Welcome to the Lower Sixth Electives Programme. You are to choose three ten-week modules, one for each term of your Lower Sixth. There is a wide choice, covering Technology, History, Art, Music, Politics, Literature and much more. Despite the varied offering, each Elective shares a common goal: to promote learning for learning’s sake.
Please enjoy!
Mr Tolputt Head of Sixth Form
Uglow Director of Studies
The List
Coming of Age – a Novel, a Play, a Film, a Song, and maybe a Pantomime with Mr Tolputt
Econ 101 with Mr Hayden
Music Technology - a practical journey from the gramophone to the smart phone with Mr Hughes
Ceramics Inspired by Grayson Perry with Miss Bullock and Mrs Hammond
Welcome to Dystopia - are we there yet? with Mr Everling and Miss Parris
A
World in Conflict – using geography to understand global tension with Mr Uglow
Production Planning/Strategic Thinking with Mrs Brown
Mr
Coming of Age – a Novel,
a Play, a Film, a Song, and maybe a Pantomime
Why am I offering this Elective?
Like most of my friends (and, I suspect, many of you), I enjoy reading books, listening to music, watching films, and going to the theatre. I am no special expert in any particular form, but that is ok: my interest is broad and varied, and it brings me pleasure. And so I thought I would offer an Elective in ‘cultural appreciation’ that straddles literature/ performance genres to explore works linked by a common theme.
The theme I have chosen is ‘Coming of Age’. Why? Coming of age stories typically present a teenage protagonist who is growing out of childhood and into adulthood. That is all of you (and was me once), so I am hoping for lively debate, insightful observation, and engaged connection.
What will you get out of this Elective?
If nothing else, you will read a book, recite a play, listen to a song, watch a film, study a pantomime, and generally have fun: the Elective will include The History Boys (Bennett, 2004), The Breakfast Club (Hughes, 1985), Now is the Month of Maying (Morley, 1595), Beauty and the Beast (Terry, 2025), and a choice of coming of age novels.
But there is more: you will develop (or further develop) an appreciation of a range of arts’ genres, you will hone skills of analysis and research, you will explore links and commonality between contrasting works. Above all, you will learn from each other: through discussion and debate, and by listening to each other’s honest and personal reaction to the works that we will study.
Please note: I hope that that there will be one (or several) opportunities to go to the theatre/cinema throughout the duration of this Elective. As with any School trip, there would be an incurred cost; attendance, however, would be optional.
Econ 101
Why am I offering this Elective?
I intend to make you think. I would like you to think like an Economist. Over the years I have realised how important it is to understand the impact Economics has on everything we do (or do not do). There is a misconception that Economics is all about the money (we will discuss that), but Economics is really much, much more.
What will you get out of this Elective?
An Economist would always buy two lottery tickets at a time, would not buy a lottery ticket in the first place, would go to university, would not study media studies, would legalise drugs, would not vote in an election, would worry if their son got a 2.1, wouldn’t be driven in a car by him, would speed on the motorway, wouldn’t speed that much, would cheat in a test, wouldn’t lie in court.
Why would they do these things? Would you make the same choices?
Understanding the mind of an Economist will improve your decision-making and let you see the world from a different perspective. At the end of the Elective, if I have done my job properly, you will be able to make wiser decisions, make sense of others’ irrational behaviour, wish you had taken up A Level Economics at the beginning of the year, and learn why you need to study it at uni.
Music Technology – a practical journey from the gramophone to the smart phone
Why am I offering this Elective?
Since designing and building my own recording studio at the age of 17, I have been passionate about recording and producing music. I love to pull songs apart to see how they were constructed and use music technology in my own music.
What will you get out of this Elective?
Want to know how music technology helped turn the Beatles into the most famous band in the world? Ever wondered what Calvin Harris does to create those tunes that stick in your head? Then this is the Elective for you. We will spend time looking at some of the ways in which artists have used Music Technology in their work and you will gain a greater understanding of what goes into creating a hit record (or .mp3). This Elective is very hands-on, and you will spend a lot of the time working on your own piece of music using some of the techniques used throughout the pop music industry, both then and now.
Ceramics Inspired by Grayson Perry
Why am I offering this Elective?
Grayson Perry’s ceramic vases tell stories about who we are and the world around us, using bright, detailed designs to talk about identity, society, and culture. This course is designed to give you the chance to experience that same process: developing your creativity, experimenting with ideas, and producing work that is both unique and meaningful to you.
What will you get out of this Elective?
With Mrs Hammond, you’ll develop hands on skills in clay, learning how to shape and construct your own ceramic forms. In alternating sessions, you will work with Miss Bullock to design and create a piece of digital artwork (using Canva) that will be transferred onto your ceramic piece. Your design will take the form of a collage style self-portrait, reflecting who you are, what matters to you, and perhaps capturing a snapshot of the world as it is right now, much like the thought provoking work of Grayson Perry.
Welcome To Dystopia - are we there yet?
Why are we offering this Elective?
Increasingly, we look around the world today and see Literature and film mirrored in our society. Orwell’s police state, Huxley’s drugged happiness or The Matrix’s virtual reality. Do societies look at these critical texts as a template for success? Can we fight against this dystopia? Is it too late for us all? We love that art can reveal more of the world around us than reality often can.
What will you get out of this Elective?
Within this elective you will explore your place in society. You will gain a good grounding in some essential dystopian texts and start critically applying art to reality and reality to art.
We will look at some of the most groundbreaking dystopian texts, ideas and how they fit into current world affairs, issues and conflicts. The increasing presence of cameras and state tracking, the double speak of politicians and global conflicts that are no longer fought just by human beings. We will look at the origins of utopia and dystopia and what we are really working towards as a society.
This elective will explore literature, film and documentary to study dystopia in the world today. Come along if you are an inquisitive individual who likes to challenge your way of thinking. This is an ideal elective for anyone interested in current affairs, politics, literature, management or anyone that likes to have a good argument!
A World in Conflict – using geography to understand global tension
Why am I offering this Elective?
We live in a world in which division and tension is accepted as an inevitable part of life. The news is peppered with stories about hostility between Russia and her neighbours, or tension within the African continent – and we accept this as part of the status quo. I want to explore why this might be the case by looking at the geography of particular areas of tension so that you might better understand the roots of these relationships.
What will you get out of this Elective?
Put simply, you will better understand the world around you. You’ll learn to spot the things that make a nation vulnerable, and who knows – you may be able to predict the next crisis to hit the news!
Production Planning/Strategic Thinking
Why am I offering this Elective?
Working out a strategy for making products to a deadline and within budget is a large part of managing a DT department. I feel the skills I use are valuable and transferrable to many scenarios in life from time management and target setting to negotiation and collaboration. I would like to offer the opportunity to students to take responsibility for a team or individual project from start to finish.
Example scenario:
You (and your team) have been invited to use the school workshop to develop a proposal for a charity that wish to use their funding to provide seating to be used in temporary refugee camps.
What will you get out of this Elective?
As part of a team, you will be responsible for delivering a project on time and on budget. You will need to provide prototypes and a quote for cost and lead time for delivering your seats.
You will have the opportunity to develop strategies for managing time, materials, and budget while discovering the importance of effective listening, negotiation, and compromise within a team.
You will learn to collaborate, deal with disputes, learn how to set targets, and monitor progress. How you share responsibilities within your team, between planning, problem solving, calculating, designing and manufacturing will have a significant impact on your success. How will you keep everyone on course and motivated?
