Featured Teacher
is required to sit an admissions test, as
well as anyone who is interested, to
prepare rigorously for these exams as
though they were another AS Level.
We also benefit from the help and
expertise of the Oxford & Cambridge
Society UAE, as well as parents, alumni
and volunteers, all of whom provide
mentoring and mock interviews to
any student who would like it, not just
those applying to Oxbridge.
Share two ways in which you
and your colleagues promote
independent learning through
critical thinking and enquiry at
the Sixth Form level.
The main formal method by which
we promote independent learning
in the Sixth Form is through the
Extended Project Qualification (EPQ),
which was set up three years ago.
The EPQ allows students to write a
6000 word dissertation, create an
artefact, conduct fieldwork or produce
a performance entirely under their
own steam with minimal direction
from staff. This really is independent
learning at its best and I predict that
the EPQ will increasingly become an
integral part of post-16 education as
we move back towards linear A Levels.
We also encourage
enter national and
competitions such as
Campion English essay
the R.A. Butler Politics
students to
international
the Thomas
competition,
Prize as well
as the Physics, Maths and other
Olympiads. Work towards these is
strongly encouraged and students
work almost entirely under their own
steam on these projects.
Tell us two ways in which
you use assessment data in
planning the next steps for the
learning for your students?
Our Sixth Form tutors track our
students every six weeks after
their interim reports. On the basis
of
their
underperformance
or
outperformance, we then suggest
means by which they can stretch and
challenge themselves further or we
recommend that they speak with their
subject teachers to work out exactly
what it is they need in order to improve.
It’s not rocket science but it works.
What advice would you
give other schools that are
struggling to keep their Sixth
Form students motivated?
We have established a genuine
student voice within the Sixth Form
- students helped to conceptualise
and design the new Sixth Form
Centre, they feedback via their subcommittees to the Senior Leadership
Team (SLT) and even sit in on SLT
meetings. They produce many of the
major school events such as World
Food Day, Music Charity Love and the
Winter Bazaar and have established
their own business DC Inc.
DC Inc. is responsible for sourcing,
marketing and distributing our alumni
memorabilia. Our students have a
genuinely vested interest in the way
things are run and it is this, which
ultimately keeps them motivated.
As prosaic as it may sound, most
students are also understandably
concerned about their future financial
wellbeing. We spent time at the
beginning of this year sharing research
with our students which showed that
their future earnings is based not
on the calibre of the university they
attend, rather their length of time
in education. If there is one thing to
keep stude