Spring Term 2021
Sixth Form Diploma Newsletter While half of the Spring term was spent in remote learning, the Lower Sixth have continued with their Diploma lessons throughout – working on their independent academic projects, as well as discussing mental health and employability. Meanwhile, students in the Upper Sixth were given extra time to study or spend off screen, before coming back to school for skills-focused lessons.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE LOWER SIXTH INDEPENDENT ACADEMIC PROJECTS Students have enjoyed five skills lessons focused on their individual, academic projects. This has introduced time management tools such as Gantt charts, planning with SMART targets, evaluation of sources including how to reference and cite, and tips on designing a thesis. They have also been given time to carry out their own, independent research, while students completing a Sixth Form Project have been able to submit a draft and receive detailed feedback. Here are some of the students’ reactions to work undertaken so far: I learnt how to read articles and papers and evaluate how their source impacts their reliability, as well as how to compare conflicting information from two different sources and think about why they conflict, and what appears to be the truth in this. This is a very useful skill and will help me out with my Academic Project, particularly when I explore controversial areas. -Jim Borland
I found the lessons teaching the main skills for writing
this research project very useful as I feel like these are skills that can be utilised in the future. The writing process for the SFP has been difficult so far, as I have never written 2500 words before. As well as this, the structure of this sort of essay is completely different which has been hard to get to grips with. -Elliot Kallmeyer
EMPLOYABILITY Lower Sixth students also had two lessons focused on employability – given that they may soon be seeking part-time jobs and perhaps scholarships and internships. In a competitive world, it’s important to stand out from the crowd, for all the right reasons. Employability sessions are designed to help the students picture their target (whether a university, a job or funding, for instance) and to work out how best to describe themselves in the most relevant, concise, and appealing way. I feel that it’s been really useful to have these employability sessions as part of the diploma. I have found them to be extremely informative. The way that the session on developing your CV was taught showed us exactly what to do - and what not to do - through finding mistakes ourselves, which has taught me just how clear and precise your CV needs to be for it to appear professional. -Tate Nicol