Last Friday, the Victoria College community came together for a Remembrance Service to remember those who have fought and died in military conflicts. We were joined by Commander Phil Richardson and Contingent Commander Sqn Ldr Simon Blackmore who explained the Service of Remembrance and its importance. Wreaths were laid at the foot of Sir Galahad, one of our school memorials (which commemorates the Victorians who gave their lives in the Great War), and a two minute silence was observed. Victoria College and Victoria College Prep students then formed a procession past Sir Galahad.

Thank you to our students and visitors whose readings reminded us of the service, bravery and sacrifice of armed forces personnel in conflicts around the world, past and present – Anthony Judge, Royal Hospital Chelsea, Sergeant Major Liberty Conway, Sergeant Sam O, Staff Sergeant Oliver H, Eden (Head Boy), Seth (Deputy Head Boy) and Will (Deputy Head Boy).

If you didn't manage to watch it live, please find below the link to the recording of the service.

Remembrance Service 2022

Please find attached the Activity Week booklet, outlining the options available for boys from Monday 17 – Friday 21 July 2023. 

Activity Week Booklet 2022-23

A message from Caring Cooks:

It’s that time of the term again!

We are seeking feedback from students about their experience of our food service based on our new Autumn term menu. 

We are happy for surveys to be completed by either students or parents – both will offer a useful insight. 

Many thanks in advance – these surveys help us to understand what the students are enjoying and what can be improved so are really valuable to us.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/JKJ3TNZ

1. Music event for parents: Come and Sing Requiem by Gabriel Faure on Saturday 19 November and will be conducted by our own Director of Music, information can be found below:

http://jerseyislandsingers.co.uk/

2. The Harmony Men and our own College Choirs join together on Thursday 24 November for their "Men Aloud" concert to celebrate the Harmony Men's 30th anniversary. 

Men Aloud - Harmony Men and VCJ Choirs

3. Our Christmas concert returns on Thursday 1 December to get the festivities started. Please follow the link below for more information and to register for your free ticket:

A Christmas Cracker 

4. Our fourth year of challenging our Year 7 boys to learn an instrument will be in full swing at the Victoria College Orchestral Challenge concert on Tuesday 13 December; this short celebration of their achievements after just 11 weeks is a big event in our annual calendar. Click on the link to book your ticket:

Victoria College Orchestral Challenge Concert

Victoria College invites you to Planet Mall 2304. Live Music has been banned across the planet and all civilians have been chipped to conform to Planet Mall's dystopian legislations. We invite you to follow the journey of Galileo and Scaramouche as they fight to bring back the Music through the classic hits of Queen. This year's Christmas Musical starts on Monday 5 December and goes on until Thursday 8 December. Each performance begins at 7pm with doors opening at 6:30pm. Come and visit Planet Mall this Christmas or face the wrath of Killer Queen. Tickets - £10 General Admission, £6.50 Concession. Please follow the links to book your ticket:

5 December - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/victoriacollegearts/t-dvkonyq

6 December - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/victoriacollegearts/t-galgnxx

7 December - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/victoriacollegearts/t-lndmykd

8 December - https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/victoriacollegearts/t-yazkrll

Elevate Education works with students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school.

In this webinar - How to Build Your Child's Resilience - Elevate will be showing parents:

• What resilience means, what it doesn’t mean, and why it’s important
• How to help build your child’s resilience levels, both in and out of school
• How to help your child break their ‘fear of failure’

To register for free, please click on the link:  Register Here

This term the Highlands College Level 3 Performing Arts students have been working on an adaptation of “Find Me” by Olwen Wymark and offering free performances for all students and staff on the following dates.

1. Tuesday – 29^th Nov -1.30pm
2. Wednesday 30^th Nov – 1.30pm
3. Thursday 1^st Dec – 1.30pm and 7pm

All performances on this occasion will be in the Theatre studio at Highlands College situated in the Media building.

Highlands College have been working alongside MIND Jersey and there will be a representative from the charity at each performance to talk to anyone afterwards. A collection will be made for MIND Jersey at each performance for anyone wanting to give a donation to them. 

The poster includes a QR code. All tickets must be booked through Eventbrite, even though they are free, in order to be able to accommodate numbers safely for each performance.

Please click on the link for further information: Find Me - Highlands College Theatre Production

Year 12 students are organising joint lunches for Year 7 with JCG to allow students to build positive relationships with their peers from JCG. On Wednesday 7 December, 7Braithwaite and 7Diarmid will go to the Great Hall at the start of lunch, and should bring with them a packed lunch and a pen. On Thursday 8 December, 7Sartorius, 7Bruce and 7Dunlop will go to the Great Hall at the start of lunch, and should bring with them a packed lunch and pen.

Victoria College's School Counsellor is offering a new activity for all students in Years 7-9. Parents are invited to refer their son via the form below. 

https://forms.office.com/r/RG6scjwiAT

The Coping Skills Game for 2-4 players provides students with tools for emotional self-care helping them to cope with daily challenges. Children will learn to deal with feelings, adjust attitudes, discover choices, accept imperfections, and more. The game presents real-life situations and makes dealing with them fun. Participants learn to identify and accept their feelings, verbalise their needs, and to have them met in an acceptable manner, instead of acting them out in a dangerous or disruptive way.

We are pleased to be able to offer this history trip again. Please see the attached letter for further details. 

Battlefields Trip - Parent Letter

We are delighted to let you know that Horrible Histories - Terrible Tudors is coming to the island in December. This is a West End quality production which will be visiting the island, and we have been fortunate to secure tickets on Thursday, 15 December for a performance at 13:30.

Please click on the link for further information:

Horrible Histories Parent letter

We are excited to announce the official launch of the Geography Department's Iceland Trip. Departing on Wednesday, 19 July and returning on Saturday, 22 July  (please be aware this is the Saturday after the end of term) 2023 the trip is open to all pupils from Year 8 to Year 13. The cost of the trip will be £1450 (based on 30 pupils signing up) which will include flights, accommodation, food, and travel insurance with the cost spread over an initial non-refundable deposit of £100 and three structured payments of £450.

While the trip will remain open to new applicants, the deadline for initial expressions of interest will close on Friday 25 November.

Please complete the form on this link to receive more detailed information.

https://forms.office.com/r/uXWumPd98d

Any questions please contact Daniel Hodder - d.hodder@vcj.sch.je

We are delighted to be able to invite you and your son to our Year 9 GCSE Options and Information Evening on Tuesday 29 November from 5pm until 7pm. A letter containing more information is accessible via the link below:

Year 9 Options Evening Parent Letter

Ahead of the evening, if you would like to learn more about the GCSE courses available to your son, the GCSE Options Guide can be found here.

Thank you for further payments and forms received this week. Please ensure that your son fills in the online form as this will be used by Mrs Watkins to speed up the enrolment process.

This week Mrs Blackmore will start to visit each tutor group to help them with their choices. Please watch and listen to the attached Powerpoint to find out more about D of E, what options the students have and some frequently asked questions at the end. In addition, there is a small booklet with guidance for the boys if you prefer a shorter version. Please email Mrs Blackmore with any further queries - m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je

DofE FAQ Video

DofE FAQ Booklet

A careers fair will take place in the Great Hall for the above year groups.  There will be 20 companies and organisations attending from Finance to Construction to Physiotherapy.  We do hope your son will make the most of the opportunity with his allocated slot.  Please see here a link to view who will be in attendance;  please do ask your son to do a little research on the stands he would like to go to:

Careers Fair 2022 - Booklet of Companies Attending

We hope that you enjoyed the Sixth Form Open Evening on Tuesday 15 November, and that the information provided enabled you to gain an understanding as to what the Victoria College Sixth Form has to offer.

Please find below links to the presentation from the evening, a letter detailing the next steps in the application process and the Sixth Form application form:

Sixth Form Open Evening Presentation

Sixth Form Open Evening Parent Letter

Sixth Form Open Evening Application Form

We are delighted to invite you to a parent study skills evening on Wednesday 23 November. This 60-minute session will be delivered by Elevate Education, who will also be working with your children to support them in preparing for their forthcoming mock and final examinations.

Please click on the link to view the original letter (now extended to Y12 & Y13):

Elevate Training Study Skills Parent Letter

Year 12 students are taking part in an employment exercise which involves a 1:1 interview with a representative from an industry in Jersey.

Please click on the link to find out more about this opportunity.

Year 12 Interviews Letter

All 16-18 year old students are invited to take part in the Christopher Tower Poetry Competition. Write a poem up to 48 lines on the theme of the planets for the chance to win up to £5000! Competition closes February 24th 2023. 

To find out more please click here.

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 are once again taking part in this initiative this year, growing moustaches of varying sizes, shapes and quality, and we are also inviting our Sixth Form students to take part.

As well as fundraising during the moustache-growing effort, we also aim to educate students and engage them in conversation on the above mentioned topics. We are doing this through assemblies and tutor-time content. We are hopeful that our continued efforts to highlight such issues will encourage young people to be open to discussing and tackling such problems.

Should Sixth Form students still like to take part, we are asking 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 - link below. We will be taking more 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 in contacting me either via e-mail (a.falle@vcj.sch.je) should you wish to discuss this further.