TLC 1 - Encouraging independence in the sixth form

In our first session of the year we discussed the main challenges facing us a sixth form teachers.  Here are some of the ideas we came up with:

Furthermore, we kept coming back to the idea that the sixth form students often fail to take responsibility soon enough.  We also highlighted how the period from September until Christmas is key to students success.  Unfortunately, if students don't begin to work hard and make the desired progress during this time they will often struggle to catch up. 

We then looked at the information obtained through our student voice surveys showing what our students thought would be good ways to improve teaching and learning across the sixth form.  Here are some of their ideas:

We then discussed methods to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the sixth form, we also discussed strategies that could be used to improve the independence and ownership of our sixth form students.  Here are some of the ideas we thought we could try:

Throughout the session we encouraged staff to refelct on their practice by discussing ways that they already encourage independence in the sixth form.  We asked to share their best ideas and everyone learnt a lot from the process.  We also gave staff a chance to set targets that they will try and achieve before the next TLC sessions.  Here is an example from Mr Fenton:

During our next sesion we will ask staff to evaluate the extent to which their targets have improved students independence.  After this we hope to refine/develop our targets further so that they get the best possible outcomes for our students.  

The feedback after the session was very positive and many staff left with a clear idea of the strategies they wish to try.  This is the start of the process, what we hope to have by the end of TLC 3 are a range of strategies that are tried and tested and do improve independence in our sixth form students.