Top tips for a new head of sixth form/post-16 leader

16th January 2025

Starting a new role as a new head of sixth form can sometimes feel daunting.

Some teachers may have had pastoral experience previously, but for many this may be their first experience of working in a pastoral leadership role.

Even for teachers who have held head of year roles or worked in pastoral teams previously, the role of head of sixth form can throw up some unique challenges. The head of sixth form role is often perceived to be very specialist within schools, and therefore, teachers new to the role can often find it more difficult to get the guidance and training they need.

When I started my role as a director of sixth form, nothing prepared me for the sheer volume of emails I received daily from staff, students, parents, universities and other organisations and it can often feel when you start the role that your time is being pulled in all different directions. Lots of your time will be spent dealing with both academic and wellbeing concerns, as well as advising students and parents on different pathways and options. With over 35,000 courses being offered each year by UK universities, this alone can feel an overwhelming task.

When you start this role, and even when you have been in post for many years, it is quite easy to feel like you are constantly ‘fighting fires’ and to focus on the day-to-day issues that can hijack even the best made plans. The aim of this blog is to give you some practical tips that will hopefully have a significant impact on your sixth form and save you time and energy as you begin this demanding but incredibly rewarding role.

Tip 1: Know your students

When picking up a new cohort of students for the first time, it is invaluable to find out as much as possible about them preferably before they even start their courses. Handover meetings with their previous head of year or KS4 team can be incredibly valuable and save you a lot of time in the future.

Being aware of students whose attendance or behaviour has been a concern previously, students who engage with external agencies, wellbeing concerns, previous strategies that have been used successfully to motivate individual students or groups of students, can be extremely beneficial and will allow you to be proactive, rather than reactive in the strategies you put in place to help them make a smooth transition into sixth form.

It is also important to identify students and groups of students who may have underachieved previously. Analysing results from KS4 will show you students who performed below their target grade for individual or even multiple subjects. Using this, as you review student’s current post-16 options, will help you can gain a better understanding of whether these are appropriate or need reviewing and whether additional monitoring or mentoring may be needed.

Tip 2: Communicate your vision, values, and ethos

Effective schools will have a clear vision, values and ethos and it is important that these are maintained and built upon in sixth form.

Sixth formers are key role models for younger students and involving students alongside staff in reviewing and refining these via organisations such as school councils or pupil parliaments will help to develop a sense of ownership and strengthen relationships. Communicating this vision and your expectations of students and staff, is equally important, and assemblies, tutor time and study area displays all provide opportunities for you to do this. It is vital that everyone feels that their views are valued, and this will help you, as well as sixth form tutors and teachers, to develop stronger relationships with students. Holding an information evening for parents and guardians early in the autumn term, where they have an opportunity to meet the sixth form team is also good for building positive relationships, as well as providing an opportunity to discuss the role they can play in supporting their children during their time at sixth form.

Tip 3: Develop an effective tracking and monitoring system

Effective tracking and monitoring of students’ progress at both subject and a whole school level along with timely and appropriate interventions is essential for a sixth form to be successful. When monitoring student progress, regular analysis of assessment data and how this compares to target grades is key.

In my school, we used Alps Connect at both KS4 and KS5 for target-setting, evaluating outcomes and tracking student progress. Alps uses full national datasets from the DfE each year to generate Minimum Expected Grades (MEGs) that reflect progress made by students in the top 25% of schools and colleges. Alps Connect allowed us to upload unlimited in-year monitoring data such as current working at grades, predicted grades (based on work completed so far), mock assessment data etc. This ability to track the progress of students throughout the academic year and to get instant value-added analysis was a ‘game-changer’ for my school. From analysing our in-year monitoring data, we were able to quickly identify priorities with current cohorts in terms of subjects, individual students, and student groups.

Setting targets for students that are both aspirational and realistic provides a clear direction for success and helps everyone to reach their full potential. Involving students as part of the process was also vital to me in my school. I have seen repeatedly, that when students are not involved in the target setting process, it often leads to a lack of ownership, decreased motivation and poor engagement. Setting targets with students sets the foundations to enable the high-quality conversations that you will want to have later in the year encouraging them to reflect on their strengths, areas for development and the support they need to reach their goals. Tutorial time and assemblies provide excellent opportunities for explaining and emphasising the importance of both the target setting and monitoring process to students.

I found that by allocating specific time to this within my pastoral programme, it prevented a lot of individual queries from students and parents, saving me valuable time throughout the academic year.

Addressing underachievement as a new Head of 6th Form

It is critical that heads of sixth form, SLT and heads of department develop a clear joined up strategy for addressing underachievement.

For example, if a student is underachieving in just one subject, you may decide that departments should take the lead in informing parents and putting in place appropriate intervention strategies, keeping key staff informed of the success of these.

If underachievement exists in multiple subjects, it may be more appropriate for sixth form teams to take over, communicating with students and parents and working with individual departments, form tutors etc to develop appropriate strategies.

School staff have limited time, and it is important that everyone works together to support students who are underachieving. To support departments, I found it useful to develop standard cause for concern letters that they could adapt and personalise. This improved communication and led to more consistent interventions taking place.

Tip 4: Make effective use of tutorial time and assemblies

The form tutor plays a key role in supporting sixth formers. They will often be the only teachers who see a student every day and the relationship they form with students is crucial. Providing opportunities for your tutors to have regular discussions with students both in groups or one to one, to get to know them properly and to understand their views, opinions and concerns can be incredibly valuable. Form tutors can also play a key role in tracking students’ progress, and it is worth investing the time to train tutors to do this effectively.

Tutorial time is also important in developing the skills, personal qualities and knowledge students need to thrive at sixth form. To make an effective transition from KS4, students will need to become strong independent learners, and a successful tutorial programme will give them the opportunity and support to develop skills such as organisation, time-management etc. It should also provide them with the knowledge needed to make informed career choices and support their health and wellbeing.

Putting together an effective programme can be time-consuming but there are lots of great resources out there to support you. ‘The A-level Mindset: 40 activities for transforming student commitment, motivation and productivity’ by Steve Oakes and Martin Griffin is a must read for new heads of 6th form. It is full of great ideas and practical activities that you can incorporate directly into your tutorial programme. Utilising the VESPA model introduced in the book with activities designed to develop, students’ vision, effort, systems, practice, and attitude can give your tutorial or mentoring programmes a real focus. Many universities have also developed resources to support sixth form tutorial programmes, and it is worth contacting the school liaison teams to see what resources and support are available. Most universities will be keen to support you and will be happy to arrange guest speaker sessions, taster lectures, university visits to enhance your curriculum. In addition to sessions relating to UCAS, many universities now offer sessions to support students with revision skills, exam technique, research skills and wellbeing.

Assemblies can be used to reinforce aspects of your tutorial programme. For example, I would often use these to stress the importance of utilising study periods and preparing for lessons. To me the significant difference between KS4 and sixth form is the amount of independent work that is needed between lessons to be successful. Many parents and former students will also be keen to support you with assemblies and guest speaker sessions. Having talks from former students can be incredibly powerful and highly effective at raising aspirations and motivating students.

Tip 5: Make time for yourself and look after your own wellbeing

The head of sixth form role is extremely rewarding; however, it can also be very demanding at times and exhausting.

It is therefore invaluable to build a strong pastoral team who support each other during these times. It can be easy to dwell on situations that happen while you carry out the role and you may often be dealing with information and situations that are upsetting. It is therefore essential that you make time to relax, recharge and to do activities that you enjoy.

Research from Birkbeck, University of London, has found that high quality ‘me time’ not only improves your psychological wellbeing, but it can also make you a more engaged employee and increase your productivity. To support students’ effectively with their academic programme and their wellbeing, it is vital you look after your wellbeing and come to school having rested and recharged. Collaboration and sharing resources between schools can often reduce your workload and through networking you can develop and share good practice, as well building an additional support network.

I hope you find these tips helpful and good luck in your new role.

About the author John Roe, Educational Consultant for Alps

John has worked in education for 22 years as a science teacher, Head of Department and Pastoral Lead. John is passionate about creating an aspirational culture and supporting students to achieve their full potential. Prior to joining Alps, John was Director of Radyr Sixth Form in Cardiff for 10 years, where he lead the transformation of the sixth form with student outcomes consistently matching the performance of the top 2% nationally.

 

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