see and people to talk to.

Praise must go to our dedicated teachers and the students who worked at the event, talking with enthusiasm and knowledge about the subjects they study. Praise too must go to those that braved the cold and rain to attend this event! It really was a filthy night to be out, but visitors came in their hundreds.

It was gratifying to see the Information Evening bustling with so many visitors – so much hard work goes into setting it up, not least from our Site staff, who had more than 100 tables and 200 chairs to put out and then pack away after the event finished at 8.00pm.

The attendance at this event is yet another indication of the interest in The Sixth Form College, Solihull. Attendance at Open Day back in October was a record-breaker and we have had more applications this year than ever before. Those applications are still coming in – the deadline for applying is Friday 29 March 2013.

If you did not get a chance to visit us or you just have other questions that you forget to ask or which have occurred to you since, don’t forget there are plenty of ways to get in touch. Our Admissions Office is happy to take queries on 0121 709 7803. You can also post a question on our Admissions Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SFCSAdmissions or tweet us @sfcsapply.

We are currently working our way through all the applications we have received. We have already made many offers to students, but we have lots more applications to process. If students have not yet heard about a date for their interview, they should not worry – we will definitely be in touch. If you meet our entry requirements and complete your application before the end of March, we promise you will get an interview and places are not offered on a first come, first served basis. We have interview evenings taking place in February, March, April and May, so there is plenty of time for your application to be processed and offers made.

If you have applied, we look forward to welcoming you to the College for your interview. If you also get an offer, we will also invite you to attend a Summer Induction Day on either Thursday 27 or Friday 28 June, so look out for our communication to you about that later in the year.

LAST CHANCE TO VISIT THE COLLEGE

Choosing what you do after your GCSEs is an important decision and certainly if you live in Birmingham or Solihull, the choices open to you are wide and varied.

Continuing with your education is an investment into your future and in the not too distant future it will become compulsory for young people to remain in education until they are 18. For now, it’s a choice and for young people in Birmingham and Solihull, The Sixth Form College, Solihull is one of the options open to them.

 

We advise young people to go to as many open events as possible before they make their final choice. After all, how can you really know what school or college is right for you if you haven’t set foot inside it?

Back in October, we held an Open Day at the College, with a record-breaking attendance of prospective students and parents coming through the doors to see what the College offers and talk to teachers. In February, we have our final event of the year, and while not the same as Open Day, it is still a great opportunity to learn more about us and decide if we are the right place for you.

This event is called Information Evening and takes place on Thursday 7 February from 5.00pm – 8.00pm (with last entry at 7.30pm). The emphasis of this event is providing information to those who have yet to make an application, while also offering a second chance to those that have applied to ask any other questions they may have. We won’t be opening up the entire campus for this event; instead the emphasis is on giving you the chance to talk to our staff, as well as some existing students.

The College has some building work going on at the moment, which means this event will be held in our Sports Centre. The Principal Paul Ashdown will be giving presentations at 5.30pm, 6.30pm and 7.30pm in the Dance Studio, while subjects will be set up in the Sports Hall. While, we would like to be able to show you the rest of the campus, that is just not feasible on this occasion and we know that the new resources being built at the moment (a new lecture theatre, for example), will make this short-term disruption well worthwhile.

The deadline for making an application for September 2013 entry is the end of March 2013, so this event really is the last chance for you to visit us and find out more about us. Provided you apply before the deadline and you meet our entry criteria, we guarantee you will get an interview. Applications received from April onwards may still be successful, but we cannot guarantee that; it will depend on whether there are spaces left.

If this all sounds interesting to you, come and visit us on Thursday 7 February. For travelling directions, click here. You can also find out more on our Events page of the website and link to information about our Entry Requirements and our Online Application Form.

 
We look forward to welcoming you into College.

Designing our new Prospectus

September 2013 is a long way off, but already we are starting preparations for next academic year by appointing a marketing agency to design a new prospectus for us.

Coming up with a design in the really fun part, but before we get to that stage, we have to pick which marketing agency to use. We are doing this by inviting four companies in to present their ideas to us. As Marketing Co-ordinator, I am a part of this process, but there are other staff involved too, including the Principal and Vice Principal and even one of the College governors too!

We want to make sure that whichever company we pick, they are going to do a good job and come up with a design that speaks to students and parents alike. Now, I might like to think I’m still in touch with 16 year olds, but the sad truth is that my sixth form years were quite some time ago! Because of this unwelcome fact, we are asking some younger people to be part of this process, involving current students in our decision making process.

A small group of students are meeting with each of the four marketing agencies we have invited in and will participate in a focus group. In these meetings, students will talk through what they like and what they don’t like about the designs and ideas that these companies have come up with. Staff will be in the meeting too, but only to observe and we will take the students’ views into account when we make our decisions. The meetings take place today and next week.

It’s an exciting process, but we are only just at the start of our quest for a new prospectus. Once we pick an agency, we will get started on creating the final design. This usually involves several versions, until we are happy with how it looks and what it says and then over the summer the prospectus will be printed so it is ready for September.

So, if you are currently in Year 10 and starting to think about your post-16 options for September 2014, make sure you get a copy of our prospectus this autumn, and just remember that we didn’t knock it up in five minutes; we started the process nine months earlier!