Progress Managers & Academic Coaches

Students will have their own assigned Academic Coach (managed by Progress Managers), who will be their point of contact for any support or advice needed, as well as a delivering a weekly Coaching session which will be on their timetable. Weekly Group Coaching sessions in Year 12 cover a range of topics from developing Level 3 study skills to preparing for university or employment applications. Students will also have one to one appointments over the year with their Academic Coach to review their progress and set targets to support their success at Sixth Form. Academic Coaching sessions are a compulsory and valuable part of the programme of study.

Students are able to access Coaching resources on Moodle, which match the programme in the weekly Coaching sessions.  Coaches will also help students apply for College Colours and the Terry Kitson Award. Whenever students are unsure about what they should do about something connected with College, their Academic Coach is the first person to talk to. Academic Coaches will:

• Assist you in making the transfer from school to College.
• Meet with you for a one-to-one discussion at least once every term to review progress and attendance and agree an action plan.
• Help you to review your progress regularly and set realistic targets for successful study.
• Help you with individual needs/difficulties arising during your studies.
• Help you to prepare your application to university, further training or employment.
• Inform you about various College talks, visits and activities.
• Advise you on what to do or who you should see if you have any problems or queries, particularly in relation to specialist support through staff such as the College Counsellor, Mental Health Lead, Additional Learning Support or Careers Co-ordinator.

Students and/or parents may need to contact them. If so, they are available during term time, Monday to Thursday, from 8.30am – 4.00pm, and Fridays, from 8.30am – 3.30pm. The telephone number to reach them on is 0121 704 2581. They are:

Sarah Law (Progress Manager)
Karen Sherwood (Progress Manager)
Jo Tully (Progress Manager)

If you are unable to speak to an academic coach when you phone it is probably due to them delivering a coaching session or conducting a one-to-one interview with a student. Please leave a message and they will call you back as soon as they can.

You can also contact Academic Coaches by email – all email addresses are firstname . surname @solihullsfc.ac.uk.

Please note academic coaches are not the correct contact to notify of student absences – absences can be reported online here.