Sixth Form
at
Pebble Brook School
Everything is exactly the same but very different!
Sixth Form at Pebble Brook School is an integrated part of school life and has its’ own building, its’ own uniform and its’ own timetable.
Two statements full of contradictions!
Vision, Values and Ethos.
These remain the same as the rest of the school. The section that reads ‘In reality’ is true for every part of sixth form life and is where we make the extremely important exit plans for our students.
In Reality
We want our pupils to maximise their independence and to be ready for their next steps in their lives. We believe that to achieve this then we should have the following at the forefront of all we do:-
- Literacy skills
- Numeracy skills
- Citizenship
- Employability
- Life skills
- Social and emotional welfare and development
- Social interaction skills
- Social resilience
- Behaviour for learning and life
- British values
Please see our policies on ‘Curriculum’, ‘Teaching, Learning and Assessment’ and ‘Achievement and Progress’ as well as the specific information on the website.
So what is different?
The Building
Sixth Form have their own designated building, converted from the old boarding area in 2020.
We expect our sixth form students to show increased independence and life skills so they have their own area to develop and create as their own. They also have enhanced facilities like TV and kitchen area.
The Uniform
We ask for our students to be ‘smart casual’ in their dress. They do not have to wear school uniform.
Day to Day Perks
Our students can go ‘offsite’ with permission and can also have a flexible day where appropriate.
Teaching and Learning in Sixth Form
The Timetable
We believe in continuity between Key Stage Four and Sixth Form in meeting the key cognition areas of English, Maths as well as ICT and PSHE. We also believe that Post 16 gives us three more years to maximise skills in these subjects.
For these reasons we have three morning lessons each day that cover these subjects. The
timings are exactly the same as the main school and specialist subject teachers are deployed.
Organising the timetable as described above is pretty straightforward.
The uniqueness of Pebble Brook Sixth Form comes into play for the rest of the day across the entire week.
We are committed to a personalised timetable that we guarantee will be right and appropriate for individual need and individual ambition. Below is a generalised timetable:-
Sixth Form General Timetable
| Period | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
| 1 |
English Maths ICT/PHSE |
English Maths ICT/PHSE |
English Maths ICT/PHSE |
English Maths
ICT/PHSE |
Year 12s- DoE
Year 13s Horticulture and BKSB- Maths & English |
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | Assembly |
SIRS/ Spelling/ Social Games
|
SIRS/ Spelling/ Social Games
|
SIRS/ Spelling/ Social Games
|
|
| 5 |
Year 12s- Works4U
Year 13s: Enterprise/ Horticulture
+ work experience |
Horticulture/ Cooking/ Housekeeping
+ work experience |
Sir Henry Floyd
+ work experience |
Year 13s- Worls4U
Year 12s: Horticulture/ Finance/ Travel Training
+ work experience
|
Reading |
| 6 |
Enrichment
+ work experience |
||||
| 7 |
Group organisation
Across all three year groups, students group according to year group. This means there are five groups. These include the three year groups and our two sixth form groups that follow ‘Pathways to Independence’. These two groups currently have only Year 12 and 13 students.
Personalisation
The challenge for leaders in the sixth form is to ensure that all timetables are personalised so that they are consistent in working towards achieving what we are saying ‘in reality’. Our timetables are designed to maximise development in independence and p
reparation for adulthood.
EHCP targets
EHCP targets are updated annually and are the long term goals for each student. These long term aims are met through target setting and assessment and are documented for each pupil. They are linked to the Exit Plan.
Exit Plan
This details the possible destination for all students for when they leave Pebble Brook School. The content is driven by our students and lists all strategies that are to be deployed to meet this end goal.
Personal Development
This goes on in every lesson and in every part of the school day. Each sixth form student has personal development targets defined on planning and met through our core subjects of English, Maths and ICT as well as the following:-
Enterprise, team work, travel training, organisation, finance, citizenship, DofE, SIRS, Pathways to Independence.
Work experience
This may be the last thing mentioned but it is arguably the most important part of life in sixth form. Not only do employment opportunities come from work experience but so do employability and life skills. Our aim is to have every student accessing work experience on a weekly basis.
Moving on to an appropriate setting after the FED is vital to our school. Since we opened our sixth form all our leavers have done exactly that and we are very proud of this fact. The FED builds on the great work of Key Stages 3 and 4. Many of the next steps are driven by our pupils and families but we like to think that we provide much of the help along the way.
The aims of the FED are to:
- Deliver a broad curriculum through highly structured and motivating individual teaching programmes and through well-planned and differentiated activities that will involve accreditation and non-accredited activities, enhancements and foundation learning to include PSD, vocational learning and skills for life.
- Have high expectations and positive attitudes.
- Encourage students to take increasing responsibility for their own learning.
- Provide team members with positive and constructive feedback on a regular basis (students and staff).
- Introduce students to a range of sports and leisure activities and a lifestyle which is likely to promote good health.
- Develop links with the community, including volunteering.
The following will be accredited:
- Functional Skills English
- Functional Skills Maths
- Functional Skills ICT
We will offer a context-based curriculum which encourages the ability to generalise specifically taught skills in different learning situations and apply them to meaningful everyday contexts. Weekly work experience and enterprise challenges based on individuals’ interests and relevance are encouraged and monitored.
Where we can, students are placed at work for one day per week. Employers supporting us amongst others are:
- Ercol Princes Risborough
- Florence Nightingale Hospice Shop
- Mid-Counties Co-Op
- Step in Cafe High Wycombe
- Stoke Mandeville Stadium
- The Lion Waddesdon
- Vale Tyres Waddesdon
- Waitrose
-
Bedgrove Infant School
- The Healthy Living Centre
- Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital
- Recomm, High Wycombe
