OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SIXTH FORM

In addition to their academic subjects students will be offered many opportunities to meet different types of challenges by taking part in, or taking responsibility for, one or more of the following:

Charity Involvement

Each year the Sixth Form supports one or more charities and organise fund raising events across the whole school.

Clubs and Societies

There are many opportunities for members of the Sixth Form to be involved in the running of Clubs and Societies. In the past several clubs have been run very successfully by Sixth Form students who have had a particular interest they were prepared to share with others.

Community Service

The Sixth Form have a well established programme of Community Service. All Year 12 students will have the opportunity to work in the community in a variety of different ways.

Extra Curricular Activities

There will be many opportunities to take part in a variety of extra curricular activities, e.g. sports, drama, music (choir, orchestra, wind band, etc.)

Houses

Sixth Form students are encouraged to become actively involved in House Competitions. The school is divided into four Houses: Fulford, Hill, Roughton and Stewart, named after former Headteachers of the Girls’ and Boys’ Grammar Schools. These Houses serve to encourage a sense of belonging and internal competition, particularly in sport. They also enable a student to experience a vertical section of the school from Years 7 - 13 and to exercise responsibility within it.

Management Shadowing

During their time in Year 12 students may apply for the opportunity to participate in Management Shadowing. Management Shadowing allows a student to “shadow” a senior executive for a period of time, to learn about the role of the executive and to observe the skills used within management.

Medilink, Lawlink Courses

Year 12 students who are considering future careers in Medicine or Law are offered the opportunity before Christmas to visit Nottingham University. This opportunity provides the students with a focussed insight into the different courses available and how to apply and present a strong personal statement. Indications are given of the different selection processes and the criteria used. Funding for the courses is partially subsidised by the Education Department.

Peer Mentoring

Over the last few years a significant number of Year 12 students have chosen to carry out peer group mentoring and have worked with lower school students through their tutor groups.

Prefects

All members of the Sixth Form are offered the opportunity to become prefects, who assist with the day to day running of the school in a number of ways. Head Prefects are appointed annually from the members of Year 12 by the Headteacher after consultation with staff and with Year 12.

Sixth Form Forum

This consists of a group of one representative from each tutor group who meet regularly to discuss matters pertinent to the Sixth Form and to organise social and charity events. All members of the Sixth Form are expected to contribute £10 at the beginning of Year 12 to a Sixth Form Fund which is administered jointly by members of the Sixth Form and the Sixth Form Management Team. Contribution to the fund entitles the students to a ‘Guernsey Student Card’ which enables them to receive a student discount from a variety of retail outlets and venues on the Island. This fund enables the Sixth Form;
to organise induction and social events

Team Programme

This offers an opportunity for our Year 12 students to participate in the Young Enterprise Scheme by supporting youngsters with learning difficulties. As with Young Enterprise this programme enables students to learn business skills but within a one to one supportive environment.

Work Experience

All students have the opportunity to participate in Work Experience, mainly during Project Week in July but also at other times by negotiation, which gives the student first hand knowledge of the world of work and the responsibilities involved in a particular occupation. This provides an invaluable chance for students to test out their career choice, or to investigate other career possibilities.

Note
Both Management Shadowing and Work Experience are offered during the Easter holiday or during Project Week. Students must ensure that they do not have other commitments, e.g. revision for ‘mock’ or external examinations or holidays when they undertake to participate in these experiences.

Young Enterprise

All students are offered the opportunity to participate in the Young Enterprise Scheme, which aims to provide practical business experience for young people while they are studying at school. Participants set up and run their own companies and in the process develop their personal and business skills.

Quitline Smoking Cessation Programme

As part of Sixth Form activities encouraging students to lead a healthy lifestyle, we are pleased to advise that Quitline, in conjunction with the School Nursing Service and Community Paediatrician, will be offering a programme in school to help young people stop smoking. The sessions will be confidential and parents will not be informed if their child attends however, every encouragement will be given to the students to inform their parents.

The programme will include regular measuring of carbon monoxide levels and, following careful assessment, nicotine replacement therapy may be recommended and provided for students age 16 years or older. Under 16s would need to give consent for their parents to be informed if a course of N.R.T. was recommended for them. If students have any questions about the programme they wish to discuss, please ring Quitline on 233170. Lisa Huxster is the Quitline Smoking Cessation Specialist for Young People and will be available to offer specialist advice and support in students’ quit attempt and free Nicotine Replacement Therapy, where appropriate. We hope we have students’ support to help all young people lead a healthy lifestyle by supporting them in giving up smoking.

Relate 2U

Relate is an organisation that is well known for helping adults with relationship difficulties and has recently begun a new service (Relate 2U) especially for young people who are experiencing difficulties with relationships.

In setting up this service, Relate has acknowledged that many parents would wish their children to have access to the type of professional support which, until now, has only been available to adults and we are fortunate to be able to work with Relate to offer easy access to any of our students who could benefit from professional and confidential support.

All Relate Counsellors are professionally trained with counselling skills and specifically trained in young people’s counselling to enable this service to be offered within school.

“Relate 2U” will be available to young people who are over 16 years old and who are attending the Sixth Form Centre.  Relate 2U will be available on Tuesdays and any student wishing to see the Relate 2U Counsellor should speak to his/her Head of Year or to Mrs Watson.  Referrals can be suggested by parents, school staff and students although we would always want to encourage students to take responsibility for referring themselves; the student would always have to be in agreement that they wanted to see the Relate 2U counsellor. Young people have the right to refuse or discontinue counselling at any time.

Further information can be obtained from the Sixth Form Centre.