Developing schools

Getting the most out of the Sixth Form Steve Pegg describes some paths towards higher achievement

Alps is a leading analysis and performance improvement system for schools and colleges at KS5 and KS4. Our reports, training and support sessions are used extensively within the state and independent sector. We provide colleagues with the information and advice they need to ensure that their students achieve their aspirational grades and have the widest range of opportunities available to them when they leave school.

How does Alps relate to the independent sector? Our dataset is generated from the entire national dataset published by the DfE, and as such includes an analysis of the performance and progress made by students across most of the independent sector. Therefore, we are able to identify the emerging trends and areas for improvement that might ensure that all young people access the best courses in their sixth form.

Using our analysis, you are able to measure your performance against performances nationally. We have data that shows that many young people enjoy exceptional support from talented teachers in a good proportion of independent schools, but there are always areas for improvement.

The demands upon and ambitions of our young people are growing. The opportunities that are now accessible after leaving school are many and varied. The changes we have seen in patterns of employment, the skills demanded of the workforce, and the changing methods of working mean that the time students spend

in the sixth form becomes even more important. In fact, many (including me) would argue that those two short years in the sixth form are the most important phase in a young person’s life.

And so, the challenge for Head Teachers, SLT, academic and pastoral leaders, teachers, and all those colleagues involved in sixth form education is clear. How do we ensure that every young person in our care leaves with the best grades they might achieve? And how can the school community ensure that this occurs alongside thrilling sporting and cultural opportunities outside the classroom, and effective and timely pastoral intervention and support when needed? You will know from your experience that all elements are needed for every young person in your sixth form.

Alps is a leading analysis and performance improvement system for schools and colleges at KS5 and KS4. Challenge, achievement and enjoyment in the classroom: challenge, achievement and enjoyment outside of it. The most successful schools achieve both. As soon as you step into their vibrant sixth forms you sense that that they have the balance just right: you hear it and see it from the teaching staff themselves and expressed eloquently by the young people in their care. A love of learning shines through in the classroom and the common room, with every student involved and challenged by the subject matter and the passionate delivery of the facilitator.

These are qualities that are easy to identify when you see them, and a story which is quite straightforward to describe and write down. But achieving a strong and vibrant sixth form is perhaps more difficult to ‘action plan’, particularly given the lack of sixth form data available, the perception that sixth forms work in isolation from the rest of the school and/or from other schools, and if we are honest (sometimes) the lack of priority given to sixth form achievement - particularly when the sixth form is small, or in a subject where numbers are small.

Alps has worked and continues to work with school sixth forms throughout England and Wales, and whether the curriculum offered is the traditional A/AS Level suite, or has expanded to offer other qualifications, we are clear that the most successful schools exhibit consistent features. In our opinion the following would ensure a good start: • Results Day is seen not just as a chance to celebrate successes and say farewell to young people, but as an opportunity to look at their Alps analysis and reflect upon initiatives that have gone well, as well as lessons that need to be learned for the coming year. • Enrolment into the sixth form is done with care, with young people given impartial and positive academic and careers advice, based upon their strengths, their interests and their potential. The best schools are prepared to say ‘no’ to some young people in some subjects. On the other hand, the best schools are prepared to give a chance to some young people in some subjects. • Individual sixth form subject reviews between the Head

Teacher, the Head of Sixth and teaching colleagues take place in the first week of term. Of particular importance here is the fact that these reviews should involve the Head and should be separate from the lower school reviews. It is surely not asking much for the Head to give an hour of his/ her time to reflect upon the outcomes of the A Level Physics students, rather than tag it onto the last five minutes of

a whole school KS3/KS4/GCSE Physics review. What a powerful message meetings like these send! Improving teaching and learning is the absolute priority in the sixth form, trumping the need to develop independent learning skills in young people (which might be achieved by some by the end of their sixth form studies, but cannot be expected to be there in the first few weeks or months of their studies). Student performance is monitored accurately, effectively and regularly, with support offered to those young people and in those subjects where progress has stalled. Pastoral and academic teams work together to ensure the wellbeing and progress of all young people Governors, academic leaders, students and parents all understand the importance of value added progress measures and regular training is offered to enable a healthy and informed debate. There is a well-established range of extra-curricular opportunities for sixth formers.

Of course, there is more, much more. The stories which describe the finest sixth forms within the independent sector would take hundreds of thousands of words, rather than just one article. Your sixth form and the young people who have chosen to study in it matter; and imagination, reinvention and commitment are needed if your students are to leave school with the confidence, the qualifications and the life experiences they will need if they are to meet the complexity of the myriad challenges life, university and employment are about to throw at them. Steve Pegg is Deputy Chief Executive at Alps

For more information on Alps or to contact us, visit our website at www.alps-va.co.uk