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 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 A-level/BTEC study is vitally important to achieve our potential. We afford a great deal of time each working week through our Student Progress Tutor Programme to ensure the progress of our Sixth Formers is monitored and they feel supported at all times.
We also offer advice and guidance on life after KSA to allow students to feel empowered and confident about their futures. Whilst the importance of achieving well in their subjects can’t be overlooked, we also recognise that being a great Sixth Former, and indeed a great university candidate, is not solely about 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. These opportunities include: weekly volunteering, sport, societies/clubs, leading the school (prefects), residential trips, The Access Project and many, many more.
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.
Sixth form pupils also have the chance to inspire and mentor younger students across the Junior and Middle schools. Being part of an academy where every pupil learns an instrument means there are plenty of opportunities to compose and conduct younger ensembles, and to gain experience in coaching and teaching. This can be tied into the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Pupils who are keen on music technology will have access to our suite of iMacs equipped with the latest industry software.
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. All Year 12 and Year 13 pupils are assigned a volunteering placement from the beginning of the academic year. Many of these placements involve students working within the school in younger year groups through tutoring or Junior Teaching Assistant rolls. 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. For example, Nadia Ezbakh, a Year 13 pupil who plans to study Medicine at university, has organised care volunteering placements to not only give back to the local community but also to learn by exposing herself to the daily workings of the NHS.
As part of Discovery Week in the academic year 2016-17, all Year 12 students participated in a Community Day where they got the opportunity to volunteer all over the local area and in doing so, we have built many strong relationships with some extremely influential charities and organisations including the homeless charity Depaul and the charity Open Age which works with the most vulnerable elderly people within the community.
Discovery Week
At the end of the academic year for Year 12, when exams are behind us and Year 13 courses have begun, students take part in an exciting opportunity, specially designed to prepare students with the type of work they will be going on to do at university level. Each student chooses a stream dependent upon the course they are interested in studying once they leave KSA. Once students have identified their chosen stream, they then develop their specialised research question, much like a student would do at university when preparing to write a thesis or dissertation.
Discovery Week follows this timetable:
| Monday - Work placement | Students are provided with a short work placement for the day where they are able to experience a career related to the course they want to study at university level. For example, students interested in studying Psychology at university had the chance to meet with a Market Researcher at a top Marketing firm in the city. |
| Tuesday - Subject stream trip in London | Students visit an exhibition/gallery/talk/museum related to a topic they have expressed interest in within their particular stream. For example, students interested in studying the Arts at university (History, English, Law) visited the British Museum to see an exhibition on the Chinese Revolution. |
| Wednesday - Volunteer day | All Year 12 students take part in a community-wide volunteering day where students are placed with local charities and organisations to help make a difference to those in need in the local community. Placements this year included working with Depaul, an influential homeless charity. |
| Thursday - subject stream academic day at KSA | Students consolidate all learning from the week to prepare a presentation to their peers on their research question and their discoveries; this is a chance for students to share the great things they have learnt over the course of the week. This work may then be developed into an EPQ to add to a student’s UCAS application. |
Residential Trips
As a whole school, KSA values the experience of going on school trips with your teachers and peers extremely highly; 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. In Year 12, students are given the opportunity to go on two residential trips throughout the year: one optional foreign residential in February and the end-of-year compulsory residential to Shropshire in the North of England. Both trips give students the opportunity 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.