SHSG Sixth Form Student Handbook

SHSG Sixth Form Student Handbook 2017-2018

Table of Contents 1. Welcome... 4 2. Sixth Form Team... 5 Key people... 5 Form tutors... 6 3. Timings... 7 Sixth Form two year overview... 7 Calendar Overview... 8 School day... 9 Registration activities... 10 4. Learning... 11 Student/school contract planner... 11 Study periods... 11 Study areas... 12 Monitoring progress planner... 13 Supervised study... 13 Year 12 Transition Examinations... 14 Year 13 Mock examinations... 14 Part time employment... 15 Bursary funding... 15 Changing course... 15 5. Behaviour... 16 Conduct Card New for 2017... 16 Uniform planner... 16 Mobile phone usage... 16 Social media... 17 Car parking... 17 6. Attendance and punctuality... 18 2

Attendance... 18 Absence... 18 Illness... 18 Medical appointments... 19 University open days, apprenticeship or careers events and interviews planner... 19 Extra curricular activities organised in the school day... 19 Work shadowing... 20 Driving test... 20 Other authorised absences... 20 Holidays during term time... 20 Unauthorised absence... 20 Lateness... 21 7. Communication... 22 Planner... 22 Email... 22 8. Sixth form opportunities... 23 Year 12 Enrichment Programme New for 2017!... 23 Senior Prefect Team... 23 Head Student and Deputies... 23 Captainships... 23 Clubs and Societies... 24 EPQ... 24 Student Voice... 25 A Student Council Representative will be:... 25 What does the role involve?... 25 How does it work?... 26 General Studies... 26 Careers Advice Miss Grassham... 26 9. Sixth Form Privileges... 27 Year 12... 27 3

Year 13... 27 Removal of privileges... 27 4

1. Welcome Welcome to SHSG Sixth Form! You have made a fantastic choice to study your A levels with us. Our students consistently achieve excellent AS and A2 results allowing them to progress onto University, apprenticeships or jobs. With your hard work and determination and the outstanding teaching and support, you will have these opportunities opened to you after your two years of study. You have many opportunities available to you during your time with us. From the teaching and support, to the careers advice, to the extra curricular activities and trips. Please take advantage of all that SHSG has to offer. 4

2. Sixth Form Team We have a fantastic team in our Sixth Form who work together to ensure your successful progression through your A-level studies. If you have a query or idea, your first port of call will be your subject teacher, if academic, or your form tutor, if pastoral. They may pass your query or idea onto another member of staff if they feel they will be in a better position to support you. You are welcome to speak to your Learning Manager or Director of Sixth Form if you feel you need to. Key people Role Person Email Office Director of Sixth Form Learning Manager year 13 Miss H Riebold hriebold@shsg.org First floor of Sixth Form block Assistant Director of Sixth Form Ms H Marcel hmarcel@shsg.org Ground floor of Sixth Learning Manager year 12 Form block Sixth Form Administrator Mrs P Hopkins phopkins@shsg.org Ground floor of Sixth Form block Careers Advisor Miss H Grassham hgrassham@shsg.org First floor of Sixth Form block After form tutor, go to person for year 13 students. After form tutor, go to person for year 12 students. Collection of forms for absence, hand medical notes in. Appointments can be made with Miss Grassham in the summer term of year 12 and autumn term of year 13. 5

Form tutors Year 12 Form room Year 13 Form room 12ALS Mr Shipton MH12 13MAH Mr Highmore IT1 12KMI Ms Midwinter MH11 13LMS Ms Servis 8 12PJS Mr Smith MH14 13KWS Ms Wimsett 4 12LBR Mrs Brown MH4 13KSC Ms Curtis M4 12VWS Miss Wadley Smith MH7 13CSP Mrs Spilstead IT2 12RBA Miss Bates / Miss D Auria MH2 13KHA Ms Haywood / Mrs Robertson 12 12LTA Ms Taylor MH6 13MMA Miss Ma Media Studio Associate tutors Mrs Hill Mrs Imbush Ms Meacham Mrs Gilbert Mrs Osborn 6

3. Timings Sixth Form two year overview Year group When Activity Time Current Sept-Oct Teaching of A level courses. 6 weeks year12 October TA1. Oct Dec Teaching of A level courses. 7 weeks Dec TA2. Dec Feb Teaching of A level courses. 6 weeks February TA3 June Transition examinations 2 weeks Jun Jul Teaching of A level courses 5 weeks Jul Aug Summer holiday 6 weeks Current year 13 Sept-Oct Teaching of A level courses. 6 weeks October TA1. Oct-Jan Teaching of A level courses. 9 weeks January TA2 Mock examinations. 1 week Jan-May Teaching of A level courses. Revision for examinations. 16 weeks March Re-mock examinations. April TA3. May-June Study leave and examinations. 4 weeks 7

Calendar Overview Autumn term Friday 1 September 2017 Wednesday 20 December 2017 Half Term 23 October 27 October Christmas Holiday 21 December 2 January Spring term Wednesday 3 January 2018 Thursday 29 March 2018 Half Term 12 February - 16 February Easter Holiday 2 April 13 April Summer term Monday 16 April 2018 Friday 20 July 2018 Half Term 28 May 1 June, and May Bank Holiday, 7 May INSET days Friday 1 September 2017 Monday 4 September 2017 Friday 3 November 2017 Wednesday 3 January 2018 Monday 18 June 2018 Key dates School birthday Friday 20 October 2017 Sixth Form Open Evening Thursday 2 nd November 2017 Year 12 Insight into Post 18 Options Tuesday 10 th July 2018 A level results day Thursday 16 th August 2018 Examinations Year 12 Transition Examinations w/b Monday 4 th & 11 th June 2018 Year 13 Mock Examinations w/b Monday 8 th January 2018 Parents evenings Year 12 Parents Welcome to A levels Tuesday 12 th September 2017 Year 13 Parents Oxbridge and Early Entry Information Evening Monday 18 th September 2017 Year 13 Parents Evening Tuesday 6 th February 2018 Year 12 Parents Evening Thursday 15 th March 2018 Year 12 UCAS and Finance Information Evening Wednesday 13 th June 20178 8

School day Time Activity 8.35am Registration. Students arriving to their form room later than 8.40am will be recorded as late. 9am-10am Period 1. 10am-11am Period 2. 11am-11.20am Break. You can bring your own snacks or purchase food from our canteen. You can eat food in the canteen, the Sixth Form block or outside. You must clear up after yourself! 11.20am-12.20pm Period 3. 12.20pm-12.30pm Year 13 only registration. Students must wait for their form tutor until 12.30. If the form tutor has not arrived at 12.30, a paper register must be completed and taken to Mrs Hopkins. 12.30pm-1.30pm Year 13 only lunch. 12.20pm-1.20pm Year 12 only lunch. 1.20pm-1.30pm Year 12 only registration. Students arriving to their form room later than 1.20pm will be recorded as late. 1.30pm-2.30pm Period 4 2.30pm-3.30pm Period 5. 9

Registration activities WEEK A Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Private study One to one Prep for form assembly Staff briefing Private study Prefects in lower school forms Form assembly Conduct card check Discussion of form assembly Year 12 and 13 Enrichment programme assembly WEEK B Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Private study One to one Prep for form assembly Staff briefing Private study Prefects in lower school forms Form discussion topic to be selected by form members or by tutor Conduct card check Private study One to one Prep for form assembly Year 12 and 13 assembly 10

4. Learning Student/school contract planner Page 4-6 of your planner details the expectations you can have of the school and the expectations the school has of you. You and your parent/guardian signed a copy of this when you enrolled into Sixth Form. Study periods For every hour of lessons you have in school, it is expected you complete at least an hour of independent study. Each subject has nine contact hours with your teacher every two weeks, so the expectation is a total of 18 hours of study per subject. Students studying 3 subjects are expected to complete a minimum of 54 hours of study every two weeks. Students studying 4 subjects are expected to complete a minimum of 72 hours every two weeks. We recommend you make use of your study periods in school to do this. What can you do in your study periods and at home? Complete set homework tasks. Organise and file your notes. Complete some follow up reading. Add additional information to your notes from your follow up reading. Use your teachers feedback to complete corrections. Cross reference the subject specification against the work you have covered. Prepare for the next lesson by reading ahead. Follow debates in your subject through newspapers, television, social media and academic websites. Watch documentaries that are relevant to your subjects. Learn key facts, definitions, formula, quotes and spellings. Create a glossary of key terms. Start creating revision resources when a topic has been completed. Complete past paper questions. Use mark schemes and examiners reports to develop examination technique. Organise group tutorials with your peers to do any of the above be strict, don t allow yourselves to become distracted! Check and respond to your school email account. 11

Study areas There are a number of areas you can go to study during non-contact lessons. Initially you will be able to choose where to spend you study periods. However, if we feel you need support in managing your time, you will be directed to supervised study. The areas available for study are: The Library o Sixth Form students are able to use the library most of the time. As well as the usual books and newspapers, there are also computer and tablet facilities available. This is a silent study area and you will be asked to leave if you are disruptive. o The library staff, headed up by Ms Wakeman, are excellent, having a good overview of the courses you study and the relevant text books you will need. They will do everything they can to assist you. The canteen o Sixth Form students are able to use the canteen during lesson time. You are able to purchase snacks to fuel your study. You are not required to be silent if you study here. You must tidy up after yourself before you leave. MH3 o MH3 is a silent study area and has access to computers. Spare teaching rooms o If you have been unable to find a space in which you can work, you are permitted to use a spare teaching room. However, it is expected you will work quietly in any teaching room as it is likely lessons will be taking place in the vicinity. You are not permitted to use the teachers computer in these rooms and you must tidy up after yourself before you leave. The staff in the sims office can provide a list of available rooms. Common room o The common room is a space for you to take a more relaxed approach to your study, where you can have discussions with your peers. You have access to a kitchen area. You must tidy up after yourself before you leave. This space is for the use of all Sixth Form students. Failure to keep it tidy will result in loss of use of this space. 12

Monitoring progress planner Your subject teachers will continually monitor your progress through classwork, homework and assessments. They use this to provide Termly Assessment grades, TA grades. Checkpoint week takes place after each TA grade. During registrations in this week, you will meet with your tutor to discuss your progress and targets for improvement in each subject. You need to complete the appropriate section from pages 15-19 of your planner before the discussion with your tutor. The TA grades along with the discussions with your form tutor will inform the decision made by your Learning Manager as to whether you need to be directed to supervised study to support your learning. You and your parents will be provided with specific targets for improvement in each subject you are studying after Parents Evening. Supervised study We want to ensure you have every opportunity for success. If your subject teachers have concerns regarding your progress, they can direct you to supervised study that is organised within departments. This can happen at any point during your study. Supervised study periods are already allocated on your timetable. These sessions take place either in a classroom or the library. If in the library, you must register with the librarian at the start of the session. You must come prepared with independent work to do in the room you have been allocated. You will not be permitted to leave the room to study elsewhere. After each termly assessment, your Learning Manager will check your current grades against your target grades. If your learning manager is concerned about your progress additional supervised study periods will be added to your timetable. You will remain in these additional sessions until there is an improvement in your achievement. 13

Year 12 Transition Examinations SHSG Sixth Form will not be entering any year 12 student for any AS examinations at the end of the first year of study. In order to assess your progress, you will take internal Transition Examinations at the end of year 12. It is essential you take these examinations seriously and carry out structured revision. In order to progress from year 12 to year 13, you must achieve a D or above in the Transition Examinations for at least three A level subjects. If you fail to achieve this you may be able to repeat year 12 with a different selection of subjects. You must also achieve a minimum of a D grade in any subject you wish to continue studying in year 13. Students who achieve the required grades to progress into year 13 will not be given the opportunity to repeat year 12. Year 12 Transition Examinations take place 4 th 15 th June 2018. Year 13 Mock examinations Year 13 students will take mock examinations. You should take these examinations seriously and should plan to carry out structured revision. If you achieve an E or a U for your mock examination you will be given support from your subject teachers and / or the Sixth Form team and then required to take a second mock examination. If you show little progression in the second mock examination we may request you drop that particular subject (subject to predicted grades) and use the gained time to focus on your remaining subjects. You must maintain a minimum of three subjects (not including General Studies), so if you were asked to drop more than one subject, it would bring your place in Sixth Form into question. Year 13 students take mock examinations in all subjects, except general studies, in the week beginning 8 th January 2018. 14

Part time employment Having a part time job is good experience, and is a valuable activity. Please remember, however, that this is an addition to your studies, and your school work must come first. We suggest that students do not undertake more than five hours of paid employment per week so as not to interfere with their studies. Bursary funding Most students have part time jobs in order to have some spending money for a social life. If you find that you are working to support yourself with your education (to pay for travel, buy textbooks, etc.) you may well qualify for financial assistance through the bursary fund. Please speak in confidence to the Sixth Form Administrator about the school bursary. Changing course If you find you wish to change your subject choices, we will try to accommodate this subject to timetables and class sizes. We will not be able to accept any alterations to courses after Friday 29 th September. This is because at this stage, students would be four weeks into each course and the workload would be too much work for students to catch up on. 15

5. Behaviour As a Sixth Form student, you are a role model to the younger students in the school. You set the standards for behavior and for our uniform. Whilst in school uniform, you are also representing SHSG Sixth Form in our local community and to the wider public. We have high expectations of your behavior, and we are proud of the fantastic qualities of our Sixth Form students both in and out of school. If individuals are unable to adhere to our behavioural policy, the school s consequences hierarchy will be used to issue the necessary sanctions. Conduct Card New for 2017 Sixth Form students will be issued with a Conduct Card that you must carry at all times whilst in school. If requested to by any member of staff, you must present this to them. Form tutors will check your Conduct Card every Thursday and escalate consequences as necessary if there are any infringements noted on your Card. Uniform planner Please see page 7 of your planner for uniform details. Sanctions will be put in place for not adhering to the uniform code. Blazers must be worn when in the main school. Mobile phone usage You may use your mobile phone inside the Sixth Form block at any time except during lessons. You may not use your mobile phone in the main school or outside at any point during the day, including break or lunch. If you choose to do so any member of staff can confiscate your mobile phone and it will be taken to Mrs Hopkins or Student Services (in the main school). You will be able to collect this from Mrs Hopkins or Student Services at 3.30pm. You must then hand your mobile phone into Mrs Hopkins at 8.30am every day for a week. You will also receive a Headteacher s detention. If your mobile phone makes any sounds during lesson time, your teacher can confiscate it and the same procedure detailed above applies. It is at your teacher s discretion whether they choose to let you use your mobile phone or any device during lessons. 16

It is not acceptable to take your mobile phone out to check the time. Social media Social media is a part of day-to-day life and it is important you make use of it responsibly. It is important to remember that once text, images or videos are online they will be there forever. With employers regularly running online social media checks on individuals, you should consider very carefully what you posting publically online. There will be sanctions and consequences if any of your public online activity brings yourself, other members of the school community or the school itself into disrepute. Car parking Students who pass their driving test and drive themselves to school can park on Southchurch Boulevard where it is largely unrestricted. Students are not permitted to park in the school car park. Please ensure you park considerately, leaving space for residents to leave their driveways safely. 17

6. Attendance and punctuality It should come as no surprise that, generally, students who are present in lessons achieve better grades. Universities and employers will ask for details on student attendance when asking for references. We expect you to maintain 90% or above attendance during your time in Sixth Form. Wherever possible, absences must be avoided. We understand there may be some instances where absence is unavoidable and details of the procedures for absences are detailed below. Attendance It is expected that you are present in the appropriate place for morning and afternoon registration, lessons and study periods (except for year 13 privileges as detailed later). Absence If you are not present in school, then you are absent. All absences must be explained in writing. If you know that you are going to be absent, you must see your teachers in advance to collect the work you will be missing. Illness If you are unable to attend school due to illness, your parent or guardian must phone the school before 9am every day you are unable to attend. The Sixth Form absence telephone number is 01702 583080. This must be followed up with a letter or email from your parent / guardian explaining your absence on your return. If you are diagnosed with a long-term illness, for example glandular fever, please ask your parent / guardian to notify the Sixth Form Administrator as soon as possible. Your parent / guardian will not need to call the absence line every day that you are unable to attend school. We would recommend you request a letter from your doctor so we can put this on your file. We will do what we can to support you. If you feel unwell whilst at school you must see a member of the Sixth Form team Mrs Hopkins, Miss Riebold or Ms Marcel. If it is decided you need to go home we will contact your parent / guardian to request they come to collect you or to notify them you are making your own way home. You must not go home without notifying one of the Sixth Form team. 18

It is not acceptable to be in school feeling unwell and not attend a lesson. If you are in school, you are in your lessons. Medical appointments Routine medical appointments must not be booked during the school day. Emergency appointments and orthodontic appointments are the only exceptions. Where these appointments are made, a letter from your parent /guardian must be given to the Sixth Form Administrator to detail the reason for absence. The school can request appointment cards or prescriptions to evidence medical appointments, should they feel it necessary. University open days, apprenticeship or careers events and interviews planner You may take part in up to five days for the following visits or trips during the school day, providing the necessary information has been completed on pages 9-13 of your planner in advance of the visit or trip. University open day University interview Apprenticeship interview Job interview Other careers related event organised by the school Any further visits or trips will only be recorded as authorised if permission is given by all your subject teachers and at the discretion of the Director of Sixth Form in advance of the visit or trip this is recorded on pages 9-13 of your planner. Permission will not be given by the subject teacher if they have good reason to be concerned about your progress and believe you missing their lesson will have a detrimental effect on your achievement. Extra curricular activities organised in the school day You may wish to participate in other educational activities during the school day, for example the year 12 sociology conference or the year 13 visit to Geneva. You must complete the appropriate section from pages 9-13 of your planner and show this to the Sixth Form Administrator in advance of the educational activity. The absence will only be recorded as authorised if permission is given by all your subject teachers and at the discretion of the Director of Sixth Form in advance of the activity. 19

Work shadowing Wherever possible, work shadowing must not be arranged during the school day. We are aware there are some instances where this is not possible, for example school or hospital placements. You must complete a work shadowing form and return it to the Sixth Form Administrator in advance of the work shadowing. The absence will only be recorded as authorised if permission is given by all your subject teachers and at the discretion of the Director of Sixth Form in advance of the visit or trip. Driving test Students are not permitted to arrange driving lessons or theory tests during the school day. Students are permitted up to 3 half days to take practical driving tests. You must complete a leave of absence form and return it to the Sixth Form Administrator in advance of the test. Other authorised absences Permission will not be given for any activity where a change of date is possible. Authorised absences could be allowed for the following reasons, not mentioned above: Attendance at weddings / funerals of close family members Examinations, such as music and dance grade examinations Athletics competitions You must complete a leave of absence form and return it to the Sixth Form Administrator in advance of the absence. Holidays during term time In accordance with the LA guidance and the decision of the school s governors, leave for holidays and leisure activities will not be authorised unless the family s circumstances are exceptional. Any leave more than 10 days in a year is illegal. If you feel your circumstances are exceptional, you must complete and return a leave of absence form from the Sixth Form Administrator. Unauthorised absence Any other absences for reasons not detailed above will be recorded as unauthorised absences. The school s consequences hierarchy will be followed for any unauthorised absences. 20

Lateness Lateness to lessons will be dealt with by the subject teacher or Lead Teacher for that subject. The school s consequences hierarchy will be followed for lateness to morning or afternoon registrations. 21

7. Communication Planner Your planner is a working document that we expect you to use for the following purposes (some of which are explained later): Permission for visits and trips during school hours pages 9-13 Tracking progress and reviewing learning pages 15-19 Recording homework tasks pages 22-101 Recording enrichment activities pages 102-103 Recording detentions page 104 Timetable back cover It is not a requirement that your form tutor and parent sign the planner each week. However, it can be used as a form of communication between teachers and parent / guardian. If you lose your Sixth Form planner you must replace it at your own cost. Email You will be issued with a school email account. It is expected all electronic communication to your teachers is undertaken using this account. It is expected you will check your emails once a day. If you do need to send an email to a teacher, please ensure it is structured correctly. You should address your teacher, politely give your request or information and end with your name. Simply stating the information or request will be considered rudeness to a member of staff and treated as such. You are able to connect to SHSG s wi-fi. Ms Brierley, Head of IT, will give the necessary passwords for this. 22

8. Sixth form opportunities At SHSG we are not only facilitating your academic progression, we also want you to develop and enhance a range of skills that you can apply in a variety of situations. Year 12 Enrichment Programme New for 2017! We are excited to introduce the Enrichment Programme. On a Wednesday afternoon, during periods 4 and 5 you will participate in a wide variety of enrichment opportunities. Each activity has been chosen to enhance your Sixth Form experience. The activity schedule will be launched period 4 Wednesday 6 th September and you will be expected to select the activities you wish to participate in. You must log your attendance at enrichment activities on pages 102-103 of your planner. Senior Prefect Team In October of year 12, all students have the opportunity to apply to be part of the Sixth Form Prefect team. This is a fantastic opportunity to develop a variety of skills and play a key role in shaping life at SHSG. The responsibilities of Sixth Form prefects are extensive and often require attendance at events out of school hours. Please see the Sixth Form Prefect Handbook that will be emailed to all year 12 students for further details regarding the roles, responsibilities and application process. Head Student and Deputies Elected Sixth Form prefects have the opportunity to apply to be Head Student or part of the Senior Prefect team. This team is responsible for leading and managing the Sixth Form Prefect team as well as a number of other responsibilities. Details of the application process and roles and responsibilities of the Head Student and Senior Prefect team can be found in the Sixth Form Prefect Handbook that will be emailed to all year 12 students for further details regarding the roles and responsibilities. Captainships All departments offer captainships that you can apply for. Captainships are ideal for you to develop the same skills as you can through being part of the Sixth Form Prefect team, but also allow you to support the subject that you are passionate about. Captainship applications will be launched within departments after the Senior Prefect team elections. 23

You can only apply to hold one captainship and you cannot be on the Senior Prefect team and be a subject captain. Clubs and Societies We have a number of clubs and societies running in the Sixth Form and in lower school. As part of captainships, you may be expected to take a lead on running a club or society for lower school students. There are some clubs and societies that are solely for Sixth Form students. If the society you want isn t already running, you can put together a proposal to start one up. The proposal should be given to the Director of Sixth Form who will consult with other colleagues to see if it is feasible. EPQ EPQ (the Extended Project Qualification) is a course that gives you an insight into the academic world beyond A levels. You choose a topic that interests you and then complete guided research on that subject. It can be ANY subject as long as it does not overlap with any material you are studying at A level. It can (as the name implies) EXTEND your subject knowledge. For example, a Science student may study how pharmaceuticals can be used to treat a disease, a Geographer might investigate the causes of wildfires, an English Literature student might research the portrayal of bears in children s literature the possibilities are endless. To assist you in your work you will be assigned a supervisor. She or he will not need to be a subject specialist as the role is to guide your research, not to teach you. You become the expert in the subject your supervisor is already expert in how to conduct and present research. You also have taught sessions to learn the necessary skills for success. The EPQ is assessed on three areas: the research process (which is recorded in a log book throughout), the report (which is a formal written report not exceeding 5000 words) and a presentation to an audience (usually the other EPQ students and your supervisor). Your supervisor will mark your work prior to moderation. Many students have found the EPQ useful in interview situations particularly for Russell Group and Oxbridge. The EPQ will be launched in a form session after the Transition Examinations in year 12. You are expected to meet with your supervisor once before the summer break to discuss your initial ideas. Much of the research should be completed over the summer break. You will give your presentation around January in year 13. 24

Student Voice At Southend High School for Girls, Student Voice is highly valued and an integral part of our school community, teaching and learning. We work with Southend Youth Council and the Parents Association and there are a number of key changes and events that have been informed by Student Voice. The impact Student Voice can have ranges from your teacher asking you for ideas about how to teach a topic, to the PA asking about year 7 disco ideas, to you telling us your ideas for a lunchtime club. It also includes Student Council Representative meetings every half a term. Student Council Representatives feedback to the school s Senior Leadership Team at SLT meetings on a regular basis and right across the school Student Voice opportunities are provided and welcomed. Student Council Representatives are elected by their tutor group to be their representative. They act as a link to the rest of the school council and staff. Representatives have to be willing and able to put forward other people s views even if they disagree with them. A Student Council Representative will be: Approachable. A good listener - everyone in the class has to feel comfortable talking to you. Organised - it will be your responsibility to make sure you attend meetings & collect feedback from your form every week. Assertive - the opinions of your class are just as important as everyone else s. Efficient - class discussions might cover a lot of issues in a short space of time. Fair - everyone has the right to express a point of view. A good communicator - you need to be able to work with staff and students from across the school and beyond. What does the role involve? You will have three main jobs: 1. Collecting the views of your form and passing them on. 2. Letting your form know what goes on in the meetings you attend (e.g. by explaining the minutes on Tuesday mornings). 3. Taking an active part in meetings. 25

How does it work? With your form, you should decide which of the issues can be dealt with by the form itself, and which need to go to another committee (the Student Governors meeting or Southend Youth Council). It is then your job to email Miss D Auria to add your ideas to the meeting agenda. You are the link to your form class so you need to let your form know what happened in the meetings, any decisions that were made or questions that need to be asked of the form. It s particularly important to make sure you know what is happening to suggestions made by your form. You need to be prepared to go to meetings and make yourself heard, but also be willing to listen and discuss. Remember, you are there to represent all the different points of view that people in your form may have, so you need to spend time listening to your form and be flexible enough to put across a range of opinions. General Studies General Studies is an additional A Level that is no longer available to year 12 students. All year 13 students will not be entered unless they opt into the examination. All students will be expected to attend general studies lessons throughout the year as they could still be relevant for University interviews. This includes period 4 or 5 lessons, even if your timetable shows a free period. There are two units at AS Level and a further two units at A2. The content covers a wide range of topics including how scientific discoveries are made, the British Political system, why people have certain religious beliefs and current moral values. General Studies also develops a broad range of skills from interpreting and analysing data to structuring a well-argued essay. We do not have timetabled lessons for General Studies. The content is delivered through Form Sessions, Registration and weekly Form Assemblies. Careers Advice Miss Grassham Our school Careers Advisor is there to support you as you make decisions about your progression and future career plans. As well as offering you the opportunity for one to one careers guidance, Miss Grassham works alongside your tutors to support you as you complete your UCAS applications. She is also able to point you in the right direction for apprenticeship and employment opportunities post A-level. The Careers Office holds information that you can come and browse through and is on the top floor of the Sixth Form block. 26

9. Sixth Form Privileges Year 12 Year 12 students are permitted to leave the school grounds for lunch, between 12.20pm and 1.20pm. Students must sign out on leaving and sign in on return in the signing in and out book in the common room. Students must have returned to school in good time to be in registration at 1.20pm. Year 12 students are expected to be in school at all other times, from 8.30am to 3.30pm. Year 13 Year 13 students have the same privilege as year 12 students. In addition, year 13 students are permitted to leave the school to go home and study if they have a study period at the end of the day (either periods 4 and 5, or just period 5). Students are not permitted to take an extended lunch if they have a study period after lunch i.e. period 4 and a lesson period 5. If students choose to leave in the afternoon, they must register at 12.20pm and then sign out in the signing in and out book in the common room when they leave. Year 13 students are expected to be in school at all other times, from 8.30am to 12.30pm. Removal of privileges Privileges will be removed if students fail to meet the expectations of SHSG Sixth Form. 27