Engaging with Politics

This term, our Sixth Form students have been involved in the Electoral Commission’s Your Vote Week. This started by welcoming Matt Western (MP) to North Leamington School to speak with Sixth Form Politics students, and was capped with a visit by a team from the local authority. 

The aim of 'Your Vote Week' is to support young people to have the knowledge they need to get involved in democracy and elections – in particular, to use their vote. This year’s theme was: “get informed and get involved”. This entails accessing trustworthy information to get informed about politics, democracy and elections, and taking the first steps to get involved locally. At NLS, we have:

• Offered coverage of Electoral Commission resources in Tutor Time
• experienced an assembly from the Local Authority around using the vote available to them now (as 18 year olds) or soon (as that landmark age approaches)
• A poster campaign (with QR codes linked to information bases)
• Continued to entrust our Student Leaders with collaborative projects aimed at enhancing student voice in the Sixth Form and the wider school

Shortly after Mr Western’s visit, we welcomed Steve, Harriet and Emily from the Local Authority who gave a terrific assembly to Sixth Form students on the vitality of using their vote and ended the session with a mock vote on whether the age of voting in England should be lowered to 16 – to follow suit with other home nations and to better correspond with the ability to marry, pay taxes or be involved in the armed forces at that age!

  

The mock referendum was overwhelmingly well-received and very positive in that 80%+ of students indicated that they would make use of their vote if it were available today. This has been a really exciting project for our students and, along with the topics Sixth Form students have covered in PSHE & Tutor Time, links to their personal development and being good citizens. For example, at the start of February, Year 12 explored democracy, government institutions and aspects of good citizenship in a series of Tutor Time sessions as part of our ongoing focus on developing well-informed, engaged and proactive young people. Thanks to all involved!

Tutor Time and P.S.H.E Curriculums

In terms of the Tutor Time curriculum, Year 12 and Year 13 have both reflected upon the data arising from Data 2 – setting SMART targets linked to areas where performance perhaps need to improve. Both year groups have also been exploring Digital Literacy of late as well as Work Experience preparations (Year 12) and Examination Preparation (Year 13) in the sense of both the academic and well-being dimensions.

Meanwhile, there has been a sharp focus in Year 12 on Intimate Relationships within P.S.H.E. while in Year 13 attention has been paid to Unhealthy Relationships.

As said before, we recognise the need for skills and knowledge which equip your children with the ability to cope in a demanding world beyond NLS – it’s not all about the grades and we remain dedicated to happy, safe, confident and successful learner provision.

All of this has been supplemented with our ongoing assembly programme which has foregrounded the notion of High Challenge, Deep Support with reference to Stephen Covey’s models of self-efficacy – while also ensuring attention has been paid to important issues such as Road Safety for young drivers or passengers, Neurodiversity Week and World Book Day.

Rewards and Rewards Assembly

The latest assembly has focused on rewards as well as an exploration of Easter – considering, of course, the religious dimension but also other manifestations of Easter’s spirit. If renewal and reinvigoration is a part of this, then this linked at least fairly neatly with a celebration of going in to the break but also of those specific students who had achieved:

• 97-100% attendance
• the most rewards
• recognition for contribution to the school and wider community

For efforts in tutor time, across lessons and in school in general, students have accrued many rewards points in Sixth Form – which is great to see.
With their College affiliation noted, here are the Top 10 in each year:

Well done to these Top Ten students but to all of those who are so committed to their studies and to school life here at NLS. Well done also to the 30  students with the most rewards points within the year group were invited to a Rewards Celebration Event where pupils were treated with freshly baked cupcakes in the canteen.

World Book Day

March saw another wonderful World Book Day for NLS! There was a whole host of literary characters on sight: the reception team went spotty with 101 Dalmatians, Maths brought to life the search for Where’s Wally (no-one saw them all day!) while English took students on a journey into the worlds of Julia Donaldson with the likes of The Gruffalo, Zog and Stickman. To be clear, I was Princess Pearl from Zog and not Elsa from Frozen!

In Sixth Form, we held an assembly and awarded Holly B (Thing 1), Grace P and Rebecca H (Mr Bump and Little Miss Chief) for their fantastic costumes.

All students were gifted with a World Book Day voucher. This voucher could be used in participating bookstores where students can swap their £1 token for one of the title books (or audiobooks) that are participating this year – or more simply use it for money off.

 

 

Neuro-diversity Week

In addition to an informative assembly from the I.E.N. Team, we have shared tips for students who are either diagnosed with neuro-divergence or who may just simply benefit from some of the ideas which support general good practices. These centre on:

• Finding Your Comfortable Space
• Helping to Prioritise
• Organisation
• Reducing Digital Distractions
• Available Apps – some digital distractions are fine!
• Study Techniques and Twists

When you start to explore some of the psychology underpinning all this, it can be of general but also personal interest. Perhaps explore more here: Link to NHS Guidance on Neurodiversity.

An appreciation of difference, realities and how best to manage them as part of an inclusive and respectful culture is something important and a very informative focus was good for all.

Year 12 Work Experience

Here is the rank order of things which employers, admissions tutors and apprenticeship providers look for when allocating competitive places:

1. Grades
2. Work Experience
3. Wider curriculum experiences

This is the evidence base and makes great sense – and it ties in nicely with our commitment to developing the whole child.

We are really pleased that in a competitive market so many of our Y12 students have risen to the challenge and organised some terrific placements: for example, potential medics are going to Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital, the more financially astute have placed at National Grid within the Finance Team, some of the especially minded are heading to care homes – building on their enrichment experiences.

Meanwhile, the most daring, intrepid, heroic types have identified future careers in education and organised placements in local schools!

There are a few students who still need to organise a placement so please support them by referring them to things like the database we have shared (with 100+ potential providers), family contacts, their own research.

Data 2 and Support

Our latest data cycle (Data 2) suggests we remain on-track to secure the outstanding outcomes we achieve in the Sixth Form.

On a ranked-basis, those students who are currently most below-target have been a focus for our internal SIT (School Improvement Team) processes. Letters issued home identify what is happening on a subject-level and on a Sixth Form-level. This ensures a holistic attention which is student-centred and which meets both academic and pastoral needs. Linked with the efforts of home and of student, this process is a vital one undertaken each full term and which supports the achievement of those outstanding outcomes which enable students to take control of their futures.

If you receive one of these letters, please do recognise it as a supportive process aimed at those who may be just a little off-track.

Ultimately, we will remain ‘unashamedly ambitious’ for our students in terms of academic outcomes but we will always work collaboratively, respectfully and with the development of the whole person firmly in mind.

Future Pathways

While we have already reported on Luke and Oliver having respectively secured places at Oxford (to study Maths) and Cambridge (to study Natural Sciences), we are really pleased that so many of our Year 13 have locked-in their preferences for their Next Step destinations. This may involve firming-up their UCAS offers (students should soon if not already be thinking about the June deadline for identifying their Firm and Insurance choices). Beyond that, we’re delighted Amy and Harry are two of many students have all secured prestigious apprenticeships: brilliant!

NLS Sixth Form Form Interviews

Planing for those Year 11 students who will potentially join our Sixth Form as our new  Year 12 in September continues with Sixth Form interviews having taken place during the past couple of weeks. We are delighted so many Year 11 students have applied to remain at NLS and it has been fantastic meeting, and listening, to them during their interviews. Members of our Senior Leadership Team and the Sixth Form team have all commented on how well students conducted themselves during the process. Following their interview, students have received an email from the Sixth Form team which has a letter attached detailing information about a conditional offer, and the induction day scheduled for July 10

Charity and Community – Race for Life

It was lovely to see so many Sixth Form students involved in the recent Race for Life event. Commitment to whole-school events and charity is really important and, given that nearly all Y12-13 technically finish at 13:20 on a Friday, it was great to see those who stayed beyond their usual working work playing a big part in this really important event.

£2,393 was raised and a great afternoon had by all.

 

Student Leadership 

With the ‘exit plans’ for the current Year 13 well in-hand (well done to all of those who have been involved in the Yearbook, Prom preparations and associated fundraising), it’s great to see so many of the current Year 12 applying for the leadership roles their departing peers will leave behind. With Mr Boyes ably supported by messers Butler and Schofield, the soft then hard launch took place this term – with short-listing and interviews to follow next term.  With a range of areas available, Student Leadership remains a key part of our post-16 (as well as whole-school) provision and it really supports applications to those post-18 pathways.

Extra-Curricular – Field Trips, Dof E Gold, India!

Lots of extra-curricular events take place in Sixth Form. Recently, Geography students undertook fieldwork by exploring the built environment in Sheffield.

Elsewhere, D.of.E Gold students completed their training expedition which involved the completion of training on navigation and map skills, route planning, reading the landscape and bearings.

All this with a view to the ’real thing’ later this academic year.

 

 

 

A real highlight of the year and the provision we make has got to include the fact that six intrepid Y12 students joined main school counterparts on a trip to India this term. Meeting students and staff at our partner school and seeing first-hand all the amazing experiences India has to offer will no doubt stay with them for life.

We know that enrichment opportunities such as these really cement the engagement of students with their subject-based but also wider-curricular learning and are crucial in developing the whole person.

 

Upcoming Events and Calendar

• Year 12 Work Experience Applications – any outstanding applications by the end of April latest
• Year 12 Subject Evening – Monday April 28
• Future Pathways Launch (including UCAS) – Wednesday June 18
• Year 13 Exam Leave – Friday May 9
• Year 12 Progression Exams – Monday June 23 for 2 weeks

If you have any queries at any point, please do make contact via the usual communication sources.

On behalf of myself, the Sixth Form Team and the school, have a terrific weekend and any Easter break you may have.

S A Taylor
Senior Assistant-Head-teacher (inc. Head of Sixth Form).