enrichment and news
Keep in touch with all the news and events happening in Wyedean Sixth Form.
Updated on a regular basis, we aim to bring you the latest information of extra- and super-curricula activities that help make Wyedean Sixth Form a stimulating and exciting place to be.
Autumn Term 2022
We have launched our behaviour for learning programme in Sixth Form this year and it’s been amazing to see how hard our Year 12 and Year 13 students have been working in their subjects and achieving great successes. We have recognised students this term through our Sixth Form Honours list. Students, parents and carers have been contacted if they were in the top 20% of our students for outstanding behaviour for learning in sixth form lessons this term. The scores for sixth form students has been incredibly high and impressive and this is down to their commitment, dedication and resilience. We are also recognising students in the final week of term with a prize draw to win cash prizes, some sweet treats and vouchers for the Big Bean. We have also asked teachers to nominate students who are demonstrating outstanding effort in subject areas, these students will also be included in to the prize draw!
We have had many students involved in a variety of enrichment and personal development opportunities this term. Many students have been involved in the gold DoE Award, many involved in charity work, mentoring, working with younger students, mental health and wellbeing groups, book club, Eco reps, sports groups to name but a few. It’s been fantastic to see students actively getting involved in other opportunities in sixth form alongside their studies to enrich their experience and develop confidence. Our Year 13 students raised over £150 for Children in Need in addition to the fundraising that took place within the lower year groups. We have a newly appointed student leadership team. A huge congratulations to all candidates, all applications were outstanding!
We have been fortunate to have had some guest speakers from a variety of Universities this term as well as students being able to visit Universities such as Gloucestershire and Warwick. Students have thoroughly enjoyed their experiences and it has helped them to engage in thinking about their future in Year 12 and what options they may like to consider post 18. In addition to this all students in sixth form have received a talk on Apprenticeships and had the opportunity to take part in workshops to help support, guide and advise on future pathways and opportunities. Again, a hugely successful event. Students in Year 12 will have further opportunities to sign up to further visits next term. Please look out for these and sign up through ParentPay.
Some of our Year 12 and 13 students have also been involved in Access to Bristol over the last few months. Access to Bristol is an exciting programme for students undertaking A-levels, BTECs, access to HE courses or equivalents. It helps students to get a taste of university life and find out what it’s like to be a student at the University of Bristol. On completion of the course students will receive a guaranteed offer from the University of Bristol at contextual level. Students may also be eligible for our access to Bristol bursary.
Our tutorial programme for this half term has been received well by students, an outline of content can be found below:
Year 12:
- Study skills
- Independent Learning
- Exploring University
- Exploring Apprenticeships
- Enrichment – mentoring/Charity/veterinary/medicine and dentistry/reading scheme with Year 7
- Revision and Mentoring
- Careers: Unifrog
Year 13:
- Reflection and planning
- UCAS
- Unifrog
- Personal statements
- Enrichment
- Apprenticeship workshops
- Managing stress
- Revision
Year 13 are now reaching the final part of the UCAS process, our internal deadline for guaranteed approval before the end of this term was Monday 12th December. We will try our very best to approve any applications we get after this date but may not be guaranteed until January. Our final internal date after Christmas is Wednesday 18th January 2023. It’s vitally important that students meet this deadline and arrange to meet with a member of the sixth form team so their application can be approved and sent by the official deadline by UCAS.
We recently held our annual Open Evening for prospective Sixth Form students for the Academic year September 2023. It was a fantastic evening full of enthusiastic students and teachers sharing their experience and advice to Year 11 students. Our Sixth Form students were on hand to answer any questions Year 11 students had to provide first hand advice. Our applications can be found via the pack provided on the evening as well as on our school website under ‘Apply for Sixth Form’. All documents from the evening can be found here. Applications can be handed in to the school reception or alternatively sent via email to sixthformplaces@wyedeanschool.com. The closing date for applications is Wednesday 25th January 2023 and interviews will commence after this date. If you have any concerns over your preferred choices please add this to your application form.
In addition to this we welcomed 30 students to Wyedean to experience a taste of Wyedean Sixth Form. The students from Dean Academy spent a day with us experiencing lessons and talking to teachers. It was a very enjoyable day with lots of positive feedback from students, we hope to see many of the students again in the summer term for our induction week.
Just a reminder to encourage students to be in school every day, if a student is ill then they need to email our attendance line attendance@wyedeanschool.com. As outlined in my recent communications home absence from school in Sixth Form can significantly impact on overall exam grades at the end of Year 13. All students need to be in school for 8.45am.
Sixth Form Fundraising
December 2022
“The year 12 fundraising group organised a bake sale for the charity Crohn’s and Colitis. They raised almost £150, selling cakes to the wider school. They thank everyone who contributed cakes and treats to the cause as it helps them achieve their aim of building a sustainable fundraising committee to improve the lives of many through charity.”
LET'S TALK
We’re writing to you today as a team of sixth form students that have formed a mental health and well-being team, within Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre in conjunction with teachers and members of our school community. Over the last few years we’ve noted, as I’m sure you have, an increasing and urgent need for a heightened awareness and support surrounding mental health. No matter how good or bad, everyone has mental health that deserves to be nurtured and guided towards a prosperous life; so, as a team, we’ve decided to shed more light, implement more support and start more conversations around an umbrella of disorders, symptoms, helplines and solutions. Together, we want to provide an open environment, dedicated to the improvement of lives, while attaining lifelong skills that will aid your child to a happier future.
Our ongoing work is produced and worked on by a team of sixth form students, with the incorporation of children from younger years, using questionnaires to grasp their input into how they feel more support would be valued. Proudly, we found our work on the specified and requested requirements of the students, aiming to implement meaningful and personal change.
Across our prospective plan for the future, we will be introducing mindfulness training, a men’s mental health outreach, lunch time groups (sometimes including: focus groups, meditation, mindfulness activities, healthier habits etc.), year group reps, mental health hotspots around the school, tutorial lessons and a parental package (which is attached).
To introduce ourselves as a team to the guardians of Wyedean students, we have produced the parental package which can be easily accessed as a brief guide for any queries surrounding your child’s mental health, and where to acquire further support.
Whether or not you believe someone is battling with their mental health, their wellbeing counts and should be protected, it is our job to be the catalyst for change.
Mental Health
Warning Signs
Mindset
Mindfulness
Support
Mental Health Helplines
Kooth Service
Access to the Kooth service - an online mental wellbeing platform for 11-18 years olds – will end in Gloucestershire on the 17th March 2022. The service was commissioned on a temporary basis by the County Council to provide an additional support option for young people during the pandemic.
There are a range of alternative mental health services available in the county for children and young people.
The CCG have launched a new anonymous mental health support finder for under 25s called ‘On Your Mind Glos’. The service is designed to help young people find the advice and support that’s right for them. Please signpost young people to www.onyourmindglos.nhs.uk or text 07984 404 388.
Young people experiencing mild-moderate mental health issues who wish to access support anonymously on a ‘drop in’ basis can also continue to access the new TIC+Chat helpline for 9-21 year olds available at www.ticplus.org.uk/ticpluschat/ (opening hours Sunday-Thursday 5pm-9pm). Support is available via telephone and webchat.
TIC+ also provides a range of counselling options for young people aged 9-21 years (phone, text chat or video chat) dealing with issues such as depression, anxiety, bereavement, bullying, anger, and self-harm. Young people can visit www.ticplus.org.uk/counselling/ to self-refer.
Young Gloucestershire offers a range of support options to help young people with their mental health, including counselling, and support with self-harm. Visit www.youngglos.org.uk for more information.
The CAMHS service, which offers a specialist emotional wellbeing and mental health service for all children and young people up to 18 years of age, remains open as usual. https://www.ghc.nhs.uk/other-areas/cyp/
If you are supporting any young person (aged 11 plus) who presents in crisis or a high level of emotional distress, please contact the Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team: Tel: 0800 169 0398; www.ghc.nhs.uk/our-teams-and-services/crhtt/ 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If there is an immediate danger to life, please dial 999 or go to your nearest Accident and Emergency Department.
2020 - 2021
October, 2021
We're absolutely thrilled to report that 23 of our sixth formers have been accepted onto Access to Bristol courses. What an achievement!
This will really stretch and challenge them.
October, 2021
Year 12 Conservation Enrichment Group visit Poor's Allotment Nature Reserve in Tidenham this morning. A brilliant talk from Kevin Caster from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust on conservation strategies being used. Really engaging and interesting.
July, 2021
British Physics Olympiad Experimental Project
Huge congratulations are due to Isaac Smith and Lyall Wood in Year 12 who are 2021 Gold Award winners in this highly prestigious national competition for Year 12 and 13 physics students from schools across the whole of Britain.
Isaac and Lyall decided to use their Enrichment time to explore an area of physics beyond their A level course. As they were undertaking some research online, they came across this competition and decided to enter even though it was now October and the competition had opened in July 2020.
All competitors were set the same brief to devise and carry out experiments to determine the relationship between the depth of a body of water and the time taken for a wave to complete a full cycle. Having sought help from the science technicians, the boys organised all the equipment they required and spent hours and hours during their study periods and after school conducting experiments and planning how to write up their findings. As the Christmas holidays approached and a new lockdown was being predicted, the boys stepped up their work to complete their experiments to ensure they had sufficient results to draw conclusions. Interestingly, they both mentioned to me that practical work was not a particular strength for either of them prior to embarking on this project, but their teachers have commented on the improvement they have noticed since they embarked on the competition.
As predicted, lockdown started again in January but, undeterred, the boys carried on with the project using an app. called Discord to share their writing, graphs and tables. They undertook a huge amount of research into how to format their final submission into the style required by universities, reading scientific papers and even borrowing university essays written by Mr. Jones, their physics teacher, to ensure they got the format exactly right.
They made their submission by the end of January deadline and then waited and waited. Out of the blue, on 24th June, having almost forgotten about it, Mr. Jones received an email from Oxford University, one of the competition sponsors, confirming that Isaac and Lyall’s project was a Gold Award winner!
We are extremely proud of the success achieved by these students, who so enjoyed undertaking the project, which has equipped them with fantastic skills for their next steps in their chosen fields. Isaac is planning to study medical physics and Lyall is not sure whether to study maths or physics – or perhaps both.
The students are very pleased that their project was so well received and wish to thank Mr. Jones, Ms. Yeh and the science technicians – especially Steve Robinson – for the help and encouragement they received.
Maureen Stephens Academic Mentor to the Sixth Form
June, 2021
Great to see the Year 12s enjoying themselves on their Art trip to Bath. Thanks for organising, Mrs Collins.