Beyond the Curriculum

At Mount Kelly we are committed to the provision of innovative and flexible ways to help pupils make informed choices about their futures, develop the skills required to enhance their employability and contribute positively to the world in which they live.

To supplement our formal A Level or BTEC courses we believe that it is important to teach some additional ‘life skills’ and to introduce our pupils to the wider world that they will shortly be experiencing. The ‘Beyond the Curriculum’ programme has four elements:

Part A: Public Speaking and Personal Presentation

Only those with the training and skills to present themselves effectively will be able to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Formal training in public speaking for Year 12 has, for some years, been delivered through the medium of LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic art). All Year 12 pupils will attend one lesson per week for the first ten weeks of the Michaelmas Term, enabling those with the ability and inclination to sit a formal LAMDA examination in public speaking. Those who wish to continue with LAMDA beyond this point may opt to do so on a re-chargeable basis.

Part A will conclude with workshops on personal presentation, social skills and professional relationships and expectations.

Part B: Higher Level Learning Skills

Only those who have been taught how to learn will be able to do so with the degree of independence and efficiency necessary for success in the modern world.

Each member of Year 12 will complete two sessions in Study Skills for the first half of the Michaelmas Term. This will provide training in the core skills necessary for the successful completion of the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), but also help pupils with the transition to A Level and BTEC. It will be led by those teachers responsible for the EPQ. It will cover the following topics:

• An introduction to the EPQ
• How to conduct effective research
• Footnoting, bibliographies and plagiarism
• Noting methodology
• Academic organisation
• The use of IT and digital technology in presenting academic findings
• Building and using questionnaires
• Reflection and review for improvement
• Revision techniques

Part C: Guidance and UCAS support

Only those who are properly guided and supported will make informed decisions about their futures, and only those who are properly advised will be able to realise their ambitions.

This will cover the following areas:

• Interview technique and personal presentation
• Alternatives to university, and routes into employment
• CVs and covering letters
• Centigrade and careers choices
• UCAS research, open day research
• Personal statements and UCAS forms

A supplementary programme of Careers Cafés, talks, work placements and careers fairs will run parallel to this course.

Sixth Form Guidance

Part D: General Studies

Only those who are informed about the realities and the workings of the modern world are properly equipped to contribute to it.

All pupils will follow a carousel of short courses, each of which will run for several weeks, intended to equip them with the intellectual, cultural and social wherewithal to make sense of the modern world, and to enable them to flourish within it.

This year pupils are looking at Global Issues, Philosophy, Poetry and Art.

Timetable

All four elements are compulsory for all members of Year 12. The delivery of the programme is structured as follows: