Advice & Guidance Meetings 2021

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Long Road Sixth Form College Advice & Guidance Meetings 2021

WE'RE HERE TO HELP If you have any questions please contact our friendly Admissions Team on: admissions@longroad.ac.uk 01223 63 1125

SUPPORTING YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY We are delighted that you have considered Long Road Sixth Form College for your next step.

We’re a friendly and inclusive College, where you will make friends for life and your contributions to our collaborative community will be valued.

As experts in 16-18 education, we understand that this stage can be thrilling, demanding and sometimes a little daunting. That’s why we make sure you’ll have close individual support to ensure a smooth transition from school to sixth form college.

YOUR APPLICATION TIMELINE

OCTOBER 2020

SPRING & SUMMER 2021

Applications Open

Guidance Meetings & Conditional Offer Discuss your options with an experienced member of staff. You'll receive a formal offer via your Long Road Online Services account shortly after your Guidance Meeting.

JANUARY 2021 Applications Close.

Applications made after the deadline may be placed on a waiting list

JUNE 2021 Welcome Days & Summer Work Spend the day as a Long Road student; try out your subjects & get a taste of Long

AUGUST 2021 GCSE Results Day

Road life. Summer work will be available online & must be completed for your first lesson at college.

Good luck! We're keeping our fingers crossed for you

LATE AUGUST 2021 New Student Enrolment Welcome to the Long Road family!

EARLY SEPTEMBER 2021 Start of Academic Year 2021/2022 Time to start your Long Road life!

For all meetings you must take some time to consider your behaviour, for example,

PREPARING FOR YOUR VIRTUAL ADVICE & GUIDANCE MEETING

you must dress appropriately so you feel comfortable, confident and professional.

Virtual meetings are no different.

To make things easier for you we have listed some additional considerations for virtual meetings that you may wish to think about before your Virtual Advice & Guidance Meeting with us.

Applying for Sixth Form College is some serious business, but there’s no need to be nervous. By inviting you to an Advice & Guidance Meeting we can give you the best possible support

Virtual Advice & Guidance Meeting Preparation Check List:

on choosing your college, your courses and your future career paths!

Allow yourself plenty of time to set up

The most important thing to remember is to

just be yourself .

We aren’t trying to catch you out or ask you trick questions, we just want to get to know

you .

By getting to know you as

an individual we can give you tailored advice about the college and the courses you want to study. It is also your chance to get to know us – to get a feel of what Long Road is like and to ask any questions you might have about life at Long Road.

your device. Make sure you have enough battery power, you have no scheduled updates and that your camera and microphone are working.

Consider your background; you may wish to remove personal items or put away that pile of washing!

Background noise can be extremely distracting for you and the interviewer. Find a quiet, well-lit room

Still a bit nervous? Don’t worry, that’s completely normal. To help make the process as stress-free as possible we’ve put together this guide so you know what to expect and how to prepare.

What to Expect – Getting Camera Ready!

To give you a high-quality virtual experience we ask that all of our meeting attendees turn on their cameras and microphones.

We need to be able to see and hear you so we can have a meaningful discussion about your individual aims and ambitions.

Our friendly staff are really excited to meet you and want to engage with you as much as possible, so please make sure you turn your camera and microphone on.

to attend your meeting so the interviewer can see and hear you clearly.

STILL GOT SOME QUESTIONS? Contact our Admissions Team: 01223 63 1125 admissions@longroad.ac.uk

What happens during my Advice & Guidance Meeting?

What happens after my Advice & Guidance Meeting?

Our Advice & Guidance Meetings are informal discussions,

Your interviewer will update your Long Road Online

lasting 20-30 minutes, between you and a member of our

Services account with your chosen courses and

experienced staff; parents/carers are encouraged to

conditional offer. You will be sent an email about an

attend with you if possible.

update to your Long Road Online Services Account; this update will detail your conditional offer. Once you have

You may be asked questions similar to: Why have you chosen this course?

received this email you need to log into your Long Road Online Services account to accept the offer.

Do you have any career aims or future plans?

What are your hobbies and interests?

Please remember you can accept and hold a number of

What are your subject strengths/likes and

offers from different post-16 providers until you receive

weaknesses/dislikes?

your GCSE results in August.

Are there any personal issues or difficulties that may affect your studies?

During the summer term, information about Long Road, including your enrolment interview date/time, will be

You may be given information on:

emailed to you.

Entry requirements for your chosen courses

College expectations of behaviour and attendance

All communication with Long Road will be via your Online Services account. Please ensure you check

Our student support service

your emails (including spam folders) regularly and

Our student enrichment activities

update us with any contact detail changes in order to

The Long Road Scholars’ Award.

receive important information regarding your

Information on your chosen courses

application.

We strongly encourage applicants to

ADVICE & GUIDANCE MEETING: UNDERSTANDING OUR PROCESS

attend their Virtual Advice and Guidance Meeting with a parent/carer. If, for any reason, your parent/carer is unable to attend with you via the same device (e.g. you do not live with both parents/parent is at work) a new feature is available which will allow an additional attendee (your parent/carer) to join your meeting.

We will share further information on this with you shortly when booking opens.

Long Road is an open and inclusive community; we believe in equal opportunities for all our students - that starts from the very moment you make an application to study with us. This is why we invite our applicants to a personal Advice and Guidance Meeting with one of our specialist members of staff.

Key Information: The majority of our Advice and Guidance Meetings will take place on

Thursday 11 & Friday 12 February.

Advice and Guidance Meetings are available to book throughout the

With over 3,000 meetings to organise, this is a super busy time of year for our Admissions Team, but we feel it is important for you to understand our process and get an idea of what is going on behind the scenes in our Admissions office! Of course, this is a year like no other, and we know everyone is feeling the pressure, so we have adapted our process to keep it as stress-free and flexible as possible.

school day.

You must book your own Advice and Guidance Meeting with us using the

School Cloud

booking system.

Detailed information on how to book using School Cloud will be emailed directly to you from our Admissions Team.

We have set aside two days to conduct the majority of our Virtual Advice and Guidance Meetings; these days are

Thursday 11 & Friday 12 February .

Please be aware, due to

the volume of applications, our Advice & Guidance Meetings may need to continue throughout the Spring & Summer Term; so please don't worry if your friends receive a meeting date before you! The timing of your meeting will

not

impact your

offer to study.

Shortly after receiving your application, we will be in touch with further detailed information on how to book your Virtual

You will need to book your own meeting with us using the School Cloud booking system ; this allows you to choose a meeting time convenient Advice and Guidance Meeting.

for you and your family. Meeting slots will be available to book throughout the school day.

Keep checking your emails for notification on when our booking system opens!

Keep checking your emails for a notification on our booking system opening date - don't forget to check your spam folder!

VIRTUAL ADVICE & GUIDANCE MEETINGS: THE TECHNICAL SIDE

Setting up your IT equipment Moving to the virtual world we now find ourselves living in has been a little daunting for us all.

You will need...

A device with a microphone and speaker / headphones.

Many schools have been using the Scho0ol Cloud booking system for their Parent Consultation Evenings this year, so we hope that this is software you may be familiar with using.

A compatible up-to-date web browser: iPhone/iPad = Safari Please note, there is a known issue joining video calls using iOS 14.2. Please upgrade any iOS 14.2 devices to iOS 14.3, or use an

If you haven't used School Cloud before then don't panic, we will shortly be sending you a detailed document on: how to book your Virtual Advice and Guidance Meeting how to attend your Virtual Advice and Guidance Meeting

alternate device.

Android = Chrome or Firefox Windows = Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge Mac = Safari, Chrome or Firefox Linux = Chrome or Firefox

In the meantime, we have outlined the minimum setup requirements in order to attend your Virtual Advice and Guidance Meeting.

We also recommend...

Using a smartphone for video calls. If you don't have

Remember, if you have any concerns then please do not hesitate to contact our friendly Admissions Team on admissions@longroad.ac.uk

a smartphone with a front-facing camera, use of laptop or computer with a webcam.

Using a headset (or earphones with a microphone) to reduce echo.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Long Road Sixth Form College Advice & Guidance Meetings 2021

WE'RE HERE TO HELP If you have any questions please contact our friendly Admissions Team on: admissions@longroad.ac.uk 01223 63 1125

Long Road Sixth Form College Long Road Cambridge CB2 8PX

www.longroad.ac.uk

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