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Upon
entry to the school, students are placed in mixed ability
social groups and may normally expect to remain in these
forms throughout their five years in school. Increasingly,
as they move up the school, setting arrangements and other
forms of ability grouping for teaching purposes as well
as students' own course choices in the Upper School, mean
that the form ceases to be a unit for instruction. Nevertheless
we place high value on the security and increased sense
of identity afforded students by the continuity of pastoral
care and regard the form base and the Form Tutor as the
most important contributors to this process. In many instances,
students may expect to have the same Form Tutor for two,
three or occasionally more years. He or she is the person
who will have the greatest knowledge of each student's
overall academic progress and social welfare. Only on
relatively rare occasions would we seek to use the flexibility
offered by mixed ability forms to transfer an individual,
in his or her interests, to another group.
Each
year group has a Head of Year who works closely with Form
Tutors, subject teachers and parents in overseeing each
student's progress. Each Head of Year has responsibility
for a specific year group and will have detailed knowledge
of each student's work, progress and general behaviour.
Tutor
groups in the Sixth Form are rather smaller than in years
7 to 11 but otherwise counselling and guidance, both social
and vocational, continue to play an important part in
the way we seek to structure students' school careers.
Students
in all year groups receive a curriculum of personal, social
and citizenship education. Its aims are academic, social
and personal and include :
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supporting the
academic curriculum through the development of sound
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study skills
and work habits |
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successfully
inducting students into critical stages of their social
careers |
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developing a
caring and tolerant attitude to others and the community |
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encouraging the
growth of personal identity through a programme of activities |
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which
will increase self-awareness and promote self-esteem |
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