The step up from School to College

Posting by Sonia Wood, Director of Teaching & Learning, Division D

The work the college does with schools is vital. Schools do their part to prepare their students for whatever is in store for them post-16, and we do our best to support that work in a variety of ways.

We work with a large number of schools, but with a small group of them – known as partner schools – we have particularly strong ties and we get large numbers of students from these schools. A member of senior staff will act as a direct point of contact for each of these schools and I fulfil that role for Lyndon School.

My work with Lyndon School goes on throughout the academic year, but we are at a particularly vital stage in the process now, with interviews taking place. The majority of students from Lyndon School who have applied to study at The Sixth Form College, Solihull in September were interviewed on Tuesday evening. These interviews were taking place to establish not only if they are likely to fulfil our entry requirements (set to ensure they have the potential to achieve at advanced level), but also to ensure they have chosen the subjects and courses appropriate for them.

A number of teachers and senior staff from Lyndon School visited the College to see this process in action, but also to meet up again with some of their former pupils. Some of those students who left Lyndon to come to the College last summer gathered to tell the staff from Lyndon School about the differences between school and college.

The students who were part of this informal chat are of varying achievement levels and are studying a diverse range of subjects and courses, including both A levels and BTEC courses.

The biggest single difference that the students had identified between school and college was the notion of “independent learning” and “taking responsibility for study”. All recognised that advanced level study is not “spoon-fed” to them. Indeed, as well as the set lesson time, students are expected to complete at least 4 hours of independent study time per subject outside of lessons. Teachers at College will also not endlessly chase them for homework, but expect them to show their commitment to their studies. Indeed, students spoke of wishing not to “disappoint” their teachers and rather than fearing punishments, so students are motivated to reach their potential in different ways.

Staff from Lyndon were fascinated to learn what the students thought, particularly their recognition that a good attitude to learning is essential to succeed. There was a feeling from students that at school students work because it is compulsory to do so, but at college students are motivated to work hard and achieve for their own benefit. They thought this was partly because they were focussing their time on subject areas that really interested them, but also because they harboured specific goals beyond College, be it university or employment.

Particularly fascinating was the students’ perceptions of the relationship between teacher and student. At school, teachers are real authority figures and are addressed as “sir” and “miss”. At College, teachers are often referred to by their first names and a more mature relationship is forged.

The entire session was a fascinating insight into how students really feel and the adaptations they need to make to adjust from school life to college life. Lyndon School have done an enormous amount to develop these young people both educationally and emotionally and the head teacher spoke warmly of how proud she felt to see how they have grown up and matured now they are at College.

This type of work goes on with a number of other schools and it is all geared towards ensuring the step up from school to post-16 education is smooth and straight forward.