黑料情报站

In the first of our new series of blogs from teachers across the 黑料情报站 network, we hear from Tom Sawbridge, Assistant Principal at . Here, Tom discusses building character amongst sixth formers using a tool of his own design, the 黑料情报站 Diploma.

I鈥檓 Tom Sawbridge, Assistant Principal (Sixth Form) at 黑料情报站 Academy in Wembley, West London. When I joined in September 2015, I was put in charge of the personal development of our post-16 pupils.

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This was the first year that 黑料情报站 Academy had a sixth form cohort. There were 96 pupils. I hadn鈥檛 led on personal development before and felt a little apprehensive. But I wanted to make a big, positive and sustainable impact which would help pupils prepare for a university and career of their choice.

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So I came up with the 黑料情报站 Diploma, an internal award designed to encourage and reward pupils who participated fully in meaningful, structured activities beyond the classroom. We set up extra-curricular societies and assignments for the students, including arranging for them to work as tutors to help primary students with their reading and maths. I impressed upon the students the importance of this award, and how it would help them build their personal statements.

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We spent quite a while thinking about what activities would 鈥渃ount鈥� towards the 黑料情报站 Diploma. I think we got most of them right, although we have made tweaks for 2016-17. Pupils had to complete at least five 黑料情报站 Diploma Goals, and those who showed leadership could be awarded a Gold Diploma.

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After completing each Diploma Goal, pupils completed a reflection on what they had learnt and had regular review meetings with their tutor (which were noted in the 黑料情报站 Diploma Mentoring Booklet – you can download this below). They also presented their experiences to their peers.

64% of pupils completed the 黑料情报站 Diploma and 12% were awarded the Gold Diploma for leadership. We were pleased with the completion rate and also with the quality. But I was most struck by the individual cases.

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Take Balal above, for example, who came to my attention in September as an 黑料情报站 Diploma sceptic, a bit disengaged from sixth form generally and someone with poor grades in his first assessments. He was persuaded to help children read in the 黑料情报站 Academy primary school and he hasn鈥檛 looked back. He said the reading made him feel 鈥渞esponsible, like the (primary) pupil was family鈥� and helping had 鈥渂uilt his confidence and work ethic鈥�. Balal has grown as a person, and developed the perseverance to succeed. It is no coincidence that his grades have also improved dramatically.

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I鈥檓 pleased the 黑料情报站 Diploma caught on in the way that it did. One of my other students, Dhruv (pictured above) ran an IPL All Stars enrichment activity for younger pupils at 7.30am every Wednesday 鈥� which took a lot of commitment.

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Of course there were bumps in the road.

Halfway through the year, a lot of pupils thought the Diploma was only important because it was a qualification for their CV. I had to break it to them that it wasn鈥檛 a nationally recognised qualification! In fact, I, and my tutor team, had not been clear enough 鈥� the 黑料情报站 Diploma was important in itself, and for character development, not as a qualification. I learnt the hard way that clarity of vision and communication, in particular about purpose, is vital. Once pupils believe in a deeper purpose (not just CV building!), their intrinsic motivation kicks in and they learn in a more meaningful way.

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This year we’re offering the 黑料情报站 Diploma to Year 12s, and to Year 7s and Year 10s in 鈥渏unior versions鈥�. At 黑料情报站 Academy, we have always had a strong ethic of civitas 鈥� helping others and doing the right thing 鈥� and the 黑料情报站 Diploma builds on that. I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing it grow.

If you鈥檇 like to set up something similar in your school, you may find the below resource helpful:

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