Student Support

Pastoral Care

Your Progress Tutor will oversee all your well-being, progress and achievements; work closely with your teachers, parents or guardians and help to support you to manage your personal and academic progress. Tutor group sessions take place weekly throughout the year and are an important and compulsory part of your timetable. Here you will focus on a range of topics from healthy lifestyles, progression planning and developing an advanced level mindset. You will meet regularly with your Progress Tutor for 1:1 meetings to review your progress and to agree personal performance targets. You will take part in a variety of Learner Voice Activities to help shape The Sixth Form and have the opportunity to join an active Student Council or become a Student Governor or Ambassador.

Learning mentor support is available to help you develop advanced level study skills and provides access to specialist advice from external support agencies. The Sixth Form is committed to your safety and wellbeing; The Sixth Form’s counsellor and BSafe team are also a key part of the pastoral team.

The Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

The LRC provides a breadth of support for your learning. The online resource library, student intranet, TEAMS and Google virtual learning environment (VLE) complement
the traditional range of books, journals and learning resources. Practical help is available to assist with researching for homework, coursework or assignments.

Specific Learning Needs or Disabilities

If you have a specific learning difficulty or a disability requiring learning support, please ensure that you tell us about your needs when you apply. Early applications by December prior to entry are needed to enable us to liaise directly with you, the staff in your school and your parents/guardians. This helps us to have a clear understanding of your support needs when we apply for specific high needs support funding, where appropriate. Transition visits to The Sixth Form start whilst you are still in Year 11.

Religious Festivals

As a diverse, multi-faith community, The Sixth Form recognises that students and their families will want to celebrate religious festivals when they occur. A day’s holiday is allowed if these festivals occur during the week in term time.

Student and Parent Portals

The Student Portal can be accessed anywhere through The Sixth Form intranet or website and provides information and regular updates about your attendance, exams, and performance reviews as well as your current timetable. The Parent Portal is available through the website and in addition to the information on attendance and progress, it provides regular news updates and all student progress reviews for the year. A Parents’ Welcome evening takes place in September where help is provided to register for the Parents’ Portal, in addition to the Parents’ Guide to The Sixth Form.