Are you ready? AW6 The next adventure........
A dedicated Centre of Excellence.
In September 2021, our Sixth Form Centre of Excellence, AW6, opened at our Tile House Mansion Campus and follows the Cognita Nexus Concept for Post 16 education. Nexus is a concept which focuses on bridging the gap between school and university and prepares students for the excitement and challenge of life beyond study. This is an education for game changers, the studious, disrupters, creative thinkers and leaders in waiting. This is an education as unique as its students! AW6 is the first dedicated independent Sixth Form campus in the area and we are committed to ensuring it offers an unrivalled educational experience specialising in combining academic excellence with preparation for the future.
This new approach offers the very best in Sixth Form education and experience. Academic excellence delivered by a dedicated team of teaching professionals who consistently support students to achieve top band results, is matched by an equally impressive co-curricular and future ready programme. This is a multi phase development. For the opening in September 2021, we completed a refurbishment of the ground floor of the mansion house to provide numerous dedicated study and social spaces, café and lecture room. The first and second floors are teaching and tutor rooms and house our fully equipped Business Suite created for both formal and informal business meetings and 1:1 coaching sessions. The suite incorporates a Microsoft Teams video conferencing solution. Real world experience!
The Café serves hot and cold drinks, snacks and meals throughout the day. School meals no longer form part of the school fee at Sixth Form, rather students choose themselves what they wish to purchase. The Common Room provides both relaxation and social study spaces whilst the Study is a more formal environment where students are expected to work silently and have access to careers and higher education resources. The Great Hall is now the Collaborative Study Zone with areas for teamworking, discussion and focus groups. The beautiful music room has been re-created to form the Lecture Room. Together with the excellent indoor and outdoor sports and education facilities, AW6 offers a perfect base for Sixth Form studies.
The Café
Our Commitment to YOU. Your experience at our Sixth Form is as much about advancement as a person and preparation for future success, as it is about developing your knowledge and gaining the best academic results. That's why our exceptional academic curriculum has been matched with a first class future-ready programme. The opportunities afforded to you here, enable you to gain essential networking skills, develop your resilience and confidence and ensure that you are ready for whatever the future holds. We will encourage you to re-invent, re-imagine and reevaluate situations and scenarios. We will help you to hone the skills that enable you to pivot and adapt to ever changing life experiences and find the self-belief that you can achieve more than you thought possible!
Be confident about success. The best measure of success for a school is to look at the value that can be added to your education. What can we offer your academic progress and achievement that will help you to exceed your expectations? This measure is called the 'value added' score which at A level is defined by an ALPS (A level Performance System) score. ALPS allows schools to identify the value they add to students' A level performance compared to what might be expected of them following their previous academic performance at GCSE. Akeley has a strong academic record. The school has attained ALPS 1 – the highest score possible which places Akeley in the very top 1% of schools in the country for progress . This is phenomenal! In layman's terms students can expect to leave Akeley attaining, on average, nearly half a grade more per subject than they would be expected to achieve at an average school for a student of their ability. This could be the difference between a good university and a great university!
Exceptional Academic Offer. Our teaching professionals deliver an exceptional academic offer – both A level and vocational. We also invest in a variety of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), the Extended Project Qualification and ESB qualification. Further details on each can be found in our curriculum programme. Alongside the academic, we have created an exceptional future ready personal development programme. This wealth of opportunity enables you to choose subjects which you both enjoy and can find success in. Our offer considers what is required in a workforce of the future. It supports the development of curious, resilient and adaptable young people.
Each September our academic offer adapts to meet the demand of those students wishing to join us. The subjects below are proposed for 2022 entry. Applied Science Biology Business Studies Chemistry Computer Science Creative Arts (with choice of Art, Photography or Textiles) Design Technology Economics English Literature Extended Project Qualification French Further Mathematics Geography History Mathematics Media Music Music Technology PE Physics Politics Psychology Sociology Spanish
Be Prepared. We offer a first class future ready self-development programme. We want to ensure that when you leave us you are ready for the selection process for your first job, university or apprenticeship interview and have the confidence, resilience and strength of character you need for your next adventure beyond school. When you are asked at interview ‘tell us about yourself’ – you will have plenty to impress them with! The programme offers a depth of experience, insight, training and development not usually experienced until you are well-established in your career. We have brought together some of the most inspirational and knowledgeable experts from across our Cognita UK schools and from the world of work. We have partnered with specialist organisations, to really engage you in thinking about your ambitions and goals and set you up to achieve them. Through webinars, networking, communication and leadership training and participation in MOOCs, you can constructively improve your skill-set and emotional resilience.
Programme Highlights: Communication and Networking Skills (including networking breakfasts) Leadership Programme Work style / Career match analysis Weekly Webinars and Career Talks Speakers Programme 1:1 Careers Advisor Online careers and further education hub Masterclasses Global Peers
The programme enlists the expertise of leaders in industry, to run the Communication and Leadership elements whilst our CogTalks programme is supported by the wider school community. This includes parents, former students, siblings of staff, members of the Cognita Executive board and so on. They volunteer their time to inspire and excite you about the road ahead through mentoring and on and offline presentations and discussions. Sixth Forms from our schools across the UK and Europe join together to take part in webinars and masterclasses presented by corporate leaders and subject specialists. It's an opportunity for you to engage with students with shared passions and meet new people whilst being inspired!
Be Inspired. Led by our careers expert, you also have access to an expert team of UCAS coaches and mentors who can support you in Oxbridge, BMAT, degree apprenticeship programmes and career options. Your timetable will be populated with lectures, seminars, enrichment sessions, future ready and selfdevelopment programmes, 1:1 tutorials and individual research, study periods and free periods. Lectures are delivered by specialists in their field, either based at AW6 or guest speakers and lecturers from the wider Cognita family and the world of work.
Be Well. Happy people are successful people. Fact. Success comes in many forms and is open to interpretation, but ultimately if you are happy, you are in the best place to embrace the opportunities presented to you and live a successful, fulfilling life. We want your AW6 experience to be an extremely positive one! Examination years are full on. You work hard on your academic studies, you have full and exciting social lives within and outside of school, you may also have a job. This combined with the challenges and uncertainty happening in our world today, can make it easy to lose sight of your wellbeing. We have got your back. Your personal tutor and the pastoral team are always there for support. Our Sixth Form is small enough to care and large enough to inspire. We can notice how you are, even when you aren't noticing yourself! In addition we also invest in a smart scientific programme called AS tracking. Monitoring is supported through a bespoke platform which ensures that we can help you to keep on track of your emotional wellbeing. Once a year, all our schools across the world come together for Global Be Well Day where we explore the Be Well Charter. Staff and students collaborate to explore ways of improving and developing skills to enhance your well-being.
Be Independent. Your next step is likely to take you away from home. This transition either into the world of work, where you will be expected to use your initiative and stand on your own two feet, or to university where independent living happens instantaneously, requires preparation. We will help you to become future ready! The stand-alone nature of AW6 allows us to have a culture where independence is encouraged (with support as needed – of course!) You will be expected to take responsibility for your learning and progress, just as you will be at university or in your first role at work. Here, however, there will always be the support of your personal tutor and mentors to keep you on track. You will experience an increased level of independence, both with your study time, whether you spend study periods in the Café or learning zones, or with engagement in the numerous enterprise or leadership opportunities within the Inspiring Futures programme. We even teach Uni Cooking!
The timetable is flexible. Free periods are exactly that – free, and if these happen to be at the beginning or end of the day then you do not need to be on campus. You may however wish to be, as the social spaces, café zone and your friends will miss you! During study periods you are expected to be on campus and have use of the numerous study areas or café! . With plenty of parking on campus, you will be able to come and go as you please – as long as you remain dedicated to your studies, make the most of the co-curricular and future ready programmes and stay on track. There is no uniform at AW6, just an expectation that you will dress respectfully. For networking and interview practice etc, we would expect you to have smart clothes to hand! Within our Life Learning programme we coach you in everything from negotiating a promotion to budgeting for your weekly food shop! This, together with our first class 'futures' programme, sets you up for success – wherever your ambition takes you.
Be Better. We believe that with privilege comes responsibility. You will find that giving something back to your local and global community is rewarding and immensely grounding. There is always a great sense of achievement and recognition that you have grown as a person in doing something special, with others, for others. Akeley supports local and international charities through service and fundraising initiatives throughout the year. Sixth Form students also travel to underprivileged communities as part of Cognita wide expeditions to help build schools, volunteer and make a difference to lives less fortunate than their own. You are also invited to be mentors and prefects, supporting and guiding the students lower down the Senior and Junior School.
Be Adventurous. Whether travelling to Borneo or Los Angeles on one of our international residentials or taking part in a weekly Enriched Curriculum activity, we encourage adventure. Expeditions such as that planned for Borneo involve students from across Cognita’s UK schools. You could take part in something amazing, centred around local community project work and including trekking, nature trips and river cruises while working together to run the day to day logistics. You would be encouraged to step out of your comfort zone, learn a lot about yourself and your teammates, and grow in confidence as a result. We just need Covid restrictions to move aside! Of course, there is plenty of adventure and opportunity to learn new skills and develop your confidence at AW6. The timetable is collapsed every Friday afternoon for participation in activities ranging from stage combat and fencing to snowboarding and ballroom dancing!
Open lectures and masterclasses. Our academic enrichment speaker programme seeks to connect students and the wider Akeley community with eminent thinkers to debate key issues and big ideas. When necessary, these will be live Webinars. Speakers booked have included : Lauren Woodwiss, world record holder as one half of the fastest female pair to row across the Atlantic. She recently set up Frontier Sapiens, a film and live events company celebrating human spirit and the untold stories of inspirational people from around the globe. Steve Wardlaw, Chairman of Emerald Life, is a respected international business lawyer and prominent gay rights campaigner. Ranked highly across lists of influence, he cofounded Emerald Life to improve the insurance industry, bringing with him his passion for equality and his zeal for good business. Online subject Masterclasses take place throughout the term. Students seeking additional inspiration have heard about the value of the creative arts, the circular flow of income and the defence against pathogens to name just three.
Be yond AW6. A community of unique and talented individuals, such as this one at AW6, clearly leads to a former student network which has found success globally within an exceptionally wide range of careers. Through our future ready programme and the support of our volunteer groups of former students, as well as current and former parents, we offer career and university advice in addition to the more traditional methods. Former students, now attending university or in work, are available to talk to you about their chosen paths after school and provide both motivation and opportunity. Whether this is in the form of an online chat or telephone call, this strong network of individuals will guide you in your decision making.
Be part of something BIGGER.
AW6 is part of a global community with a network of educational establishments across the world. We embrace our connections to benefit you. Whether this is through exchanges, peer to peer networking, webinars, access to global mentors or support with language learning, you will feel part of something bigger and a whole world of opportunity will be available to you. Sixth Form is a relatively short period of time in your educational career and yet it offers the depth of education that will benefit you throughout your life. Our first-class self-development programme, support for your well-being, abundance of co-curricular activities, academic and non-academic societies, socials, residentials and vibrant campus environment ensures that AW6 is best placed to prepare you for a successful future. We do hope that you will join us for this most amazing educational adventure.
Our Nexus Concept Partner Schools
SIXTH FORM CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
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