All students in the Sixth Form have a dedicated Tutor they will see twice each day during registration. Tutors are the first port of call for students and will take an active role in supporting students throughout their time in the Sixth Form.
The Sixth Form Mentoring Team
Miss Tinsley and Miss Canning
The mentoring team works alongside sixth form students who are looking for guidance, advice and a safe space to feel heard and talk through challenging situations. There are no judgements, conversations can be varied and unfiltered.
We offer support with wellbeing and health, futures advice and academic mentoring, and social and emotional coaching. Appointments provide an opportunity to be reflective and make positive decisions. We discuss perspective and different ways to work through concerns and barriers. We also help signpost and refer students to local, external agencies if they decide they want additional, specialised support.
Appointments can be made by emailing Miss Tinsley or Miss Canning.
If you are concerned for yourself, a friend or as a parent, a short list of trusted platforms to visit can be found below:
- Kooth - Online mental wellbeing community including messaging service with trained counsellors. Free, safe and anonymous
- SHOUT - 24/7 free text service, confidential for anyone struggling to cope. Text: 85258
- Papyrus - Confidential suicide prevention helpline specifically for young people. Open 9am–12am (midnight) every day of the year
- Young Minds - a wide range of support and advice for young people and parents. Free texts 24/7 to 85258. Parents helpline: 0808 802 5544 (Monday to Friday 09.30am – 4pm)
- Childline - Confidential calls, chat online or email about any problem big or small. Sign up for a free Childline locker (real name or email address not needed) to use their free 1:1 counsellor chat and email support service. 0800 1111. 7:30am - 3:30am, 365 days a year.
- CEOP - offers information and guidance which is appropriate and relevant to the experiences of 11-18 year olds. The website offers advice articles and signposts clear ways young people can access help and support.
- Space Youth Project - Support for young people who are or may be LGBT+
- Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families - Aims to empower young people to make informed choices about their mental health
- The Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) - An award-winning charity with a social purpose to inform, educate, and safeguard young people against gaming and gambling harms.
- ChatHealth - A free school nursing text service available to all young people aged 11-19. All messages are confidential, and you can text regarding a number of health topics from relationships to mental health.
ChatHealth is available Monday to Friday from 8.30am-4.30pm, including the school holidays. Text 07480 635511. - ParentLine - a confidential text messaging service for parents and carers of 5-19 year olds in Dorset. Parents and carers can gain advice about a range of issues from sleep development to exam stress. The service is available from 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding weekends, bank holidays and school holidays). Text 07312 263131.
- Dorset Connection - to speak to someone urgently about any kind of mental health issue, please call our 24/7 telephone support service on 0800 652 0190
- Dorset Youth's Mental Health Hub - Includes a library of resources on topics including mental health, bereavement, self-harm and drugs and alcohol.
- SHORE - a safe space for teenagers worried about sexual behaviour. 100% anonymous. Backed by young people.
Sixth Form Counselling
Referrals to the Sixth Form Counsellor can be made via the Mentoring Team. Sessions are weekly and extend for six to eight weeks in school.
Students need to be aware that there is a waiting list and support can be offered during this time by the Mentoring Team.
The 16-19 Bursary Fund is a scheme to help students facing financial hardship to continue in full time education after Year 11.
More information about the Sixth Form Bursary is available here
Via a combination of sessions delivered by year co-ordinators, tutors and outside guest speakers Sixth Form students PSHCE programme explores Money Management, Multi-Faith Communities, Technology and Education, Emotional Resilience, Wellbeing, Drugs and Alcohol and Gender Inequality.
In Year 12 students attend sessions on Technology and Education as part of their Guided Independent Learning transition sessions in the first term of Year 12. In these sessions we problematize and question the benefits and pitfalls of technology and how mobile and internet usage has changed the way we learn. We explore how technology has changed the way that students research, time manage and organise themselves. This includes exploring the paradox that, according to most contemporary research, as a society we are more connected than ever yet also feel curiously more alone.
In the Spring term of Year 12 the focus shifts to wellbeing and emotional resilience. We are visited by Dorset Mind who speak about the importance of understanding our emotional and psychological triggers and suggest ways in which we can prepare ourselves for the manifold challenges life will throw at us.
In a broader educational sense, in terms of debates around human rights, we welcome Clive Stafford Smith from Reprieve to the school. Clive talks about his work in representing those who have been denied a voice or have been victims of social injustice. His reflections on working in Guantanamo Bay and within, and often against, the American judicial system are fascinating. He is a brilliant speaker.
As part of our ongoing focus on wellbeing we are also visited by Peter Hall, who is a powerful and emotionally engaging speaker who tells his own story of drug and alcohol addiction. In terms of our students’ feedback his visit is a real highlight of the year. Later in this term we are visited by a representative of the local Mosque, this year Dr Basheer, who speaks to students about Islam and Islamophobia: Challenging Media Stereotypes.
Later in this year 12 we are visited by Wanda Wyporska from The Equality Trust. Wanda speaks to our students about Radical Feminism and the challenges faced by women in our post #metoo culture. Importantly, to complement these always engaging, sometimes emotive, often challenging speakers we set short activities within tutor time to follow up and develop these areas of knowledge. We also invite students to ask questions to clear up understanding or help them to foster further interests.
In Year 13 we place a heavy emphasis on the practicalities of preparing for life beyond sixth form. As such, our Money Matters tutor time programme takes in student finance, student housing, how to apply for grants, loans and bursaries. We broach this via a combination of quizzes and use of lots of up to the minute research from the press. Alongside this focus, we frequently revisit the importance of Wellbeing and Emotional and physical wellbeing introduced in Year 12. Our Tutor Programme, which has a strong emphasis on each student’s PSHCE provision, is an important of their Sixth Form experience.