From the Director of Sixth Form

It seems to be both tempting fate and inviting imminent obsolescence to introduce our Sixth Form guide with reference to the recent disruption of Covid-19, but the challenge of this awful global pandemic has in many ways illuminated the very best of our Sixth Formers and the teachers who support them. We managed to maintain or modify our core offerings of academic excellence in the (virtual) classroom, our superb skills building a co-curricular programme, our pastoral care, and our university and careers advice and preparation. I was genuinely awed by our students’ response to the recent challenges; perhaps I shouldn’t have been. Sixth Formers always impress me with their resilience, their creativity, their determination, their good humour and their friendliness, and their support for others in their community beyond. What was really refreshing though, was to see the hunger and excitement to come back onto the campus. When students are really clamouring to come back to school, we must be doing something right!

The Sixth Form years are such an exciting and formative time, and it is a real pleasure to lead students through these years and see them develop into confident, well-informed and well-rounded young adults, ready to move on to the next stage of their lives. Sixth Formers work hard, they are friendly and inclusive, they care about the environment and social justice, and they are happy to volunteer their time to help others.

In terms of the curriculum, so many students blossom when they are able to choose and concentrate on the subjects that really excite them. We offer a full range of 26 subjects plus the Extended Project Qualification in the Sixth Form, all academically rigorous, and all taught in small groups of around ten students by specialist teaching staff. For some students narrowing the choice of subjects is difficult, whilst for others the choice is easier and the relief in saying goodbye to some subjects is palpable! All students are encouraged to make their choices against the three touchstones of enjoyment, ability, fit with future higher education and career plans. We recommend for most students that they start on four subjects – this gives some breadth and allows for a bit of experimentation before the majority opt to narrow down to three A Levels after either one term or three.

The academic curriculum is enriched at King Edward’s through the Foundation Studies programme in which all students participate. It combines a core set of life skills in areas such as politics, personal finance, presenting and public speaking, road-readiness for young drivers, and university and career planning, with a changing diet of optional courses in areas such as cookery, travel safety, art appreciation, and even powerboating and drone building.

Time spent in the classroom is not the only vital part of the King Edward’s Sixth Form experience. Time and again, former pupils tell me that some of their most enduring and fondest memories are from participating on the sports field, school trips and expeditions, charitable endeavours, performing on stage or in the concert hall, leading assemblies or helping younger students develop academically and socially. Every Sixth Former at King Edward’s has a chance to practise and develop leadership skills. Students’ views and opinions about their Sixth Form are important to us and we listen and actively involve students in key decisions.

The experiences available at King Edward’s are fun and enriching for their own sake but, in addition, employers increasingly tell us that in a crowded field of graduate applicants, it is the skills and character formed in opportunities outside the classroom that mark out the most highly prized employment candidates.

Our annual Careers Fair and Careers Day, networking lunches and work experience opportunities all contribute to our students’ understanding of the careers marketplace and the skills and attributes needed to succeed.

The Sixth Form is a time for growth and development both in and out of the classroom. Here at King Edward’s we aim to provide a rich diet that allows you to reach your academic potential, but also to learn to win with grace and lose with dignity, to establish the characteristics of confidence with humility, and the desire and the skillsets to contribute to the wider communities in which we live. So is it all plain-sailing? No, but the expertise and experience we have to support you, from our Sixth Form pastoral tutors, to our Careers, Higher Education and Gap Year advisers, through to our Wellbeing Centre, Counsellor and peer support programme are all in place to promote and support your wider wellbeing alongside your academic and personal development.

I hope you like what you see in this guide, and I look forward to meeting you and talking more about what we’re doing in the Sixth Form at King Edward’s to give our students the best two years of their life so far, and the platform to flourish in their next stage in life beyond these doors.

Mr Nick Culver

Director of Sixth Form