St Dominic’s School Key Stage 5 Prospectus 2018/2019 CONTENTS WELCOME TO THE SIXTH FORM Pg 3 THE KEY STAGE 5 CURRICULUM QUALIFICATIONS Pg 4 THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM Pg 5 USING THE SKILLS WHEEL Pg 5 CURRICULUM PATHWAYS Pg 6 GENERAL ADVICE Pg 7 CORE SUBJECTS GCSE RESIT AND FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH Pg 9 GCSE RESIT AND FUNCTIONAL MATHS Pg 11 CERTIFICATE OF PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS L2 Pg 13 PHYSICAL EDUCATION Pg 14 COMMUNICATION Pg 15 TRANSITION Pg 16 OPTION SUBJECTS 2018 ART & DESIGN INC PHOTOGRAPHY AS AS/A LEVEL Pg 18 VCERT FOOD & COOKING LEVEL 1/2 Pg 19 VCERT HEALTH AND FITNESS LEVEl 1/2 Pg 20 VCERT PERFORMANCE ARTS LEVEL 1/2 Pg 21 LEVEL 2 & 3 CREATIVE iMEDIA Pg 22 SMALL ANIMAL CARE LEVEL 1 Pg 23 NEEDS LED CURRICULUM (INDEPENDENT LIVING SKILLS) Pg 24 WORK EXPERIENCE Pg 25 COLLEGE Pg 26 EXTRA-CURRICULAR STUDY/ACTIVITIES Pg 27 MUSIC LUNCH-TIMES: FOOD & ACTIVITIES RESIDENTIAL INCLUDING EXTENDED DAY Pg 28 THERAPY PROVISION AT KEY STAGE 5 Pg 29 SIXTH FORM ADMISSION CRITERIA Pg 30 NOTES PAGE Pg 31 Welcome to the Sixth Form In the Sixth Form, and maybe before, students start to consider issues such as life after school. It is our role to support you with your learning and living skills so you are ready for the next step, which might be further education, work or independent / supported living. Pastoral care in the Sixth Form is vital; students generally settle well in to the new environment and enjoy having a separate area that feels more mature and relaxed than in previous key stages. Students wear their own clothes and we use first names for students and teachers. We still adhere to school rules for example about language and behaviour but we also appreciate that our students are approaching adulthood, or become adults in Years 13 or 14. Tutors, teachers and all staff work hard to develop rapport with the students and their families. We understand that thoughts about the future, whatever that might hold, come hand in hand with anxieties. Our curriculum offer has been established with that in mind and over one, two or three years in the Sixth Form our aim is to support the students to become well-rounded individuals whom are ready for life beyond St Dominic’s. The Sixth Form team and staff across the wider school work closely to coordinate the waking day curriculum for the students including the residential team, the Careers Guidance Practitioner and therapists. 3 | P a g e THE KEY STAGE 5 CURRICULUM QUALIFICATIONS At Key Stage 5, we offer different types of accredited courses: GCSE, ASDAN, LASER Learning Awards and V Certs. GCSE Resits If students studied Maths and English GCSEs in Key Stage 4, but did not quite manage to achieve a grade 4, they will continue to study these subjects and resit the exams in Summer 2018. It is a government directive that everyone in full-time secondary education will continue to study English and Maths until they achieve a Level 2 (GCSE level). A reminder about GCSEs: GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. GCSEs are the exams taken by most UK students of school-leaving age, and are widely available to all 14– 19 students, although there is no lower or upper age limit. GCSEs are qualifications at Level 1 and Level 2 in the National Qualifications Framework. GCSEs are mostly taken after a two-year subject-based course. Some subjects are also offered as short-course qualifications, which are equivalent to half a standard GCSE. The majority of GCSEs from 2017 will be assessed by exams only. The new GCSEs in English and Maths were introduced in September 2014. In the new grading system, the highest grade is a Grade 9 and the lowest grade is a Grade 1. A Grade 4 equates to a standard pass and is the benchmark for colleges and employers. The new Maths GCSE will be tiered, with grades 4 and 5 available through both the higher and foundation tiers. The new English GCSE will no longer be tiered. This means that specifications and question papers will have to cover the full range of abilities. ASDAN AWARD ASDAN offers a range of nationally recognised qualifications based around the development of life and employability skills. The qualifications are approved within the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) at Entry Level (Entry 3) and Level 1 and Level 2. They encompass the principles of Foundation Learning. LASER LEARNING AWARDS LASER is a leading UK awarding organisation, offering high quality, flexible, credit-based qualifications and is accredited by the Regulatory Authorities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. LASER qualifications are flexible and responsive to student needs and credit based, consisting of individual units of assessment, each with an assigned level and credit value attached. Students who demonstrate that they have achieved the learning outcomes of a specified unit are awarded credits and can collect/accumulate these over time towards the achievement of a full qualification. LASER’s qualifications in Skills towards Enabling Progression (Step-UP) (QCF) are an innovative range of credit-based qualifications, developed to accredit a wide variety of activities engaged in by students aged 14 years and over. Designed to meet the needs of a wide range of students whilst also enabling them to achieve or work towards a national qualification. The qualifications are approved within the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) at Entry Level (Entry 3) and Level 1 and Level 2 encompass the principles of Foundation Learning. If you studied LASER Maths and English in Key Stage 4, you will continue to study these subjects in Sixth Form, in 4 | P a g e order to achieve the maximum qualification possible. It is a government directive that everyone in full-time secondary education will continue to study English and Maths until you achieve a Level 2 (GCSE level). V CERTs As a charitable organisation, NCFE’s purpose is to promote and advance the education of young people and adults. They believe that education can help every individual to achieve their full potential. V Certs are recognised in the Department for Education (DfE) performance tables. They offer all the great benefits of vocational study for students plus performance table recognition for schools – this means they are a good qualification for college and employer recognition. THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM St. Dominic’s follows the National Curriculum. This is to ensure every student has the opportunity to access a broad and balanced curriculum. Exam boards have changed the way their qualifications are structured according to Ofqual regulations which affects the % weighting of different assessment objectives of some qualifications. For other subjects, the difference is greater. GCSE qualifications generally have much less coursework and are more focused on what you can do in the exam. Computing, for example, is now mandatory at all Key Stages and as such is now a compulsory subject at St. Dominic’s. For more information, go to: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-secondary-curriculum USING THE SKILLS WHEEL As part of the KS5 Needs Led Curriculum offer students will have the opportunity to develop other skills that are not exam subjects but are really important in preparing them for the next steps in education and employment. These are: Literacy Numeracy Functional independence Language and communication (Sp&L) Learning to Learn (personal learning and thinking skills) Myself and Others (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural) Students can use the skill wheel to search for subjects they like as well as help to make choices about which subjects they wish to study for the next two years. Please note that only the main skills will be highlighted on each subject page. Literacy Numeracy (Comm.) Myself and Communication Others Learning to Learn Functional (PLTS) 5 | P a g e CURRICULUM PATHWAYS Students can follow a personalised programme of study y Stage 5. This is to ensure that all students are able to achieve the best qualifications they can given their own eas of strength. The pathways diagram below illustrates some of the ways the curriclum can be differentiated. CORE SUBJECTS Needs Led Curriculum (non exam) CoPE Level 2 (portfolio) PE (non exam) Communication (non exam) Transition (non exam) English and Maths No English or English and/or English and Maths Maths GCSEs Maths GCSE Functional Skills achieved re-sits or LASER OPTIONS Choose 3 Choose 2 or 3 Choose 2 Options options dependent options on the number of GCSE re-sits 6 | P a g e GENERAL ADVICE AND CAREERS GUIDANCE There are a number of people and resources here to guide and support students when considering transition to Key Stage 5. We recommend discussions between people who know students well, such as parents, tutors and careers advisors. At St Dominic’s, we use an online guidance tool called Fast Tomato (www.fasttomato.com). Another useful website is http://icould.com/ On this website there are over 1000 film clips about personal career choices. There is also a ‘choices at 14’ section. The National Careers Service website https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk has job profiles on over 800 different types of jobs. Each job profile outlines the skills and qualifications needed for that job, what the work would be like, expected pay and the career prospects. SO WE ADVISE STUDENTS TO: Think about what they would like to do and what they are able to do. Think about the subjects they might need for the career they would like to do. Work to their own strengths: if they like a lot of reading and writing then choose appropriate subjects, otherwise think about more practical subjects.