Y12 EPQ Get Ahead Day – Enrichment Success!
Last Friday an eager cohort of our outstanding Year 12 students spent the day working on their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in the Sixth Form Centre. The EPQ is an...
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Last Friday an eager cohort of our outstanding Year 12 students spent the day working on their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in the Sixth Form Centre. The EPQ is an...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
On Friday last week the first ever Extended Project Get Ahead Day took place and was a huge success. This Get Ahead Day gave the current Year 12 students the chance to concentrate...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
I am pleased to announce the results of the annual House Arts Event. The theme for this year was Vision and we received a huge range of entries from poetry to photography. This...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
This week has seen our biggest First Lessons Event ever at Bushey Meads. The Sixth Form team have worked hard to welcome all students enrolled into next year’s Sixth Form...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
Looking Forward As June 15th gets closer, the day for the return for Year 12 students to school is fast approaching. Next week we will be welcoming back our Year 12 students for...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
As the remote learning continues for the Sixth Form students, Year 12 in particular are working hard to ensure they are making the progress needed for success. This week I spoke...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
Last week was an exciting time for the enrolment of students for Sixth Form in 2020. We have had record levels of interest in our ‘Outstanding’ Sixth Form with...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
On January 5th the initial applications for a Sixth Form place in September 2020 closed. This is just the first stage of applications and we can report that record numbers have...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
Wednesday 15th January at 6pm saw the deadline of submissions for applications for University close across the UK. At Bushey Meads we are proud to say that we have had more...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
On Friday December 6th our current Year 11 students got to spend the day as a Sixth Former taking part in our ‘Into Sixth Form Day’. The day was spent experiencing the day to day...
Posted by Matthew O'Kelly
Last Friday an eager cohort of our outstanding Year 12 students spent the day working on their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in the Sixth Form Centre. The EPQ is an accredited AQA qualification which seeks to develop a student’s independent research skills. It teaches study skills and also introduces the students to planning and then conducting their own academic research. Students then go on to produce a high quality product – usually a 5,000 word essay drawn from their research findings.
Students have to become reflective learners, adjusting their research to take account of the challenges they face, such as lack of reliable data or dealing with too much information – so having to make their research more specific to be manageable. Students also give a presentation of their research findings to their peers at the conclusion of the research process. The AQA qualification carries UCAS points and is viewed very favourably by many Universities and Higher Education providers as it provides essential independent research skills as preparation for University and also the transferable study skills for professional qualifications in the workplace, such as accountancy or higher level Apprenticeships.
After a brief introductory talk from Mr O’Kelly, the Year 12 students showed how they had developed their independent learning skills in their short time as Sixth Formers. They were incredibly focused and highly productive, using the opportunity to have 1:1 meetings with Mr O’Kelly or Mr Monks to discuss their initial research aims and then refine them into working research proposals. As each student is able to choose their own unique research proposal, so Mr O’Kelly and I enjoyed discussing an amazing range of research topics, from considering the ethical or personal motivation behind the activities of the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ to medical developments in heart bypass surgery or the impact of social media on mental health.
It was inspirational as a member of staff, to have these lively and well-informed discussions on such a diverse and engaging set of research proposals. Students also started their research log, analysing at least 15 research items. Here they skillfully reflected on their utility and reliability to their future research project.
It was certainly an intense day, but showed the Year12 students at their best; focused, energised and enthused with researching topics which they had chosen and were keen to discover more about. The Sixth Form Center was a buzz of activity and discussion all day. It bodes well for very successful EPQ projects later in Year 12. Well done Year 12 an excellent, productive and enjoyable day!
I began organising this trip in May for students that were going to be taking GCSE or A Level dance this academic year. After the constant and helpful back and forths between...
This week Y13 Government and Politics students have been considering the reality behind the powers of the President – is he the most powerful man on earth, or has he only...