Our Parent Handbook for 2026 / 2027 will be published soon.
Your child should have received their copy of the Student Handbook in their enrolment pack. It contains lots of information that should help them make a good start.
Student Performance is monitored through the year and you will be updated on your child’s progress during their time at Priestley. Details about Performance Monitoring above.
A parent's view of Priestley
Progression after Priestley
As parents and carers you play a vital role in the education of your child and we believe it is essential that we work together to ensure their college experience is the best that it can be. This page is full of links and information we think you will find useful.
Parent guides to education
Enrichment is a series of activities, clubs, workshops and societies that are designed to enhance every student’s college experience. All students are expected to take at least one of these extracurricular activities.
The Personal Development Programme is a compulsory part of every student’s timetable and will help them develop the life skills they need in order to progress both at college and beyond.
The Priestley Skills Builder allows students to build and develop transferrable skills which will be useful for their future in higher education or apprenticeships and also in the workplace.
Priestley has a Wellbeing Team dedicated to ensuring our students keep well during their time at college and support is also available from Progress Tutors who are a student’s first port of call for certain issues.
Your child's attendance matters
Please support us in ensuring that your son/daughter attends college to our expected levels.
A national survey revealed that students with an attendance rate of 95% or higher are more likely to achieve grades at A or B, while those with lower attendance rates are more likely to fall behind academically. 17 Nov 2023.
- When attendance improves the likelihood of achieving your qualifications by the end of college also massively increases.
- Over 60% of students with attendance above 95% in Year 13 achieved their qualifications with at least the grades they expected, or even better.
- Only 36% of students who were persistently absent (below 90%) passed their qualification with the grades they expected.
Reporting informed absence
- Please contact the College via email at studentabsences@priestley.ac.uk
Or call our attendance phone line on 01925 633591 first thing in morning of the day of absence
- Absence in term time – there should not be any planned absences in term time. If you have a special request for absence, you will need to write to request authorisation from the College Principal
When to contact a Progress Tutor
If you have any reasons to be concerned about your son/daughter, please contact their Progress Tutor in the first instance. This also includes any worries about performance and achievement as well as their wellbeing. The Progress Tutor will be able to either support, or ensure the correct person receives the information on your behalf.
Communications
At Priestley we communicate with our students and parents/carers via email, text and hard copy letters. If you normally do not use your email regularly, please make it a habit to check it regularly. We will be sending you attendance and performance data and reports at regular intervals throughout the academic year.
This includes your son/daughters progress report each half term. Please see the Progress timeline further down this page. We also email half term attendance letters, so you can see individual subject and PDP attendance as well as overall attendance.