6th Form Newsletter - 29 Sept 2017

Dear Parents and Carers

It has been my very great pleasure to welcome the new Lower 6th students to the College and to welcome back the Upper 6th after a well deserved summer break.

The year got off to a flying start with the ‘Induction Dinner’ at St. John’s College where the new students had the opportunity to get to know each other better and to meet some of our existing students in a more social setting. Our student Presidents, Aidan Grenville and Max Watkins gave two excellent speeches that included reference to making the most of all opportunities on offer at the College and not worrying about making decisions about your future just yet, just enjoying the journey and letting things evolve. Very sound advice indeed at this early stage in the year! The general consensus was that the dessert was an improvement on last year’s ‘Water Pudding’ that really divided opinion. We would like to extend our thanks to the staff and Fellows of the college, who made it possible for us to use their fine venue for the evening.

Those students in the Upper 6th applying for university through the UCAS system are very much on task in terms of making their final choices of university and course and completing their personal statements. This is a stressful time for many of the students and emotions are running high, however it is a necessary hurdle to overcome and will open up the door to a new and exciting future.

The enrichment programme is up and running with students participating in a variety of activities. The Model United Nations (MUN) secretariat are busy planning the conference to be hosted at the Stephen Perse Foundation in 2018. We have a new dressmaking activity which is making the costumes for the play, ‘Six Dead Queens’. The play focuses on the six wives of Henry III and it features live music. It will be performed on Friday 2 February 2018 as a double bill with Jeeves and Wooster in ‘Perfect Nonsense’.  The popular beginner's Mandarin Chinese group is underway, ‘Ni Hao Ma?’ and the Film Club is currently watching silent films. They have watched Charlie Chaplin's ‘The Kid’ and are now watching Buster Keaton's 'The General’. Orson Welles believed that this was the greatest film of all time!

It was my great pleasure to see so many of you at the Upper 6th Introduction to the Year Event this week and I am looking forward to meeting the parents of the Lower 6th on Thursday October 12 2017 when you will have the opportunity to meet your son’s or daughter’s tutor and discuss how they have settled in. Mrs Paris (Head of IB), Dr Shahzad Rahman (Head of A Level ) and Dr Mark Woodward (Head of Guidance) will also be on hand to answer any questions that you might have.

Warm wishes,

Naomi Atkins

Head of 6th Form