Head of Sixth Form’s statement

SIXTH FORM

Head of Sixth Form

What a year just past! As we entered the new academic year the Covid-wracked spring and summer had meant uncertainty on all fronts. We were all glad to be back in the building, teaching in classrooms rather than online … but for how long?

Covid bubbles, strange cleaning routines, masked lessons dominated, and yet we persevered. The Sixth Form, glad of a slightly later morning start, got stuck in, learned, further developed their characters and put up with events often held in open-air winter conditions or in marquee tents. They did not lose a sense of who they were, or that they were in it together and that really heartened all who saw it, particularly because many others were trapped, cooped up in their homes. The start of Lent brought that to our students too and online lessons were back again for the next three months. Still, our Sixth Form made playlists and held inter-form quizzes, all the while trying to prepare for major grading tests post-Easter. April saw us back on-site but the return was not to the old annexed Sixth Form common room tucked under the Refectory. Instead, miraculously, the new STEM building with its bespoke Sixth Form Hub had arisen! It really was a sight for sore eyes. Some comfort then at the close of a difficult academic year, one which Year 13 rounded off with aplomb, with an astounding 96% of them achieving their first choice of university. Few cohorts at St Dunstan’s will ever have experienced a Sixth Form journey like theirs and yet they carried it off with the most remarkable spirit and fortitude.

Mr A Brewer

Head of Sixth Form