Page 2 - Bridging Courses - Sixth Form

Welcome from Joe Gauci
The Academic Leadership Team at Malvern College have worked tirelessly over the Easter break to write and produce a series of courses for our Hundred (Year 11 and Pre 6th) pupils to follow as preparation for joining the Sixth Form in September.
As part of our commitment to a first-class education, I am delighted to launch these courses which aim to bridge the gap between the content and skills developed through the GCSE courses, and the level of skill and specific subject understanding that is needed for success in both A level and IB Diploma programmes. The criteria for the programme is as follows:
Core Skills
Each course will have a focus on the following core skills:
» Numeracy
» Literacy (academic writing)
» Reading
» Note-taking
» Academic integrity
» Planning
» IT
Subject -Specific Skills
Each individual course will also focus on its subject-specific skills as well as the application of the core skills listed above.
Outline of Bridging Course Programme
» We are very clear that our Bridging Courses are not an opportunity to start IB or A level courses early.
» Pupils choose the subjects that they are studying as their IB higher level choices or as their A levels in the Sixth Form.
» There will be four periods per week, per course.
» The course is a five-week course.
» Those predicted GCSE grade 4, or lower, after the January trial examinations at Maths and/or English language will have weekly support lessons during the five- week programme
Assessment
At the end of each course pupils will be assessed (self, peer and teacher assessment) by a variety of methods (continuous assessment, essay, presentation, video, poster, performance etc.) based on their skill development rather than subject knowledge.
Summary
The aim of the Bridging Courses is for pupils to become self-aware about the skills they have and the skills they need to develop further to enable success in the Sixth Form, and this level of self-awareness will be reflected in their end-of-term report. They will then take this awareness of areas they need to develop and strengthen into the Lower Sixth as they embark on their IB and A level courses.
Joe Gauci
Deputy Head Academic