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Sixth Form
Curriculum Intent
At Philip Southcote throughout our Sixth Form curriculum, we aim to foster independence, empowerment, and resilience by developing pupils’ ability to communicate effectively and confidently. We encourage students to be ambitious and aspirational in all that they do—whether preparing for employment, gaining independence, or pursuing further education.
Our curriculum builds on each student’s individual starting point, offering challenge and opportunity for all. It is carefully designed to prepare learners for adulthood in a way that reflects their personal needs, aspirations, and potential, promoting the highest level of independence.
Lessons are practical, engaging, and meaningful, offering real-world experiences that reflect the values and ethos of our school. We provide a secure and nurturing environment where students are encouraged to reach their full potential and develop into confident, responsible adults within their wider community.
English and Maths underpin every aspect of our curriculum. We work to strengthen functional literacy and numeracy skills, improving accessibility and confidence in adult life. While academic progress is valued, our approach is not solely qualification-driven; instead, we work collaboratively with students, parents, and carers to identify the most suitable pathways. Accreditations range from Entry Level 1 to GCSE, with students typically completing qualifications in Year 13 and consolidating life skills in Year 14.
Communication is embedded throughout the curriculum. Students are supported to use structured, fluent language in all contexts—whether at work experience, in social situations, or during independent travel. Reading is promoted through a rich variety of texts, including fiction, non-fiction, and current affairs.
Our weekly Community Day combines practical life skills with classroom-based learning. Students participate in shopping, food preparation, and budgeting, developing an understanding of healthy lifestyles and community engagement. Classroom sessions focus on the Wheel of Independence, covering topics such as laundry, house-keeping, money skills and food shopping, as well as the Mental Health Champions programme.
Where appropriate, students undertake work placements as part of their timetable. These provide vital opportunities to build employment skills, confidence, and an understanding of workplace expectations. Learners also spend one day each week at our on-site Skills Centre, selecting from a range of vocational pathways such as Hair and Beauty, Retail, Horticulture, the Café, Duke of Edinburgh, Learning for Life, and Vinyl Crafting.
In addition, students take part in Preparation for Adulthood and PSHE lessons, focusing on staying safe in the community, developing employability skills, and building healthy relationships. Our Sport and Leisure sessions further promote wellbeing, offering choices such as local gym visits, horse care or yoga.
By the end of Sixth Form, students leave us ready and equipped for their journey through their adult life. They demonstrate resilience, self-awareness, and confidence in managing the challenges of everyday living, with a clear understanding of how to maintain their wellbeing and where to seek support when needed.
We are incredibly proud of all we offer at Philip Southcote Sixth Form. Our curriculum enables our students to grow into more independent individuals who go on to lead happy, fulfilling and meaningful lives in the community.
Tutor Groups
Our Sixth Form is thoughtfully designed to nurture students’ social and communication development. We offer five tutor groups, each carefully considered to bring together individuals with shared interests and compatible communication styles. This approach encourages the formation of meaningful relationships and promotes a supportive, inclusive learning environment.
All tutor groups follow a curriculum that provides a broad and balanced educational experience. Students engage in a range of subjects including Preparation for Adulthood, PSHE, English, Maths, EHCP Lessons, Community Day, Skills Centre Day, and Sport & Leisure. This consistency ensures that every student benefits from the same high-quality provision, while the tailored groupings allow for personalised support and enrichment.
Preparation for Adulthood
Our Sixth form Preparation for Adulthood curriculum is designed to equip students with the essential knowledge, confidence, and independence they need as they take their next steps into adult life. The programme emphasises practical skills, personal growth, and active participation in the community—helping every learner develop the tools to thrive beyond sixth form.
Throughout the course, students explore key aspects of independent living, including travel training, self-care, planning for work and volunteering, wellbeing management and understanding community traditions. Each area encourages students to make informed decisions, build resilience, and take ownership of their personal development.
A central part of this journey is the Wheel of Independence, where students record and reflect on their progress across the year. Each term focuses on a different area of growth: Self-Care in the Autumn Term, Time Management in the Spring, and Leisure in the Summer. This approach allows students to see their achievements in action and recognise how their skills connect to real-life experiences.
PSHE
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education is an incredibly important subject at Sixth Form. Our aim is to ensure every young person is developed into an independent and responsible member of society. Our young people need to be given the guidance and support that will enable them to deal with any issues they meet in adulthood with confidence and the knowledge to make appropriate choices and decisions. These decisions may need to be made in their homes, personal relationships, in the community or in the workplace. Our curriculum ensures our Sixth Formers leave feeling confident to deal with each scenario.
The curriculum develops our students' vocabulary, knowledge, understanding, confidence and resilience. We also ensure that our young people know how to seek support and advice if they need it. We create a trusting environment in which our young people can explore their feelings and emotions, worries and questions at what can be a challenging time.
PSHE lessons continue to develop communication skills. Lesson activities include the opportunity to discuss and debate, and share opinions and knowledge. Through the delivery of PSHE, we want to enable all our studens to become independent and responsible young people who are able to approach the issues they will encounter throughout adult life with confidence and the knowledge to make appropriate choices and decisions. The curriculum will allow them the opportunity to understand the diversity of relationships they will form throughout life.
Students will demonstrate feeling safe and confident in the school environment, at home and in the wider community and will be aware of how to seek support and advice if they need it.
Students will leave the Sixth Form with the vocabulary, knowledge, understanding, confidence and resilience they need as young adults.
Community Day
Every Sixth Form student has a dedicated Community Day once a week, designed to promote independence, life skills, and social development. On this day, tutor groups are divided into two smaller cohorts to allow for focused and meaningful engagement in both practical and classroom-based activities.
The Practical Element
Students collaborate to plan and prepare a shared lunch. They begin by designing a menu, exploring a diverse range of cuisines from across the globe throughout the year — including British, European, Middle Eastern, and Australian dishes. Once the menu is finalised, students compile a shopping list and travel to a local shop, either on foot or by minibus, to purchase the necessary ingredients. These outings provide valuable opportunities to practise money handling, communication, and social interaction within the community.
Upon returning to Sixth Form, students work together to prepare the meal, set the table, and serve lunch to the entire tutor group, encouraging conversation and cooperation. After the meal, students take responsibility for cleaning the space, ensuring all surfaces are sanitised and food is stored appropriately — reinforcing hygiene and teamwork.
While staff provide support throughout the day, students are actively encouraged to take initiative and develop their independence.
Classroom-Based Learning
The other half of the tutor group engages in two structured lessons: Wheel of Independence and Mental Health Champions.
In Wheel of Independence lessons, students build essential life skills in these areas: food shopping, money management, laundry, and housekeeping. These sessions are designed to equip students with the practical knowledge needed for adult life.
In Mental Health Champions sessions, students learn strategies to manage their own mental wellbeing and explore ways to support others. The programme fosters resilience, empathy, and self-awareness, empowering students to become confident advocates for mental health.
English
Written English and communication is a vital element of all that we do in the Sixth Form. Students will be given a wide-ranging level of opportunities to practise, explore and develop their communication skills, both with each other but also out in the community. Staff are dedicated to ensuring our young people are empowered to share their voice and opinions in a safe environment.
The English curriculum is wide-ranging, varied and exciting, and includes the reading of novels, poetry and plays, as well as allowing students to create their own texts in a range of formats and genres. Through a range of topics, students learn about different countries, cultures, religions and ways of life, opening their world up to more varied perspectives.
We aim to develop a love of literature, writing and reading through our English curriculum, as well as in our Reading sessions, which take place three days a week for 30 minutes.
Where pupils have capacity to increase their grade at Entry Level and GCSE for English, we will work on discrete concepts to facilitate accessing the qualification if this is deemed an appropriate route by the student, parents/carers and practitioners. The accreditations we cover range from Entry Level 1 to GCSE. Students are entered for these in Year 13, giving them the opportunity to focus on literacy life skills in Year 14. Students are taught in sets for English, based on previous accreditations gained.
Maths
Maths in the Sixth Form offers pupils a broad and purposeful curriculum that shows the relevance of Maths in real-life contexts. Students are given a wide-ranging level of opportunities to practise, explore and develop their mathematical and problem-solving skills, both in the classroom and out in the community. We help every pupil reach their full potential through a carefully planned step by step progression of objectives combined with teaching methods that explain clearly and deepen understanding, rather than just procedures. We are strong advocates of ‘hands on’ practical equipment, kinaesthetic or visual methods.
As well as individual work, we encourage our pupils to work in pairs or small groups to complete Maths activities. Pupils develop the social and collaborative skills that enable them to express choices, make decisions and explain their opinions, developing social skills embedded in our school values: trust, respect, responsibility, kindness, courage and excellence.
Numeracy is embedded throughout focused independent life skills work in the Sixth Form. Pupils learn and apply mathematical skills outside of the Maths classroom and in the community. Some key themes are: managing money, economic wellbeing, paying in shops, measuring and using recipes, and time.
Where pupils have capacity to increase their grade at Entry Level and GCSE for Maths, we will work on discrete concepts to facilitate accessing the qualification if this is deemed an appropriate route by the student, parents/carers and practitioners. The accreditations we cover range from Entry Level 1 to GCSE. Students are entered for these in Year 13, giving them the opportunity to focus on mathematical life skills in Year 14. Students are taught in sets for Maths, based on previous accreditations gained.
It is our aim that all pupils learn to love Maths, appreciate its usefulness and understand its relevance in real-life situations.
Skills Centre
All students will work in the Skills Centre once a week. Students choose two skills from a range of options:
Cafe - The Wooden Spoon
Students learn about food hygiene, health and safety and customer service. In the cafe, students work as a team to produce menus, create orders and provide food and drinks to staff and students. Students also learn how to effectively use a till and manage money.
Retail
Students work in a shop on-site. This is the base for a charity shop in which students will learn how to sell items such as clothing and books. Students develop their customer service, organisation and teamwork skills. Throughout the year, sectors of the local community, including parents and other schools, are invited to visit the charity shop so they can buy items in-person. This develops students’ face-to-face customer service skills.Retail Learning JourneyHair and Beauty Salon
Students work alongside and learn from a qualified and experienced hairdresser. They learn how to care for hair, blow-dry and shampoo, and create hairstyles. Later in the year, salon students also learn how to care for skin and nails. Staff members are able to book appointments, meaning students can practise their skills and also develop their communication and customer service skills.
Hair and Beauty Learning Journey
Horticulture
Students work with an experienced horticulturist to develop key horticultural skills. They are taught plant types, as well as developing skills in planting, cultivating and producing. They also develop their teamwork and communication skills.
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme is a nationally recognised award which offers high quality learning outside the classroom. Students develop essential life skills, increase their employability and foster their creativity and innovation. They also learn and develop new skills and interests, as well as a range of leadership skills. We offer bronze and silver awards.
Vinyl Crafting
Students learn about and use a design software programme called "Cricut" to create and import designs. They are also trained to use a vinyl cutting machine to cut all their creations out onto materials like paper, vinyl, card stock and iron-on transfers. These designs are then used to decorate, upcycle or personalise almost any surface.
Vinyl Crafting Learning Journey
Learning for Life
Students learn and develop a range of life skills, including hygiene, clothing, healthy eating and road safety. Students are encouraged to support one another to learn these skills through communication development and teamwork.
Learning for Life Learning Journey
