15th March 2021
Covid 19 Testing at College
Year 1 students
TEST 2 - Monday 15th March (NO LESSON)
TEST 3 - Thursday 18th March
Online or On-site?
Year 1 & Level 2 students
ON-SITE
(No lessons on Monday Year 1)
(Online lessons on Monday Level 2)
Year 2 students
ONLINE
Parents Consultation Evenings Year 1 and Level 2 students:
Surnames A-K Weds 17th March
Surnames L-Z Thurs 25th March
5.30-8.00pm 10 min slots via google meet
Tutorials this week
Level 2 groups:
Progression Interviews
Year 1 groups:
1:1s with your personal tutor (Check your My Varndean home page)
Year 2 groups:
Applying for Student Finance (SFE)
Job Searching/ Applying for Work
The course dates are:
STARTS: 19th April 2021
ENDS: Jan 2022
TO ENROL ON THE COURSE, EMAIL registry@varndean.ac.uk
Student Union Elections 2021 - CAST YOUR VOTE!
Your Student Union - Your Voice
Read individual candidates manifestos and watch Hustings to hear their views and ideas. https://sites.google.com/varndean.ac.uk/student-union-elections
Voting till Wednesday 24 March 6pm
Results will be announced on Friday 26 March at 12pm
FOYLE YOUNG POETS OF THE YEAR AWARD 2021
closing date 31July 2021
Please see The Poetry Society websites for more details. https://foyleyoungpoets.org/
Cathy Jackson is happy to run workshops if you are interested or if you want her to read any of your work and offer guidance. If you are interested please email Cathy at chj@varndean.ac.uk
CLUBS & SOCIETIES - What's on this week
Please see the link to see what societies are currently running and email the lead person if you are interested in finding more about it or joining to receive a google classroom link
Interested in applying to Oxbridge?
Come to the talk to find out more...
Friday March 19th @ 12.15pm
Room 105 and online
contact Emily for meet link
Emily Board esb@varndean.ac.uk
WELLBEING & WELFARE
Our wellbeing team are available on: wellbeingzone@varndean.ac.uk if you’d like someone to contact you.
C Cards and Free Condoms can be collected from the Welfare office (Tutorial block) at lunchtimes. Any questions, email the welfare officer Daniela dss@varndean.ac.uk
CAREERS NEWS
Careers appointments can be booked via My Varndean homepage or can be requested by email
Any enquiries email: careers@varndean.ac.uk
Students identified finding placements as the biggest problem, we've made it easy by adding 130 virtual WEX opportunities to the Unifrog Special opportunities tool. Here's how to find them:
1. On the Special opportunities tool, students first select which country they're from.
2. The tool then asks which country they're interested in searching opportunities from. To find all the virtual WEX opportunities, select 'Online/ Worldwide'.
3. Students then select up to 10 subject areas they're interested in which takes them through to the longlist.
4. From here, students pick their top placements to create a shortlist of up to 10 opportunities. The shortlist gives information about what to expect from the placement and how to apply for it.
Nuffield Research Placements 2021
Widening Participation Students Opportunity
Spend your summer holiday enhancing your university application and career prospects on a Nuffield Research Placement (NRP). Team up with a STEM research professional and work on research that is meaningful and interesting to boost your UCAS personal statements, develop subject understanding alongside research and quantitative skills to expand your career prospects and learn more about higher education and different career paths.
Deadline March 31st 2021
Free Music Workshop at BIMM Institute
DE: Direct Employment
Careers Team Mock Interviews - 29th & 30th & 31st March
Soon students who are going to be looking for employment or an apprenticeship after year 13 will have tutorial time and resources given to them to help them better understand the possible recruitment processes they may be asked to participate in if looking for work.
As part of this support the Careers Team would like to offer 'Direct Employment' students the chance to have a mock interview session with them where verbal feedback would be provided. These short mock interviews would simulate a 'real' interview and would be conducted on Google Meet.
If you would like the chance to practise a few interview questions and get some feedback please email Cordelia cvd@varndean.ac.uk and put 'INTERVIEW' as the email subject. We will then send you a google form so you can choose your time slot.
Continental in Burgess Hill have four apprenticeships available in conjunction with the University of Chichester.
We have apprenticeships in software, hardware and test departments.
These are the links to apply:
Software Engineering Apprenticeship
Hardware Engineer Degree Apprenticeship
Investment 20/20 Vacancies
Careers service where you can learn about the investment management industry and all its opportunities
HE: Higher Education
University guidance & subject taster videos
These videos have one key aim. To support students who are considering university to make informed future decisions. They feature guest speakers from a range of different universities, who are always experts in the subject they are speaking about.
These subject videos introduce studying a range of different subjects at university. They cover reasons to consider the subject, what to expect on the course, and usually a careers guide and application tips as well. From Chemical Engineering to Computer Games! They add new events every week – and even take your requests!
The University of Sussex Access Programme
The Sussex Access Programme has been developed to offer specific advice, guidance, insights and enrichment to support students in year 12 and above considering higher education.
On this page you will find:
Information about our free Sussex Access Programme, what it involves and links for how to apply
Links to some of our online resources, designed to help you navigate your way through your post-16 education options.
Opportunities to contact our student ambassadors
More about the University of Sussex
TASTERS FOR YEAR 12/13 STUDENTS & TEACHERS
University. Apprenticeships. Gap years.
There are so many different paths your students can take after school or college. But discovering the right option for them takes research.
University of Brighton Courses
UoS ‘I Wonder Wednesdays’
series of online taster sessions designed to help you explore the subjects that interest you and discover what it would be like to study them at university. You’ll meet one of our lecturers and have the chance to ask any questions about the subject and about the University of Suffolk. They’re also a great way to demonstrate interest in your subject when writing your personal statement.
Each taster runs on a Wednesday and will last for around one hour. You can book to attend as many as you like and all you need to take part is access to a computer!
Please click the boxes below to view details of the sessions and to book your place.
We also run taster sessions for school groups at bespoke times. Please click here
Job opportunities Job Hunters!
Please visit the careers Moodle page
Remember that the maximum number of hours per week should be 10hrs otherwise it will affect your learning at college!
LIBRARY NEWS
The library is open for you to study in on the weeks you are scheduled to be in college, with COVID health and safety arrangements similar to the ones in place last term. You will need to wear a mask at all times in the library, and you will need to sign in at the Help Desk when you come in, for track and trace purposes. If you want to borrow any library resources you can use our Click and Collect service, or ask at the Help Desk and we can sort out some supervised book shelf browsing for you.
Here is a reminder of our opening hours:
Monday: 8.15am - 6.00pm
Tuesday: 8.15am - 7.00pm
Wednesday: 8.15am - 7.00pm
Thursday: 8.15am - 7.00pm
Friday: 8.15am - 5.30pm
We hope to see you in the library soon!
Climate change and ecological destruction are some of the biggest challenges of our time. Colleges have a responsibility to address them, and to meet the UK government's target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Varndean College has signed up to the Climate Action Roadmap for FE Colleges project, which provides guidance on how colleges can respond to the climate emergency and embed sustainability into every aspect of their organisation.
The first step of this process is to gather staff and student opinions on sustainability and find out what you think the college should do to become more sustainable. So it would help us enormously if you could complete this short survey: Varndean College Sustainability Survey The final section is partly designed to assess your level of knowledge, so please complete this without researching answers. The survey is completely anonymous.
Thank you, your feedback will help us make the college more sustainable!
NEW ON CLICKVIEW THIS WEEK
Attenborough's Life in Colour Using the latest camera technology, David Attenborough reveals the extraordinary ways in which animals use colour: to win a mate, to fight off rivals and to warn enemies. (U)
V for Vendetta
In a future British tyranny, a shadowy freedom fighter, known only by the alias of "V", plots to overthrow it with the help of a young woman. (15)
Dreams of a Life A filmmaker sets out to discover the life of Joyce Vincent, who died in her bedsit in North London in 2003. Her body wasn't discovered for three years, and newspaper reports offered few details of her life - not even a photograph. (12A)
Lily: A Transgender Story
Filmed over five years, we follow Lily Jones, 20, as she transitions from male to female, leaves her seaside home in Aberystwyth for Birmingham, undergoes gender reassignment surgery and finds love. (PG)
NEW BOOKS THIS WEEK
1-1 RESEARCH SESSIONS
If you would like some help with research for a project, why not book a one to one session with one of our subject librarians? We can still do these during lockdown either over the phone or online, and can help you choose the best resources for your research. Contact us on library@varndean.ac.uk to arrange one.
MOODLE
The Library Moodle page is your one-stop portal to all our amazing resources, including ebooks, magazines, TV programmes, films, research databases, helpful resource lists and more - all accessible on all devices.
FOLLOW US
Follow us on Instagram for our most up-to-date information on new resources and other news: @varndeancollegelibrary
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do all we can to help. Contact us by email on library@varndean.ac.uk. If you have any items out on loan that are due back soon, please don't worry about them at present - we don't expect you to return your books until it is safe to do so and we will be renewing all student loans to cover the entire college closure period.