Sixth Form Policies

Attendance

Regular attendance is crucial to your success here at Ash Green School. We expect students to attend all timetabled commitments, and to engage in all aspects of sixth form life.

In Year 12, students are expected to attend sixth form for the full school day. In Year 13, students with strong attendance records may be rewarded with personalised timetables, where time to study at home will be provided.

Holidays are not authorised in the sixth form. Any students that wish to take a leave of absence will need to be aware that this absence will be unauthorised. To request a Leave of Absence, students must complete the Leave of Absence Form below. Failure to do so will see students placed on the Support and Intervention Pathway at Stage 2 (please see the Support and Intervention Pathway under the behaviour section for further details).

Leave of Absence Form: Please click here

Behaviour

Students in the sixth form represent the school at the highest level, and all students are expected to behave in a manner befitting a sixth form student. If there are any issues or causes for concern, the sixth form team will follow the process outlined in the Support and Intervention Policy. The policy outlines the steps that the sixth form will take to support a student to ensure they are able to continue their studies here.

Enrichment

Within our Sixth Form, we are proud to offer an ever-growing enrichment and development offer which is constructed with the purpose of helping our students develop on an educational, personal and vocational level. Not only will do we strive to support the growth of each individual within our Sixth Form, we actively encourage, promote and reward student-engagement in extra-curricular enrichment and development opportunities as our commitment to developing a growth mind-set within our students extends beyond academic pursuit. Whilst our offer continues to evolve year-on-year the following list outlines some of the programmes we have offered within Sixth Form to encourage, support and reward extra-curricular development:

• Our Sixth Form ‘Success in Enrichment and Extra—Curricular Development Scheme’ SEEDs (See Appendix 9)
• Whole School Student Leadership Programme lead by Sixth Form Students
• Tri-annual international excursion to Kenya
• Annual international visit to Auschwitz, Poland as part of our ongoing involvement in the Lessons from Auschwitz programme (Holocaust Memorial Foundation)
• Annual involvement in the Life Behind Bars conference (True Life Conferences)
• Annual team-building exercise to Conkers; World of Adventure & Discovery
• Annual  rewards trip to Alton Towers/Thorpe Park
• Annual CET Inter-trust Creative Writing Competition
• Annual CET Inter-trust Public Speaking Competition
• Opportunities to engage in a variety of sports & charity events

Study

It is true that the shift from Level 2 GSCE/BTECs to Level 3 A-Levels/BTECs is a significant one which indeed can at times feel overwhelming. Sixth Form brings with it an increased level of expectation around students being independent learners and taking responsibility for their own progress and development. In order to prepare for such a (rewarding) challenge it is absolutely essential that Sixth Formers organise themselves effectively and plan their time with maturity and reflective attentiveness. Likewise we aim to nurture a ‘growth mindset’ within our students whereby students develop resilience and an appreciation that success is dependent on the application of continued efforts in the face of challenge and difficulties that are by no means insurmountable.