Empowering Futures

The morning of Thursday 11th January, Leighton Park’s fantastic Sixth Form students inspired Year 9 during a dynamic GCSE options talk. This session provided an invaluable opportunity for our senior students to share their experiences and insights directly with Year 9s, helping them to navigate the path ahead and make informed choices for their next academic chapter.

Within the informative session, Year 9 students gathered in 6 groups, with each group facilitated by one or two Sixth Formers to engage in conversation about GCSE experience and the diverse array of subjects available. Each group benefited from five minutes of dialogue, questions and insightful advice. The Sixth Formers, in a carousel-like fashion, smoothly transitioned from one group to the next, eager to share their knowledge and guidance with their younger peers.

One of the Lower Sixth participants, Kimia, imparted invaluable advice. “My key piece of advice that I shared amongst all the groups I had the opportunity to talk to, was how to deal with stress and the best methods to revise. I also shared my knowledge on revision methods such as consistently going over key topics and vocabulary and how to evenly distribute revision management to avoid unnecessary pressure and stress. I further shared how certain GCSE will support your A-level or IB subjects so it would be wise to pick a wide array of different subjects going from being essay-based and academic heavy subjects to also more creative and explorative subjects”. Furthermore Anis (Lower Sixth) commented “I think the talk was beneficial to the Y12s as it gave us a chance to support the younger years and pass on the experience that we have learnt over GCSEs and the first term of sixth form. It was even more crucial in my opinion to the Y9s, as many of them that I was able to talk to have no older siblings to help them with these choices but were then able to gain advice from us for their first major decision in their education”.

Maia (Year 9) reflected “The key piece of advice I took away from the Upper Sixth students was to choose subjects that correspond with my interests and that if you have an idea of what you want to do for your A levels or your future career then pick something that might compliment that subject. I think it was really important to make sure I am picking subjects that I think I can do well in, also subjects that I have a proper interest in. The talks were also important because we were given advice from people who have been through GCSE’s and their advice is really helpful right now as it feels like a big decision and of course, we all want to make the right choices!”

Leighton Park takes great satisfaction in fostering a sense of community among our students, providing. A platform for mutual support and guidance in pivotal moments in their education, such as the critical decision-making phase surrounding GCSE choices. Not only do we enjoy seeing the support within our community, but the atmosphere of inspiration.