Friday 24 November 2017

TEN WEEKS IN!



It has been a whirlwind start to the year for for everyone associated with Holyport Sixth Form and I can’t quite believe that it is only ten school weeks since we welcomed our founding year twelve students. I am very proud of how much the team, both teachers and students, have accomplished in such a short space of time and it is exciting to see some of our many plans start to take shape. It has also been pleasing to see how our all our students have integrated and to see many new friendships forming.

Some of the highlights of the first term have been

  • Trips to Eton to visit their societies (typically two per week)
  • A visit from Dr Joe Organ from Brasenose College Oxford to launch our Oxbridge program
  • A chance for parent and tutors to meet at our parents’ information evening
  • Our students getting the opportunity to watch an RBWM council cabinet meeting held on site and getting the opportunity to question the councillors.
  • The Sixth form sport program run by Mr Bicknell and his team
  • A cinema trip to see “The Death of Stalin”
  • The first round of our first inter-house debating competition held in the Dudley room (more to follow)
  • Our first reports being sent to parents

This is by no means an exhaustive list and we have many more exciting projects in the pipeline including

  • Our EPQ launch at the end of this term
  • The five Sixth Form committees (academic, boarding, co-curricular, community & social), in which there has been much interest and from which I anticipate many more exciting opportunities for our students.
  • The start of our UCAS program
  • Sixth form grand cultural tour to Florence

We are, of course, also looking to next year and have held two open events which have been very well attended. Applications are flooding in and, once again, we anticipate a full intake in year 12 next year to take our Sixth Form up to full capacity. A reminder that the deadline for consideration in the first round of applications is December 1st.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to all of our teachers who are delivering high quality, stimulating lessons that challenge our students, and a special thank you to the Sixth Form tutors who have been wonderful support for the students (and myself) as we have moved swiftly into year twelve.

Whilst we have a little way to go before the end of the term, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with Holyport Sixth Form a Merry Christmas and I hope you all get a well deserved break.

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Sixth Form spring update

It is the start of a new term and we are heading into the all-important exam season here at Holyport College, as are all year 11 pupils across the country. The Sixth form is really starting to take shape as the second phase of development, where the focus was on recruitment, comes to an end.  
Since Christmas our dedicated team of staff have interviewed over 180 applicants, processed their information and offers have been made where appropriate.  I have been delighted by the academic standard of the pupils who have applied and, with a waiting list already in place, I am extremely confident of a fully subscribed, vibrant Sixth Form.
We have also had a focus on increasing the numbers of teaching staff, as pupil numbers increase and more subjects come on line.  We have recruited the following staff who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the school.
  • Dr S Doherty, a PhD Chemist with 9 years teaching experience
  • Mr J Carr an Oxford PPE graduate
  • Mr S Graham, a English Literature graduate from Queen’s University Belfast
  • Mrs C McQuilllan, BA(Hons) in History with 21 years teaching experience
  • Mrs L Small, BA (Hons) in History with 16 years teaching experience
  • Mr A Beake who has an MSc in Corporate & International Finance from Durham University
  • Mr K Khan, a graduate from Brunel University with a BSc (Hons) in Financial Computing
Our new teaching staff not only bring over 75 years of combined teaching experience, with qualifications from prestigious universities, but also have diverse backgrounds in independent, state, grammar and international schools.  Recruitment is not yet complete but we will keep you updated of all developments through our Twitter account (@HCSixth).
Phase three of Sixth Form development, a focus on the pupil experience, has already started but will really gather speed in the Spring Term.  Whilst the below is by no means an exhaustive list, the areas for development include:
  • Structure of the Sixth Form day
  • Framework of responsibilities and freedoms for students
  • Finalising curriculum plan & timetable
  • Sixth form sports provision
  • Decorating & furnishing the Sixth Form Common Room (SFCR)
  • Furnishing the second study area at the top of Milton Fawcett house
  • Updating the Sixth Form dining provision
  • Installing bedroom furniture
  • Kitchen installation
  • Sixth Form boarders social spaces
  • Sixth Form induction day
The Sixth Form Student Panel met before Easter to discuss student experience.  We will tweet pictures of the installations as they happen to keep you updated.

For those of you who have applied for a place, I hope you are as excited about next year as I am and I’m sure you are working hard in preparation for your upcoming GCSEs. I’d like to wish you all the best for your exams and we are all looking forward to welcoming you to Holyport Sixth Form in September.

Thursday 19 January 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!



I’d like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to everyone associated with Holyport College.  The start of this year brings extra excitement as 2017 is the year in which our Sixth Form opens.  I therefore thought it would be a good time to give everyone an update on our progress.

We are only in our second week of this term but we have been very busy with sixth form interviews with over 50 completed already.  I have to say a huge thankyou to the Heads of House and some of our Heads of Department who have been interviewing applicants.  We have all been extremely impressed with the quality of the students who are applying to the school and our first offer letters will be in the post very shortly!

We are also busy starting our recruitment drive for next year.  With new subjects coming on line and the delivery of A-level classes in the subjects we currently offer, more teachers are required to add to our existing high quality staff.  Keep an eye out for the adverts for teachers of Chemistry, Maths, History, Geography, Economics and Government & Politics.

Our next meeting of the Holyport College Sixth Form Student Panel has been arranged for Monday where we will be looking at the student experience.  This meeting will start to address all aspects of student life at the school, for both boarding and day students, and will look at the extra freedoms and responsibilities that our sixth form students will gain next year.  I’m very grateful to our team of eight year 11 students who are representing the student body at these meetings.

I have received some queries asking if it too late to apply for a sixth form place.  Whilst we are delighted about the number and quality of applicants that we have received, we are opening up a second application window for any potential students who would like to apply, as there may be a small number of places still available once the initial interview and offer process is complete.  If you are interested in submitting an application, whilst we cannot guarantee you a place, we will be holding second round of interviews once all initial offers have been issued.  The deadline for this is February 24th.  

I wish all year 11 pupils the best for the next few months in the build up to your GCSE exams.  These can be stressful times but, if you have a firm revision plan in place and are prepared to work hard, you will reap the rewards.  I look forward to welcoming you to our Sixth Form in September!

Monday 5 December 2016

Psychology A-Level



All of the Holyport team are commited to making a success of our Sixth Form.  We have held our first of several pupil panel meetings today to give our students the opportunity to have their say and put forward developmental ideas.  These ideas will be routinely presented to our Sixth Form Steering Committee for discussion.

I am also pleased to announce that, due to popular student demand, we will be adding Psychology A-level to our curriculum offer next year.  I believe this is an example of our commitment to work with our students to deliver the best Sixth Form experience possible.  If you would like to study Psychology but haven't included it on your application, don't worry, you can discuss it at interview in the new year.

Friday 2 December 2016

Sixth Form Newsletter



I’m delighted to be writing my first official blog as Head of Sixth Form at Holyport College and this, along with our Twitter account (@HCSixth), will increasingly become the vehicle for updates on the progress we are making in readiness for opening in September 2017. 
I can’t quite believe that we are in December already and, whilst there is still much to do, we have made swift progress this term.  Some of the key achievements are outlined below:

-        Sixth Form preliminary interviews with all our year 11 students
-        Installation of one of our Sixth Form study areas
-        Furniture installation one of our Sixth Form boarding rooms
-         Making links with colleagues at Oxford & Cambridge
-         Sixth form open events
-         Design and publication of our prospectus
-         Student panel appointed and first meeting to be held on Monday 5th Dec
-         Completion of the Founders room, one of our Sixth Form study areas
-         Lots of individual tours for prospective students
-         Visits to Eton for lectures and networking events
-          Interior designer plans submitted for the Sixth Form common room
-          Visit to the London Stock Exchange for the Eton and Holyport College Investment club presentation

We are very excited about the progress made already and applications have been flooding in.  We are also very excited about the interest from students who currently attend other schools with over 45 applications received already.   As soon as the application deadline (15th December) has passed, we will be processing the paperwork and sending letters out to all applicants to invite them for interviews early in the new year…...information about the format and timings of these will follow shortly.

I’d like to thank you all for your interest in Holyport College Sixth Form, these are exciting times for all of us and I look forward to welcoming you to interview in January.


Happy Christmas from all at Holyport College.





Thursday 21 April 2016

Frequently Asked Questions



The two most common questions I have been asked so far in relation to Sixth Form are these:

1) What will we wear?
2) Where will the common room be?

"Will female students be allowed their hair down?" has come in a close third!

I posted this morning regarding uniform and will post something very soon regarding where the social and study spaces are likely to be but we've also started working on a list of FAQs to share with anybody interested in our Sixth Form. To help us with this, we need your questions- what are the things you're wondering about? What are your areas of doubt? What do you need to know from us to help you to make up your mind about whether or not you'd like to join us here? These questions could be anything from "Can I bring my own car?" or "Will there be a Coke machine in common room?" to "How will you support me through the UCAS process?".

Leave us a comment below with any questions you might have and we'll try to get them answered for you as soon as we can.

Sixth Form Uniform

Lots of thought has been going into what our Sixth Form students will wear. Those of you familiar with the school will know that we were always going to expect our Sixth Form students to look as smart (if not smarter) than those in the lower school and we are therefore never going to be the kind of school where the oldest students and role models are allowed wander around in jeans and t-shirts!

Lots of Sixth Forms simply ask students to wear "business dress" (which usually means that the boys start Lower Sixth in smart suits with ties and by about February are wandering around in trainers, trousers and an open necked shirt!). "Business dress" for young ladies can be even more challenging as owning a number of different suits can be prohibitively expensive and, beyond that, business dress for women varies massively depending on where you work. The result of this is that, often (and through little fault of their own), female Sixth Form students end up looking less smart than their male counterparts and this can cause unnecessary discord within the year group.

Our current line of thinking therefore is that we will have a Sixth Form uniform rather than simply a "dress code" but that that uniform will be a suit. We have been working with our suppliers at schoolblazer.com to come up with some concepts and we believe that these look really promising. The first design idea was this one:



Note the particularly natty waistcoat for the boys (the stripes are Eton Blue); the tie is navy with the College crest.

We then also asked what a navy option might look like (I actually prefer this- that will doubtless be the kiss of death for it!) and requested some jumper/cardigan options for the ladies:


We've also gone back to schoolblazer.com and asked them to include a trouser option for the ladies' suit. 

We are really keen to know what our current students (and their parents!) make of these ideas. Why not leave a comment on this post with any (constructive) thoughts you might have? Mrs Dudley will also be setting up a panel of some of our Year 10 students to consult on this more formally.