PUBLISHED 14 May 2020
11th May - 12th June, 2020
Introduction
“What did you do while you were in lockdown?”
This will be the interview question in the next few years, as well as a great starting point for all personal statements, CVs and university application forms.
In order to support our students’ time in the Sixth Form, we have developed our ‘Pre-A level Programme’, based around their A-level choices and ensuring they have a wide range of enrichment opportunities to consolidate and expand their learning and interests.
This is an opportunity of getting a really good insight of studying their chosen subjects at A level, whilst beginning to think about what the future may look like in the short term at AKS Sixth Form and longer term after they leave school.
A-levels are academically rigorous and so this is a great opportunity for our students to see that success at A level requires a willingness to be inquisitive, scholarly and committed. We hope that the pupils will find this programme enjoyable and inspirational and get them motivated to embrace the challenges that lie ahead at AKS Sixth Form.
Our ‘Pre-A level Programme’ will run from Monday 11th May until Friday 12th June.
Structure
The AKS ‘Pre-A level Programme’ is made up of a combination of activities delivered by the school and external providers.
Internally provided:
1. Preparing for A level/BTEC courses – students will pick up their A level options (it may be possible to do 4 subjects if you also want to experience another subject). There will be 6 lessons/week/subject as per A level, with 3 lessons/week/subject involving direct contact with the teacher. The courses will run as a combination of teaching, tutorials, and independent study to mimic what the students can expect from A-level study. A new timetable has been constructed for the ‘Pre A-level Programme’ to accommodate all students’ A level options and new Microsoft Teams have been set up in each subject, which students will be added to.
2. Round Square Project – this allows students to complete a holistic challenge based on one of the Round Square Ideals, with weekly guidance from Mrs Marland and Miss De Miranda. https://www.roundsquare.org/ideals-challenge/
3. Enrichment skills course – a weekly tutorial on useful practical life skills, such as creating a CV, building employability skills etc.
4. Oxbridge Group – for those students who may be thinking about Oxbridge entries to gain insight into what is required.
Externally provided:
5. MOOCS – a MOOC is a massive open online course, which are normally free, and they are provided by a number of prestigious universities around the world. They run from 2-8 weeks and you work online using the resources they provide. Some provide accreditation, others do not. The following web links allows you to search MOOCs available from different providers:
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/categories
https://www.edx.org/course
https://www.coursera.org/
https://www.mooc-list.com/
6. Ted Talks - TED is a non-profit organisation devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). They are a great way of expanding your thinking and knowledge on a wide range of topics from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages, see: https://www.ted.com/talks
7. Radio 4 Podcasts - These are a great way of widening your interest and knowledge in different areas; while the programmes are broadcast at times you may not be available to listen, the podcasts are available on the BBC website. There is an enormous range of programmes of interest, to browse all available podcasts, see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4
Summer 2020
The formal teaching part of the ‘Pre-A level Programme’ will run for 4 weeks and finish on Friday 12th June. For the summer break you can continue to work through most of the opportunities listed above and subject teachers will provide further recommended reading lists.
Support for Pupils
Pastoral – There will be no requirement for the Year 11 pupils to register with their tutors and if pupils have any pastoral concerns they should contact Mr Rudd phill.rudd@akslytham.com or Mrs Burnett Fiona.burnett@akslytham.com.
Academic – If there are any general academic concerns please contact Mr McKeown allan.mckeown@akslytham.com or if you want to change an A level option, please contact Mr Culpan David.culpan@akslytham.com. If the concern is based on an individual subject, please contact the subject teacher or Head of Department.
Careers – If you would like to discuss careers guidance or A level options generally, please contact Mr Maund kevin.maund@akslytham.com.
We welcome external applications into our Sixth Form, please see our Remote Admissions page.