Welcome

Welcome to the Sixth Form at Paddington Academy. We are a rapidly expanding and over-subscribed Sixth Form and we offer a wide range of courses which reflect our specialisms, facilities and the expert teaching of our staff.

Sixth Form students benefit from a large Sixth Form centre which includes good ICT facilities, a canteen and a balcony. We expect our students to take an active role in all aspects of Academy life and we encourage them to take advantage of opportunities to demonstrate leadership. It is this aspect that marks us apart from a Sixth Form or Further Education College: the opportunity to be a role-model to younger students and to assist them in their learning. Sixth Form students can be reading buddies, prefects, peer mentors and can assist in lower-school lessons. The skills developed through these activities are the essential ones that universities and employers are looking for.

Curriculum

The Sixth Form at Paddington Academy offers progression for all students who study at the Academy at Key Stage 4 in accordance with its facilities and specialisms and provides a distinctive curriculum experience for external students. We deliver a range of Level 2 and 3 courses which reflect the aspirations and skills of learners and provide progression to further and higher education, training and employment.

The curriculum offer aims to fill a niche within local provision: for example, we offer high quality A-Level Science courses and have achieved significant success in Media as well as a range of other courses. We work in partnership with local providers to ensure that all students have access to the most appropriate courses at the most appropriate institution and are given impartial information, advice and guidance.

Business Dress

Our business is learning, and Sixth Form students are expected to wear business dress to the Academy. This includes a shirt, tie and blazer for boys and formal wear for girls. We take great pride in the high standards of dress that our students set and rigorously maintain these standards.

Care, Guidance and Support

The Sixth Form builds on the high standards of pastoral care provided in the lower school. Parents/carers and students are made aware of the distinctive nature of a Sixth Form within an 11-19 school and many students choose the Paddington Academy Sixth Form for this reason. We treat our students as emerging adults: whilst we recognise their distinctiveness from the lower school, we acknowledge that students mature at different rates and that all students benefit from high standards of care.  This care and support is defined by the following characteristics:

• An effective Sixth Form management team who proactively engage with the needs of students to provide individual support
• Continuous supervision of students and their study. 
• High expectations of their membership of and contribution to the Paddington Academy community. 
• Strong and mutually supportive relationships between staff and students
• Effective dialogue between parents, teachers and students and regular sharing of information on progress and attainment
• Robust monitoring systems for attendance and punctuality including expectations of being on site, which inform parents at the earliest opportunity of any issues
• A tutorial system to support and nurture students
• Opportunities to demonstrate leadership capacity and to develop skills and confidence in influencing and leading others

     Our Academy is at home in a dynamic and diverse inner-city area of west London. We provide a safe environment for all of our students which results from a collective effort from students and staff to create a community in which all can feel safe and secure. This is achieved by a sound knowledge of the local community and their high aspirations, by setting high standards of behaviour and dress, by expecting positive attitudes from our students and by employing rigorous systems for access to the Academy site. We recognise that many of our learners come from fractured educational and family backgrounds and we aim to provide a significant degree of nurture and support to enable our students to achieve and progress.