Principal’s Update

Dear Colleagues,

The week started early with a Sunday (8th September) site visit due to water damage in the media and sports building. Our estates team, plus Rob Moy, were busy clearing rooms and trying to dry up the flooded stairwells and leaking ceilings.

My appreciation to the team for their fantastic quick response and particularly to Ben Pirozzolo who was there until 9 o’clock at night sorting out computers in one of the rooms so induction could take place for the media students. 

Enrolment

We have more than 700 students enrolled in the sixth form, with 111 identified as having need of over five hours of additional learning support for them to be able to flourish on their learning journey with us. 

We also have an increased number of students with a record of need. 

I am meeting with the programme lead for education reform, including inclusion, to hopefully address budget support for students with high needs, which is still somewhat lacking, due to government wide constraints.

Freshers’ Fair

On Friday (13th September), we had a very successful Freshers’ Fair with fantastic representation from employers, the voluntary sector and a range of volunteering opportunities for our students to engage with. Thank you to the student life team and the events team for their hard-work getting set up and organising the day so that it could run smoothly. It was such a positive, happy experience for all those who attended.

This week

This week we will be looking at the College budget in some detail with a number of transactions that need to be processed from the summer months so that our books are up-to-date for year end projections.

Rob Moy and I have been meeting with the economy department to discuss what role we will play in training as part of the package to support employers in their transition towards paying the living wage.

This term

Kate Hobbs and I will be focusing this term on the development of the new strategic plan for 2025 to 2029. We will begin engagement with parents, employers, students, politicians, and all our multiple stakeholders to ensure that the work that we do meets the needs of the island.

We have looked at your feedback from the focus groups. Your feedback has been invaluable and is helping us to establish our priorities as well as recognise the barriers presented by the current campus and restrictions upon our learning environment. 

Summary

Overall, enrolments are up in the sixth form and slightly down in higher education. Apprenticeships at intermediate and degree level are also increased this year.

I’ve seen a lot of happy faces around the campus with students looking very confident and settled already. Thank you very much for all the hard work you’ve put into induction and into ensuring that they had the best welcome. 

As I’ve said before, but it bears repeating students: Students may forget some of the subjects you’ve taught them, but they will never forget how you made them feel! 

Have a wonderful week, with best wishes,

Jo