S G S Year 11 Information for Next Year

03 April 2020

Dear Mr Angell,

Due to the uncertainty around how long the Covid-19 outbreak will last, we are aware that many of your students will be concerned about their progression plans.

We would like to re-assure them with the following new measures that we have implemented:

1. From Friday 20th March all full-time interviews for SGS 2020 entry are cancelled until further notice. Instead we are giving an automatic “unconditional offer” to all learners due for interview.
2. For the immediate future we will be offering unconditional places to all full-time applicants (not including University Level applicants).
3. If an applicant accepts their place we will then discuss it further with them when the Covid-19 risk reduces.

Why have we offered unconditional places?

• To give applicants and parents some certainty about their future education
• To avoid stress for applicants who would otherwise be expected to engage. in a remote interview, which could impact their performance.
• To follow the Association of Colleges’ guidance on being flexible around applicants in this difficult time.
• To help future learners feel settled and help them focus on transitioning into a College environment – we will be setting subject specific work from May onwards for applicants to help their transition.
Notes in relation to the unconditional offer:

• Eligibility will still be checked; if an applicant has been living outside the EU/EEA for the past 3 years.
• If an applicant or learner needs a high level of support for special educational needs or a disability, and they hold an EHCP, My Plan or My Plan + they must inform the learning support department at SGS College. It is clearly stated that SGS cannot guarantee the level of support they may require until a formal consultation with their Local Authority SEN team has occurred.
• Year 10 or year 11 pre-16 students will be managed separately once SGS reopens to discuss the conditions of their application.

Please also note that our open evening scheduled for 23 April has been cancelled.

We are provisionally planning to run this event on Saturday 6 June. However, this remains unlikely. If the event on 6 June does not run we will look to hold either a virtual open event or an open day in August.

If you have any questions or concerns about our approach, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]

Thank you in advance for your ongoing support in what is a challenging and unprecedented time for the education sector.

Yours sincerely
Sara-Jane Watkins
SGS College Principal