Year 11 pupils had the chance to find out more about sixth form life at Queen's in an exciting two-day taster trial.
The year group enjoyed sample lessons in a range of possible A-level subject areas on the specially-timetabled days, which also gave staff the chance to show off the amazing range of A-level options on offer.
The sessions were geared to helping girls narrow down their choices to the three or four main subject areas they will want to take in Year 12.
Girls also had the chance to enjoy sixth form privileges like wearing their own clothes, making use of the Year 13 common room and they were also able to sign out of school during lunchtime or in a study period, so they could enjoy what the city centre has to offer.
"The days were great for getting to know more about the subjects - for example the sessions in Business and Economics were really useful in helping you find out about all of the contents of the courses," said Year 11 pupil Evie.
Millie added: "We also got to appreciate all the sixth form opportunities and the freedoms that you have at the top end of the school like going into town and managing your own study time."
A wide range of engaging sessions were provided, including investigating 'waves' in Physics by making their own jelly baby wave machine and using flames to produce stationary waves.
In Business, pupils got a chance to see entrepreneurs at work on the Apprentice and using the concept of the marketing mix, were asked to produce a pitch for a business idea to 'recycle' the 40,000 tents which are abandoned at UK music festivals each year. Ideas included providing tents to homeless charities, recycling the tents into ponchos and providing a cheaper ticket price for tent return. A very topical task in view of Glastonbury tickets selling out in one hour despite a significant increase in price this year.
In Art students were lucky enough to hear from 2013 alumna Kara Chin who came to talk about her life as an artist and how doing art at A-level at Queen’s became the springboard to her degree at Slade and subsequent success.
In Economics, pupils were introduced to the concept of the basic economic problem of scarcity and choice. Working with limited materials, the teams had just 10 minutes to produce a freestanding bridge that could be used to transport goods across a river. Pupils were able to identify how they could have performed better with more resources, especially time, and more workers on the team!
A great opportunity to gain a real insight into what sixth form at Queen's is really like.
