Director’s Message
The CIFEC family looks forward to seeing you on our registration days, which take place on August 24th and August 25th . Students will be coming in according to their surname in the following manner:
AUGUST 2023
(These are mandatory days)
24th – Registration (Surname A-L)
(8:30 am – 10:30 am – A-D
11:00 am – 12:30 pm – E-H
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – I-L)
25th – Registration (Surname M-Z)
(8:30 am – 10:30 am – M-P
11:00 am – 12:30 pm – Q-T
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm – U-Z)
28th – Induction Day 1 (A-L)
29th – Induction Day 2 (M-Z)
30th – Induction Day 3 (A-L)
31st – Induction Day 4 (M-Z)
This will allow less time for registration. Even if you cannot make it at the stipulated slot for you, you can still come in at another time slot during the day.
Students are expected to be in their school uniform on the registration and induction days. Our theme for this year is ‘Work Readiness’ and students are expected to follow this theme at all times, whether they are on the CIFEC campus or in their work placement. We will be continuously providing training and guidance to students to align with the ‘Work Readiness’ theme.
On the day of registration, a student data sheet will be provided for parents to check and ensure the information provided is accurate. We already have some parents confirming some information in response to the first email I had sent out. Usually we ask parents to sign off on a number of documents to ensure we are all in agreement with certain key elements of CIFEC life, which would include uniform, positive behavior, bus transport, IT Use, use of drugs, etc. I have attached the relevant documents for you to read in advance, along with the student handbook. We will be asking parents and student to acknowledge reading these documents and sign off on the student data sheet. If you have not read any of the documents when you come in for registration, we will be asking you to take some time to read the copies provided before signing the student data sheet. We need to ensure that all parents and students are aware of the rules and regulations from Day 1. We are trying to be conservative and avoid the mass printing of documents so we are using this method to save on toner and paper. We will provide a copy of any of the documents on request.
Under the uniform section, please pay attention to the styling of hair for both boys and girls. We do not ask students to cut their hair but it must be neat and pulled back. Further requirements must be met for students in practical areas. We will also not be accepting, “I just got my piercing done”. Sweaters and jackets with hoodies are also not allowed.
We recommend that students drop off their school laptop to the CIFEC office between the hours of 9 am and 1 pm. This will allow the IT Technician to transfer the laptop to the CIFEC network, ready for the school year. They can be picked up 2 days after drop off. If the laptop is not working, we would recommend dropping it off still so we can work on accessing a working replacement.
We are still in the process of setting up the WhatsApp group and we appreciate your patience with this. Last year we were quite successful with getting information out to parents quickly using this method, and it was set up so we could only send out messages to parents. We made the decision to do this because we value parents’ time when it comes to communication, especially after hours. All parents were still able to communicate on the side for questions, queries, notices etc., and parents were very appreciative of that. We are trying to get a Parent Association up and running for this school year, and this group can set up a WhatsApp group for open conversations if they choose.
Access to Everest is also important. If you did have access to Everest in the previous school you will continue to do so at CIFEC. You just need to change the school on the top right once school starts.
We are aware that some students are awaiting external examination results to determine if they attend school elsewhere during Year 12. Once results are out and DES has made their decisions on who is approved for dual enrolment, we will be able to sign the dual enrolment forms to submit to the other institution. I believe the CXC website gives August 24th for results to be out.
I will stop here for now. Thank you to so many who have responded or sought advice so far. We will try our best to ensure a smooth start to the school year.
Mark Seerattan
Director
Director Mark Seerattan
