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 Y7 are exploring the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Y8 are exploring media literacy and Y9 are considering masculinity.

This week's questions:

Y7 - Which articles did you choose for your class charter? Why did you think these were the most important? 

Y8 - What prejudices are there in the media about young people? Are young people unfairly stigmatised in society? 

Y9 - What is negative peer pressure? What could you do if you see someone being pressured in a negative way? 

Many people may, at this time, be disturbed by the crisis of human suffering and loss of life and liberty for civilians who are caught in the escalating conflict. Ms Raffray, School Counsellor, has adapted the linked document below to help families deal with the troubling news that may be seen.

Support for Families During Current World Events

For any student that did not receive their vaccination on Monday 9 October 2023, the next, and final, drop in clinic is on Saturday 4 November. Please see the linked document for more information. 

Nasal Flu Drop-in Clinics

Due to high demand, Motion Studio Animation club have offered us two club slots next term. Starting after half-term, we will have Wednesday after school from 3.35pm to 4.35pm and Friday lunchtime 1.05pm to 1.55pm. 

Sign up will be via our new co-curricular portal, SOCS. Please note the sign up windows below for the two Clubs. In the interest of fairness, Y7 will be able to sign up slightly earlier. Boys may not sign up for both clubs, and priority is given to those who have not signed up to this club already this year. 

Y7 – sign up opens 12pm on Friday 13 October and closes TONIGHT at 8pm.

Y8 & 9 – sign up opens at 5pm on Friday 13 October and closes TONIGHT at 8pm.

The club costs £66 for 6 sessions and the payment process will be confirmed after sign up.

• Sixth Form Open Evening - Tuesday 14 November
• Y9 Options Evening - Tuesday 28 November
• Careers Fair - Wednesday 29 November
• College Production - Victoria College's Nativity....Goes Wrong - Tuesday 5 & Wednesday 6 December
• A Christmas Cracker - Thursday 7 December
• Victoria College Orchestral Challenge Concert - Tuesday 12 December

Please refer to the school calendar for all up-to-date information surrounding events.

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

Please find attached what your son needs to bring to lessons for next term. Please note as the weather is getting colder they must now wear their reversible tops for their games lessons not their PE tops. They are also welcome to wear their ¼ zip should they want to. They should continue to wear their white/yellow/black T shirts for PE unless swimming.

Y7 Dodgeball Club is now available on a Tuesday lunchtime and Y7 Table Tennis Club is now available on a Thursday lunchtime, both in the Langford Gymnasium. Please sign up your son via SOCS in the usual way.

After school Friday Football will now become Y7 House Football. Parents are welcome to come and watch the House football games. Please do not turn up before 15:25 as we have other lessons still going on.

Y7 PE & Games - Autumn Half Term

JCG Sixth Form students are hosting a joint Y7 & Y8 Disco from 6-8pm on Tuesday 31 October. Nightingale and Curie Fry Houses are organising the event in aid of their House charities, Philips Footprints and Parkinson's UK.

Please find below the link to purchase a ticket for the event, with tickets available for £5. This event will be staffed by VCJ and JCG staff and Prefects.

Year 7 & 8 Disco - Sign Up

Please find the link below to next year’s Activity Week programme scheduled to take place in the last week of the Summer Term from Monday 15 to Friday 19 July 2024.

Please read the booklet carefully with your son and complete the final online registration listing your 3 choices (information found at the end of this booklet) by no later than Wednesday 1 November 2023 if you intend to select an off-Island trip. The final deadline for all other on-Island entries will be Friday 12 January 2024.

Activity Week Programme 2024

Please find below the link to a letter about Careers Guidance meetings taking place with all Y9 students: 

Year 9 Interviews - Parent Letter

• Mrs Blackmore has been into 3 tutor groups so far; all the students that she has spoken to have lots of good ideas and have asked clarifying questions
• Progress has been very good, so thank you for the support you may be giving them. Mrs Blackmore has set the start date to September 3 2023 so if they have been playing football, studying a musical instrument or were doing volunteer work at their Church or Youth group they should be nearly 2 months into their chosen activity
• It would be good to get all the 80 boys completed on their 3 months activity by Christmas. These activities do not have to done at different times but can be completed concurrently
• If your son is not sure what to do or how the app works then encourage him to ask Mrs Blackmore. She is often in NB3 before and after school and most lunchtimes. Failing that, students and parents can email her at m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je
• It is extremely likely that the expedition will be carried out after the Year 9 exams at the end of June and beginning of July, so if you foresee any issues, please let Mrs Blackmore know as soon as possible, so she can try to accommodate requests. Thank you for your support

• Students should be uploading their assessor reports to complete this Award
• As Mrs Blackmore now has 80 Year 9s to start supporting, she will have less time to help Year 10. However, most students just need to upload the evidence
• Some are not passing because they do not have dates showing or even recorded. Thank you to parents for signing their reports, but they are not allowed by D of E. Mrs Blackmore has found a way to get round this, but it does slow the process down considerably
• If you have any issues or questions, please send your son to see Mrs Blackmore or email her: m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je

Please find attached 3 documents which may be useful for the Trident options selection process:

• Slides from last week's parents' briefing
• Student selection guide which guides pupils through how to use the Skills Jersey database to make their selections
• A copy of their own placement form to be used if they have secured their own placement away from those on the database (please complete this along with the database option, so we have all the necessary information)

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with Head of Trident, Tim Hutton (t.hutton@vcj.sch.je) if you have any questions.

Trident Parent Information

Student Application Guide

Own Placement Form

Y11 pupils can join the YES project at Crabbe Activity Centre on Thursday, 26 October for the 5 Ways to Wellbeing Programme.

The day runs from 10am to 4pm and is completely free of charge.

Activities will include:

• Boxercise

• A managing stress workshop

• High ropes

• A quiz with prizes to be won

Pick up and drop off is available from St James Centre and lunch will be included. To register your interest, please click here.

As part of the post-16 process, we would like to invite you and your sons to the Sixth Form Information Evening, which will take place on Tuesday 14 November, from 5pm-7pm. During the evening, you will hear a presentation from Dr Hughes, Mr Falle and current students in the HDT which will include:

• The culture and ethos at Victoria College

• The expectations of Victoria College Sixth Form students

• The Victoria College Sixth Form curriculum offer, options and opportunities

• The Victoria College Sixth Form application process and entry criteria

• Advice from current students

Alongside this you will be able to speak to subject teachers in the Great Hall about A Level studies within their subject areas. We will also be inviting teachers of subjects at our collaboration schools, JCG and Beaulieu, so that students can speak with them about the options that Victoria College boys have access to at those schools, including Media studies at JCG and the Business CTEC programme at Beaulieu.

We would ask that students with surnames beginning A-L, and their parents, are seated in the HDT for a presentation at 5.10. Those students and parents will then be able to access teachers in the Great Hall from 6pm until 7pm. Students with surnames beginning M-Z should be seated in the HDT for a presentation at 6.10. Those students and parents will be able to access teachers in the Great Hall from 5pm until 6pm.

In recent years, a number of Victoria College and Victoria College Preparatory School staff have taken part in ‘Movember’, an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men's suicide. We will once again be taking part this year, growing moustaches of varying sizes, shapes and quality, and we are also inviting our Sixth Form students to take part. We are hopeful that our continued efforts to support this event will encourage young people to be open to discussing and tackling such problems.

If Sixth Form students would like to take part in this wonderful initiative, we will ask them to attend a sign-up meeting on Wednesday 1st November, in the Great Hall, at break time. During this meeting we will ask boys to contribute a minimum of £10.00 to our fundraising efforts, the same amount that staff will pay. This can either be paid in cash or using our online donation page. We will arrange photos during 'Movember' so that we can track the progress being made by those taking part. Those not participating should continue to adhere to the usual Sixth Form policy for facial hair.

Money raised will be donated to Movember UK. You can find out more about the work that they do to support Men’s Health here. Should you wish to support the Victoria College students and staff with their fundraising by donating, then you can do so here.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact Head of Sixth Form, Mr Falle, via e-mail (a.falle@vcj.sch.je) should you wish to discuss this further.