Life Beyond the Classroom

Work-related Learning:
From the beginning of their time in Sixth Form students are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities which promote awareness of the world of work, including Young Enterprise, the Engineering Education scheme, a week of work experience in the summer and a Wednesday afternoon which is used by many to undertake a work experience placement, often to support an application for an intended professional course post-18. We run frequent optional sessions run by professionals talking about their field of work and support these opportunities through our Forum and PHSE programmes

Community Participation:
There are numerous opportunities for our students to take an active part in their community at a local, national and international level. We have several buddying schemes and a Year 7 and 8 Form attachment programme. Many students volunteer in the Learning Support Facility, supporting a variety of students. Sixth Formers are encouraged to join the Sixth Form Committee and run the School Council and various clubs in school. We work closely with V-involved who provide local volunteering opportunities for our students at the beginning of Year 12. Sixth Formers have set up and now run a school Amnesty group and they organise charity fundraising events in school. Many offer their time volunteering in local primary schools and retirement homes as well as local charity shops.

Personal Development:
There are numerous opportunities for students to take part in extra-curricular activities to enhance their personal development. Many sixth formers play regular sport at school, local, county and national level, including football, rugby, hockey, golf, swimming, athletics and orienteering. They also take part in the annual school production front and back stage, play a leadership role in our annual Rock Challenge competition, take part in local theatre and operatic productions, teach and participate in dance classes locally and contribute actively to the musical life of the school. They have been instrumental in the setting up of and now running of the school radio station and edit and write for the school magazine. Sixth formers are actively encouraged to take their wider personal development very seriously and are encouraged to see the broad benefits that being active beyond the school curriculum can bring.

Travel abroad:
There are opportunities to travel and study abroad. There is an annual French exchange to our twin town of Marvejols. There is a biennial Sixth Form ski trip and an annual trip to CERN to visit the Hadron Collider to study with scientists working on the project. There are also other subject specific trips; this year Geography students travelled to Vesuvius to study the active volcano. Students are offered the opportunity to win a European Scholarship prize to compliment their studies. In recent years they have travelled to Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Athens, Stockholm, Venice and Prague. We run a World Challenge programme and in recent years sixth formers have travelled, hiked, climbed and taken part in community projects in Guatemala and Tanzania. Over forty students will travel to Nepal in the summer of 2011. We have recently linked with a school in Ghana; a group of sixth formers volunteered at the school and on a Fairtrade project this summer. This link has been developed further and this summer additional placements will be offered in local government offices.

PHSEE
Each Sixth Form student is a member of a tutor group and works closely with his/her tutor during the 2/3 years in the Sixth Form.  Students are encouraged to work co-operatively with others in their form, taking part in various team events and competitions.  Form tutors support and guide students through the transition from Key Stage 4 to 5 through our PHSE programme which is delivered during one lesson a week and during form time each morning.  This course helps students to develop the study skills necessary to be successful in the Sixth Form and to prepare them for higher level study beyond school; it provides a programme of Health Education in conjunction with local healthcare practitioners; it provides careers advice and guidance and support for university, apprenticeship and job applications in conjunction with the Connexions service; it provides a framework for close academic monitoring and support for students.

Forum
This takes place one lesson a week and complements PHSE and the General Studies curriculum. We welcome into school a wide variety of outside speakers who run a series of whole year group and small interest group sessions on many topics, such as Personal Safety, Driving Standards and road safety, local, national and international politics, human rights, blood and organ Donation, various careers and professions.