Students Smiling

Personal Development

 

 

Just one of the huge advantages of attending Newcastle Sixth Form College is the Personal Development Coaching Team, who are dedicated to making sure you get the most from your A Level journey.

From your first moments at NSFC, where you make the very  significant adjustments to new subjects, new friendship groups and a large new campus, to the moment you leave on results day 2024, and set off to university or into your first career role, PDCs will be with you. 

 

What is Personal Development?

When you join Newcastle Sixth Form College, you will be automatically assigned your own Personal Development Coach (PDC).  They will work with you throughout your academic journey and offer a regular point of contact outside of the subject teaching teams to support your overall development and experience at sixth form.

Weekly group sessions offer a more formal approach to development, with your assigned coach leading a group on a wide range of activities including:

  • Personal growth

  • Academic skills

  • Wellbeing

  • Next steps (UCAS application, jobs and careers)

  • Vision and goals

  • Employability skills (CV, job interviews)

  • Staying safe

  • Online Safety

  • British Values

In these sessions you will be encourage to participate and discuss your own issues and develop strong opportunities which will help you whilst at college and well beyond this experience.

An important aspect of our PDCs role is to help you focus on punctuality, attendance and workload, so that you also manage your time as effectively as possible and gain the most from your academic studies at sixth form.

 

What is your 1:1?

Your 1:1 is a vital part of your experience at NSFC, as it provides a chance for you to discuss with your PDC your own progression plan. The chance like this to explain any issues you have, or raise concerns in a completely confidential discussion has been invaluable to many students, and allows the PDC to give you feedback, points for reflection and also assist you when necessary so that your whole experience at NSFC is positive. The team also use these meetings to discuss, attendance, timekeeping and the good conduct we expect from every student. The opportunity for student and coach to have this sort of interaction ensures a smooth transition into college and a great chance to monitor your own performance so that you achieve your very best.

 

Out of Hours Support and Resources

 

  • childline.org.uk - 0800 1111 (free 24hr) - confidential listening

  • samaritans.org-  116 123 (free 24 hr) or jo@samaritans.org - confidential listening

  • studentsagainstdepression.org - resources to move away from depression

  • youngminds.org.uk - mental health info and guidance

  • youthaccess.org.uk - young people’s info, advice and counselling

  • themix.org.uk - essential support for under 25s

  • mind.org.uk – information on a huge range of mental health topics

 

Attendance and performance 

Newcastle Sixth Form College practices a robust attendance monitoring procedure. This includes using eTrackr to track attendance, using the eTrackr SMS service to contact students and maintaining contact with parents/carers.

Reporting an absence

If a student is ill and unable to come to college, the absence should be reported before 9.00am on the day of their absence to ensure that the absence is correctly recorded on registers.

The number to call to report an absence is 0191 272 1001 option 2.

 

 

eTrackr 

Newcastle Sixth Form College uses eTrackr, a web based student electronic individual learning plan system, to record a variety of information about students and their learning journey's at Newcastle Sixth Form College.

 

 

As a parent/guardian of a young person at Newcastle Sixth Form College, you also have access to eTrackr, which allows you to:

  • Access names and contact emails for teaching staff and academic tutors.
  • Allows you to look at weekly attendance (overall and by subject) as well as authorised absence and punctuality records.
  • View overall performance via a traffic light system (this includes attendance and predicted grades).
  • Compare predicted grades against the ALPS target grade.
  • View tutorial and subject specific comments added at regular intervals throughout the year.

 

How does eTrackr work?

We have put together a user guide for parents/carers who would like to use eTrackr.

THINK NEWCASTLE SIXTH FORM IS RIGHT FOR YOU?