‘Time waits for no-one!’ 

At a recent Sixth Form briefing, we began to discuss the prospect of the AS / A2 exams in May and June - starting by reflecting on the January exams that have only just finished, and was moved to say to our Lower Sixth students how much sympathy I have for them knowing that they are faced with exams almost as soon as they arrive in the Sixth Form. This was intended to lead us in to thinking about the exams to come at the end of the academic year.  However, as these thoughts occurred I suddenly realised just how little time there is between the mid-year exams and the ‘finals’ in the summer - only three and a half months to go!!! 

The point is that these days there is no let up in the pressure - one set of demands hurries on from the previous and our students hardly have time to draw breath!  The January exam results will be published on 13 March 2008 by which time, of course, there will only be just over two months until the next round. 

I am sure parents will want to support students in making their preparations for these exams - most of us benefit from a few reminders and a lot of encouragement about the need to organise and practice revision strategies. 

Amongst the academic demands we must also face the challenges of planning for the future.  Employment and University applications are gaining responses for the Upper Sixth students and many are in the midst of interviews and open days.  Past experience confirms just how important it is for students to have clear plans in place (preferably with grade demand offers) before the ‘A’ Level exams are upon us - knowing what you have to do to achieve your ambitions is the motivator of all. 

To this end, we have already begun the future planning process with the Lower Sixth students and we shall be taking the year group to the Admissions Convention at Bath University.  This will be a chance to meet representatives from a great many Universities from across the country.  There will be seminars on the application process, student life and managing finances.  Meanwhile, back here in the Sixth Form Centre, our Living Life Programme will provide  on-going, one-to-one guidance on all of these matters, ensuring that all of our students have clear knowledge of the vast range of options open to them. 

All of this does conjure up the final reflection that, though the pressures are intense, the rewards in terms of exciting and fulfilling futures are well worth the effort!

  Mr M Ward

GENERAL STUDIES ADVICE

Advice for students - read a serious newspaper!  You can find a number of them bookmarked in Favourites in Internet Explorer; try using the Archive Search facility in the Guardian newspaper to get familiar with various social issues.  The Special Report section (look for the drop-down menu on the right-hand side of the Guardian home page) is also very useful for a range of topics.  There are also some files in the Intranet in the General Studies folder.