Sixth Form At KGS: The Whole Package

In this episode, we are talking about the sixth form programme at KGS and all of the elements that come together to make this programme the whole package.  Although Sixth Form at KGS provides a strong academic programme with outstanding grade results, the programme also provides valuable life skills and experiences.    EPISODE THREE TRANSCRIPT SIXTH FORM AT KGS: THE WHOLE PACKAGE [00:00:00] Students: [00:00:00] I think to anyone, it can be quite daunting moving from GCSE to A-level looking at universities, but KGS has made that really easy. I quite enjoy having a smaller classes. And I think that really helps when you can work together as a class. For example, in politics, we do quite a lot of debates and it's quite interesting to work together and debates - you pick arguments and you write how you're going to speak… [00:00:24] …whereas in a bigger class, I think it'd be more difficult. And also you get more one-on-one time with teachers and you can just email them [00:00:30] and ask them questions if you have any queries. So it's quite good. [00:00:36] Narration: Hello and welcome to the Kingston Grammar School podcast. Throughout this podcast, we will be speaking with faculty and students alike about important topics surrounding the Kingston Grammar School or KGS community. I am your host, Shannon Vandermark and whether you are a present or future parent… [00:00:55] …or student or simply interested in KGS, you are very welcome [00:01:00] for any listeners new to Kingston Grammar School, KGS is an independent co-educational day school located in Kingston Upon Thames, England.  Officially founded in 1561, the school can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century. KGS is one of the most successful coeducational schools in the country.  Inspirational teaching, and a deep commitment to pastoral care means that students grow in confidence and understanding and individual [00:01:30] talents and creativity are able to flourish. [00:01:33] In this episode, we are talking about the sixth form program at KGS and all of the elements that come together to make this program the whole package.  Although sixth form at KGS provides a strong academic program with outstanding grade results. the program also provides valuable life skills and experiences. [00:01:53] Co-curricular activities on offer are vast from KGS’s renowned hockey and rowing programs to [00:02:00] a variety of choices in music, drama and community service, for example.  The school's motto of work well and be happy is keenly demonstrated through each student's bespoke sixth form experience. My guests today include Headmaster, Stephen Lehec, Head of Sixth Form Lecture Program Anna Edwards, Head of Upper Sixth. [00:02:21] Chris Wenham and Head of P S H E Maria Robinson. I am still conducting these interviews remotely for this episode, [00:02:30] but it looks like I might be able to record an episode inside the school very soon. My first guest was Headmaster Stephen Lehec, who I get to chat with every episode and is always a delight. [00:02:44] Shannon: Hello, Steven. Stephen: Good morning, crikey. I guess no one knows it's morning. Hello. Good day. Good morning. Good evening and good night. And were you I'm very well. Thank you. Shannon: Thank you for sitting down and talking to me about the sixth form program at KGS. [00:03:00] Why do you think the sixth form at KGS is the whole package? [00:03:04] Stephen: Oh, gosh, that's a really big question, but it's a really good one because I guess you could ask any school leader, you know, does your sixth home offer everything that you think it should? And they'd say of course, because to some people, it just really needs to be around your A-Levels or preview or IB, the traditional competing factors A-Levels and IB. [00:03:23] And people would say. We've got what you're going to need in terms of the quality of teaching and the facilities and the [00:03:30] resources. They're going to get you to the next stage of your life. Be that a fantastic career or university. And we say, Yeah, KGS. That is really true, but that's one sixth or even one seventh potentially of what your Sixth Form experience will be. [00:03:45] So you've got the academic package, which is going to get you to your next stage. You've also got your extended learning, which is not only going to get you to university, but going to get you to the best university or course that you want to be prepared for. This could be Oxbridge. This could be studying [00:04:00] Ivy league in the United States. [00:04:01] This could be Canada. This could be your, this could be studying photography at Falmouth. It's the best photograpy course in the country. Right. But that's super curricular as we call them. Plus, you're going to have co-curricular so many, six forms don't have co-curricular don't have sports for students at that age. [00:04:14] They kind of very much rely on them doing it outside school or college. Right. We have all the careers and education advice because we have dedicated people to do that. We have all the outward bound and the trips. So that's Russia, that's Germany. That's France. That's South Africa. And on top of that, we teach people how to [00:04:30] cook a meal safely without giving themselves food poisoning… [00:04:32] …we talked to them about how to iron a shirt for your first interview. We have a lecture program that we're going to hear about. And we've got lots of bits of education, lots of soft skills preparation for life. And because you're in a school that is the type of school we are, you have a really kind of wraparound pastoral care system. [00:04:47] So. You have a teacher group that's 10, 12 people, or studying similar subjects to you with a tutor that knows their subjects, knows what your aspiration is that makes you welcome. Whether you're, someone's been in the school for the last three, four, five years, or you're [00:05:00] somebody who's brand new to the school, who's got a buddy and a mentor and a tutor and the prefects. [00:05:04] And so actually. We offer the levels and the advice and the guidance, but we offer so much more. I can't think of anything else we could put in that would make the Sixth Form experience, more happy, more fulfilling, more rewarding. And that's why, I guess we feel it's really just the whole package. Shannon: And those two important years from 16 to 18, there's quite a few choices out there for parents and students. [00:05:27] Aren't there. How do you invite people to see what [00:05:30] KGS is all about for those two years? Stephen: We have open events around June and that's in the summer of their year 10, all schools deliver fantastic service in their own, right. Everyone has their own individual way of approaching things, but obviously we get a few hundred students who every year look to us and say, if I'm going to change, if I'm looking at a potential change for six form, if I want something different, what does KGS offer? [00:05:52] And if they're looking at us, they're probably looking at two or three other schools and colleges as well. We're not gonna pretend to be a college. There's certain subjects we don't offer. We don't do [00:06:00] sociology. We don't do media studies. We don't do business studies, our profile in terms of our subjects. [00:06:03] We've got nearly 38 levels, but they're pretty facilitating academic subjects. It's sciences, humanities. Maths is very strong. We do economics rather than business studies. We do sports studies. A-level rather than BTech. We want students to go to Loughborough, to Birmingham, to Oxford, Cambridge, to Harvard, to Yale or to wherever, you know, I'm most conscious of making sure I get an American reference in when I'm speaking to you, Shannon. [00:06:27] Shannon: Syracuse University - you want to get them in there. [00:06:30] Stephen: Absolutely. I was just about some tip of my tongue, that number three on my list, looking around. And then I think people are surprised by the package by how much is on offer at KGS. When people are looking around on wondering and thinking, can I fit my choices in and where am I going to get the most support to get to the best university possible? [00:06:47] Then we're obviously an option for people and we get so many applicants that we want to cherry pick those people that we think are going to make the most of it, but also those people who really want to come because they want to come. Not because [00:07:00] their parents have said they should come. It's about getting from those couple of hundred applicants, the 20 to 30 who are really going to make the… [00:07:07] …absolute most of being here because it's going to fuel their desire, give them extra bits of potential to succeed and absolutely become a Kingstonian because people that come to us in the sixth form get embedded within the school. They're not visitors to the school. They're members of the school. Shannon: I just wanted to ask you, I know that you've got two daughters, is that right? [00:07:25] And so the older one has only just started university. Stephen: Yeah. I [00:07:30] started in KGS in 2014 and she was just about 20 year nine. So she came with that and she loved it, did so well with a GCSE. And then I tried to that classic thing as a parent saying, these are the levels you need to do. Because I have this vision of you going to Oxford and she was like, dad, you know what you say, to all the other people about being their choice, not the parents' choice. [00:07:53] She said that applies to me as well. Well, good for her. I was like, Oh wow. You know, we've got the grandparents involved. She [00:08:00] ended up doing biology, which was the subject. She dropped him. Sorry to say, but she did plastics. She did maths. She did drama, which was her favorite A-level. And that was the one I was like, Why are you doing drama and she said because I love it. [00:08:13] And I'm good at it. And actually the staff here are phenomenal, both the theory and the practice. So what a great choice for her that was. So she ended up kind of coming out with three stars, which was amazing and an EPQ and a love of netball and rowing and sports and community [00:08:30] service. And she was a prefect and I stayed out of all of that. [00:08:33] I was kind of like, I don't want to know. Because you made your choices. This is your bed.  You're going to lie in it. And so I said to her, right, but you're on for really good grades. So I want you to think about Oxford again. And he said, Dad, you're doing it again. You're interfering. I've spoken to Mr. Cooper, the academic deputy, I've spoken to Mr. [00:08:49] Fitzgerald. Who's director of careers and universities. I've spoken to my teachers. I'm going to go and study liberal arts and natural sciences at Birmingham. And I said why? And she said, [00:09:00] because I want to study liberal arts and natural sciences. She's majoring currently in economics, which she didn't study for at A-level. [00:09:06] And she said, and that is the best university for that course. So that's the course I want to do. That's the best university for it. That's where I'm going to get into. And you can keep your Oxbridge, isn't your thing. And I was thinking, Oh no, my stats, my Oxbridge stats. [00:09:23] But that's the thing. We have students who make very informed decisions and we have to remember the, whether it's our own children or other people's [00:09:30] children, it's their choice. It's their life. So Alice was for me a great success story here, she did well,  she did her own thing, really proud of what she's doing. [00:09:39] She's now on the verge of completing her first year at Birmingham. Shannon: Wow. I can tell how proud you are of them and not just because of the stats obviously, but because they are making their own decisions, which you as a father and a headmaster have encouraged. Absolutely. Thank you so much for speaking with me. [00:09:55] Stephen: Not at all, not at all. And I apologize for rambling on about lots of stuff that I'm very [00:10:00] excited about and, um, Really, really excited for what the next few years hold once we can start meeting people again in person IRL, as people say, starting to have real life meetings, Shannon: hashtag IRL. Absolutely. And it's been lovely chatting to you again. [00:10:14] Stephen: Thank you. [00:10:18] Student: I came to KGS in first year. So I was 11. So I've been here the whole way through. I preferred the idea of going to a smaller school.  Sport was really important to me; I play netball and hockey and KGS [00:10:30] offers that as well. I was also interested in other schools that had a combined cadet force, because that's a massive part of my life here at KGS. [00:10:37] And then also just the subjects I wanted to take. [00:10:43] Narration: next. I was joined by Anna Edwards, who is head of the sixth form lecture program, and also head of the psychology department at KGS and his enthusiasm for the program was so tangible that made me want to attend myself. Anna: The sixth form lecture program is fantastic. [00:11:00] I absolutely love running it partly because I get to then listen to some of these fantastic lectures myself, which is a real bonus. [00:11:07] Each year, we have a broad range of speakers, so they can be politicians, novelists, academics, those just sharing remarkable life stories. They come and speak to our six form alongside more six form specific lectures. And the purpose of the program is to give our students a greater academic diversity and enhance the curriculum that they do. [00:11:29] And it [00:11:30] gives them access to speakers that they may not come into contact with. Usually. It's really important that they develop alternative perspective to some of the views that they've been exposed to. And this in turn helps develop their cultural capital. I'd like to think that all the students will have a lecturer too, that will stick with them and will be really memorable. [00:11:51] Shannon: What do you think it is about young people at this age in particular that is interesting to you and why are you passionate about supporting young people at this [00:12:00] age in their lives? Anna: Sixth Form is such a key two years. We often talk about the transition between primary school to secondary school, but this transition between six form and leaving home, it's monumental, it's huge. [00:12:13] They will have to develop a huge amount of responsibility over their own health, finances, wellbeing, and there's so many things to consider that we, as a school, have a responsibility to prepare our students on how to manage this. [00:12:30] And how to manage these changes alongside PSHE. We take them through a lot of these changes, these processes, how to apply for their UCAS, how to apply for student finance, how they'd go about applying for a universities, abroad, how to… [00:12:46] …keep themselves safe at university while on nights out when traveling festivals and also how to safeguard their own mental health. When they're at university, university is marketed as a really [00:13:00] exciting time for them, but actually it can be quite difficult. So if they know, and if we show them where there are student services, if they find themselves in a difficult position, we know that we are sending our students off with the best opportunity to enjoy their time at university or work. [00:13:16] Shannon:Right. You don't get training for other phases in life so much, do you? know, still, unfortunately, fortunately, sometimes Anna: there are stages in life where actually it would have been nice to when having children be handed an instruction manual, but we try [00:13:30] and do that for them as much as possible. Shannon: Why do you think it's so important for a student to present themselves as well-rounded, while they're leaving KGS or while they're leaving academia or moving into another phase? [00:13:41] What is the benefit of a well-rounded individual in your opinion? Anna: You've only got to think that the ever-changing job market means that you probably won't be in a job for life and your future jobs may involve a completely different set of skills. So to succeed in the future in potentially a fast [00:14:00] changing labor market, you need to be a lifelong learner. [00:14:03] You need to be comfortable with continuous adaptation and willing to move professions or even industries if your profession becomes obsolete. So. Right from the get go. Students need to be seeking opportunities to keep the interests and abilities, broad and honing all their skills included their soft skills. Shannon: I guess, historically, the options for work were a lot more finite, the train for [00:14:30] a profession. [00:14:30] You did it for life. Didn't you? So. The importance of being well-rounded has evolved, would you say, over time? Anna: Yeah. Yes, definitely. I mean, I'm here recording a podcast as a teacher. This was definitely not my intention, but jobs evolve. A lot of our students will be doing jobs that don't exist yet. So we need to prepare them with skills that they can transfer between professions and industries. [00:14:52] Shannon: It's really interesting. I have a, one-year-old you say you're far off thinking about these things, but as soon as you start hearing about this stuff, you just start going. [00:15:00] Yeah. I already want him to be listening to music and taking swimming lessons, and I know it's quite far off, but are these things that you start to think about even from a young age? [00:15:09] Anna:  It's so important that you have interests for life, that you may have an interest in sport. You may have an interest in theater. You might have an interest in music. And actually these are things that you take with you and are important in later life. Even if it's just socially. Even if you then later on when you're working, you find a recreational football team and you can make [00:15:30] friends and have a way of exercising. [00:15:32] It doesn't have to be a competitive thing. It can be more to help your wellbeing. Shannon: And it's just life experience, isn't it at any age. And I think as children get older, students get older. I can only imagine it gets harder to persuade them or suggest that they keep their options open. But this sounds like a great way to give them lots of experience. [00:15:52] Anna:  Yeah. I would echo that and I think as they start becoming teenagers and the social aspect does become important, it is important to keep [00:16:00] all those things that they. Enjoy, and that gives them lots of different outlets. Shannon: Okay. Well, thank you so much, Anna. I know you've got a lot to get back to and, um, I really appreciate your time. [00:16:11] Anna:  Thank you very much. Okay. Take care. Thank you. Bye-bye. [00:16:17] Student:  We've been doing some interview style stuff to prepare us for applying for jobs. And then also interesting lessons as much more of a lecture, kind of feel to them compared to GCSE is where you'll have to take notes and you can decide [00:16:30] how much extra work you would like to do. And you've got all this independence and you know that however much work you're going to put in, [00:16:36] You're hoping to get those results out. Narration:  My next guest was head of upper sixth, Chris Wenham. Chris is also a chemistry teacher at KGS and is so passionate about guiding students through this monumental phase in their life. Shannon:  Hello, Chris, how are you? Chris:  I'm very well. How are you?  Shannon:  doing good. Thank you. I wanted to just kick things off by speaking to [00:17:00] you a bit about your responsibilities as the head of upper six and what your role is there at KGS. [00:17:06] Chris:  My job is anything related to the upper six. So whether that's on the academic side, in terms of helping students making good progress, whether that's pastorally and various other bits in between at the moment with the upper sixth, a lot of planning going into the end of year events and making sure that, you know, after this disrupted season of COVID, we give them the sendoff that they deserve. [00:17:27] You know, that's a little bit of fun for me at the end of the year, kind of putting [00:17:30] together leavers’ clothing, hoodies, putting together the yearbook, organizing their prom. That's a nice way to ground off that time. So yeah, the whole spectrum of different things. Shannon:  And how would you say the sixth form program at KGS differs from other schools in your experience or knowledge of other schools? [00:17:45] Chris:  So I think at KGS, what we really try to do is to provide a personally tailored education. We're not a one size fits all. So you have to fit in this box. Actually, you can pursue your passions wherever they take you. So if you are [00:18:00] a high flying academic, then we want to push you. We want to make sure that your curriculum is as challenging and stimulating as possible. [00:18:06] We want to encourage you to have the highest aspirations, but if you want more vocation in your plans, then actually our careers department is very set up for that. And our careers advisor is not kind of fixated on this one track. You have to do. There is something for everyone, whether you are a sportsman or woman, whether you are interested in the spheres of drama and music, actually, there are plenty of ways where we [00:18:30] just encourage our students to thrive and excel. [00:18:32] So the thing I love about KGS, we're not an academic hot house. We get excellent results and I'm very proud of what our students achieve, but actually that is in a whole range of disciplines and fields. It is not simply about grades at the end of two years. Shannon:   Right. And why are you so passionate about supporting young people at this particular phase in their lives? [00:18:51] Chris:   I think the sixth form is so important. It is the culmination of everything that has gone before years. One to five are very important in shaping boys and girls [00:19:00] into who they are going to be. But actually sixth form is the time where all of that groundwork comes to fruition in terms of them making their own decisions for what they want to do with their lives. [00:19:10] Beyond that, I've always found it incredibly rewarding, working with sixth formers. They are a fun, creative, exciting, engaged bunch of individuals and actually helping them make the decisions that will impact the rest of their lives is just a massive privilege. And no one day is the same and I absolutely love it. [00:19:28] Shannon:  It's such an interesting [00:19:30] age, isn't it? Chris:  Absolutely. There are so many options and things to discuss and things to work through. It's just lovely. When you see young people find their passions and actually want to pursue it. And it's like, yes, our job is done. You're ready to kind of spread your wings and fly. [00:19:44] Shannon:  Right. Wow. That's great. And do you have any advice to students approaching sixth form or to parents of children approaching six form in terms of A-level choices and so forth? Chris:  In terms of your A-level choices, obviously you can't try all the levels, you are narrowing down, but when reflecting on [00:20:00] the subjects that you want to do at a level, what is it that you enjoy most at GCSE that is going to be the thing that you're going to enjoy spending the vast majority of your school career doing. [00:20:09] So again, don't choose something which you think, or that'll look good on a CV, or that will help me get into that university. It's like, well, do you want to do that? That is the key.  Shannon:   A bit harder to swallow for parents, do you think?  Chris:   It can sometimes be hard can’t it, particularly if there are things that have influenced you as a parent. [00:20:27] But I think on the whole, all parents want [00:20:30] their children to be happy, doing something that they enjoy and actually sixth form and school is a time where you can make mistakes as well, but it's a safe place to make mistakes. And if you end up doing the wrong thing, well, actually it's correctable and we can give them the support to move in the direction that they want to. [00:20:45] Shannon:  Is there any advice you have, particularly for parents as they're deciding where to send their children? Are there any words of wisdom? Chris:  That's a good one. I think we want to showcase ourselves and all schools want to showcase themselves as actually, you know, [00:21:00] being caring for the individual and looking after the best interest of your son and daughter, talking to staff, you know, I love this school. [00:21:07] I've been here for. 11 years now. And it's just been an awful lot of fun. So, you know, those interactions with staff and actually seeing what do they enjoy? What is the character, what is the ethos of KGS? That's really important as we'll be the ones who kind of have the day-to-day responsibility for looking after your sons and daughters. [00:21:23] Shannon:  But it's such an important phase of their lives. It's important that they do have the support that they need or that they can benefit from it. [00:21:30] It sounds like you give a lot of that out. Chris:  Totally crucial. It is just such a joy and privilege being in the position that we are as teachers actually, you know, this is the end, this is the culmination they're ready to fly and they're prepared for this and they're ready to go onto the next thing. [00:21:41] So, yeah, it's a great place to be. Shannon:  And this must be of unique ending of a term for you as you near the end with this group of students, you've all gone through quite a year, two years in there. Chris:  Yeah. And I think it's been hard for them, particularly this cohort. They haven't had the normal sixth form experience and the [00:22:00] normal rites of passage that you might hope for sixth formers. [00:22:02] But actually I think, again, it's the testament to the wonderful resilience of teenagers. They have rolled with the punches. They have taken onboard ever changing government advice and just got on with the job in hand. And just like, so we don't like it, but we've got to crack on and we've got to do our best. [00:22:16] And that's what I've loved this year. I found it hard watching sometimes in terms of, as they struggle with the uncertainty, but they have done so well. And with the right kind of guidance and support, what an amazing life experience to have in terms of building resilience [00:22:30] and flexibility, for sure. Yes. [00:22:31] Shannon:  They are going to be well prepared for anything that life throws at them after this. I'm sure. That's right. Well, thank you so much, Chris. And, um, I really appreciate your time today. No, it's been a pleasure speaking to you. Chris:  Thank you so much, Shannon. Narration:  Finally, I spoke with a psychology teacher, Maria Robinson, who is also head of P S H E - a remarkable and comprehensive program that really prepares students for life beyond KGS. [00:22:57] Maria:  PSHE is those I'm sure plenty people know what [00:23:00] it stands for, but it's personal social health and economic education. So it covers a very, very broad range of topics. My interest is primarily in mental health as a psychology teacher. That's where my interest as lane for many years. And that feeds into the PSHE program that I run here. [00:23:16] It's not just us talking about mental health. It's basically trying to equip our students for life in and out of KGS as well. So we look at skills like building resilience, in them. What we do is we try and give them situations that might arise so they can have [00:23:30] ideas about what they would do, what warning signs to look out for. [00:23:33] We can't stop trials and tribulations that are going to happen. We can't stop bad things happening, but what we can do is make sure they're equipped so that when things do happen, they've got some idea about how to cope with those situations. Shannon:  And what's an example of a situation you might be helping prepare students for. [00:23:49] Maria:   It could be something that they all go through, so it could be exam stress. So what we try and do is give them skills from very early on. So in the first year we have a be happy program, which teachers love going over [00:24:00] with them. So. We talked to them about keeping safe and keeping healthy, but we also say, what do you do in your downtime? [00:24:05] What could you do to make yourself happy? So we look at things like Lego. We look at gardening, mindfulness cooking as well. So lots of different things that they can try if they're feeling stressed. So in that situation, when stress does happen, we can't stop that. How are they going to cope in that situation, but also having outlets for it. [00:24:24] People that can talk to those people they can talk to in school. We obviously put them to outside agencies as well, if they [00:24:30] want to talk to them, Childline things like that as well. So it's just giving them options happen. Invaluable. When they leave us at the end of the sixth form, then they're gonna find it more difficult to access the sort of support they get at school. [00:24:41] I know that universities do strive to put support packages in place for them, but. Students are then expected to show a lot more independence and they may struggle when they're in an unfamiliar situation to ask for the kind of help they need. So what we want to do is prepare them beforehand, tell them how they can access support with us, and then when they leave us as well, and also to remind them [00:25:00] that when they leave, they can still come back to us. [00:25:02] They can still turn to us for support. What I do is I email them all in their first term, after they've left us. And I do that around about world mental health day. And just say, we're still here for you. If you need us, you know, look after yourself, look after your mental health. And we also point them to external agencies at university that they can get help with their, if they need us, that kind of support whatsoever left us. [00:25:22] Shannon: So actually the sixth form program at KGS extends past when they leave you. Maria:   Yes, that's it. They may physically [00:25:30] leave us, but they're with us. Shannon: That's wonderful. Why are you passionate about supporting young people at this particular phase in their lives? What is this phase that has caught your attention and your passion? [00:25:41] Maria:   I think as a predominantly a level teacher, this is the age group that I've been working with and I've had two children go through this stage as well. They're at university and beyond now, but that moved from being reliant on your family on school and to certainly send home friends. To then becoming more independent. [00:25:58] It's really exciting, but it's very [00:26:00] scary for them as well. They're expected to act like adults in some situations and in other situations they're being treated like children. So it's really important that they get good advice and support to help them with this transition. Shannon: Do you have any anecdotes or memories of when your own children were going through this phase that informs the way that you support or guide the students now? [00:26:21] Maria:   Well, I was developing the program when they were both in the sixth form, so it was very useful. I would talk to them about the lessons I was doing. They also [00:26:30] made me jump in there because we also do a sort of more fun side for the episode. Next we give, we talk to them about skills like washing, cooking, cleaning. [00:26:37] Yeah. Ironing. And I realized I hadn't taught my son to iron a shirt. So we very quickly had a lesson on that. It was about the support afterwards as well. When my son went off to university, he found his second year quite difficult emotionally, and he needed a support from us. So it was. Making sure that I knew where to find that support for him, explain to the students before they leave us that they may need the support. [00:26:59] So [00:27:00] we look at mental health in the sixth form of how to get help when you're with us and how to get help beyond when you were at university. So they know that there are people out there who are waiting to hear from them. If they need to help inform the program for me. And it made me realize that parents need PSHE lessons as well. [00:27:15] Shannon: I know you've got kind of a timeline of the program that changes when a student enters lower six than when they leave upper sixth. Can you run us through that timeline and how your support and the program evolves and changes with this? Maria:   Yes. So the government [00:27:30] starch tree program. Is only four years, one to five. [00:27:32] So when they go into the sixth form, we have a lot more flexibility. We are required to put on a program for them, but there's much more flexibility in what we actually deliver to them. So what we do is we have sort of three themes that run through each term with both the lower and upper sixth. And we're looking at being an independent and respectful citizen. [00:27:48] We look at preparing for life after school, and then we look at keeping socially and academically healthy. So the lower sixth, we look at simple things like how to make Cornell notes. Obviously they've learned how to make notes [00:28:00] lower down in the school. But as a meeting into more challenging lessons is how to keep them precise and how to keep them useful. [00:28:07] So just very simple skills like that. We also look at the start of applying to university. What sort of things do they want to consider? What courses, where they look at? What about the geographical location? You know, do you want to stay close to home or do you actually, is this your chance to break out and be more independent and go to a bit further away from home? [00:28:24] Volunteering and the role that we as a school play in our local community, we also [00:28:30] consider wider topics such as LGBTQ issues in society. And also we look at political influences, which is preparing them for when they go into upper sixth and they're going to be voting. Right. We then in the spring term, that's just one term in the spring term, we focus on safety for them. [00:28:45] So we look at personal safety and obviously as they're getting older, they're more likely to be out at night. So we look at safety around, um, being out of the house. Safety around drugs and alcohol, because that whole scene is going to change for them. When they leave home, we look at driving [00:29:00] because we're going to start seeing them taking driving lessons and driving tests. [00:29:03] And this year we looked at issues around masculinity, the concept of toxic masculinity, because we want to raise awareness with our students of what is happening currently and what may happen when they leave us as well. In the summer, we sort of continue a bit on that topic. We talk more about consent. [00:29:18] We talk about gender equality and we're taking part in the HeForShe campaign, which looks at building gender IQ and that's part of the UN movement for gender equality. So we're sort of getting involved in bigger campaigns. We fine tune their [00:29:30] personal statements. We look at interview skills, so some universities will still do into your practice, but others don't, but every student will at some time have an interview in their life. [00:29:38] So we practice some of those questions. We look at networking and personal branding. We want them to consider their online presence from a professional perspective, not just from a perspective of what their friends can see. We look at voting they're about to turn 18 or they may have turned 18. So we look at what happens, what a voting booth looks like, what would be expected of them, how [00:30:00] to search for details of their local MP and who they might want to pick for. [00:30:04] And then we also talk about trip planning, which is a nice way. We sort of spend Christmas looking at things that might go wrong. If you plan a trip abroad, you might go into ready with your friends, look at all these scenarios. What could you do in those scenarios? And then we spent the final term really preparing them for leaving us. [00:30:18] So that's what I was saying earlier. We talk about, you know, washing ironing, cooking, shopping, cleaning. We also look at their mental and sexual health and where they can get support for that when they leave us. Yeah. [00:30:30] University accommodation, student finance. We want them to be able to make choices with up-to-date information to hand. [00:30:36] Yeah. I think it's a reasonably comprehensive program, but there's always more that we can add. Shannon:   It's very comprehensive. Definitely teaching children to become functioning adults, which, being in the workforce and just being out in the world, you realize how few people have those life skills! Yeah. Great. [00:30:52] Okay. Well, thank you so much, Maria is really nice chatting with you. Maria:   Thank you, Shannon. Yeah. Narration:   Thank you for listening to this episode. [00:31:00] of the Kingston Grammar School podcast. If you are interested in learning more about the upcoming KGS sixth form live event, please check out the Kingston Grammar School website at www.KGS.org.uk. [00:31:14] Or follow KGS on Twitter @KGS1561 on Facebook @KingstonGrammar. Or on Instagram, KGS1561. If you haven't listened to our previous episodes, do check them out. [00:31:30] In the first episode, we spoke to various students and faculty about the school's pivot into online learning during lockdown and how the KGS community was looked after and continues to be looked after in these uncertain times. [00:31:43] In the second episode, we covered the hot topic of personal devices, such as laptops, tablets, and mobile phones in the classrooms and why KGS sees these one-on-one devices as tools, not toys.  Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts [00:32:00] so that you don't miss an episode and take a moment to rate and review the podcast as it helps listeners to find us more easily. [00:32:07] Join us next time when we speak to some luminous KGS alumni.  Special thanks to our guests this episode, Steven Lehec, Anna Edwards, Chris Wenham and Maria Robinson. Thank you also to Alison Williams, Director of Marketing and Admissions at Kingston Grammar School. This has been an Applied Reality Production, Executive [00:32:30] Produced by Shannon Vandermark, Sound Design by Alex Marcou.