Sixth Form Co-Curricular

Enrichment (also known as ‘Choice’ at KAS) takes place weekly for Year 12 students and students are able to choose a new activity each term. Choice provides students with the opportunity to learn new skills, develop new or existing interests and to do something different from their A level subjects. In this way students develop a breadth of experience that supplements their academic studies.

Choice activities include practical opportunities for leadership, teamwork, independent learning, project-based learning, teaching, mentoring and hands-on learning. Students can focus on opportunities or super-curriculars that target academic skills, personal development, or giving back to the community at KAS and beyond the school gates. Many students select options that will enhance their personal statements, university applications, CVs, or preparation for life after KAS.

Recent options include:

• Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
• Peer Mentoring Program (PEP)
• Choice Leadership Program
• British Sign language (BSL)
• MOOCs other online courses
• Springpod Virtual Work Experience
• Lower School Reading Buddies
• School Farm Volunteers
• Volunteering with Kenwood House
• Directed reading or documentary lists
• Independent projects (e.g. learning to sew, coding projects, pilots license, charity campaigns)
• Super curriculars (e.g. HE+, STEP Maths)
• Jewellery Workshop in Design Technology workshops

Year 12 Camp

At the start of the school year, Year 12 students go on a two-day residential camp as part of their induction program. Bringing together new and returning students in a relaxed setting helps to create friendship bonds and build community spirit and teamworking skills. Each year, students love the trip.

Open and Cross Year Group Trips

Sixth Formers also have the option to join the annual school ski trip. Other recent trips open to all Sixth Form students have included ecological field work in Indonesia and a History and Politics trip to the US.

Curriculum trips

There are a wide range of subject based trips designed to enhance the curriculum and students have many opportunities to visit London’s varied cultural facilities. Last year, these included various plays and musicals, art and photography shows, and visits to galleries, workshops, museums, university degree shows, businesses, book readings and festivals, Biology and Geography students organise residential fieldwork in various parts of the country and abroad. Art and Photography students travel every year to a foreign city, which in the past has included Berlin, Barcelona, Venice, Istanbul and Paris.  The Biology Department run a biannual trip to Flatford Mill and Geography has many field trips including to the Sussex coast.

Workshops, Callovers & Guest Speakers

Taught sessions and workshops are held throughout the focusing on year on study skills, academic development, mental health and well-being. Regular Callovers (assemblies) provide Sixth Form students with the opportunity to engage with a wide range of issues designed to enhance their understanding of the world around them.

A range of expert speakers provide academic lectures on subjects ranging from science and sustainability to art to politics. Topics are chosen in areas of student interests and delivered in a format that prioritised in an interdisciplinary perspective.

Old Alfredians are called on to provide talks as alumni on their areas of professional expertise or career development through KAS Connected talks and panel discussions.

There are a variety of clubs available for students to get involved in, from subject based clubs to sports, musical ensembles and choirs.

Music clubs include Rock Band, Music Tech, Orchestra, Choir, KAS Bellas and Jazz Band. Other clubs include: The History Salon, backgammon, life drawing, wider reading, French & Spanish debate and Blacksmithing.

Drama and Musical Productions and Concerts

There are many opportunities for students to get involved in drama and music. Specialist music teachers provide on-site lessons and many students chose to take  LAMDA drama qualification up to Gold Medal level.

Each year, there is an Upper School musical production during the Autumn Term which all students are invited to audition for. The most recent production was Guys and Dolls, and past productions included The Addams Family , Sweeny Todd, Into the Woods, Grease, Legally Blonde and Les Miserables.

Throughout the year there are musical concerts and soloist performances. Highlights of the school year include our Unplugged and Axemonsters concerts and performances by students at the school summer fete known as KAStonbury.

Our current Performing Arts Calendar is here.

TEDx Event

The King Alfred School Society organises and hosts a day of TEDx talks which has featured Sixth Formers among the speakers. Pitching their ideas and refining their talk before performing it in front of an audience is a hugely rewarding experience for our students. Find out more here.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

The Duke of Edinburgh Award has been running at KAS for several successful years now. The award can be started in Year 9, 10, 11 or in the Sixth Form. The award is vocational in its nature, and can reward students with a great sense of achievement and purpose, especially when helping others in the volunteering section and when working in a team for the expedition.

Year 12 PSHE is delivered by our dedicated PSHE teaching team during Form Time. The programme is carefully designed to meet all statutory requirements for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, while also supporting students as they prepare for adulthood.

The curriculum covers key areas including mental health and emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships, consent, sexual health, online safety, and managing risk. Students also explore topics such as substance use, personal safety, financial wellbeing, and preparing for independent living.

Through a structured and age-appropriate programme, students are supported to develop the knowledge, confidence, and skills needed to make informed decisions and lead healthy, safe, and fulfilling lives

Games and Sports Clubs

All Sixth Formers will have games on their timetable and there is a choice of sports to get involved in including: football, basketball, netball, fitness, yoga, tennis, rounders, badminton and volleyball. Sport is encouraged as it gives students a chance to get out of the classroom and get some exercise. Students are encouraged to lake leadership roles in the PE department as coaches and sports assistants, an excellent opportunity to develop teaching and mentoring skills.

Throughout the year, there will be fixtures for our sports teams: football (boys and girls), basketball (boys) and netball (girls). All Sixth Formers are welcome to come to after school clubs to practise for these fixtures. Our fitness studio is available to Sixth Formers to use in their free time, once they have completed a gym induction.

Sailing

The School has three boats, built by staff and students (with help from boat designer Nigel Irens) and named after King Alfred’s three daughters: Æthelflæd, Æthelgifu, and Ælfthryth. There are opportunities for Sixth Form students to sail the KAS boats, including the Thames Great River Race in which both students and staff participate.

Co-ordinated by Extended Project Qualification mentors, the EPQ is a qualification that all Sixth Formers can take to show what they are capable of when given the chance. There is no formal teaching, and there are no exams. Students choose the topic they wish to investigate, and will be entirely responsible for the project content. A tutor is assigned to teach the basic skills required to realise the project. Some skills will be relevant to all projects: time management, research, organisation, but others will be very specific to the project carried out by a student.

The project, once finished, can be either a 5000-word written investigation, or a ‘production’ by the student: this could be an artefact, a website, a performance, a novel, the organisation of an event, a blog, directing a play… in that case, a 1000-word document will complement the project.

Students also have to submit a production log which records planning and progress, including the review meetings with their supervisor.

Finally, students will need to make an oral presentation of their project in front of an audience. The students’ work is assessed and moderated by the teachers, before being submitted to the board. Marks are awarded as follows:

• Project Management Skills: 20%
• Effective use of resources: 20%
• Developing and realising the project: 40%
• Review / evaluation of own performance: 20%

The project is equivalent to half an A level and is graded in the same way. So an A* grade would give 28 UCAS points, an A 24, a B 20, a C 16, a D 12 and an E 8.

Embarking on such a project is a very good way for students to prepare themselves for university style learning and can be a means of distinguishing between equally good students when it comes to university applications.