14th December 2022
Autumn term celebration
The winner of BHASOWEEN fancy dress competition
We've had a wonderful autumn term at the college and wanted to share with you some of the highlights in case you missed them. The term started in a frenzy of activity as we moved from enrolment to Welcome Day for our new A1s, and a variety of events and activities to support our A2 students as they begin to make decisions on their future, including 912 UCAS applications to date, taking an immense effort from our Tutors, Guidance and General Office teams. We even began to meet our future students as we visited a range of schools' year 11 options evenings and staged two open events of our own. Providing enrichment and opportunity around learning is central to BHASVIC and building a strong community, and alongside the tireless work of our teaching and support staff to offer guests, trips and curriculum enrichment on courses, our fantastic Student Union have been a constantly enthusiastic and positive presence this term. We have a wider range of clubs and societies than ever and look forward to finishing the term with the festive celebration that is BHASMAS, building on the success of BHASOWEEN.
We are proud of our community for tackling the issues that matter and have continued to lead on projects this term around sustainability and campaign on cost of travel for young people. To cap it all off we had a full inspection from Ofsted in the week beginning 5th December, and whilst we can't share the outcome from this inspection yet we are proud of how we presented ourselves and want to thank all our students, staff, parents & carers, Governors, and members of the wider community for their contributions and positivity.
We look forward to more success and excitement in the spring term.
James Barton
BHASVIC Communications Manager
j.barton@bhasvic.ac.uk
Sustainability
Continuing our commitment to being a sustainable college we were delighted to be Commended and then nominated for a national award relating to our climate education (winners announced in the New year). Whilst our Climate Action Society continue to create positive change within the college community including organising a clothes swap, and our Carbon Literacy Award is open to all students.
Two members of the Climate Action Society
B-Mag & student voice
Have you checked out B-Mag our student led online magazine? Highlights this term have included spotlighting various student societies (LGBTQ+, Socialist, Feminist, Brighton Period Project) and a review of Principal Will Baldwin's mullet!
Illustration by Ava Prechezer
Student success
Just a few of the success enjoyed by our students this term include: Caitlin Sullivan & Ossie O'Neill who were selected for the English Colleges FA National squads. Gemma Tutton appeared on Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 9th December (listen from 51 minutes in to hear Gemma) to talk about public sexual harassment and the Pressure Group she co-founded with her sister Our Streets Now. Jake Acton qualified for Swim England National Championships and won the 17 Years 100m Breaststroke making him English National Champion. Maths students took place in The Maths Olympiad for Girls and the Senior Maths Challenge. BHASVIC Model UN Delegates attended The Model United Nations conference at the London Oratory School where Louise Brown took home a commendation for Ireland in the Security Council committee and Ollie Dean received best delegate for his committee as Lebanon, going so far as to take to the podium in the final General Assembly to argue his case for the introduction of a democratically-elected government in Venezuela. You can read about the conference in more details in an article written by BHASVIC student Ellen Jones for The Argus.
Student success in the Senior Maths Challenge
Tutorial
A vital part of every student's timetable our Tutorial programme enriches and supports our college community. Topics covered this term have included; Healthy Relationships, British Values, Climate Change, Protest, Black History Month, wellbeing, and a range of specialist support for our A2 students' progression options.
A Tutorial session
Additional guided learning hours & wellbeing
This year the college was able to offer each student an additional 40 hours of enrichment, learning and support to their standard timetable. This has included beginning the term with a wellbeing workshop for all students led by Andrew Wright (version for parents/carers available here), all A2 students attending a Healthy Relationships Workshop (led by Survivors' Network & WISE) & activities linked to their chosen progression route. We are also delighted that Andrew Wright will be running #NeuroNinja Procrastination and Motivation Workshops in January for students. These are taking place in college on Monday 16 and Friday 20 January, 14:00–15:00 & 15:00–16:00, full details have been shared in tutorial, students can email events@bhasvic.ac.uk to book your place. Visit our wellbeing page for more details about the range of wellbeing support we offer our student community. 
Andrew Wright delivers a wellbeing workshop
Student Union
Our fantastic Student Union have been busy this term organising and hosting two key student celebration events - BHASOWEEN & BHASMAS. They have also helped to arrange our Fresher's Fair, hosted Student Forums and represented BHASVIC at Brighton & Hove Citizens Assembly, leading on a campaign to reduce the cost of travel for young people in the city - watch EDI & Welfare Officer Emily's testimony here
The friendly faces of BHASVIC's Student Union 2022/23
Guest speakers
We've welcomed a range of wonderful guests to speak to students this term including; Kieran Maguire, Caroline Lucas, Lady Vivian Rose, Zoe Lyons, and Kev Hopgood. Thank you to everyone who came to give valuable insight and advice to our students this term.
Lady Vivian Rose speaks to students after her talk in the hall
Careers & Employability
Autumn was another busy term for our Careers & Employability teams supporting 100s of students with Careers Appointments, CV workshops, and a range of guest speakers and expert advice via our Employability & Enterprise Tutorial pathway. We have 30 Careers appointment slots per week available from our 3 Careers Advisors, students can message Careers on teams to request an appointment or just come in to Student Services and speak to our team on the front desk who will be happy to help.
- In November we launched our Widening Participation (WP) scheme to our first-year cohort. WP is about ensuring we can remove barriers towards our students' progression and we were pleased to welcome 200 first year students in partnership with Sussex and Brighton Universities. Have a look at our WP Autumn 2022 Newsletter A1 For further information or visit Widening Participation FAQs.
- Futures Fair 2023 save the date! Futures Fair is taking place at BHASVIC on the19th January from 10.00am – 2.30pm. We are delighted to announce that 120 organisations will be attending, Parents and Carers are welcome to come along, so please do check nearer the time for full details on our Careers and Employability web page.
- BHASVIC Skills Week runs from Monday 3 July – Friday 7 July. It is a new part of the college calendar and all students will be expected to complete an in-person or remote work experience or volunteering placement. We have asked students to start making enquiries about placements themselves by contacting a wide range of people, organisations, and employers as possible, and they will be need to confirm their plans early in the new year. 
Last year's Futures Fair in full swing
Christmas Concert
Thank you to our fabulous Music Department who organised two night's of festive fun on Wednesday 7th and Thursday 8th December, click on the dates for a full video of the event. Thank you for everyone that attended
A student rehearsing for the BHASVIC Christmas Concert
Don't forget to check our News Channel, Instagram and Twitter feeds for all the latest news and information from our college community. Also for the best experience as a student don't forget to use the MyBHASVIC App, this provides key news updates from the college, live timetable and attendance data and lots of other information to ensure you are happy and supported at college. Our Parents & Carers page has a host of resources and support and have a look at our Alumni page to learn more about some of our graduates and how you could get involved.
We wish all our staff and students a wonderful Christmas break and are looking forward to welcoming you back in the New Year.