25th February 2013 - Sixth Form Update from Ms E Ball, Deputy Head

We are delighted to announce that we will be joined in April 2013 by Dan Cowling an experienced Head of Sixth who will lead us in the final stages of establishing Orleans Park Sixth Form.

We are in the final stages of developing the design for our new Sixth Form Build. Orleans Park Sixth Form will have a large, brand new Sixth Form building which will include three specialist A-level science rooms, each one fully equipped to meet the needs of the Sixth Form teaching and learning.  There will be a new, purpose built school hall and modern drama facilities which will seat over 300 people.  The new building will also include an art room designated specifically for Sixth Form teaching, three ICT rooms and 12 new classrooms, where most Sixth Form teaching will take place.  The whole school will have wireless capability so our Sixth Formers will be able to use a range of portable devices for study, including their own if they wish.  In the new building there will be a comfortable Sixth Form café and social area where students can relax and meet friends and a purpose built Sixth Form Learning Resource Centre with excellent ICT facilities for studying. The building work will begin in the spring of 2013 and be completed in time for opening in September 2014.

Our Sixth Form will be large enough to ensure we can offer a wide range of A-Levels as well as some Level 2 courses.  We will provide outstanding pastoral care to ensure all students stay on track for success and tutors will provide personalised support, including regular one to one tutorials.  There will be plenty of additional opportunities such as the Extended Project Qualification, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities, trips, visits and work placements that will help set our students apart when applying for university or college.

We will ensure that our outstanding reputation for teaching and pastoral care continues into the sixth form where students will benefit from working with staff who know them, as well as newly appointed teachers with proven track records of A Level success.  Very importantly, high quality information and guidance will enable students to choose the right courses and future pathways.

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Since the sixth form proposals were formally approved by the Cabinet and given the green light by the Council, the secondary headteachers have been busy working together on a number of work streams to take this very exciting project forward. We have produced a Principles and Policy statement, which is posted here on the website.

As a school we have been busy preparing for the building feasibility stage, with three meetings between now and mid- August. We shall be meeting with architects and Council officials to consider the resources and facilities we shall need to deliver our sixth form. By the end of October, we shall have several options for the governors to consider for additional accommodation and resources. As we have such a restricted site clearly this stage will not only be challenging but very important. We are hoping that by being creative some of the issues that we currently have, such as a totally inadequate assembly space and limited dining facilities, can also be resolved within the sixth form build. In the current economic recession, £5 million for buildings can buy far more building than it did a few years ago and we are very excited to see what we can achieve in the accommodation for the benefit of all our pupils, not just the sixth form.

We have also been in discussions with the other schools, particularly Waldegrave and Teddington, looking at our potential curriculum offer and particularly which courses we shall be able to provide initially whilst the sixth form grows and becomes established. We have been encouraging our staff to visit successful sixth forms to observe outstanding sixth form teaching and explore key areas such as careers guidance, examination boards, pastoral arrangements, enrichment offers and many other aspects of post-sixteen education that are crucial to get right if we are to deliver an outstanding sixth form. We are all very excited about developing a sixth form and we are absolutely determined to get our sixth form right and ensure it will be “the best that it can be”.

Ms Ball is leading on the development of the sixth form and, as a school, we have already produced an initial education brief, which again is posted on the website. This is an evolving document and will be amended as we work through the process. Ms Ball is preparing a more detailed update for governors and parents/carers which will be shared with you before the end of term.

8 May 2012: Sixth form update

The school has been continuing to investigate the proposal by the Council to introduce sixth form provision in all the secondary schools by September 2014. The three transformation academies, Hampton , Twickenham and Richmond Park, are already moving forward to introduce sixth from provision from September 2013. The Secondary Headteachers have been meeting regularly as a group with the local authority officers, building consultants and Richmond College to discuss and consider these proposals.

As a school we have set up a Governors’ steering group which has been working closely with members of the senior leadership team to consider the practical implications of sixth form provision for the school in a number of important areas. These have included:

• Size and make up of a possible sixth form
• Finances (projected income and expenditure, start up costs, training costs)
• Examination courses and different levels of courses eg vocational, level 2 and level 3 courses
• Staffing implications
• The responses from various pupil questionnaires
• The new buildings and facilities needed to deliver a high quality sixth form on the school site
• Enhancement and enrichment programmes, possibly in partnership with other secondary schools
• Development of enhanced careers guidance and expertise.

The Council will be making the decision on whether to move the proposal forward at a Cabinet meeting at the end of May. I will keep you informed.

24th January 2012 - Sixth Form Proposals  click here to view

Richmond Council has published statutory proposals for establishing sixth forms in each secondary school. There is a four week response period, closing on Friday 30 March 2012. Please comment via the link below:

http://www.richmond.gov.uk/home/education_and_learning/post_16_education.htm.