Applications for our Sixth Form are OPENING SOON!
A Student’s Perspective
“Hi, I’m Seren and I’m currently studying Psychology, Geography and Health and Social care and I plan to go to university and study Primary Education. To begin with I was apprehensive about sixth from because it’s no secret that it is a huge shift from GCSEs to A-levels which can be challenging but also especially rewarding when you achieve what you put your mind to. By staying on at Welshpool Sixth Form made this transition easier and settled some of my nerves.
By adjusting to a somewhat new environment is difficult if you ask anyone so adjusting to A-levels took some time but I soon found my footing and felt confident I had made the right decision by staying here, this was down to many reasons but I feel specifically the staff involved in Sixth form have been a huge supporting factor. By being in the same environment meeting new staff but also re uniting with staff who already knew me and how I process and learn has been quite simply amazing, their constant support and guidance has made my experience in Sixth form so memorable. By choosing to stay on at Sixth form provides you with a comforting family of supportive and knowledgeable teachers but also friendly and new friends along the way.
When I started Sixth form I was simply in awe of the amount of opportunities that you can access as being part of the sixth form from helping out as a teaching assistant in lessons to peer mentoring a younger student. Also the amount of fundraising activities you can get involved is incredible; we ran a Race for Life last year along with various game shows and bingo events. Having these opportunities allows you to experience what being involved in organisation of large events and having a new lease of responsibility. It also allowed me to experience whether being in leadership was something I wanted in a potential career and it’s fair to say I have really enjoyed having this responsibility and continue to make the best use of it. However, it goes without a doubt that the teaching staff provide so much encouragement and support when we want to explore our creativities and run events or clubs and without a doubt we wouldn’t be able to run them without their help.
In addition, it goes without saying that the health and wellbeing of our students here at Welshpool is one of the whole schools priorities, staff and students are there to help each other and are willing to help in any way they can and all you have to do is ask. Whether you need help with a piece of work your teacher can go over it again until you feel comfortable and understood, or if you just need someone to talk to there is always someone there to talk whether it’s your form tutor or head of year the relationship between staff and students matures and allows for a deeper level of understanding to be obtained which I have found endlessly helpful. I found this incredibly reassuring and comforting during exam periods when things can get stressful.
Finally, it goes without saying that Sixth form is such a lovely opportunity and it is what you make of it, I feel that it is incredibly unique as we have the time to go in depth with our studies in the smaller class sizes but also how you can constantly rely on your teachers for support and guidance throughout your time here. We are encouraged to find our feet and grow in confidence and try new things while also having a supporting hand when times get tough. I really hope you make the decision to come here to study as it’s a wonderful experience.”
Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
EMA is a payment for 16 to 18 year olds living in Wales, who want to continue their education after school leaving age.
Introducing our Student Leadership Team 2024-2025
Head Students: Dylan and Seren
Deputy Head Students: Reid and Nancy
Leadership Team: Lola, Gracie, Jadon, Lexi, Kelsey, Seren, Tesni and Bethany
Bingo
On the 17th July, our current sixth form leadership team ran a bingo to kickstart the summer holidays, it was an evening of fun with plenty of hampers to win including a Booze Bucket, Spa Hamper and a Movie Night Hamper, some of our top prizes being vouchers to Lake Vyrnwy and Costa vouchers.
After plenty of planning and preparation along with the decorations, 6 games of bingo were played with lots of laughs and anticipation as to who was going to shout BINGO!
We would like to extend our thanks to our amazing bingo caller, Alan Jones and to our amazing teachers who helped us put this event together. It was a very successful evening raising around £300 for the sixth form. We look forward to running our next bingo and hope to see plenty of you again!
Race for Life
On the 27th October 2023, our sixth form students organised a Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK. The day was aimed at raising money for charity, having a day for our health and wellbeing and having lots of fun. The event was well organised and ran incredibly smoothly and was over far too soon! From dancing and laughing to running and celebrating Hafren’s victory for most points by the end of the day.
Maddie and her leadership team organised and planned the event fabulously, incorporating fun and exercise towards raising money for charity, the day was extremely entertaining and helped unite the whole school for the day. It improved the relationships between year groups and helped the whole of sixth form to work together as a team to ensure that the day went well. By wearing fancy dress and our house colours helped to improve encouragement and team spirit throughout the house systems and maintained Welshpool’s competitive spirit!”
Seren Davies, current Head Girl
Access All Aber Residential
Sixth form students attended an all-expenses paid trip to Aberystwyth University as part of their Access All Aber 5 day residential programme. this programme is aimed at helping break down barriers to Higher Education. The University’s highest priority is to help students who might face a variety of different barriers to Higher Education
“We attended Aberystwyth University for 5 days, staying in the Pantycelyn accommodation at the university and being treated to food from the dining hall including some delicious cakes!
We got to take part subject based mock lectures lead by university professors as well as informative talks about finance and UCAS applications. On top of valuable academic sessions, we also enjoyed many social activities including a quiz night, movie night, and a walk through the town with ice cream on the beach. We took advantage of the free gym facilities during spare time, and we also took part in sports sessions led by the senior members of sports societies including a football session with the head coach of Aberystwyth football team. We were offered the opportunity of a tour around the National Library of Wales as well as the University’s Hugh Owens Library.
The experience offered us a great opportunity to make friends with people from all over Wales, as we spent many hours playing cards, pool, and Just Dance. Overall, we had an amazing time, made lots of new friends and left with a much more informed view on university life.”
Alan and Maddie
(Former Head Boy & Head Girl)
Oxford University Experience
Pupils from Welshpool High School’s Sixth Form enjoyed a chance to experience life on the campus of a historic Oxford University. New College Oxford gave the opportunity for eight pupils from Welshpool, and a larger group from other schools in Powys, to attend an open day at the college where they stayed overnight in the architecturally impressive college buildings. New College, founded in the fourteenth century, is a beautiful campus.
Pupils enjoyed a meal in the impressive dining hall and were given a tour of the medieval site. They were able to see several famous locations, a few of which popularised as location shots in the Harry Potter franchise! They were then given a talk by Jesus college graduate Daniel Powell where he stressed the historic links between several of the older colleges and Wales. Organisations such as the Dafydd ap Gwilym Welsh Society in Oxford University were explained and prospectuses were made available in both English and Welsh.
The talk included useful advice about the nature of life in the Oxford collegiate system (with around thirty-five separate collages), likely costs and advice on applying to Oxford to become a student. Pupils were then able to tour Oxford and visit many of the other colleges, which were open to visiting students and providing talks and information for prospective undergraduates.
The experience helped the students to think about possibly applying to an Oxbridge university and helped to provoke conversation and thought about university in general. The cultural experience of visiting such a historic town with so many points of interest was also much appreciated by all the pupils form the visiting Welsh schools.
Mr Corfield
Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Trip to Aberystwyth
Our Sixth Form students visited Aberystwyth University. As part of the trip Students visited the University Campus and National Library for Wales during the day they attended various workshops which Introduced them to the Individual Research Project that accounts for 50% of their grade, they learned about the importance of the Individual Project for their future career paths as well as learning how to reference and research effectively to produce higher level research projects.
