Tag Archives: NewVIc

Young people and the election

Are young people turned off politics? Will they vote? Do they care who wins the election? Are all parties the same? Are the candidates just hacks mindlessly parroting their parties’ approved slogans? This week’s general election hustings at Newham sixth … Continue reading

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Is social mobility enough?

Analysing the data in the recently published Sutton Trust Social Mobility Index* has made me reflect a bit on ‘social mobility’ as a goal of public policy. My conclusion: it’s a worthy but inadequate response to the many injustices and … Continue reading

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From free school meals to university

The proportion of key stage 5 (KS5) advanced students eligible for free school meals (FSM) progressing to university is seen as a measure of social mobility. It’s clearly a statistic of interest, even if the data raise more questions than … Continue reading

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Social Mobility measure ignores 62% of students

There seems to be a major flaw in the Sutton Trust Social Mobility measure which means that the university progression of 62% of disadvantaged advanced sixth formers studying in colleges has been excluded. The data is therefore only based on … Continue reading

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Many colleges in one

A science college, an engineering technical college, a media technical college, a music industry college and several super-selective A-level providers offering a narrow range of subjects to high-achieving students. These are just some of the new sixth forms which have … Continue reading

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Laïcité, égalité, diversité

Mon article du 15 Mars 2015 pour le site Globaliz Now Le principe de laïcité doit permettre de faire disparaitre le risque extrémiste et permettre le « vivre-ensemble » en France. L’éducation en Angleterre ne partage pas la tradition laïque et républicaine … Continue reading

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Valuing student research

The continuing growth of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in England’s sixth forms is a sign that students, teachers, universities and employers value what it offers. However, less than 10% of advanced level sixth formers have the opportunity to achieve … Continue reading

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Your college interview

How should you approach your sixth form college interview and get the most from the experience? Following my previous posts How to choose a sixth form and How to make a strong college application, here is some advice about getting … Continue reading

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Re-imagining the university

A celebration of Birkbeck’s latest innovation in higher education in London. Anish Kapoor’s amazing Orbit here in East London’s Olympic quarter calls to mind previous sculptural structures built on a monumental scale. Together with Gustave Eiffel’s tower in Paris and … Continue reading

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Russell Group university progression: dispelling the myths

Since the Russell group of universities started publishing their ‘Informed Choices’ guide and launched the concept of facilitating A-level subjects, their advice has often been misrepresented or misunderstood. ‘Informed choices’ is a helpful contribution to advising and guiding students about sensible subject choices … Continue reading

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Demonstrating high achievement in comprehensive settings

Comprehensive schools and colleges can face a challenge when trying to show how well their highest achieving students do and how many of them there are. They can suffer from ‘bog standard’ syndrome and the assumption that all their students … Continue reading

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My NewVIc Story: Supreet Kaur

I am currently the Lead Academic Mentor at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) where I am responsible for mentoring students from art, media and IT courses, helping them develop independent learning skills. I work with a fantastic team of 6 … Continue reading

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Post-16 performance tables: taking the long view

The recently published 2014 post-16 performance tables show that A-level students at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) improved their performance faster than the national average for the second year running. They also show that our advanced vocational students performed better … Continue reading

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Colleges and violent extremism

I work in a large inner city sixth form college with 2,600 students in London’s 3rd most socio-economically deprived borough where unemployment, poverty and homelessness are more common than average. Another way of describing the college is that it is also … Continue reading

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Where do all our A level students go?

NewVIc’s A-level university progression suggests that sixth forms which set excessively high A-level entry requirements are missing out on many students who could progress to higher education, including to the most selective universities. I have already posted here about the university destinations of the … Continue reading

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