A Step Ahead
A Step Ahead is a Year 12 course that is an invaluable part of Personal Development; it was designed and created following Student Voice, where our Sixth Form students wanted the opportunity to develop their skills in preparing for their future and how to stand out or be a step ahead of the competition in their lives after Sixth Form. This programme works in two parts:
Timetabled lessons once a fortnight
Class sizes are small and the staff leading these sessions take on a coaching role. We use the GROW coaching model (Goal Reality Options Will) to allow students to identify their own goals, whether personal (e.g. build self-confidence in public speaking or improve self-discipline with independent study) or academic (e.g. I want to move from a B to an A in Economics). Students are empowered to reflect on their current situation, identify possible barriers and decide how to best to overcome them.
A Step Ahead platform
So much of being A Step Ahead in students’ future lives is the importance of being well-rounded. To support our students with this, we have created a platform for this programme in which students complete and log activities they complete, consciously considering how they are developing different areas of themselves. The activities completed can be completely personalised to the individual, but fall under four areas:
- Body and Mind
- Academic Discipline
- Voluntary/Work Experience
- Life Skills
Next Steps Support:
As the year develops, we look to use the activities and skills that students have completed and recorded to look at the next steps for either apprenticeships/universities/employment. The activities that students have completed and the coaching conversations that we have during this programme help to prepare students for these next steps. We then use these as part of apprenticeship/ job applications and/or UCAS applications. To help with this, we also give some time in these sessions to research regarding next steps as well as supporting students in preparing personal statements.
