How Bethany's academic and pastoral support are key ingredients to our success

Published by Bethany School on Tuesday 27th of September 2022

Mr Duff, Head of Sixth Form, talks about the importance of knowing Bethany pupils as individuals and announces the details for our Sixth Form Open Evening.

On Friday 11th November we will have our Sixth Form open evening and I would like to take my ‘blog’ opportunity to help me put that date in your diary and emphasise why Bethany Sixth Form is the place to be for Year 12 and 13s.

Bethany Sixth Form has 24 different A-level subjects to choose from, which is a fantastic number of subjects to have available. We hope that you will be able to choose the combination of subjects that you wish, indeed Mr Vickerman (our timetable co-ordinator) will be writing to parents/guardians towards Christmas in order to begin the data collection process of the “Y11 wish list of A-level choices” to try to tailor our option blocks to enable as many pupils as possible to choose the subjects they wish to study. With 24 subjects on offer, this enables truly small and intimate class sizes which foster professional relationships and support progress.

Education is now a results based industry and statistically Bethany Sixth Form has been performing well. In 2018 our A Level results were in the top 2% nationally which was bettered by the 2019 results which placed us in the top 0.5% of UK schools. This placed us 24th out of the approximate 4,000 secondary schools in the country at A Level – a wonderful achievement and testimony to the quality of teaching and learning in our Sixth Form. Obviously the teacher assessed grade process has skewed the 2020 and 2021 data for everyone, but our grade ranges in the 2022 external examinations were better than our 2019 results and I am full of optimism that when the national league tables come out in a few weeks’ time, Bethany School will be right up there nationally again!

A core part of this success is the strong academic and pastoral support we offer, which is a continuation from the GCSE provision. At Bethany, we truly know the individual and not only respect but indeed provide for their learning needs – this is a key ingredient to our success. We therefore hope as many Year 11s as possible choose to stay with us for Sixth Form.

A key aspect of the pastoral support is the excellent Sixth Form tutor team who have a wealth of experience. Also, pupils are fully supported through their UCAS/Apprenticeship applications with a weekly dedicated careers lesson entitled ‘Project Horizon’. Lastly, in regard to enrichment, we have a broad provision which includes the Gold Duke of Edinburgh award, Young Enterprise, Football/Cricket/Rugby/Hockey/Netball/Rounders sports teams, Creative Cookery, ‘Sports Fit’ and the new ‘vertical enrichment challenge teams’ which the Sixth Form are encouraged to help out if so inclined. We also have a state of the art ‘Sixth Form Centre’ which is designed to enable and encourage the independent nature of Sixth Form study. Lastly, Orchard boarding house is traditionally the home of Sixth Form boarders and is a fully supportive environment to support our Sixth Formers to succeed.

Please find below some alumni testimonials to provide further evidence of the quality of Sixth Form provision here at Bethany. I hope to meet as many Year 11 parents/guardians on the night, but if you don’t have the opportunity to speak to me in person please do contact me via email: sduff@bethanyschool.org.uk