Enrichment

In addition to A levels, Year 12 students choose two options from the Enrichment 6 menu which they follow for an hour a week. In the Summer Term, students will be encouraged to use their Wednesday Enrichment to volunteer, take part in the school show or design their own sporting activities. Options currently running for Year 12 for Term 1 and Term 2 include:

  • Oracy Qualification (UCAS points)

  • Extended Project Qualification (UCAS points)

  • Digital Music Production (UCAS points) 

  • Creative Digital Media (including podcasting).

  • Debates in STEM

  • Multi-sports (separate girls' and boys' options)

  • Criminology (including trips to the Crown and Magistrate courts and Maidstone prison). 

  • MOOCS (online courses from some of our top universities)

  • Peer Mentoring (at St Augustine's Academy) 

  • Model United Nations (students prepare for the Model UN conference) 

Central to our philosophy of learning is the notion that a student cannot truly appreciate the complexity of their chosen subjects by confining their experience to the classroom. Ms Hern, working with subject staff, provides opportunities for students to take part in subject specific visits and workshops with leading universities which allow students to experience and engage with undergraduate level material. In addition to working with universities, the school also creates opportunities for students to attend presentations or become involved with competitions run by major national and multinational companies and organisations.

Universities place great value on students who can work independently and show an engagement with their subject beyond the confines of exam board specifications, and to this end our expectation is that staff and students explore and share other sources of knowledge which link to their course; these can range from the more traditional approach centred on wider reading to making podcasts and visiting exhibitions.

Students can demonstrate their expertise beyond the confines of a course by taking an Extended Project Qualification, which allows them to research and present a paper or create an artefact of their choice. The school encourages students to boost their chance of gaining a place at a competitive university or standing out in an apprenticeship interview by highlighting their commitment and grasp of their chosen subject through an EPQ.

Sixth Formers run clubs such as Medics Club, Politics Club, Japanese Club, History Society and Law Society. Trips and guest speakers form a regular part of these clubs and societies.

There are also discreet Enrichment Days which are vehicles for courses run by experts such as on safe driving, crime and fraud prevention, employment rights, living independently and issues of sexual consent.

Our participation in the Model United Nations conference has garnered our students with awards.

The Sixth Form Team seek to empower students to take ownership of their needs and request sessions that they think the cohort needs, beyond the statutory regime. We have a team of PSHE prefects who work with us on this.