How can parents best support and guide their children when it comes to post-16 education? Charlotte Phillips gathers advice from Cambridge school leaders
It’s that time of year again. Sixth form providers are hosting open days for 15- and 16-year-olds and their families who are keen to learn more about how life after GCSEs will look. There’s no question that they’re likely to be blown away by what’s on offer in our area.
In addition to the sheer number of subjects they can take (over 20 A-levels in many cases) are well-crafted academic enrichment and co-curricular programmes.
At Framlingham College, there’s the opportunity to practise first aid with the Medsoc club, debate global issues with MUN (Model United Nations) club and learn to reattach buttons to a blazer with the sewing club (an essential life skillfor university and beyond). For pupils at Abbey College Cambridge, the line-up includes an Elite University Preparation Programme, which features a collaborative research project, evening lectures and student-led conferences.
Potential students are spoilt for choice with the qualifications, leadership, service, work experience and personal development woven into our schools’ offerings. There’s all this and more with Bishop’s Stortford College’s Stortfordian Diploma; a coaching programme at Kimbolton School that equips sixth formers with skills like active listening and constructive feedback; and, at Stephen Perse Cambridge, a similarly broad programme takes academic learning beyond lessons to encompass extensive enrichment and co-curricular activities too.
All change!
For parents helping to guide their children to the right post-16 courses, there’s a delicate balance to be struck. Up until this age, parents tend to play a major part in the decision-making process about schools and courses. But with the completion of GCSEs, their offspring – for the first time – are in the driving seat when it comes to making those vital choices about what, where and how they study for their sixth form years.
Schools in our area understand how challenging that decision-making process can be. They’ll have heard every question families might throw at them. Do you let your heart or head determine subject choices – is it better for your child to follow their passions or employment prospects? How will your offspring manage workload while making the most of the rich co-curricular (and university application-enhancing) programmes offered by our schools and colleges? And if young people are struggling, academically or emotionally, how will their challenges be identified and what support can they expect?
A crucial part of the process is ensuring that the relationship with the school is strong and supportive, says Alice O’Donnell, director of sixth form at Kimbolton School. “You’ve got this parent, child and school triangle, which is really important when the children are younger… but it’s got to stay that strong even when they are increasingly independent.” Sixth form pupils may be old enough to drive a car, but, as she recognises, “that doesn’t mean that the relationship between school, their parents and themselves becomes any less important.”
Path finding
While sixth form offerings in our area are notable for their high quality, they aren’t identical, so educators urge getting to know schools and colleges in depth and allowing enough time to make an informed decision. Bishop’s Stortford College, like others, reports a steady flow of families visiting up to two years in advance – when children are at the start of their GCSEs in year 10, a sensible decision whether a young person is planning to move somewhere new for sixth form or stay on after GCSEs.
Getting the right subject combination is the starting point, say schools, and this is where parents can have a crucial role. “One of the biggest things you can do as a parent is to help your child find out what they want to do and have conversations where you don’t lead them, but you’re asking questions,” says Alex Swart-Wilson, deputy head at Bishop’s Stortford College and head of Sixth Form. Putting the child at the centre of the decision-making process can have a tangible effect on how well they do, he adds. “The most successful outcomes are where the student is driving where they want to go and what they want to do, and they are facilitated and enabled by the parent.”
It’s an essential discussion to have because, while the subject choices can be tantalisingly broad, with A-levels remaining the norm (though other qualifications, such as the recently introduced T-levels as well as BTECs and the IB diploma are also available in our area), young people normally have to whittle their choices down to three or four subjects.
Students who are, say, set on studying medicine, can find that the strict focus on the subjects that give them the best chance of getting there comes as a huge relief. Not everyone, however, has that level of certainty. Fortunately, starting over can be an option. Abbey College Cambridge, for example, offers considerable flexibility, with options including an 18-month A-level course (overseas students can take a single year of A-level study in year 12 followed by an international foundation programme in year 13). “If students find out that they are struggling with subject choices or want to start a totally new subject, they can restart from January without being a term behind,” says principal Dr Ellen Hesse.
Support to succeed
Subject choices, however, are just one dimension of our schools’ rich sixth form offerings, points out Jacq Paris, head of sixth form at Stephen Perse Cambridge. “It’s very easy to only think about the subjects, but it’s important for parents to consider wider student needs in terms of making sure they’re looked after.”
Her advice to parents researching sixth form provision is to check that schools’ priorities align with their own. “Are they just talking about grades, or about wider student welfare?” she asks.
Every sixth former should have a go-to pastoral person who has an overview of everything they are doing, embracing not just their academic performance but also what’s happening outside the classroom. Some students may be taking on too much and struggling to manage, so may need help, Jacq says. That go-to person could also be involved in university admissions, talking to students about what they want to do next and guiding them to make decisions about the next stage. “Look at what the pastoral system is,” she says. “Who will look after them, how often will that person meet them, how well will they get to know them?”
The goal is for there to be a future in which the child will thrive, says Alice O’Donnell at Kimbolton School. “It comes back to that parent, child and school triangle, and it’s ultimately led by what’s going to be best for the child.” Schools should use their in-depth knowledge of each child to help steer them on a path that’s going to make them happy.
“It’s about understanding that one career path is not better than another and that success can take many different forms,” she says.
