The Sixth Form Curriculum

UPGRADE stands for Unlocking Potential, Gaining Resilience, And Developing Excellence. Our bespoke study skills programme - anchored in up-to-date educational research - runs throughout both Year 12 and 13 with sessions delivered at key, beneficial points. These sessions have been designed with our students in mind, incorporating feedback from students and staff, as well as the most current research. 

Our students will have fortnightly Personal Development sessions throughout their Sixth Form journey. A range of speakers and sessions are designed to aid the transition into the next stage of their lives. Sessions on personal finance, resilience, mental health, the justice system, personal safety, and driving awareness are just some of the topics covered. We have a diverse set of speakers ranging from alumnae to those in industry. Key, inspirational speakers in recent years have included writer and campaigner Laura Bates (2024) and local MP (at the time) Rob Butler (2023). Our personal development programme is reviewed annually and we respond to the changing needs of our students. 

All Year 12 Students will participate in Sixth Form Games; the aim being to promote physical activity as part of students’ daily lives and to provide opportunities for students to find a lifelong sport or activity.

We will provide an hour of physical activity that will not only increase physical fitness but focus on the students' wellbeing. They will participate in a variety of different activities, drawing on previous knowledge of sports or health and fitness. We wish to promote positive habits and routines for lifelong learning in sport.

We hope students will be able to use their learning to foster a positive relationship with physical activity beyond their school years; they will be equipped to take responsibility to continue with physical activity whether this be in other class settings or as an individual in the gym or at home.

We hope they will understand that being healthy underpins everything that they do.

One of the features of Sixth Form life is independence. Not a ‘come and go as you please’ approach (post-lunch Home Study is an earned privilege - all students are expected on site every day from registration through to the end of period 4 as a minimum), but independent study. We have 3 main study locations. The Sixth Form Study Centre and the Library are supervised silent study venues, but the Dining Hall is a communal study area, allowing for group work and of course the opportunity to enjoy a hot drink from the canteen!

As well as these compulsory extras, we provide the opportunity for students to develop and hone their leadership skills through a variety of positions that they can apply for. It is a real feature of Sixth Form life that students have multiple opportunities to develop much sought after transferable skills.

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Subject Ambassadors

Students can apply to any subject to act as an ambassador from midway through Year 12 until Easter of Year 13. These roles will enable students to work with Heads of Department, younger students and visitors to the school. They may write articles for publication on the school website and/or newsletters, run clinics for younger students, provide information on open evenings and help with other duties around the school.

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House & Deputy House Captains

House captains work to promote and encourage participation in house events from all year groups. They write, deliver and lead assemblies, support with the organisation and staffing of events, visit forms in younger years and also take on break duty responsibilities in the Dining Hall and around the school site more generally.

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Cabinet & Head Girl of School

These senior positions afford the opportunity to really enhance leadership, communication, organisational, listening and creative skills in a challenging but supportive environment. These positions allow students to have a hand in shaping the future of the school, enabling them to leave a lasting, ongoing legacy for the next generation to pick up and continue to advance. They will not only be front-facing advocates of the student body, but drive the student voice agenda, work very closely with the headmistress and SLT, work with our neighbours at AGS and work with our increasing alumnae network to drive and increase opportunities for our current students.  

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As Ofsted noted, our students take on ‘many meaningful leadership roles’ that help them grow beyond the curriculum. The roles outlined above are of course not exhaustive. Each individual house event, sport, subject, club, activity or talk brings an opportunity for our students to take a lead. Not least the extensive charity and community work our students are involved in. Our students don’t just learn to take exams. They are active citizens and role models within the school community and beyond.