Our annual Founders’ Walk takes place tomorrow from Les Jardins de la Mer to Corbière and back. This is a fun and exciting way to end Founders’ Week, where we recognise the founding of the College as well as raise funds to support the Victoria College Foundation. A letter containing all the details is attached, but the main points are below:

• This is a sponsored event, the link to donate can be found below and in the letter
• Once they have completed the walk, boys can self-dismiss from Les Jardins de la Mer unless you notify the College otherwise
• Boys will need to walk with the appropriate equipment listed in the letter

Founders' Walk Parents Letter

Founders' Week 2023 Promotional Video 

Founders' Week Poster

Keep up with the fundraising leader board, here.

To enable parents to have a better idea of what our KS3 students are studying in their PSHE lessons and to spread these conversations out of the classroom and into the home, we would be delighted if you could adopt our dinner table discussions into your weekly schedule.

Each week there will be questions that you can ask your child, that will link into their learning from PSHE that week and hopefully prompt interesting conversations. This term in PSHE Year 7 are exploring the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Year 8 are exploring media literacy and Year 9 are considering masculinity.

This week's questions:

Year 7- Can you think of any times when different rights may come into conflict with each other? At times like these, we need to use our moral code – what does that mean, and where do we get this from?

Year 8 - How much screen time does everyone in the family have on social media each week?  Do you think phones should be allowed at the dinner table or not? Why? 

Year 9 - What is body-image? Do boys face increasing pressure today to live up to certain ideals of body image? 

We were very grateful to receive the attached guide earlier this week, which has been created by one of our kind and generous parents. It gives a clear overview of the main apps in operation, their purpose and how to access them.

Victoria College Apps Guide

A new website has been launched to help young people with managing their sexual thoughts and behaviours, with the goal of providing them with the information and tools necessary to be healthy and safe, both online and in the world. The site is Home - Shore. The same company has a site for parents to give you the information you need to keep your children safe. The parent site is Parents Protect. There are lots of very helpful resources there.

Victoria College has the provision for remote learning via its Microsoft Teams platform. Remote learning is not an automatic right to a student if they are absent from College. As a general rule, if students are unwell and at home, they are not well enough to access learning and should focus on getting better before returning to College. However, there are circumstances which do qualify for remote learning, such as periods of ill health absence. You can find the link below to our policy which outlines our remote learning provision and guidance.

Remote Learning Provision and Guidance

If your son returns home via the Beaulieu Convent School grounds, it is politely requested that he walk via the path adjacent to the astro-turf (orange route) rather than through the primary playground (red route). This was the route previously used whilst Beau Sports was being constructed.

Additionally, Beaulieu Convent School is having gates fitted at either end of the campus which will have a number pad on. These gates will be open before and after the school for students, but locked during the working day. The code will be provided for both gates for collaboration students, once they are in operation.

We have recently relaunched the Careers section on our website, an excellent resource for all students, parents and carers to help them navigate education and careers pathways and make informed choices.

Careers support is not just limited to Y11 and Sixth Form students but is accessible to all Year groups across the curriculum and throughout their time at Victoria College.  For more on our world-class careers provision from Y7 - Y13, please click on the link below: 

Gatsby Benchmarks - Victoria College Careers Provision

All of our Clubs and Activities are listed publicly on the College Calendar.

This summer we have introduced a new system, SOCS Co-Curricular.

Students and Parents are now able to “Activate” (set up) their accounts using their College email addresses (ending @vcj.sch.je) and the email addresses provided to the College at the point of application respectively.

The benefits of this system for parents and students include:

• All Clubs and Activities are visible in one place.
• Each individual student's timetable is in one place.
• Users are alerted to clashes, changes or last-minute cancellations.
• For those boys having individual instrumental lessons, this system also displays times and locations.

The benefits of the system to the College:

• All Clubs and Activities are visible in one place.
• Waiting lists can be set up for oversubscribed Clubs and Activities.
• Track participation more easily.
• Communicate any changes or last-minute cancellations easily.
• We can control who can sign up, and when.

Details of how to “Activate” the parent account, as well as the link to the sign-up page, can be found here. They can also be found on the College website, under the Secondary School section, in the “For Parents” menu as “Co-Curricular Clubs and Activities”. Co-curricular students need to click 'forgot password' and enter their College email address.

Once your account is activated, you and/or your son can sign up to the Clubs and Activities that are available to him. Not only does this allow us to plan for who is coming, it will give you an overview of his week.

If your son hasn’t signed up, he can still attend a non-paid for club by turning up. He will be added to the register.

As part of his A Level coursework, we currently have a student, Ollie, who is researching elite migration to Jersey.  

He would really appreciate it if you could take the time to complete his survey accessible via the link below. Many thanks.

Elite Migration Survey

• Dick Moore talk, 'Coping with your adolescent' - Tuesday 31st October, 7-8pm, Great Hall. For more information and to register, please click here.

We have recently learned that Snapchat have changed the number of members that can be added to a group, and there seems to be an island-wide Y7 Snapchat group. I strongly urge parents to monitor your son's phones regularly. Snapchat has an age rating of 12+, but given some of the content I would suggest 14 is a more suitable age to start using it.

Please do be aware that if problematic behaviour is reported to the College, we will take action to support the student, which might include a sanction if appropriate.

The VCPA Y7 Parents’ Meal is a great initiative to bring together all the new Year 7 parents, at the same time providing an opportunity to meet their sons' tutors and teachers.  

The cost of the evening is £21 per head which includes a two-course meal and drinks. For more information, please click on the link below. 

New Parents' Welcome Meal Flyer

Our Open Evening is taking place on Thursday 5 October and we would like to invite our students to help on the evening by running tours for visiting families. If your son is able to help, please complete this short form. Food will be provided for those helping between 3.25 and 4.15pm. As the College gates will be shut, please arrange to collect your son from Langford or the bottom gate.

The School Nursing Team will be visiting the College on the morning of Monday 9 October 2023 to administer the flu vaccination to students in Years 7 to 11. Please may we ask that consent forms are completed and returned to the school office as soon as possible.

Flu Vaccination Consent Form

All those who have filled in forms should now be enrolled on D of E. 

This means they should check their school emails for a D of E message which includes their username and password to access their D of E account.

It would be a good idea for your son to upload the D of E app onto their phone as this is a much easier way of managing his choices and uploading evidence.

On Monday, the plan is to start with an assembly outlining what the students should do next and in the following weeks. Mrs Blackmore hopes to go into each tutor group to give them some help with choices and how to use the app. The boys need to choose 3 areas: a skill, fitness and volunteering, which they do for 3 months, and one they choose to do for 6 months. It can be something new or something they do already. Mrs Blackmore has backdated the start date to September 2nd so, for example, they can use football if they have been doing it this season.

The most important aspect is the assessor form completed and uploaded to their app at the end of the 3/6 months. This can be their coach/teacher but cannot be someone under 18 or family. This can be an issue with choices like cooking, running or other more independent choices. In this case, they need to upload some images and show their tutor or Mrs Blackmore, and we can write an assessor report for them.

If you need further information, please see the D of E section of our website. If your son would still like to be involved and has not yet signed up, please contact Mrs Blackmore (m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je) with the relevant forms completed. 

Please find below the link to the Year 9 Parent Information Evening presentation.

Year 9 Parent Information Evening Presentation

All Year 10 D of E need to finish off their accounts. Many of them have said they need to upload assessor reports.

Our students have done amazingly well with 97 passing their expedition and many completing at least 2 sections of their Award. They just need to complete the last sections and upload assessor reports. These reports cannot be completed by family or people under 18. The tutors should have an up-to-date list to help, but Mrs Blackmore is  always available at lunch, break, before and after school to help. If you have any queries please email Mrs Blackmore (m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je).

All Year 10 pupils will be completing a 2-week work experience placement commencing on Monday 3 June 2024. Pupils will have an assembly on Monday 9 October to launch the scheme and there will also be a parents' information briefing on the same day at 18:00. Please see attached a letter from the Skills Jersey department outlining the programme.

Trident Work Experience Parent Letter

Please find below the link to the Year 11 Parent Information Evening presentation.

Year 11 Parent Information Evening Presentation

Please see attached a letter regarding moped/motorbike parking, expectations and registration.

Moped Registration

Please see attached a letter from Mr Falle regarding Sixth Form subs.

Sixth Form Subs Parent Letter

Please see attached a letter detailing an opportunity provided to our Sixth Form students by the Neil Hussey Heart Charity. Please note the limited places available, and the closing date for applications of Friday 20 October.

Neil Hussey Charity Parents Letter

Please see attached a copy of the Year 13 Parent Information Evening Presentation, which took place on Tuesday 26 September, along with an accompanying letter and a copy of the Sixth Form absence request form.

Year 13 Parent Information Evening Presentation

Sixth Form Leave of Absence Request Form

Y13 Information Evening Parent Letter