Life & Work in the Sixth Form
LIFE AND WORK IN THE SIXTH FORM
If you elect to pursue your education here, in a School Sixth Form, in preference to some other choice, that decision will be taken to imply acceptance of the academic package we offer and all that goes with it.
You will have a measure of both freedom and responsibility, on the expectation that you will have become more mature and more able to function like an adult. Indeed, during the course of the Sixth Form, you will become an adult in the eyes of the law. The relationship between teachers and students may be more relaxed and co-operative, but this always relies on students conducting themselves sensibly and courteously. Such things should become second nature. In the Sixth Form, you will have periods of non-contact time which you will be expected to manage responsibly for purposes of self-directed study and research. Some of this time will be supervised by staff in order to help you acquire the right habits. Homework will increasingly involve longer-term projects alongside assignments to be completed within the week. There is no fixed homework timetable, but we look to every student to be putting in 20 hours’ work each week outside the classroom, irrespective of how much is actually set.
Expectations regarding work rate and attendance are high, and are monitored regularly by the Head and Deputy Head of Sixth Form, by Form Tutors and by subject teachers. Failure to meet these expectations can result in the withdrawal of exit privileges or even of examination entry, but we find that the overwhelming majority of our students see very clearly the folly of running any such risk and conduct themselves in the self-responsible manner which one looks for in senior students.
In the belief that regulation at this level should exist only in support of crucial academic and personal values, we are currently operating an experimental Sixth Form dress code which imposes no requirements at all upon students beyond the obvious criteria of safety, decency, hygiene and cleanliness. The School’s Governing Body will decide early in the New Year whether this policy merits continuation. So far, however, it is fair to say that the Sixth Form have responded to their new sartorial freedom with pleasing maturity.
Students are invited during Years 11 and 12 to apply to become prefects. Those appointed will receive certain privileges in exchange for the very considerable extra responsibilities and workload they take on in assisting the staff during lunch and break times and in representing the School on other occasions. Becoming a prefect provides opportunities for leadership and helps students to mature through learning to deal with what can sometimes be challenging situations.