If a site is "Private", it means that students cannot see the site but staff can access it.
Getting your site ready for the new year
This article deals with creating an external link between two Blackboard sites, NOT about linking to sites together in SI, which is an acceptable practice when two cohorts are co-taught but have different SI module codes.
Module sites from previous years will remain accessible for as long as there are students enrolled and at least one staff member must be enrolled on each site