Student Support

The two years you will spend in College will be amongst the most important of your life. 

• During the time you spend with us you will make decisions that will shape your future career and you will study for qualifications that may determine your future life style.
• When you join us you will have to make the change from the familiar environment of your school where you knew most of the teachers and many of the pupils.   
• You will be joining an establishment where everyone is experiencing the pressure of meeting examination and coursework deadlines. 

We recognise that you will need to get to know your teachers and fellow students as quickly as possible. To help you, we will assign you to a Personal Tutor in a Tutor Group with about twenty other students. You meet with your Personal Tutor in a tutorial session once a week and have an additional session of Guided Independent Study Time. Your Personal Tutor will be your adviser in College, monitoring your attendance and progress, and discussing with you your methods of working, career ambitions and any difficulties you care to share with her or him. In your weekly sessions you will follow a comprehensive Tutorial Programme to prepare you for experiences both here and after you have left College. You will also be prepared for AS and A2 General Studies.

You will be assigned to a Senior Tutor who will review your academic progress, finalise any references and advise and guide you about any serious difficulties. Your Senior Tutor is also the first point of contact for parents/carers.

The College has a qualified Counselling Team who offer a confidential service to all staff and students. They are skilled listeners, trained to help clients to understand and come to terms with personal difficulties they may, perhaps, find hard to discuss with others.

There is also a Skills for Learning Department to help you with your studies. They are not only there to give regular one-to-one support to students with specific learning difficulties or disabilities, but also to help all students with any learning problems, ranging from difficulties in planning and writing essays to problems of organisation or time-management.

The College has a mentoring service, which involves trained volunteers from the Upper Sixth helping other students settle into College life. Some departments also have subject mentors who are available to support those having problems with aspects of their studies. The system is based on the idea that people often learn best from those who are a few steps further down the road they wish to travel.

Student Service Opportunities

You will be encouraged to help with the organisation of the College under the guidance of the Student Executive Committee, a team of students who are annually appointed, following nominations by staff. You may help to show new students round the College, to run the appointments system on Consultation Evenings and to host visitors to the College. In addition, you may wish to serve as a student mentor or be involved in peer-education projects.

Because we believe that students ought to have a say in the running of the College, there is a Student Council Committee elected by the students. Eight students serve annually on the Student Council Committee and represent the views of the students at meetings of the College Standing Committees. You will also be invited to elect two Student Governors to serve on the College Board of Governors.

Faith

The College welcomes people of all faiths and traditions, or none, and we have a Quiet Room for reflection, meditation or prayer. The College has no form of compulsory worship, but you will be very welcome to meet voluntarily for prayer and worship or to join the Christian Union. You will also have an opportunity to debate religious and ethical issues as part of the General Studies programme.

Higher Education and Careers Guidance

The Careers Department’s main purpose is to help and support students with the many difficult choices that face them concerning Higher Education or employment. About 90% of our students go to Universities and Colleges, and the rest are successful in gaining employment or places on vocational courses. To help you fulfil your ambition, the College sets aside a great deal of staff time and resources to provide a comprehensive two-year guidance programme. The Careers and Higher Education team ensures that information and advice is readily available.

Careers Education helps students with the complex processes of Higher Education and employment applications.

Personal Tutors will monitor your progress and provide general advice, and you will have access to a team of specialist advisers and a well-stocked Careers and HE Activities Centre, with extensive IT facilities, which you will be encouraged to use in your own time.

At the time of going to press, proposals for the redevelopment of independent advice and guidance were still under consideration. Details of any service available will be given out at Open Evenings.

Careers guidance is concerned with individual choices, being delivered through interviews with your tutors and/or the Careers Department which allow you the opportunity to explore and discuss your personal career plans and to take appropriate action. To supplement this, the department organises lunch time talks and presentations and helps to arrange work experience, where required by course specifications. Guidance is also given to those seeking work experience for exploring careers options.

The College has strong links with high profile employers who make presentations to our students. The department also runs an annual Higher Education and Careers Fair where over 100 organisations, representing the world of education, training, employment, finance and gap year activities, are available to offer guidanceand information on your future career. The College’s high quality Careers Guidance Programme has won the Investors in Careers award. This is a nationally recognised achievement which reflects the high standard of the two-year programme which can lead you to realise your ambition in Higher Education or employment.

The Careers Department recognises the key role parents/carers play in the education and employment decisions of their sons and daughters. With this in mind, they are invited to contact the careers staff during Consultation Evenings and also attend the briefings on Higher Education and Finance. In addition to this, parents and carers are welcome at any time to consult the College Career Advisers.

Independent Study

When you arrive at College, you will be given an individual timetable which will include all your examination subjects. You will probably find approximately 20% of your lessons in the week left unscheduled. At least two of these lessons should be spent in one of the College’s study areas. From our experience of preparing students for Advanced examinations and entry to Higher Education, we can tell you that successful students spend at least four hours studying outside the classroom for each subject they are taking. To help you to study in College we have an excellent Library, overseen by a Chartered Librarian, with staff who will advise you in making best use of the facilities.

For all subjects you will have assignments to complete, notes to read over and clarify, background reading and revision for tests and modules. If you want to succeed, you will need to spend most of your unscheduled lessons in College and two to three hours each evening studying. This means that taking on paid employment for several hours on several evenings and a large portion of the weekend, or having the sort of social life of late nights on week days, is not an option for a serious student. You need to consider very carefully whether you are prepared to make the sort of commitment that successful study at Advanced Level demands. Of course, you may wish to take on some limited form of paid employment but you will have to give priority to the studies on which your future plans may depend and this calls for careful time management.

Safeguarding

All students under the age of 18 are classed in law as children. The College takes safeguarding very seriously. All new recruits to the staff of the College are subject to Criminal Records Bureau checks, and all staff who have substantial contact with students undergo training in safeguarding issues. Our Safeguarding Policies can be viewed on application to College Reception.

Student Parking

Many students will pass their driving test while at College and you may want to drive in but we strongly advise you to consider whether this is necessary, especially if you live relatively close to the College (or to a suitable bus route). Authorised vehicle permits are limited in number and restricted to A2 students only unless there are exceptional circumstances for an AS student.Further information about criteria for authorised vehicle permits is available at Open Evenings. Please note that a permit does not guarantee that you will be able to park on campus.

Smoke free College

All College premises and grounds are no smoking areas and as such there are no designated smoking areas for students, staff, visitors or others.

Learning Resources Centre

The new College Learning Resources Centre is comprised chiefly of the Library, the silent study area and the IT drop-in centre.

Study Areas

We aim to provide you with supervised study areas which will suit a range of student needs, including silent and quiet study areas and access to areas which are suitable for group study.

Main Library

The Library is a quiet study area. We have a wide range of text books and wider reading, which can be borrowed, to support your learning. We also provide magazines, newspapers, DVDs and other multimedia resources and have a good selection of fiction and access to PCs.

The Library houses a viewing room with multimedia equipment which can be pre-booked for use during lessons or free study periods. There is also an extensive range of stationery and consumables available for purchase at competitive prices in the Stationery Shop.

The Silent Study Area

This space has been set aside for silent study and work spaces are available for private, individual study.

The IT Drop-in Area

This supervised area is available for quiet study. Students can access PCs, scanners and printers within the IT drop-in centre. The Resource Centre is open to all students on a drop-in basis, either to work on their own assignments or to develop their IT skills.

Opportunities at Sir John Deane’s College

To get the most out of your time at College, you are encouraged to develop as individuals and as citizens through a wide range of experiences, not only in your specialist courses, General Studies and Tutorial Programme but also by participating in some of the enrichment opportunities available. There are a number of ways for you to contribute to College life and make new friends with shared interests, perhaps by participating as members of the Charities Committee, the Equal Opportunities Committee, the Debating Society, or taking part in the Youth Speaks competition. You may also have an opportunity to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme for Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards.

The College’s English Department has close links with Manchester Metropolitan University and there are opportunities to become involved in a number of specialist writing projects run by MMU.

Musical Activities

All students at College can participate in a variety of musical activities from String and Wind Ensembles to Rock Bands! The College Singing Group performs regularly and the repertoire extends from well known choral works to modern musicals. We have a College Jazz Combo and various assorted Chamber groups, which provide opportunities for instrumentalists of all standards to perform together. Concerts and recitals give opportunities for students to perform solos, duets and small group pieces. Students are also encouraged to get involved in the provision of music – for example in the organisation of events, and even leading and directing ensembles!

At certain times of the year, particularly during the autumn and summer terms, students can take part in recitals given at venues outside College in the towns and villages of Cheshire, or with local schools and/or music groups. Indeed, past collaborative events have included: a joint choral and instrumental concert with the Chester Bach Singers; a joint jazz evening with The County High School, Leftwich; and performances with the Rivendell Singers.

Every Christmas, keen singers from the College travel to a local nursing home to entertain the residents with carols, and students have also conducted and taken part in musical workshops at nearby schools.

Performing Arts Activities

There is an annual College production, held in December, with the opportunity for participation across the entire student body, both on stage and behind the scenes. Recent productions include Cabaret, A Christmas Carol, Les Misérables, The Trial, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Little Shop of Horrors.

Each year a Dance Evening is held featuring AS and A2 Level Dance students and other students.

Work Experience

The College Work Experience Co-ordinator can help you find work experience whether you need it as a course requirement (eg for Health and Social Care), to support your UCAS application or CV, or simply to find out more about your chosen career path.

In the past placements have included:

• nursery schools

• primary schools

• hospitals

• veterinary surgeries

• law courts

• pharmaceutical companies

• newspapers

• nursing homes, and many more.

Placements can last from a couple of days to several months and are arranged to take place outside lesson time. Students undertaking work experience involving work in a care setting or contact with children may be subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check.

It is advisable to start your search for work experience as soon as possible after joining College by making an appointment to see the Work Experience Co-ordinator.

Volunteering

Upper Sixth Students may apply to train to serve as mentors to the incoming year group either in tutor groups or as individual subject mentors in some departments.

Another option would be to volunteer with our Peer Education teams who are trained to work with Primary School children to deliver information about bullying and harassment (the Sticks ‘n’ Stones team) or drugs and substance abuse (the STRIDE team).

As you see, there is so much to do at SJD.