MidKent CollegeStudying@

AttendanceGood attendance and punctuality are important if you want to do well and achieve on your course. All College staff work hard to ensure that we offer high quality learning and we want to make sure that you benefit from this.> The College expects 100% attendance at all timetabled learning sessions.> Non-attendance will be dealt with as part of the College’s disciplinary procedure and may result in a final written warning or expulsion.

Please telephone, email or text the College first thing in the morning if you are unable to attend because you are ill. If you are absent for four consecutive weeks without telling your Course Tutor in writing that you intend to return, you will be automatically withdrawn from your studies and any examination entries will be cancelled. It is your responsibility to stay in touch with your Course Tutor to be kept up to date with any work.

TIPS FOR GOOD ATTENDANCE> Don’t make medical or dental appointments during College hours. Check your timetable before making appointments.> If you are learning to drive you should be able to arrange lessons before or after College or even during your lunch period.> The College can help with childcare arrangements. Contact Student Finance for advice if you are experiencing problems.> Plan ahead! Traffic can always be a problem so start out early and beat the jams!> Make sure that part-time work is organised around your College timetable. Employers want people with good skills so tell them that you’re studying so they can support you.> Only take holidays out of term time.> Set the alarm on your mobile phone on College days.

Did you know...

that you can check your

attendance by logging

into Moodle?

Text Messaging ServiceWe have a text messaging service which allows us to send you a short text message with any important information. For example, if the College is closed because of snow, we would let you know before you set off on your journey. Sometimes, we might want to tell you about difficulties with your EMA payment or remind you about an appointment with your tutor.So, make sure we have your correctmobile number or you could be missing out. You can keep your details up to date by logging into the Online Student Info section on the student intranet page.www.midkent.ac.uk

We are very keen to get your opinions and thoughts on your course, facilities and your experiences of College life generally.

In addition to the Student Union, there are a number of important decision-making bodies in the College within which student representatives play a crucial role. Some of the positions are allocated by nomination and some by election. Specifically, student reps are needed for:

> The Governing Body - this is the group which has ultimate responsibility for the overall direction of the College. It is made up of people from local industry, the public sector, HE and College staff. There are two student representatives, one of whom is the current SU President, James Phillips.> Course Reviews - all courses in the College have formal meetings towards the end of the programme to review the course, and a representative from your group is an essential part of this process.

Have Your Say

> Equal Opportunities Committee - this is a committee that has

responsibility for monitoring and promoting equal opportunities across the College. It is made up of representatives from all departments and it is really important that we have learners attending the meetings.

> Academic Board - this committee monitors matters relating to teaching and learning at a strategic level (unlike the Course Reviews which look at the operational details).

Learning

Resource Centres

We have Learning Resource Centres at Medway and Maidstone. You are welcome to use either of them – but please remember to bring your student ID in order to use all the facilities and borrow resources.

If you are based at Chatham Maritime, the campus includes the Drill Hall library, which is open to all students and is well stocked with books, journals, over 350 PCs and ample study spaces.

The Learning Resource Centres (LRCs)are supportive and friendly working environments. You will be given an induction session to show you how to make the best use of the services. In addition LRC staff are always on hand to answer any queries you may have.

The Centres are resourced to the highest standard:

> Drop-in and bookable PCs> Computer netbooks> The latest books and journals to support your course> Daily newspapers and leisure magazines> DVD films> Photocopying facilities> Stationery for sale> Searchable online catalogue (opac.midkent.ac.uk)

The Learning Resource Centres have an extensive collection of e-resources which are available on and off-campus.These include online journals, electronic learning resources and e-Books.(online.midkent.ac.uk)

At the Medway Campus there are three Learning Zones with 24 computers in each for individual and group study. Computer netbooks are also available.

TERM TIME OPENING HOURS

Monday – Friday 08.00-19.30Saturday - 09.00-12.30

Monday – Thursday 08.00-19.00Friday - 08.00-16.00

Check opening times by logging on tohttp://campus.medway.ac.uk/library

Medway Campus

Maidstone Campus

Chatham Maritime Centre

Examination InformationStudents must take their College ID with them to every examination.

Mobile Phones, MP3 players and all electronic devices should not be brought into the examination room (sanctions if found with devices are shown below). We recommend that you leave these at home on the day you have examinations.Teaching staff have access to the exam timetable. Your exam timetable is available on Moodle. You will find details of dates, times and room. We recommend you double check on the day of your exam in the event of any late room changes.

Resits are payable. Costs to be confirmed.Any resits taken after you have left College will be an external entry. You should contactexams@midkent.ac.uk for details.

MOBILE PHONES/PAGERS/ELECTRONIC

ORGANISERS/MUSIC PLAYERS OR ANY OTHER TYPE

OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION OR STORAGE

DEVICE ARE NOT PERMITTED IN THE EXAM ROOM.

We highly recommend that you do not bring any of the above onto

campus on the days of your exams. If you cannot leave your mobile

behind for the day then you will be asked to hand your phone in by

the invigilator. Phones and all other electronic devices will be held by

the Examinations Office until the end of the examination.

IF YOU DISOBEY THESE RULES YOU COULD BE

DISQUALIFIED FROM TAKING YOUR EXAMS.

CertificatesCertificates will be retained if you haveany fees outstanding. More detailscan be obtained by contactingexams@midkent.ac.uk

If you are not at home when Royal Mail tries to deliver your certificate you must contact the exams office to arrange for collection. You must provide current ID and sign a receipt. Certificates that are returned to the College and not collected within one year of issue will be either returned to the Awarding Body or destroyed. After this period you will be able to request a duplicate certificate directly from the Awarding Body at a cost. These will vary from Awarding Body to Awarding Body.

On the candidate and evidence of

use e.g. texting or answering call

Not in the candidate’s possession, but

active e.g. ringing in your bag at the

back/front of the exam hall

In the candidate’s possession and

switched off OR in the candidate’s

possession but no evidence of use

WARNING LETTER

ZERO MARK FOR THE UNIT/

MODULE/COMPONENT

DISQUALIFICATION FROM SUBJECT –

YOU MAY EVEN BE DISQUALIFIED FOR ALL

SUBJECTS WITHIN THAT SERIES OR FOR A

SET TIME PERIOD I.E. 1 OR 2 YEARS

Logging on to Moodle & Accessing Your Course1 On any College PC, open up the Internet and type ‘Moodle’ in the address bar. This will take you directly to the screen below. Figure 1.

(When you log in from home you need to type in http://moodle.midkent.ac.uk)

2 If you are on a College PC, at this point, the system should automatically log you on. If you are at home, you will be asked for your user name and password (see Figure 1). These will be your College account details.

Figure 1

MoodleMidKent’s Virtual Learning

Environment (VLE)

You now have to click on your faculty to open a list of all courses in that faculty (example below is Advanced Technician Engineering). By scrolling down you can find and click on your course. When you are asked to enrol say ‘Yes’.

CHECK WHAT COURSE TO ENROL ON WITH YOUR TUTORS FIRST.

Figure 2

Click the ‘All courses’ link to show a list of all faculties.

Moodle is a computer based ‘virtual learning environment’ that stores the learning resources connected with your course. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can have easy and simple access to your course materials, any time, anywhere. These can include documents, tests, on-line demonstrations and multimedia activities. Moodle supports and extends learning beyond the classroom and is an easy way to check on lessons and work that your tutor has set you. You can also use Moodle to communicate with your tutor and other classmates about the course, or raise any questions you might have about the materials on the Moodle site.

Data ProtectionThe Data Protection Act 1998 came into force on 1 March 2000. This law reinforces common sense rules of information handling, which as an organisation we must follow. This law allows you to find out what information is held about you on computer and in manual records, e.g. medical records, files held by public bodies, financial information and so on. It is there to ensure that organisations manage the personal information they hold in a sensible way. The College has a duty to keep the information accurate and up to date, it must also only bekept for as long as we need it for a specified purpose and it must be kept secure.

Further details can be found from the student intranet home page ‘Data Protection’ link.

MidKent College is participating in a new Government scheme which will enable students to build up a complete Student Record of their participation and achievement throughout their life.

The scheme is Internet based and will allow studentsto share information with learning providers andemployers as evidence of their skills and achievements as they progress through education, training and employment.

Students will have a 10 digit Unique Learner Number (ULN) and be able to view their student record and agree who else can see it, or elements of it. This information sharing only takes place with the consent of the student or to enable statutory bodies to carry out their functions. Students can make corrections to their personal details if necessary (after proving their identity) but they cannot change a factually correct record; however, they will be able to ‘challenge’ errors in the record.

If you haven’t already got a ULN the College will get one for you and details of your participation and achievements at MidKent College will be added to your Student Record.

More information about this scheme can be found at www.miap.gov.uk.

Student PortalStudent Portal is the College’s online student system, providing you with access to a range of information which you may find useful throughout your studies, including; > viewing your personal details and

requesting amendments online> details of your enrolments for current

and previous years> viewing and printing your timetable> viewing and printing your attendance

record> checking your EMA/ALG payment

decisions.

You can access the portal by clicking on the Student Portal icon on your PC desktop.

Unique Learner Number (ULN)