Parents+Room

Tauntons College
//'Taunton’s College’s mission is to provide an outstanding education in the Southampton area that meets and extends the aspirations of young people of all abilities and offers them an excellent preparation for future life.'//

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Who’s Who?
May I take this opportunity to introduce myself and the staff that will be teaching on the BTEC National Certificate in Sport this academic year. My name is Kristian Still, I am the Course Leader and I have the responsibility for the teaching and the delivery of the course. At this point I think its is important to stress the value we place on parental involvement in the course.


 * Kristian Still** ([|Email]) Tel: 02380 511731

The Teaching Team
Kristian Still (Course Leader) Colin Morris, Dave Richards, Richard Issac, James Barritt and Jess Smith and I represent the subject teaching team, in addition, the staff are also active College tutors. May I also take the opportunity to introduce the Study Skills Team. The Study Skills Team is there to support your childs' academic skills development, to support learning both in and out of the classroom. The Study Skills Team can help in a wide variety of ways, from developing **A grade** learning skills like critical evaluation and analysis, to essential study skills such as time management and proof reading. The aim of the Study Skills Team is //'to make good students better'// and have made a significant contribution to the Accelerated Learning section of this resource.



College Tutors
College tutors are responsible for the overall academic and personal welfare of your son or daughter, this is essentially a pastoral role. From September 07 the college has also positioned 'Student Learning Officers' to monitor attendence and inform you if your son or daughter is absent from class. College tutors have an **overview** of your son or daughters progress towards their target grades and should therefore be your **first point of contact** for your general enquiries.Please encourage your son or daughter to develop a strong relationship with their College tutor, as I encourage you to do so also. College tutors can most readily be contacted by phone or email.

include page="HTML_div_pullquoteleft_open"**Target Grades:** Based on the student GCSE performance and most current academic potential, students are set challenging target grades. All progress reviews and academic feedback is referenced against these targets grades for each **individual student.** include page="HTML_div_close"

Subject Tutor
Subject tutors are responsible for delivering the course content, assessing student work and provide regular academic feedback. You can expect you son or daughter to receive written formative and summative feedback on each assignment. Subject tutors also feed forward information to the course leader informally and contribute to progress reviews and setting target grades. ALL staff have high expectations and will drive academic standards towards and beyond the students **target grades**.

Positive Teaching and Learning
//'Success comes in cans. Failure? Failure comes in cants.'//

This is a very simple proposition. Staff and students are encouraged to focus on what we can do, rather than what we can not. Tutors use both wiki and classroom learning charters to emphase the **appropriate behaviours.** We hope that you will promote and support these values, particularly when the students are finding that the challenges position them outside their comfort zone.


 * **Wiki Charter** || **Classroom Charter** ||
 * Collaboration || Preparation ||
 * Accountability || Attitude ||
 * Respect || Respect ||

In light of student feedback, tutors will offer practical, creative learning opportunities at every opportunity with students having greater access to their 'grade tracking' documents through the wiki. You can therefore expect your son or daughter to be informed of their current progress and **be able to share with you their achievements through the wiki at all times.**

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Daily, Weekly, Yearly Planning
For immediate course information the wiki HOME page acts as an electronic noticeboard. It is a LIVE document and is updated frequently. You have full access to your childs academic calendars and coursework schedule. We also encourage your son or daughter to create their own online diary which they can share with you and their peers. Personal planning is an essential life skill and we need your help to develop these skills within the students.

If your son or daughter is going to miss a class or be late for class please contact the Absence Line on 02380 514777 or the class tutor.
 * Lateness or Absence**

Planned extended absences need to be discussed in advanced as online resources and support are available to support distance learning.
 * Extended Absence**

Private Study Expectations
//'Parental involvement accounts for up to one-quarter of potential attainment. Its effect is eight times greater than the impact of such aspects of social class as parents' occupations.'//

Students are expected to complete approximately **TWELVE** hours of independent learning or private study per week for in preparing for class and completing assignments. The BTEC National Diploma in Sport is currently the equivalent of **THREE** A Levels and is therefore an academically demanding course. Please note that many students are also studying GCSEs and complementary AS and A2 courses which will place an additional burden on their time.

In deciding how much work to commit yourself to, you might consider:
 * how many hours to work (around 8 hours a week seems manageable for many students)
 * when you work; holiday or weekend work may be easier to manage than evening work during the week
 * how you could use your experience of work, for example to link with vocational courses, to provide key skills evidence or to gain experience needed for a future career.

include page="HTML_div_pullquoteleft_open"Whilst part work is important in developing personal independence, research evidence shows that after 8 hours of part work, final grades achieved decline in proportion to the extent of the work commitments.include page="HTML_div_close"

EMA and Parental Support
Educational Maintenaince Allowance ([|EMA]) information is one click away.
 * [|Why take a new vocational qualification?]
 * [|Where do vocational qualifications lead?]
 * [|Success in vocational education]
 * [|Questions about vocational qualifications]
 * [|Vocational qualifications: a comparison]
 * [|Where can you find out more?]

Parent Testimony
If you are a parent of a student or former student then your views are important to us. Please post your views here.

//Hello Kristian, Just a quick note from Phil and I to say thanks. As you know Sam had a few college offers before he eventually chose Tauntons to study his BTEC, he turned down places at Brockenhurst, Weymouth, Itchen and Basingstoke. We thought long and hard as to which establishment was going to best meet his needs and more importantly engage Sam in learning. Sam had had a great time at secondary school and has made some lasting friendships, however academically he was lazy and not motivated, hence he came away from year 11 with ‘adequate GCSE results’. We always knew he was capable of more and we have been proved right. I cannot emphasise enough the key part played in this by you. The decision to come to Tauntons was, in the end, purely down to the fact that you inspired him to learn. You valued them as individuals taking the time to get to know them all and playing to their strengths so as to get the most from each student. Sam has absolutely thrived at Tauntons both on and off the football playing field under you expert guidance. For Sam to come away with his Maths GCSE, a merit/distinction in his Btec and possibly AS level psychology is amazing and we are so proud of his achievements, and so very grateful for you considerable part in this. He is off to America now for the chance of a lifetime scholarship and this again is down to you. Please except this as our sincere thanks. Kind Regards Mandy James//