The Sixth Form Day
Your day will be quite different from the school day you are used to.
The majority of your timetable will be scheduled classes for your chosen subjects, but you’ll also have set periods for Games, Open Forum and Foundation Studies. The rest of your time is for private or supervised study. The management of these study periods is down to you and will help you to succeed in your subjects. Remember, the timetable doesn’t account for the work you should be doing outside of the classroom.
Classroom Lessons
Typically, A Level subjects will have 12 class periods per fortnight. These classes are usually small, allowing students to benefit from high teacher support. Depending on the subject and curriculum, students can expect to engage in presentations, debates, group work and challenges.
Games
An active lifestyle is key to our well-being and yet we know that there is a societal trend showing a reduction in physical activity, particularly amongst teenage girls, as they get older. At King Edward’s, we make time for sport, knowing the huge value it has for our pupils in terms of physical health, mental well-being, stress relief and team building. Therefore, every Sixth Former takes part in our Wednesday afternoon games programme, which includes a wide range of activities, including: Hockey, Rugby, Canoeing, Climbing, Football, Cricket, Netball, Weights, Basketball, Golf, Squash, and Sailing. Many of the Sixth Formers, who wish to play at a more competitive level, are members of the senior sporting squads, playing fixtures during the Wednesday afternoon games sessions, and also on Saturdays. We have a full fixture list in all the major sports, and Sixth Formers are encouraged to challenge themselves to contribute to these squads.
Private Study
The aim of Private Study is to provide time for you in school to build on what you do in class in a relatively independent manner by reading around your subjects, researching topics in depth or preparing written or other assignments. Of course, it’s not expected that you will spend every minute of every such period working: you need to take time to have a break and have a coffee, read the paper or talk with friends. But you will be expected to manage your time sensibly and organise your independent work effectively.
You will find the Sixth Form study area and the Library & Resources Centre are good places for this kind of study. It may be possible to use other areas, e.g. Art, DT, Music or IT facilities by arrangement with the appropriate staff. They may set you particular pieces of work to be completed in those periods or expect you to have done some reading or research in them. The key element is that they - and you - will expect there to be an outcome, which might be a completed piece of work or evidence that you have increased your knowledge or skills.
Additional Study
The teacher guided nature of supervised Additional Study for those taking three subjects will help you work on additional subject specific skills. If you are uncertain about how best to manage your Additional Study time, your tutor and subject teachers will be able to give you good advice.
