Dear new student,

We are delighted that you have enrolled at BHASVIC. Today, your journey to an incredibly exciting, challenging, and eventful new phase of your life begins, where you will make lifelong friends, learn new and impressive skills, and take on novel experiences. Your decision to study at a college where the students are some of the most successful in the country will help you achieve your ambitions. 

Alongside outstanding teaching and learning BHASVIC will give you the chance to access a variety of opportunities and experiences beyond the classroom. We have a fantastic range of student-led clubs and societies, an active Student Union and Student Ambassador group, highly successful sports teams, music, dance and drama productions, DofE and more. As a college we are national leaders in sustainability and provide opportunities for all students to learn more and engage in this crucial issue. Our College of Sanctuary status represents our commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive place for all members of our wider community, and we regularly take opportunities to celebrate the diversity of our students and staff. We encourage you to explore new interests and experiences whilst studying with us and hope your first few weeks build a foundation for an enriching and exciting time with us.

This guide below helps you to understand the next couple of weeks, make sure you read it carefully. We look forward to seeing you again on Welcome Day - Monday 11 September, information on Welcome Day can be found at the back of this guide.

Yours faithfully,

James Barton
Communications Manager

My courses & timetable

Courses
At enrolment you should have confirmed the courses you are going to study whilst at BHASVIC.

Please be aware that these could be subject to change and any requests you have made to change subject cannot be guaranteed until you receive your timetable on Welcome Day. 

What should I do if I have a problem with any course I have enrolled on? 

Please contact Admissions by emailing admissions@bhasvic.ac.uk or telephoning 01273 859 810 as soon as possible. Places on individual courses are extremely limited, so the sooner we know about your concerns, the better. 

Timetable
So that we can accommodate a wide range of subject combinations and make full use of our classrooms, we operate a ‘seven block’ timetable. This means that every student will have several hours of trapped time across the week, which are called ‘study periods,’ each day between lessons. Due to the way college timetables work, these are unavoidable, and we ask you to be prepared for a different study pattern than you have had at secondary school. 

Depending on when these ‘study periods’ occur, students may choose how best to use this time. Teachers and tutors will encourage you to use much of this time for independent study. However, you are also able to spend some of this time socialising and participating in teams, enrichment, clubs, and societies. 

Please make sure that any paid employment, appointments, or holidays do not prevent you from attending every lesson and other College commitments. If you have any concerns about this, please speak to your Personal Tutor at the first opportunity. BHASVIC advises a maximum of 10-12 hours per week of part time employment, avoiding late night work during weekdays. Part-time work can be excellent for your time management, maturity and of course your independence. 

Starting With Confidence Work

These tasks are designed to help you prepare to start your courses with confidence, knowing you are on the right course and having kept your study skills, your mind, and your interest warm over the summer.

You should have completed the first 6 hours of work for each of your chosen courses. You should now move on to the last 4 hours of work.

Accessing Starting with Confidence work:

• Go to the BHASVLE login page.
• Sign in with the BHASVIC Microsoft 365 button (enter your username and password if asked).
• Your BHASVIC account details were sent to the personal email address you gave on your application form (also check your SPAM folder).

I have changed course, or am on a waiting list – what work should I do?

If you requested a new course at Enrolment, you should begin the Starting with Confidence work for that course. Do as much as you can but do not worry if you cannot complete all of it in the time.

If you requested a course but do not know if you will be able to gain a space, or you do not know which of two courses you may end up having on your timetable, then focus your time on the course you most wish to study or the course you are most likely to have a place upon. If you are not sure, then do a little work from both courses – but do not try to complete the Starting with Confidence work for four or more courses in their entirety – this would not be a reasonable amount of work for you to expect of yourself.

If you start a course and you had not completed all the Starting with Confidence work due to uncertainty about which course would be on your timetable, let your teacher know – they will understand.

You access BHASVLE from our website – go to ‘STUDENTS’ and on the student dashboard you will see the icon for BHASVLE. You use your BHASVIC account (the one for your BHASVIC email) to login to BHASVLE.

If you are experiencing any problems logging in to your BHASVIC email account or BHASVLE, you can contact ithelpdesk@bhasvic.ac.uk

Digital Induction Course

Before you start at BHASVIC on Welcome Day, you need to complete the Digital Induction course. This course will introduce you to all the key digital tools you will use in your learning.

What you must do:

1. Login to BHASVLE (via the Student Dashboard or myBHASVIC) and open Digital Induction 2023.
2. Read the instructions then click on the first section: ‘Your digital identity.’ Work your way through the section. Once you have completed each section a green tick symbol will appear on it.
3. Once you complete all the sections, you will be awarded the Digital Induction Completer badge. You need to achieve this before you start on Welcome Day.