The Director of Sixth Form and Assistant Key Stage Manager are responsible for all Sixth Form students, overseeing academic progress and pastoral care.
In addition to progressive academic guidance, the Academy is immensely proud of its high standard of pastoral care. On enrolment into the Sixth Form, each student is allocated a Form Tutor with whom they will register and liaise on a daily basis. The Form Tutor will provide on-going support and guidance throughout the Sixth Form and will act as the first port of call for general or personal issues that may have an impact on academic progress.
The FormTutor also monitors attendance and punctuality, contacting parents where appropriate. Tutors work closely with students, not only to improve understanding, but to help students build confidence and develop as socially responsible young people.
Assistant Director of Sixth Form
Mr M. Lucas
Following a varied career in industry and, subsequently, several years in teaching, Mr Lucas has developed an approach that focuses on enjoying your success in the Sixth Form. Personal best performance, pride in one’s appearance, a passion for learning and a desire to be part of a great Sixth Form community are characteristics that should be pre-requisites for a Belvedere Girl.
Mr Lucas’ responsibilities include progress, attendance and pastoral issues.
AS courses progress at a very fast pace, so to enable you to maximise your full potential, you need to realise that your attendance and punctuality to lessons is extremely important.
The Role of the Sixth Form Tutor
The function of the Sixth Form Tutor at The Belvedere Academy is to contribute to raising attainment across the board. The Sixth Form Tutor has an extremely vital role in terms of monitoring the progress of their tutor groups and many find that working closely with young people post-16 can be very rewarding. Whilst being part of the Sixth Form Team is different to being a tutor in Years 7-11, it is necessary to understand that being a Sixth Form Tutor is not an easy option. This is the time when our young people need guidance in ways that may be different to lower down the school. As personal tutors, Sixth Form tutors are there to guide students towards a successful future, whether that is in HE or employment.
Expectations of the Sixth Form Tutor
- To closely monitor attendance and punctuality, liaising with students, subject teachers or parents/carers as appropriate.
- To check and sign weekly Progress/Attendance Reports to ensure students are taking responsibility for their learning.
- To have half-termly ‘one to one’ Progress Interviews with students.
- To record/document any intervention that has taken place with students.
- To guide students through the UCAS process – checking personal statements and completing references for students.
- To guide students in terms of attitude and behaviour, setting high standards and encouraging them to be positive role models for the rest of the Academy.
- To reinforce the ethos of the Academy, through reflection and assemblies.
Student Council
Students are encouraged to take on responsibilities as Form or Year Representatives on the Student Council. This body allows girls to participate in the running of the Academy by making suggestions for improvement in aspects that affect their learning environment. The Student Council has Half Termly meetings set out in the Academy calendar, and also meets regularly with the Principal and the Vice Principals to discuss agenda items of issue.
Academic Performance
Monitoring, tracking, assessment and mentoring
Academic progress is monitored rigorously by the Director of Sixth Form, Assistant Key Stage Manager, Form Tutors and Subject Leaders. At the beginning of term, all students will be given individual target grades, against which all work will be assessed. Subject Leaders closely supervise the academic progress of students using target grades and the Academy tracking system.
Students who are underachieving are identified by the Academy tracking data and by Subject Leaders. Targeted students are then monitored closely by the Director of Sixth Form as part of the Sixth Form Intervention Plan. Parents will be informed accordingly and invited to discuss their daughter’s progress with the Director of Sixth Form.
All students who are struggling to cope with the academic demands of A Level, will be allocated a mentor to meet their specific, individual needs.
Mentoring Rationale
Mentoring is a process by which the mentor offers ongoing support and developmental opportunities to the mentee – in this case the student herself. Addressing issues and obstacles to the achievement of their full potential as identified by the mentee, the mentor will offer guidance, counselling and support in the form of pragmatic and objective assistance. The mentoring relationship is confidential, reinforcing the trust partnership. Mentoring sessions are there to help your daughter manage her own learning.
Mentors use the skills of coaching to help mentees reach significant decisions about their own progress - remember mentors are not there to solve problems for the mentee, they are there to highlight issues and plan ways through them. The individual student herself must take ‘ownership’ of her actions to improve her performance.
Profiling
Regular module tests and assessments provide data for the termly Profiling Days. Students attend a one-to-one mentoring session with Form Tutors to discuss progress, attendance figures and negotiate targets for further development.