I hope you and your family are well and staying safe. I want to take this opportunity to say how proud we are of the way you continue to persevere and commit to your studies in what are clearly very difficult circumstances. As we approach the half-term break, I wanted to share with you some important updates. Please read through all of them and share with your parents/carers.
Reopening Schools and Colleges
There are still no specific details, but it looks like the Government wants to see a return to on site education across the country from 8th March. This will probably be phased in some way. It is highly likely that we will be testing all students who are willing to take a covid test on return.
We’re hoping for clarity in the announcement to be made on February 22nd.
In order to give teachers some time for return-prep and to respond to any further end of year updates coming in the 22 Feb announcements, the first week after half term (week commencing 22 February) will be live/registered lessons for your long slot classes and work set to complete independently for the short slot. This means you are not required to sign into classes to register attendance for Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon that week.
Going forward, we will be working to ensure that catering provision is made onsite as it becomes necessary and will keep you posted on this too.
Mock Exams for Year 2 A Level Students
You will be aware that mock exams for second (final) year students were originally planned for week beginning 1st March. These will be rescheduled to take place on site, and our current thinking is that they will take place week beginning 29th March.
They will take place in College under fully socially distanced conditions. There will be a special mock exam timetable and buses will run to accommodate students at the start, middle and end of the day.
We are still waiting for the final outcome of the Government consultation on the ‘replacement activity’ for Summer 2021 exams but in the meantime we intend to continue with all the Performance Indicator’ (PI) points as we would usually do, building a picture of your performance over time.
Financial Support Reminder
Our Student financial support is available to all students whose household income is below £28,000 a year or who are in receipt of most benefits. We know that, sadly, things are changing for many families, so if your household income has changed recently and you think you might now be eligible, please contact us and we will be happy to check for you.
We are still able to accept applications for financial support for this academic year so if you think you may be eligible and haven’t yet applied please contact student.finance@franklin.ac.uk for an application form or follow this link to the financial support section on the Franklin College website https://www.franklin.ac.uk/student-life/financial-support for more information.
Practice interviews for students who have decided not to progress on to Higher Education will take place on 3rd, 4th and 5th March.
We’ve engaged with a number of employers and others who have given up their time to conduct mock/practice interviews for students looking to progress to work or apprenticeships next year.
More details to follow from your Progress Coach on preparation requirements. This is a vitally important skill to develop, so if you are in scope you will be required to attend. You will be excused from class or tutorial activity to enable attendance if this is necessary. We may have some limited space for students wanting to take up this offer who are currently in year 1. Talk to your progress coach in the first instance.
Dates for your diary…
- The Inspiring The Next Generation (ITNG) starts Feb 26th Created by Luke Staton to motivate, encourage and empower young people to follow their dream, this 6 week programme is not to be missed!
- Our annual Careers and Progression Fair will be held virtually on March 25th. Lots more information to follow soon.
Stay safe
Peter Kennedy
Principal
