Welcome to The Purbeck School sixth form site – I hope this gives you a flavour of the fantastic offer that we have here.

The Purbeck School sixth form is a unique place to learn that embraces the pursuit of academic excellence, fosters leadership, and creates opportunity, all within a supportive and nurturing environment.

We are a national leader as an educational establishment. In every area of the school students are taught by dedicated and expert staff who are passionate about their subject. Facilities are second to none and students who study at The Purbeck School sixth form routinely outperform those from other schools across the country and progress to excellent universities or apprenticeships.

However, it is not just the academic performance that we aim to enhance at The Purbeck School. We also ensure that our students become young adults who are prepared to face the modern world with confidence and determination. Student leadership is an important part of sixth form life, whether it be through visiting university speakers, mentoring younger students, raising money for charity, or liaising with local business, we ensure that students leave this school with the self confidence to progress to whatever their next step may be.

This is supported by a comprehensive enrichment programme that allows our students to understand and embrace the modern world. This can take many forms, political debate, sporting competitions, trips and visits, learning first aid, how to cook for yourself, or listening to varied and interesting speakers from different walks of life. There is a constant commitment to widen the life experience of our students.

Supporting all of this is our unswerving commitment to student well being. There is a dedicated team of sixth form staff who are here to support sixth form students. We understand that life and learning is not always smooth, so we have a network of support for each student through the comprehensive tutoring system and the sixth form office. We are very proud that OFSTED commented this year that ‘learners are known well as individuals’ – this deep knowledge and understanding of each student is something that we pride ourselves on.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Adam Darley
Headteacher

The Purbeck School Sixth Form

Sixth form is a new and exciting time in your education; at The Purbeck School, you will be encouraged to be more independent, you will have more freedom to make your own choices and take responsibility for your learning and your actions. You will have the opportunity to become a sixth form student leader, enjoy a variety of enriching activities including many trips and visits. You will become part of a vibrant and successful sixth form community which is a solid and powerful springboard to higher education and apprenticeships.

We will offer you all this within the stability of an established and highly regarded school community; you will receive excellent support both academically and pastorally. We will expect you to work hard as work in the sixth form is a significant step up from GCSEs; we will expect you to participate and to make the most of the opportunities you are given.

The Purbeck School sixth former is confident, intellectually curious, prepared, creative, resilient, socially aware and ready to make an effective contribution to society.

We are one of the best performing state schools for sixth form provision in the County. Figures released by the Department for Education have again shown what excellent opportunities are on offer and places us in the top 15% of schools nationally. We are extremely proud of our students and look forward to welcoming you to our sixth form.

“learners are known well as individuals and are provided with meaningful careers guidance so that they leave the sixth form to follow appropriate paths in education, training or employment” Ofsted March 2018

“outcomes are well above the national average (sixth form)” Ofsted March 2018

Simon Holmes
Assistant headteacher/Head of Sixth Form

Informed Choices – Post-16 Education Decisions – What you decide to study post-16 can have a major impact on what you can study at degree level. Whether or not you have an idea of the subject you want to study at university, having the right information now will give you more options when the time comes to make your mind up.

This guide aims to help you make an informed decision when choosing your course for post-16 education.’

www.russellgroup.org/InformedChoices-latest.pdf

Support and Challenge

Every student matters to us and therefore we tailor learning and support to enable personalised development through the Sixth Form.

Life and Learning in the Sixth Form is very different to Year 11. A significant challenge for students is the move away from very formal lessons, where the majority of the learning is directed by the teacher, to taking more responsibility and more independence in their learning. For example, students will often be taught in much smaller classes to enable more personalisation, however there will be an expectation that students will prepare ahead for lessons, take their own notes, meet deadlines, undertake independent research, use their own initiative to extend their knowledge beyond the classroom. There is a very full pastoral support programme in place and students are placed in a tutor group which comprises of both Year 12 and 13 students. Students meet regularly with their tutor in a tutor group to help develop their learning skills in order to meet the challenge of Sixth Form. Students also meet their tutor for 1:1 support sessions. We endeavour to place students with a tutor who also teaches a subject which the student is studying.

For students and parents, tutors are the first point of contact regarding support and advice. Each student will be set targets based on their GCSE results. The tutor will monitor the progress of students against these targets and help to support them with intervention strategies if necessary. Tutors help students plan their future careers, writing, for example, references for students for university or employment.

Each week students take part in a Sixth Form Briefing which involves either internal speakers or a wide range of external speakers from the community and beyond. These have included: John McCarthy, The Rotary Club, Young Enterprise, driver awareness advisors, careers advisors, ex-students, gap year providers, sexual health professionals, sport ambassadors such as Thinus Delport, and many more.

Skill Development

Each student in Year 12 will work in a small group to deliver a learning skill to a tutor group in the lower school.

Learning Coaches – Students have the opportunity to coach younger students either in the classroom or in a tutor group to develop both the sixth former’s and the young student’s skills.

Presentations and work with our feeder schools – for example the Electricity and Maths Workshops with Year 4 students.
Enrichment activities

In addition to skill development work in the tutor groups, all students are encouraged to take opportunities to develop their personal and employability skills.

We have a student senior leadership team who lead and organise activities withinh the school.

We have the following Prefects

• House Captains
• Student voice
• Charity
• Publicity
• Welfare

Enrichment

Students have the opportunity to take part in a very wide range of enrichment activities. Please see the ‘Enrichment’ section of the Sixth Form website.

Careers / Destinations

In addition to support from their tutors, we also employ an Ansbury Careers adviser who is available to students.

All Year 12 students undertake a week of work experience, and in addition we can assist students finding weekly work placements in order to develop their understanding of a particular career path.

Students undertaking a Level 3 programme of study are encouraged to apply for a number of opportunities offered by universities such as:

• Exeter Scholars
• Realising Opportunities Scheme
• University Summer Schools
• Cambridge residential
• Southampton and Bournemouth University Visits and UCAS fair.
• Pathways to Law
• Headstart EDT Science activities