I would like to wish all parents and carers a happy new year and a warm welcome back to the College! The start of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on your journey as a parent or carer supporting your young person in college, while also considering how you can assist them as they face new academic challenges. While your young person may seem increasingly independent and in control of their own learning, providing a supportive environment for their continued learning and development still makes a big difference.

As Group Director for Curriculum and Pedagogy, I spend a lot of time working with heads of schools to determine how to best support our students and what is most crucial to their learning. I have outlined a few key priorities where your support is especially important, along with ways you can help.

Attendance

Encourage your young person to maintain good attendance and punctuality. It is important to come to lessons and work together with peers and the teacher to understand each topic. When a student misses lessons, they miss out on important learning opportunities, putting them at risk of falling behind and not gaining the knowledge they need to succeed.

Here at MK College, teachers take attendance in class. If your young person is missing lessons, you should receive a text both first thing in the morning and afternoon. If you are not receiving any texts, this may be because we do not have the correct phone number, please contact us if you need to update your details. There is also a parent portal where you can access timetables, attendance record and deadline adherence.

If you are worried about your young person’s absences or have any uncertainty over attendance, we encourage you to reach out to us. A good first step is to contact the head of school for the subject, who can provide insight and help address any concerns. We are here to work with you in ensuring your young person stays on track.

Work experience

At MK College, work experience is one of our key focus areas. Our teaching approach emphasises hands-on learning to provide students with practical experience in their field during their studies. As a required component of nearly every student’s study programme, work experience is mandatory. For T Level students, this is fulfilled through an industry placement.

Work experience helps students transition more smoothly from studying to working. It can also facilitate progression to other courses or into the workplace, with many of our past students receiving their first “proper” job offer from their work experience employer.

You can support your young person by discussing their work experience plans, showing both interest and encouragement. If they are uncertain about their plans, you can encourage them to be proactive and to look for work experience. Don’t be afraid to encourage your student to reach out to the College if they are struggling with this, as our work experience team is here to assist with finding a suitable company or organisation, as well as providing support with interview techniques and possible applications.

Maths and English

Maths and English have been shown to be key subjects in improving access to opportunities and opening doors to higher-paying jobs. It is important to understand the importance of these skills and qualifications. GCSEs in maths and English are highly sought after by employers, and passing these subjects is increasingly important for demonstrating essential skills. They are also required for progression at the College: a student may not be able to move onto a higher level of study if they don’t pass maths and English.

The circumstances surrounding minimum qualifications have changed in recent years as students are no longer able to leave school at 15 or 16 years old – it is now necessary to remain in some form of education or training until you are 18 years old.

You can support your young person by encouraging them to attend lessons, revise at home, and take advantage of additional revision sessions offered by the College. If you are worried, encourage them to reach out to us for extra support. We are here to support their progress, and this includes helping them with maths and English.

Nothing demonstrates how hard work leads to results to be proud of more than our recent November resit results. We were delighted to receive excellent results and are incredibly proud of our students for their achievements. Our results have improved and we have doubled the number of students we have entered. While nationally the performance in English has gone down, our results have risen from previous years. Compared with 24.1% nationally, 32% of our students in Maths achieved the grade 4 or higher in the resits. Similarly, 48% of our students in English achieved the grade 4 or higher while the national average was 34.9%.

In summary, encouraging regular attendance and proactive involvement in seeking and completing work experience are key areas where you can help your young person succeed. Additionally, it is crucial to recognise the importance of qualifications like maths and English. These are essential building blocks that will help your young person succeed in both education and, later, in their career.

More qualifications now include exam-based evaluation than ever before. In each subject, we are working together with students to develop their revision skills and prepare them for exams. To help your young person at home, you can encourage them to integrate revision and exam preparation into their daily schedule.

We are here to support all of our learners. If your young person needs help with their studies, please encourage them to reach out to us, or feel free to contact us directly. Encourage them to be proactive, and to ask questions and seek help when needed. Students can reach out to teaching and support staff in person across our two campuses or online via Teams.

Thank you for taking the time to read through our suggestions for how you can support your young person. We wish you and your family a happy 2025 and look forward to celebrating our learners’ successes at the end of the year!

For more support for parents and carers, visit Parents & Carers – MK College