Leadership Opportunities
At KSA, we recognise how important it is for students to achieve top grades in order for them to be able to access the very best courses on degree apprenticeships and the highest performing universities in the country. At Sixth Form, both staff and students are guided by the expectation that hard work and dedication to post-16 study is vitally important to achieve our potential.
However, a great Sixth Former, needs more than great grades. At the end of their KSA journey, we want our students to be worldly, confident and kind people and we encourage students to take as many opportunities outside of school-time as possible.
Sixth Form Leadership Team
As the oldest pupils in our all-through school, the KSA Sixth Form leadership team play a pivotal role in leading the whole school. Elected after a rigorous interview process with senior staff, the Sixth Form leadership team meet regularly and play a key role across the school. For example, our Sixth Formers lead an annual International Fair and organise their own Iftar every Ramadan. Our Sixth Form leadership team also lead the secondary pupil leaders, interviewing Student Leaders in other year groups.
Sixth form music
There are many opportunities to take part in musical activities at King Solomon Academy. Individual instrumental lessons can be organised in a wide range of instruments (contact the Music Department for more details).
Pupils can apply to be a member of Upper School Orchestra, which involves pupils from Key Stage 4 and 5 and performs to a high standard. In the past, Upper School Orchestra have performed at the Barbican, and take part in an annual European tour. Upper School Orchestra’s inaugural tour to Salzburg, Austria provided many memorable musical and social experiences for all involved; and the tours continued to enrich all involved in subsequent visits to Madrid, Spain and Slovakia. KSA’s orchestra tours are a once in a lifetime experience not to be missed!
With the range of musical talent across the school, pupils have the opportunity to form their own chamber ensembles or bands. These groups have the chance to perform regularly in concerts throughout the year.
Volunteering
At KSA, supporting the local community is of great importance to us; our school strives to better the area we serve by engaging not only with our young people but also with families, friends and local businesses/organisations. As such, we believe it is important for all students to be proactive themselves in helping support their local community through weekly volunteering. Many pupils support school wide-events, such as the annual International Day fair, or the annual Iftar during Ramdan, while others volunteer with younger year groups across the school. Other placements allow students to offer their time outside KSA with local organisations, businesses or charities in need. For example, the school has a working relationship with Penfold Hub where students have run social activities including tea mornings and a monthly gardening club. Many of our students in Sixth Form organise their own volunteering placements outside of school time and we encourage students to continue with these placements as regularly as possible.
Futures Preparation
At the end of the academic year for Year 12, when exams are behind us and Year 13 courses have begun, we dedicate curriculum time to preparing pupils to being ready for the next steps in their education. These events are specially designed to prepare students with the type of work they will be going on to do at university level or as a degree-level apprenticeship. Pupils benefit from university and apprenticeship targeted provision, such as undertaking an internally led Seminar series, with staff giving talks on university level topics of interest, or exploring the excellent opportunities offered by our central-London locations through apprenticeship days. Pupils begin to write personal statements in this period, and are supported by a mentor who guides them through and offers feedback on the writing process.
Residential Trips
As part of our outstanding offer at KSA, we believe learning outside the classroom is paramount and we are keen for pupils to form strong bonds with their year group whilst experiencing things that they do not necessarily get to experience day-to-day in the classroom. All our pupils are invited to join the annual residential to Bath University in year 12, to learn new skills outside the school building in the real world, have fun and see places they may well have never visited before.
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is an award at three levels: Bronze, Silver or Gold. Pupils at KSA sixth form have the opportunity to achieve their Gold qualification.
You achieve your Award by completing a personal programme of activities in four sections (five if you're going for Gold) - Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and for Gold, a Residential.
You'll find yourself helping people or the community, getting fitter, developing skills, going on an expedition and taking part in a residential activity (Gold only).
The best bit is - you get to choose what you do! Your programme can be full of activities and projects that get you buzzing, and along the way you’ll pick up experiences, friends and talents that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Find out more about DofE at King Solomon Academy
Green Futures Programme
A wonderful opportunity for Year 12 pupils to teach younger students in Year 8 at KSA about the importance of taking care of our natural environment. Green Futures is an ambitious and innovative programme connecting young people with nature conservation and heritage in the Royal Parks, gaining new skills to help combat the climate emergency. Students in Year 12 prepare for these sessions via training from the Royal Parks staff and then spend three days guiding KS3 pupils through conservation tasks to look after our beautiful local parc, Hyde Park.
