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Sixth Form Welcome

Welcome from Mrs Synge - Head of Sixth Form

SWPS has been a large part of my teaching career and after taking a short break to have my two children, I returned to SWPS due to my love of the atmosphere and community spirit that emanates from its students and staff.

I took the post of Head of Sixth Form in September 2019 and am extremely excited to maintain the high quality while also building and developing new achievements for the Sixth Form at SWPS.

I strongly believe that Sixth Form should not just be viewed as a stepping stone to Higher Education and that there are particular characteristics that make a Sixth Form great!

These characteristics are:

Academic Rigour - maintaining an excellent quality of teaching and learning
An atmosphere of camaraderie - students working together to overcome the typical challenges that come with Sixth Form study and life
A sense of ownership - students taking pride in and initiating their own learning and the environment in which they work in
Collaboration - students sharing ideas and their learning with each other
Curiosity & Inquisitiveness - students not being afraid to challenge ideas and to question the status quo as well as showing intellectual curiosity with a hunger and thirst for knowledge
Ambition - students holding high aspirations and showing tenacity in realising their own potential
Purpose, warmth & positivity - building an atmosphere with a tangible buzz, where students relish in a challenge and feel comfortable being pushed
Empowerment - students feeling empowered to initiate clubs and societies: they want an eco-garden?, they can work together to form a committee. They want to empower women? Form a society!
Spontaneity & Fun - Students feeling proud to belong to the Sixth Form and younger students wanting to belong to it in the future.
Support - students feeling wholly supported in what they want to achieve, whatever that may be

I really believe that in partnership with Sixth Form students, all of these characteristics are represented and nurtured at SWPS and I am looking forward to continuing to build and demonstrate these even more over the coming years.

Mrs Fatima Synge
Head of Sixth Form

Transition to Further Education

We recognise that large jump in workload and levels of challenge and independence in Sixth Form, and that some students might need a little more help in managing this. Therefore, we offer a wealth of support to help make the transition from GCSEs to A Levels.

These include:

  • Lower Sixth preparatory work booklet issued before starting Sixth Form

  • One-to-one tutoring in small tutor groups (of approximately 10 - 12) and monitoring of reports with target setting

  • Academic mentoring in addition to form tutors

  • A focused Life Skills course on developing an A Level mindset to work as a learning ramp from GCSE to A Level

  • Individual action plans for students who require extra support in assessments, public exams or are generally finding things more challenging

  • A range of drop-in clinics and structured revision plans

  • A silent study room available in the Sixth Form Centre