Curriculum Enrichment at QPCS

As well as your subject courses we provide activities and opportunities for you to broaden your experience, raise your aspirations, engage your interests and have some fun!

Future High

“FH” endeavours to raise aspirations and broaden horizons by introducing sixth form students to a range of places and people, in particular developing links with universities.

As a QPCS student you will have opportunities to experience different aspects of university life through:

• Informal mentoring sessions with student ambassadors

• Shadowing schemes at Oxford, Cambridge and at a number of London Universities

• Summer schools at a variety of universities, including the most prestigious

• Visits to universities in various parts of the country

We have excellent relationships with Higher Education Institutions

• Undergraduates and Admissions Tutors visit the school to provide information about the university application process, to give additional advice on your UCAS form, conduct mock interviews, and help you choose the best university option for you

• Lecturers and Professors run intensive Master Classes for AS and A2 students

• QPCS students are invited by the universities to use their facilities, giving us even greater access to up to date, state of the art equipment. For example, you will have access to:
  

  The Art and Design Studios at Brunel University

  Media Studies resources at the University of Westminster

  Science laboratories at University College London

Visits Around London
You will have the opportunity to visit a variety of places of cultural, historical and political interest.

Visits include:

Houses of Parliament

The British Library

Freud's House

The Inns of Court

The Old Bailey

The City's financial institutions

The Tate Gallery

The British Museum

Docklands

The National Portrait Gallery

Keats' House

QPCS students use the Petrie Museum, the Grant Museum of Zoology, the superb geological collection and the Strang collection of arts and prints at UCL.

Contact: Alison Hook

Ofsted said:
“Students receive good advice about careers and entrance to Higher Education . . . (there is) good tracking of progress . . . A wide range of curricular, extra-curricular and business and enterprise opportunities promote community cohesion extremely effectively” (November, 2008).

Brent LA Sixth Form Review 2011
Students told the inspectors that the quality of most of the teaching is excellent. They said that the teachers are specialised and know their subjects, and are passionate and dedicated. Students felt that a major strength of the sixth form is the excellent relationships that they have with their teachers. They praised the support that their teachers give them for their subject work, progression and personal issues (Brent LA Sixth Form Review 2011)

Career Academy at QPCS

What is it?

The Career Academy is a programme that will run alongside your Advanced courses (A level or BTEC National). It includes classes in employability skills, guru lectures and educational visits. This is complemented by 'real business experience' including a six-week paid internship and one-to-one mentoring which will enhance your higher education and career prospects. The Career Academy offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a big name company on your CV and UCAS form – 92.5% of graduates from the programme go to university.

How many students get into the Academy?

Up to 15 students can be in the Academy at QPCS, assuming we get the right kind of candidates.

What are the criteria to get into the Academy?

Successful applicants to the programme will meet the following criteria:

• An excellent attendance, punctuality and work record

• Ability to undertake a paid internship (job in London) for the last 2 weeks of the summer term AND the first 4 weeks of the summer holiday (with no exceptions)

• Readiness to engage fully in the “Partners in Business” programme, where academy students will be allocated a mentor. This will be someone who is already in the business world who can act as an advisor in terms of business etiquette, CV writing and even coursework. Students will need to travel to meet their mentor at least 10 times over 18 months of the programme.

How much time will students need to dedicate to it?

Enrichment time (every other Wednesday periods 6 & 7) will be used for the Career Academy programme. This will include educational visits, guru lectures, career workshops and other aspects of the programme being delivered. Students will also need to commit to the 6 week internship in the summer and to meeting their partner in business at least 10 times over the course of the programme.

How do students get onto the Career Academy programme?

Students will need to apply to the programme as if they are applying for a real job. They will need to fill in an application form and will then be interviewed in Central London.

Queens Park Community School is the only school in the borough that offers the Career Academy.

Contact: Jayne Llewelyn & Deborah Collins

Comments from recent Career Academy interns and their employers:

“I was really proud of seeing the work I did being used by everyone in my department”
Saamia Hameed

“Saamia was being given really important tasks, because people clearly thought she could do them”
JP Morgan

“The main project I had was something I carried from start to finish. I thought of the idea and was so proud to see it being put into practice”
Jamilah Harris

“The value of what Jamilah delivered to us is tangible – these weren’t made up projects”
Lloyds TSB Bank

Wednesday Afternoons

Courses which run on Wednesday afternoons are Further Mathematics, Philosophy, Computer Engineering and the Career Academy. If you are not studying one of these, there is a wide variety of additional activities you may participate in. We will consult you about what you would be interested in doing.

Opportunities in 2012/2013 included:

• Football

• Basketball

• Table tennis

• Canoeing

• Climbing

• Theatre Visits

• Debating

• Creative Writing Workshops

• Opportunities to hear high-profile speakers

• Working with Children in Local Primary Schools

• Photography

Contact: Deborah Collins & Ben Farlow

Ofsted said:
“Very good arrangements are made for students’ horizons to be broadened through a well-planned enrichment programme… opportunities provided produce a well-integrated, confident and enthusiastic group of students”. (October, 2004)