But what's it like in the Sixth Form?

Our main aim, as Sixth Form tutors and teachers, is to make sure you reach your full potential, both academically and personally. However, we also recognise that you are rapidly becoming young adults and need the freedom and space to grow, and even to make your own mistakes. For that reason you won't have us breathing down your necks all the time. We want you to take responsibility for your own progress and we see ourselves as guides, ready to help you if you need it. The way in which individual students respond to their responsibilities and privileges depends on their character, but obviously too great an imbalance between work and play will have an adverse effect on attainment and progress. It is our aim to anticipate and resolve such situations. The way you work, where and when you work is very much more in your hands and if you get the balance between work and play right, you will find life in the Sixth Form very rewarding.

There are many extra-curricular activities on offer to you here. Many of the initiatives and activities are student led or generated. Last year, for example, students decorated the Common Rooms, and the snack-machine is run by students. Sixth Form rock music is very healthy at the moment and their musical evenings are always popular. It is a tradition that Year 12 students arrange the Leavers' Ball for Year 13. The quizzes, socials and discos are often arranged by students, as are the sporting activities. The boys have a great record of trouncing the staff in five-a-side football! There are also opportunities to take on responsibilities and to work with staff and younger students.

Your Sixth Form is what you make it. It is not a continuation of the five years you have already spent here. It is a completely new environment where barriers between year groups dissolve and where teachers become friends. It is a time when you are encouraged to grow and try new things.

We, the Sixth Form tutors, want your time in the Sixth Form to be a bridge between the formality of compulsory education and the self-disciplined demands of employment or Higher Education. We aim to generate an open, friendly and supportive atmosphere, where you are encouraged to work and play hard and where you feel welcome. We feel we are successful in that, judging by the number of ex-students who stay in touch! We tutors have children who were educated at Baysgarth Sixth Form so clearly we believe in it strongly - and we are committed to making it even better.

Common Room Life

The Sixth Form have a large Common Room used both as a working area and a social area. During study time, you may want to use the Common Room to complete assignments, read and keep on top of your work. This is an essential part of your daily routine. In the Common Room there is a snack machine, table football and a small kitchen area where drinks may be made.

Next to the Common Room there is a study room for those students who prefer to study in quieter surroundings. This room is equipped with computers attached to the Network and laser printer.

Private Study

Not all 25 periods in the week will be with staff and you will realise very quickly that this is not "free time" and that you will be expected to use this time productively. The school is well equipped to ensure that all your needs are on-site, from the specialist resources, to the staff to give you guidance and advice. The Learning Resources centre is used by a large number of Sixth Form students during the day where you can access CD Roms, the Internet, books and journals as well as have a peaceful working environment.

Behaviour and Dress

As a Sixth Former, you will be here on quite a different basis from the rest of the school. Up to the age of 16, the law compels you to be at school. Beyond 16, you are here from your own free choice.

You should therefore be expecting the freedom to accept more responsibility for your behaviour - for the way it affects yourself, for the way it affects other people and for the way it affects the school community. This is the basis of your contract with the school. You would not expect us to spell out, in fine detail, exactly what you should do, and what you should not.

Pupils are expected to behave sensibly, with respect for their fellows, and a proper concern for their own reputation and the good name of the school. We trust you to know what sort of behaviour is reasonable and will help to create the purposeful atmosphere within the school, which gives everyone the chance to learn.

The only specific written rule is that you are not allowed to smoke or bring alcohol or illegal drugs on to the premises. Our feelings about the way you dress follow a similar line. There are no specific rules but we do expect you to dress in a way which will help to create a good working atmosphere in school.

Once more, we do not expect to have to tell you what you should wear and what you should not. We rely on you to take that responsibility. We do notice what you wear - and we do comment if you do not appear to be complying with this general principle.

And finally: a personal note.

Information like this can give you a lot of facts but it cannot answer your most important question - what is it really like to be a student in a good Sixth Form? Ask your friends who are already Sixth Formers: even they might find it hard to sum it up.

Perhaps the biggest change is in the relationship with your teachers. In the Sixth Form, you should expect to be treated in a more adult way - and teachers will do just that. In one sense, that means a friendlier, relaxed atmosphere. However, it also means expecting you to be more responsible for your own work. No one will be expecting to chase after you! Your teachers will encourage you to be more independent, to show more initiative, to make more mature judgements.

You will be freer to decide how to use your time. We will advise and help you, but the responsibility will be yours. Therefore, you can make time for leisure, for recreation, for relaxation, for conversation - occasionally even doing nothing. However, you will be here to learn. That is why you choose to join the Sixth Form in the first place. No one will be very sympathetic if you do not give enough time to produce your best work. In addition it will be up to you to find that time. If you make the choices, then you expect to take the praise - or the blame - for the consequences.

Sixth Formers have a very different status from other pupils. The outward signs of that are obvious - in the things you wear, in the use of your own areas for study and recreation, in the relaxation of the rules and regulations you live by. You are here by choice. We do not expect to have to take your decisions for you. We shall try not to cramp your style too much. We hope you will listen (occasionally!) to our advice - we will be there to provide support when you need it.

We shall expect a lot of you: sometimes, perhaps, infuriate you by expecting too much. We want the best for you.

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