Wellington School, Somerset, has provided its GCSE and A Level students with the opportunity to complete a full and meaningful programme of study during the summer, and to emerge with an assessed outcome at the end of the term.
Students in the Upper Sixth will complete the Wellington Diploma, and will be awarded a ‘pass’, ‘merit’ or ‘distinction’ for their efforts. The Diploma is composed of a substantial piece of independent research, on a topic of each student’s choice, and a number of online short courses.
Dan Millington, Head of Sixth, has provided students with a wide range of options when it comes to the online short courses, with topics such as financial management, aeronautical engineering, writing fiction, European law, modern building design and neurobiology on offer.
GCSE students are expected to complete the Wellington Summer Certificate and, as for the Diploma, will be awarded either a ‘pass’, ‘merit’ or ‘distinction’ for their work. Sam Dean, Head of Upper School, has structured the Summer Certificate to include a substantial piece of independent research and students will also embark on a programme of pre-Sixth Form courses. The programme provides students with the opportunity to elect four A Level subjects, which they will then explore more closely within a newly designed Year 11 timetable.
Central to both the Diploma and the Summer Certificate is the ‘Great Welly Project’, a carefully designed programme intended to allow students to present an ‘exhibit’ their choice and to then share the ‘record’ of the creation of their exhibit to a wider audience. While students in the Year 11 and the Upper Sixth are required to complete a Project in order to earn the Summer Certificate or Diploma, students of all ages, from both the Prep and Senior School, will be invited to take part in the Great Welly Project. Tutors will provide support and guidance to their students as they complete their project. Rob Stevens, Head of Enrichment, has crafted the Great Welly Project in such a way as to provide students with maximum flexibility so that they are able to follow their individual intellectual interests.
An exciting element of the Diploma, Summer Certificate and Project is that students will have the opportunity to listen to Old Wellingtonians and to learn from their professional journeys. Clare Bailey, Careers Coordinator at Wellington, believes that being able to network with the School’s successful and supportive alumni will also provide students with the chance to explore mentoring and work experience opportunities.
When launching these opportunities to the school community, Eugene du Toit, Headmaster said “We know that certain skills are central to learning and are highly valued in the workplace: being critical in your thinking, creative when solving complex problems, able to coherently articulate sophisticated ideas clearly and concisely and able to work independently. Evidence of these skills allow selection panels to separate ‘the wheat from the chaff’ when faced with a field of applicants; those young adults able to evidence these skills will, without doubt, move to the front of whichever queue they are in.”
“The Diploma, Certificate and Project gives students the opportunity to demonstrate how engaged, ambitious and committed they are to their learning. At Wellington, we believe that learning should be both enjoyable and challenging; we have every confidence in our students’ ability to meet the challenge we have set them.” Mr du Toit concluded.