Sixth Form

Introduction

Thank you for showing an interest in joining the Sixth Form at Ripon Grammar School. We hope that you will find the information in this section of the website to be both useful and encouraging. The vast majority of our GCSE students make the decision to continue their education in our sixth form, and we also have a significant number of students who join us from other local schools and from further afield.

We feel that one of the great strengths of our sixth form is that it is small enough for all students to soon become known to staff and to their peers. We have tried to provide a flavour of the many opportunities afforded as a sixth former at our school. We know from experience and from consultation with our students that if you join us you are very likely to have a rewarding and successful time.

We recently conducted a questionnaire to find out what the students felt about their Sixth Form experience. We received a very positive overall response, and felt that you might be interested in a sample of these responses.

Students were asked to score statements from 4 to 1 (where 4 = strongly agree, 3 = agree, 2 = disagree and 1 = strongly disagree). Average scores for selected responses are included in the section below:

Students acknowledge that they have access to a good choice of subjects and that they are fortunate to be taught by well-qualified and supportive teachers:

• The teachers have good knowledge of their subject: 3.5
• My choice of subjects suits my abilities and career plans: 3.3
• The teachers use an appropriate variety of methods to help me learn: 3.1

Not only do students rate the curriculum and quality of teaching highly, but they also recognise that there is a good support structure in place from staff and from their peers:

• There is an adult in the Sixth Form to whom I would turn if I had school-related difficulties: 3.3
• Students get on well and there is no bullying, harassment or racial tension: 3.2

Central to the support structure for our Sixth Formers is the role of form tutors. Students are divided into tutor groups and register with their form tutors twice daily. In addition to the important support and guidance provided by these tutors, each Lower Sixth student will be allocated an additional mentor with whom they will have opportunities to meet at least twice during the academic year.

There are many activities for students to get involved in, and many of these are described by our current Head Boy and Head Girl in the comments section.