7/3/2008 8:53:00 AM
Kate Hilpern; The Independent 3 July 2008
Sixth form colleges successfully combine elements of secondary school and further educationAll institutions struggle with misconceptions and sixth form colleges (SFCs) are no exception. "A lot of people think we are elite A-level factories," says Helen Pegg, principal of Stoke SFC. Nothing could be further from the truth. Located in Stoke-on-Trent, an area with high levels of deprivation, Pegg says she has the widest mix of students you could imagine. "We have some really high performing students and some very needy ones and I suppose what makes sixth form colleges stand out is our ability to react to that range."With the average SFC teaching 1,500 students, mostly aged 16-18, size is on their side. It means that unlike school sixth forms, they have the capacity to teach a wide variety of both academic qualifications such as GCSEs and A-levels (the latter of which SFCs get better results in than schools), along with vocational courses in subjects including childcare, business, and art and design. The combination options surpass schools too, with students having the opportunity, for instance, to study an A-level in law alongside a Btech national diploma in computing.The size of SFCs also means extra-curricular activities include the weird and the wonderful, with examples including knitting (which, when advertised as "the new rock and roll" at Peter Symonds SFC, attracted record numbers of youngsters), ballroom dancing, bee-keeping, cooking on a budget, philosophy and jazz, along with practically every sport you can think of.Where this still fails to attract students, particularly from deprived areas, it's simply a case of "if Mohammad won't go to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammad". Pegg explains, "There is a certain part of our city which is particularly deprived and where residents are so loyal to their area that they don't like leaving it. So we decided to set up a sixth form centre with the FE college, which together we staff." Meanwhile, the main college has plans to relocate to be next to the university. "Together, the university and two colleges will share some of the most specialist facilities. For example, we're going to build a dedicated science centre," says Pegg.Independent
FE/HE/ Skills
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