Featured School
The LSC are included in the students’
planners. Students are encouraged
to earn their colours as they go
through the academic year. The
planner includes a colour wheel to
which students affix stickers for the
colours earned, in order to track their
achievements.
Mr Woolley explains that the idea is
to allow students to take the lead in
showing what they are capable of.
It also forces them to step outside
of their comfort zones by trying to
earn colours in areas that they may
experience challenges. Additionally,
this fosters within students a stronger
intrinsic desire to succeed.
Other programmes that contribute
significantly to the high success
rate at the school include a liaison
programme, enrichment programme,
mentorship
system,
one-to-one
tutoring and tracking programme.
The liaison programme involves
sixth form students who work closely
with form tutors and students from
the lower school to ensure that
both socially and academically all
is well. They assist in organising
social events and are instrumental
in providing guidance to students
who may experience challenges with
personal organisation or learning.
The mentorship system involves Year
11 students providing advice and
assistance to individual students from
the lower school.
“We also have the enrichment
programme for students. We used
to have a 1-hour a week PSHE slot
to discuss social issues relevant to
teenagers. We now take one day off
from the curriculum, once per term,
to address issues in more depth such
as cyber safety, e-bullying, teamwork,
first aid, entrepreneurship, happiness
and related issues. This is done to
equip students with the life skills that
they will need,” states Mr Hill.
College contributes significantly to
our success. It plays a pivotal role in
the progress the students make, in
their confidence and the development
of their learning skills. In many ways,
the extra-curricular provision is as
important as the formal curriculum
in the development of these skills,”
articulates Mr Hill.
It is important to look both
outwards and internally. “We’ve
looked extensively at schools
in the UK to see what they are
doing. We also conduct regular
surveys with our students to get
their feedback in the ‘Student
Voice’ (school magazine),” adds
Mr Woolley, “in addition to this,
we have a one-to-one tracking
sessions, where the form teacher
meets with each of their students
to discuss a number of things that
the student is presently involved in.
This includes looking at academic
performance as it relates to target
grades, results and socially with
regards to their involvement in
extracurricular activities.”
The aforementioned programmes
indicate a personalised approach to
teaching and learning. The tutors are
effective in their roles as facilitators,
which results i