Lady Lumley's Academy

Welcome to Lady Lumley’s Sixth Form 

We are exceptionally proud of the sixth form and the role it plays in the school community; shaping students' lives and preparing them to be effective members of the local, regional, national and global community of the 21st century. The ethos of “being our best” that permeates through school is really encapsulated at Key Stage 5, with learning, personal development, progression and wellbeing the sixth form diet that students thrive upon.

Students choose from a broad curriculum that offers them multiple pathways beyond sixth form. Their academic development is moulded through high quality teaching and learning, delivered by dedicated members of staff, in a personalised atmosphere. We have a number of small class sizes in sixth form, helping students to maximise their potential in a supportive and challenging learning environment. Their personal development, essential in the modern world, is harnessed through effective daily tutoring and fortnightly lessons of bespoke learning, tailored to student needs. Our ambition is for each student in our sixth form community to play an effective and positive role in the world of tomorrow.

Our students go on to destinations of their choice and we provide careers guidance every step of the way. In 2022, a record number of our sixth form students went on to regional apprenticeships, 82% of our university applicants achieved their first choice placement and a third of our students progressed to Russell Group universities, including Oxbridge. Our learner-centred approach, where we know our students very well, helps to support them for the progression route they desire.

Outside of the classroom, our students learn how to be effective independent learners. This skill is developed through tutor time, assemblies and the fortnightly personal development sessions. Our students are explicitly taught research-based strategies on how to structure their week, how to maximise study sessions, how to utilise learning activities that make them think hard for effective learning, how to review their independent learning, how to utilise their current level of understanding to plan next week’s study sessions and how to ensure their wellbeing is being met amidst their sixth form workload.

To further the broad curriculum, sixth form students also have the opportunity to undertake an Extended Project Qualification. This individual piece of work provides students with the chance to explore an area of interest, create a 5,000-word essay on a topic of their choice, research it in-depth with fortnightly guidance and develop highly effective independent work skills that universities, apprenticeships and prospective employers desire.

Away from the academic side of sixth form life, our students enjoy a broad enrichment opportunity. This includes sport, drama, art, debating, setting up their own business, international essay competitions, TED talk discussions, Kindle publishing, MOOC courses, a fabulous Duke of Edinburgh programme and more. Wednesday afternoon is a thriving time of the week for our students to fully immerse themselves in enjoyable enriching activities.

We want all students to be catered for, including those that strive to go to the most competitive universities in the country. Our Aspire Group programme runs each week for this purpose and is tailored towards helping our students develop the mindset and skillset needed to succeed. Current affairs debates, critical thinking skills, analysis of global issues and interview preparation are just some of the group’s focuses that help students think differently.

As part of our desire to help students prepare for the world beyond school, we have multiple student leadership opportunities. As well as a sixth form student leadership team that meets fortnightly to help drive the sixth form community forwards, we have year 12 and 13 students working together in study periods to support each other, sixth formers helping out students lower down the school in lessons to support learning and development and we have sixth form students helping with reading in KS3 and KS4 tutor time. I am proud to be part of a supportive sixth form community that has academic excellence, personal development and student wellbeing at its core. We encourage you to visit the school to see the new sixth form facilities, explore our website and learn more about what we offer. We welcome all applications through our application section of the website.

Alex Carter

Head of Sixth Form