The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College

The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College

The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College

Tettenhall CollegeWood Road, TettenhallWolverhampton WV6 8QX

Tel: +44 (0)1902 751119Fax: +44 (0)1902 741940

Email: head@tettcoll.co.ukWebsite: www.tettenhallcollege.co.uk

The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College

The Sixth Form is the climax of a pupil’s school career, a bridgebetween school and university. Personal tutors, chosen by thepupils themselves offer help and guidance with the choice ofsuitable courses. Most sixth-formers take four AS levels andthen three or more A levels in various combinations. A SixthForm study centre and common room encompass facilities forprivate study and recreation. Sixth-formers are encouraged tomake full use of the traditional and new electronic researchfacilities to help in their studies and to develop their ability tolearn independently. On average, about 95% of our Sixth Formgo on to Degree courses at Universities across the UK,including Oxford and Cambridge.

Sixth Form subjects include Art, Biology, Business Studies,Chemistry, Economics, Electronics, English Literature, French,German, Geography, History Information and CommunicationTechnology, Law, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music,Physical Education, Physics, Psychology and Theatre Studies.Subjects are modular and can be taken at either AS or A Level.

The School and Sixth Form Councils provide a forum forpupils to play a positive role in the governance of their school,and older pupils exercise responsibility as members of theLeadership Team, Prefects, House Captains and officers ofSchool Clubs.

Boys and Girls complete their schoolcareers in Upper School which coversall the secondary years through toUniversity entrance.

The emphasis in Upper Schoolcontinues to be on academicachievement and pupils’ progress iscontinuously monitored by FormTeachers and Personal Tutors. Schoolexaminations are held at the end ofeach academic year, full reports areissued twice a year and we sendparents details of pupils’ attainment,effort and grades at regular intervalsthroughout each term. While wecomply with many of the requirementsof the National Curriculum, this is onlythe beginning as we aim to give all ourpupils a much wider experience oflearning than these narrowprescriptions allow.

Key Stage 3 is completed in the firstyears of Upper School before pupilsmove on to Key Stage 4, for GCSE.Pupils are streamed or setted in Years 7and 8, and setted in Year 9 and above.

At GCSE, all pupils take the coresubjects of English, Mathematics andScience. They also choose further

options from a wide range of othersubjects. Please refer to theInformation Booklet for details.

The Upper School is subdivided intodiscrete academic departments all ofwhich are well resourced. A modernICT network spans every area of theSchool and all the classrooms arelinked directly to it. The pupils haveeasy access to these facilities and ICT isintegrated throughout the curriculum.A spacious library houses 8,500volumes and provides access to otherresearch tools such as the internet. Amodern, purpose-built ScienceDepartment is named after Sir ArthurHarden, a former pupil of the Schoolwho won a Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Field work and curriculum relatedvisits complement the work done inmany subject areas and an exchangeprogramme is organised by theModern Languages Department.

The Learning Support Departmentcoordinates a study skills andenrichment programme for all pupilsand provides specialist help for thosewith specific learning difficulties. TheSchool has CReSTeD status.

curriculum

sixth form

The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College music,

art &drama

Music plays an important role in the life of the School, and a largeproportion of pupils learn one or more instrument. Instrumental groups ofvarious kinds practise together during the week. Choirs andinstrumentalists perform in concerts both in and out of school throughoutthe year. There are practice rooms, visiting specialist teachers for allinstruments, and a fine Nicholson organ in the Chapel where SchoolAssemblies are held. A Carol Service at Christmas is enjoyed by pupils andparents from all sections of the School.

The Art School has relocated recently into new premises and is wellequipped. In addition to drawing and painting, pupils are encouraged to trypottery, sculpture, printing, photography and computer-aided design. Thedisplays around the School reveal work of great variety and imagination.The fine nineteenth century theatre in Towers is used extensively both bythe pupils and by other Dramatic and Operatic Societies. Annual highlightsinclude the School Play or Musical, and the Performing Arts competition.

The Upper SchoolatTettenhall College

sports

extra-curricularThe School offers a busy extra-curricular programme in Sport, Music, Art,Drama and a diverse range of other activities. Adventure training isprovided through the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme which trainspupils to Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards levels.

All pupils take part in some sporting activity and we are very fortunate inhaving excellent sports facilities. Among these are a heated indoor swimmingpool, a Sports Hall, Squash Courts, Tennis and Netball Courts, Rugby andFootball pitches, two Cricket squares and a well-equipped Sports pavilion. Also,regular use is made of the Astroturf Hockey pitches at Aldersley.

Boys play Rugby and Football in the winter and teams compete at inter-schooland tournament level in all age groups. Cricket is the principal sport in thesummer, although Tennis is also popular. Girls play Hockey and Netball in thewinter and Rounders, Tennis and Cricket in the summer. Swimming is anintegral part of the physical education programme all the year round.

Other sports on offer are Squash, Volleyball, Badminton, Cross-Country, TableTennis and there is a range of equipment for fitness training. Full use is madeof the Sports Hall for Five-a-Side Football, indoor Cricket practice andBasketball, and visiting coaches help with training.

There are numerous inter-house sports competitions during the course of theyear, and all pupils are expected to take part in these and the fixtureprogramme where they can. A significant number of pupils represent theSchool in Sports Academies, or in City, County and Regional teams.

Although 75% of the pupils are day boys and girls, Tettenhall retains theethos of a Boarding School. Boys live in School House. Younger boys arehoused in shared rooms, while Sixth Formers have their own studybedrooms. Girl boarders are accommodated in shared or single studybedrooms in the purpose-built Thorneycroft House. Each House has acommon room, recreational facilities, a kitchen, quiet study areas andtelevision rooms: most of the school facilities are open to boarders’ useduring the evenings after prep and at weekends.

We offer great flexibility in terms of boarding: full boarders live in schoolseven days a week, going to parents or guardians at half-term or for oddweekends, while weekly boarders go home every weekend. It is also possibleto accommodate day boys and girls for short periods, for example whentheir parents need to be away, and such short stays prove very popular.

Boarders are in the care of especially trained resident staff who oversee theirgeneral welfare and happiness, and arrange programmes of activities atweekends. There is 24 hour medical cover, and all boarders are registeredwith one of two School doctors. Nearly all senior pupils have a chance toassume some responsibility and help with the running of the Houses.

pastoral carePupils are placed in forms according to House,which gives more opportunity for closepastoral supervision. Form teachers oversee apupil’s general progress and welfare and arethe first point of contact for parents. Smallclasses enable pupils and their teachers toestablish friendly and trusting relationships.Parents are encouraged to visit the School forall kinds of events and there are Parents’Evenings to discuss work and progress once aterm for each age group. A PSHE programme isdelivered within the curriculum. The work ofthe Chaplain contributes significantly to pupils’moral and spiritual development.

Specialist Careers staff offer advice andassistance on making important decisionsabout such things as choice of GCSE options,Sixth Form subjects, University courses orCareers. Pupils can conduct their own researchin the Careers section of the Library wherethere is all kinds of informational material.Work experience is arranged for all of Year 11once they have completed their GCSEs.

internationalpupilsAbout 11% of our pupils come from outside ofthe UK and we have connections with morethan ten different countries in Europe andfurther afield. Such cultural diversity addsconsiderably to life in the school community.All international pupils are encouraged tointegrate fully with the English boys and girlsand receive specialist English teaching as partof the curriculum, to enable them to gain thegreatest benefit from their education with us.

International pupils come for a long or shortstay, according to their preference, althoughmany stay for the whole of the GCSE and Alevel courses and subsequently go on toUniversity in the UK. Boarders from othercountries must have a guardian in the UK whowill be responsible for their care during half-terms and short holidays. The School canprovide guardians if parents have difficulty infinding someone suitable.

boarding