We are constantly trying to improve the education that we offer students at Victoria College and are now at the stage in the school year where we need you to tell us how well you think we are doing and how we can improve the things that are important to you. Please spare 10 minutes to complete a questionnaire by using this link and logging on using the password provided below.

The case-sensitive password is: VCJ99802Pa

By completing the questionnaire, you will be telling us how you think we should be spending our time and resources, to make our College the best that it can be for your son. Each completed questionnaire is vital in finding out what parents think. Your answers will be treated in the strictest confidence and will make a difference to how we run the school and plan for the future.

Your son has also been invited to complete a survey which is available via the daily briefing. We would be grateful if you could encourage him to complete it. It is anonymous and will only take 10 minutes.

Thank you in advance for your help.

In response to feedback from students, staff and parents, from September 2023 we will be launching an updated PE and Games kit at Victoria College. The update is to ensure our kit is modern, distinctive, cost-effective and appropriate for the students to use for a range of sports and activities, both indoors and outdoors. It has also been subject to scrutiny from our own focus groups of students, and the results were very positive. For more information please do refer to the letter that was sent to all parents this week:

Parent Letter - Updated PE and Games Kit

Throughout the year, we continue to signpost the resources and services available to support our staff and students with their mental health and wellbeing. Last year we moved our Student Support Services team to a new, reimagined space in the centre of the College. It is here that many students benefit from valuable time in the calm room and from private sessions with our school counsellor and Student Support team including:

• Individual Counselling and ELSA (Emotional Literacy support) Sessions – sign up via the link in the newsletter
• Therapeutic board game groups x 2 – these are advertised on social media, TV screens and in the newsletter
• Twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) lunchtime ‘Reading Club’ where we start with a little workout, followed by eating together, discussing a variety of topics and finally reading in silence for a few minutes. Students are encouraged to positively interact with each other and support each other; we also encourage students to show off their talents during this session (recently playing instruments).

The central purpose of a calming room is to help students regulate their emotions. When stress and anxiety rise, all humans struggle to make good choices. We struggle to have productive conversations, and we lose focus on the tasks that lie in front of us. The goal of the VCJ calming room is to reduce negative sensory input and provide calming visual, auditory, and tactile experiences to help students destress. The room is used to help students de-escalate and emotionally reset.

This half-term we are delighted to welcome two new members of staff to our Student Support Services team – Clare Scott (SENDCo) and Michelle Findlay (Teaching Assistant and ELSA). Their new staff bios can be accessed here.

Please do get in touch with Clare Scott (c.scott@vcj.sch.je) for more information or sign up to the support services signposted above and regularly advertised via the newsletter.

We are very excited to see all your artwork - please ensure that when you hand in your piece(s) tomorrow to the Business Centre, you attach this form fully completed (hard copies can also be collected from the School Office).

Watch this space for news about how to book tickets for the exhibition after half-term. 

Please be aware of the following key events that are taking place next half-term:

• Parent Survey - extended until Wednesday 7 June.
• Victoria College Orchestral Challenge Concert - Tuesday 27 June. Book here.
• Art Equals Exhibition and Auction - Friday 30 June
• Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation Run - Sunday 2 July, full details here.
• College Prize Giving - Friday 7 July
• Summer Concert - Wednesday 12 July. Book here.
• Sports Day and Non-Sports Sports Day - Thursday 13 July
• Activities Week - Monday 17 - Friday 21 July

Please refer to the school calendar and regular updates via the newsletter and social media for more information.

For those of you with boys in Y10 and above, please will you ask them to provide a recording that Mr Murton can later collate for our tour operator to share in Italy.  After half-term there will be a meeting on the Tuesday lunchtime for all the boys involved with the tour.

Please could you also check and guestimate your son's expected size for a tour hoodie. There is a poll on the Italy Tour Team for the boys to complete.

Do you have an orchestral instrument lurking in a cupboard or loft at home that's not being used? With so many boys playing instruments we would like to ensure we have enough capacity for next year's in-take and wonder if you may consider donating it to our Orchestra Project. Please do let Director of Music, Mr Murton, knowf.murton@vcj.sch.je if you would like to lend or donate.

The year seems to have gone so quickly and the final half-term is now upon us. Hopefully the sun continues to shine to make this a wonderful last term for your son.  In the attached document, we have outlined the Year 7 Physical Education and Games lessons for next term. We have tried where possible to also offer your son an opportunity to learn squash this term in his PE lesson too. If he wishes to do this a teacher will ask him in his first PE lesson; all he needs to do is express his interest to them.

Sports day this term is on Thursday 13 July at FB Fields. Some events will take place prior to the day. The teams are chosen within their House groups by their Tutor. There is a restriction on the number of events any one boy can do. Those not selected in their House team will be taking part in the Non-Sports Sports Day on the school site. More details regarding this will follow shortly.

Y7 PE & Games - Summer Half Term

Further to the Music Department's letter about the Orchestra Project, today is the deadline to complete the response form that was recently shared with you. We would be very grateful if you could make a decision regarding the Orchestra project in Y8.

The languages department is offering a day trip to St Malo on Saturday 24 June. With limited places available, we would like to invite you to register your interest if you would like your son to attend. This is not confirmation of a place at the moment but rather an opportunity for us to gain insight into the number of students we can potentially take.

Please email Modern Foreign Languages Teacher, Miss Innes, at (m.innes@vcj.sch.je) to register your interest as soon as possible. More details to follow the first week after half-term. 

Letters for each activity are in the process of coming out detailing important information relating to your son's Activities Week choice and information on making payment.

PGL Sussex

If your son is attending the upcoming Activities Week trip to PGL Sussex, please could you send his passport information to Marilyn Cox. (m.cox@vcj.sch.je)

This could either be a photograph of the passport ID page attached to an email or you could add the following information:

• given names as it is shown on the passport
• date of birth
• passport number
• expiry date (ensure it has more than 6 months to run).
• issue date

The letters explain any final payments still due for Activities Week.

Please contact Head of Clubs & Activities, James Townsend, if you have any queries (j.townsend@vcj.sch.je).

Please find below a list of key dates for your diary:

Training - Monday 19 June in school, all Year 9 doing DofE 

Practise Walk A - Tuesday 27 June, half year group in their DofE groups

Practice Walk B - Wednesday 28 June, half year group in their DofE groups

Friday 30 June - Preparation for the expedition in school for all Year 9 doing DofE. Should only need 3 lessons. (tbc)

Expedition A - Monday 3 to Tuesday 4 July, half year group

Expedition B - Monday 10 to Tuesday 11 July, half year group

Should any of these dates be problematic for parents, please do let DofE Manager, Mrs Blackmore (m.blackmore@vcj.sch.je) know so that she can allocate the correct expedition training and session for your son.

Bronze Expedition Checklist 2023

10 to Sixth Day is a day for Year 10 students to start considering their options after their GCSE examinations. Last week, Mr Falle spoke to Year 10 about the day and the subjects available to them on the day and he has since sent a letter to Year 10 via ShowMyHomework and their tutors.

Please find attached a parent letter about 10 to Sixth day, to include a link that needs to be completed by Year 10 students, with the support of their parents, by Friday 26 May.

10 to Sixth Day - Parent Letter

Please find attached a letter for Year 11 parents regarding the Sixth Form transition day, which takes place on Tuesday 27 June for all Year 11 students who wish to return to Victoria College for A Level studies.

Year 11 Transition 2023

A number of planned revision sessions are available during exam leave. The attached schedule shows revision sessions open to all students. Students may also attend smaller group or 1-2-1 sessions by prior arrangement with their teachers, and of course teachers can be contacted by email to offer feedback on any practice questions etc. A study room will be available for students who wish to work at College during study leave. Revision sessions will take place in classrooms in the relevant department areas and will be signposted accordingly.

Exams and Revision Timetable

Please note that students with afternoon examinations before Study Leave may choose to study at home in the morning of their examinations. Please email attendance@vcj.sch.je to inform us of your son's absence, which will be authorised as exam leave. Please check examination start times carefully and arrive in good time for the start of the exam.

Exam Clash. There are 25 students who have three exams on Wednesday 7 June and these have been re-arranged as per the attached schedule. After the Multiple Choice Chemistry exam at 11.30am students will all go into isolation for one hour before their History exam in the afternoon starting at 1.30pm. Phones will not be permitted in the isolation room, and it is also important to bring lots of food and drink as they will not be permitted to go to the Bistro or off site into town. Any queries, please contact Examinations Officer, Ms Liz Croft (l.croft@vcj.sch.je).

Examination Clash Information - Wednesday 7 June

Year 11 and 13 students should return their school books in the week commencing Monday 19 June. Mr Wooldridge will be based in the Temple for students to return their books, and students can speak with him in advance to confirm which books they have loaned out. Books not returned by Friday 23 June will be charged for at a rate of £20 per textbook and £10 per Library book.