Welcome to Loreto Grammar Sixth Form

Head Girl Team 2023-2024

Being at Loreto means being part of a community that encourages and empowers young women.

Loreto Grammar Head Girl

 

Introduction to Loreto Sixth Form 

A message from Mr Newman, Director of Sixth Form.  

Welcome to Loreto Grammar School Sixth Form. It gives me great pleasure and pride to introduce our Sixth Form to you, and I trust that this website offers you a flavour of life here. I hope that you will find, as I have, that this is a remarkable community to be a part of. We offer outstanding teaching and learning, pastoral support to accompany you into adulthood and exciting enrichments aimed to educate the whole person and allow each of your gifts and talents to be discovered and unleashed.  

At Loreto we offer a truly broad and balanced curriculum which provides a perfect springboard to university and life beyond Loreto. It consists of four elements: 

The Totality of the Sixth Form Curriculum
Taught Curriculum	Additional Learning	Enrichment	Extracurricular and Student Leadership.

Taught Curriculum: The general pattern of study is three subjects, with some candidates pursuing four. Please be aware that all A Levels offered here are subject to review once we have information about student applications for each course. We will keep everyone informed if there are any changes to our programme. 

Our A Level results are outstanding, and students make excellent progress over the two years of Sixth Form. Staff are rigorous in their academic approach, expecting high standards and leading students on to become independent learners and enabling them to flourish. The most important factor for us, as a school, is that all our teachers are passionate about their subjects and genuinely care for every student they teach. 

The vast majority our Year 13 students go on to university, either to study a traditional degree or as part of a degree level apprenticeship, with over half entering the Russell Group of higher educational establishments, including Oxford and Cambridge and Ivy League institutions. Those who do opt for employment post-18 have little difficulty acquiring the kind of position they desire, and students have been successful on very competitive school-leavers’ programmes such those for as KPMG and Rolls Royce. The most important factor in any decision about the future of our students’ rests upon what is best for each individual. 

Additional Learning: Our wide-ranging Tutorial Time Programme, presented by Form Tutors and external speakers, covers many areas of Sixth Form life, as well as preparing students for independent living, but with a particular emphasis on careers advice and choosing a university. This is backed up by our Careers Department and Connexions advisor service as well as a transition programme in June which is specifically devoted to preparing for post-18 plans.  

Loreto Grammar Sixth Form is a Catholic community in which all the sixth formers take part; students have daily opportunities to develop their faith through prayer, religious assemblies, Masses and the through following the Aletheia Programme. We do not expect applicants to the Sixth Form to be Catholic, but we do expect them to support the Catholic ethos of the school. Our values are centred in God, rooted in gospel values and derive from the vision of Mary Ward and in this spirit, we challenge the students to adopt a wholehearted and determined approach to pursuing their goals, making a contribution and improving the world around them. 

As well as outstanding teaching and learning, we recognise and value the essential nature of the pastoral care of our students. Every girl will be part of a small tutor group, who will be there to support her throughout her time with us. Each student is with their form tutor for 30 minutes each day allowing genuine relationships of trust and understanding to be built. Students are also supported by their Year Co-ordinator and our chaplain who is available to students at all times. It is on these firm footings of outstanding pastoral care that excellent A Level achievement is built, helping each person on their own personal journey through life at Loreto. 

Enrichment: Education of the whole person lies at the heart of being a student at Loreto Grammar School. We recognise the importance of enabling each girl to flourish and be the best that they can be. Enrichment is an essential aspect of this, with opportunities to broaden their horizons through the Extended Project Qualification, work experience and a whole host of subject specific enrichment opportunities that range from sport and STEM projects to our MFL exchange programmes. In Year 13 we also run programmes to support students with personal finance and nutrition, to help with the preparation of each student for their next steps in life. All students have the option to undertake a range of enrichment courses on a Wednesday afternoon, including yoga and conversational Spanish. To support Year 12 students who have not taken A level Mathematics, but take a subject with a high numeracy content, we offer the Core Mathematics course. Our approach at Loreto is to meet the needs of the whole person – academic, pastoral and spiritual. 

Extracurricular and Student Leadership: Sixth Form students at Loreto Grammar School are leaders of the school community and hold a range of responsibilities. A Senior Prefect Committee is led by the elected Head Girl and her Deputies, and the various representatives lead teams of students from Years 7-12. Year 12 students work as Form Prefects for Key Stage 3 forms and also have the opportunity to train as mentors. We have an active and dynamic School Council and Sixth Form Subject Representatives who work with Heads of Department and help to run extra-curricular clubs. 

All of these four elements of our curriculum are supported by superb facilities. These include our purpose built Sixth Form Centre, which houses ‘Café Loreto’, seminar room and common room. In addition, we have one further common room, and a dedicated workspace within our well-stocked library, excellent ICT provision, purpose-built netball and tennis courts and our beautiful chapel. 

We try to ensure that a helpful and friendly relationship between staff and students makes Loreto a congenial place in which to study and in which to relax among friends. As a Loreto school, we are part of an international community of schools founded by Mary Ward everywhere from Australia and Mauritius to India as well as the UK and Ireland. As an IBVM school, we are also represented at the United Nations in New York.  

I hope that these words have given you an insight into life at Loreto, but I believe that we are at our best when you see the school and meet the people who form our community, and I would encourage all prospective students to visit us to find out more; I look forward to meeting you. Our annual Open Evening is held in October and enquiries about the Sixth Form can be made by email to Sixthform@loretogrammar.co.uk.

Mr Newman, Director of Sixth Form 

Assistant Headteacher