We are delighted to confirm Bramcote College’s first visit to China for October 2017.

The purpose of the visit is to enable our students to develop their spoken Mandarin in a target language environment. The visit should also inspire students by allowing them to experience a very different way of life and culture and savour the delights of authentic Chinese cuisine. During the visit, the students will be able to meet Chinese students of the same age, experience secondary-school life in China, exchange ideas about education with Chinese students, as well as explore the some of the many local sights. What better way is there to prepare students for a more global future?

The visit to China is proposed from 14th – 28th October 2017 and will be for current Year 12 students. To be eligible, they must have followed a course in Mandarin through CCAWS or any NCI teaching hubs for at least 3 months or for 40+ hours are eligible to apply.

We already have over 15 students committed to their Mandarin studies – so there are a few places remaining. We will look, if there is demand, at students joining the course now and catching up any necessary hours in the summer. And as the picture below shows – the lessons are about culture as well as language – here is the group learning about Chinese Brush painting.

The two week trip will visit Shanghai plus one other city (probably Ningbo or Hangzhou) as well as places of scenic interest nearby. The camp is generously funded by Hanban for all the in-China costs, including language and cultural lessons, food and accommodation, travel and transportation as well as some of the planned visits. It is estimated that, before fundraising, the cost of the camp will be around £600 per student.

It is not too late – if you’re interested, please see James or Karsten to book your place! Don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime.

UCAS Update

Congratulations to those students who have already received offers from a variety of universities. Students have been asked to let Faye know if they have been invited to interview, as we will be able to help prepare and support students with this process. Faye is now working through her list of students to process applications (depending on when the form was submitted) and has already met with lots of students to finalise predicted grades.  More interviews have been arranged for next week, so please ensure your son / daughter keeps an eye on their college emails. 

Go4Schools

I hope that you are using Go 4 Schools, our new information system that enables us to share data with you in a useful and timely way.

Timetable: Full details of your son or daughter’s timetables are available, including the teacher and the location. If it changes in the year, or they move groups, the timetable will update;

Attendance: Current attendance is available, and is continually updated as registers are taken. Parents and students can see the pattern over the year;

Academic Progress: Over the course of the year, students’ progress in all subjects is recorded along with their target and predicted end of year grade or band. Go 4 Schools will use all the new assessment systems that are now up and running in College.

The system is already up and running successfully across the Federation. We would encourage students to use it regularly, and I hope that parents and carers find it useful and that it further enhances our partnership.

Work Experience Week; 17-21 July 2017

Quality work experience brings tangible benefits for young people, employers, schools and society as a whole. From our experiences last year, we know that it increased confidence amongst our students who participated in work experience. The aim this year is for all Year 12 students to complete a meaningful placement for one week (17th – 21st July 2017). One of the key drivers for work experience is to help promote social mobility by challenging stereotypes in relation to career aspirations. A recent report stated that many young people believe that work experience helps to develop their employability skills and that around a quarter of students are offered part-time employment following a successful work experience placement.

 If you have any specific opportunities to offer a work experience placement to a suitable student (or you could pass us a suitable contact from your business or organisation) from Bramcote College, we’d be delighted to hear from you (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Finally, the College would like to wish all parents and students a Happy Christmas!