The Sixth Form College, Farnborough

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The Sixth Form College, Farnborough
Motto	"...where teaching and learning are outstanding"
Type	Sixth form college
Headteacher	Dr John Guy
Location	Prospect Avenue Farnborough Hampshire England
Ages	16 to 19
Website	farnboroughsfc.ac.uk

The Sixth Form College, Farnborough is a sixth form college situated in Farnborough, Hampshire. It is also know as Farnborough Sixth Form College, or Farnborough Sixth among the local population as opposed to Farnborough Tech, a technical college also situated in Farnborough. It caters for around 3000 students between the ages of 16 and 19. Admission is mostly from schools in the local areas of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Students study for AS/A Levels and other qualifications such as the GNVQ and GCSE. The college has an excellent reputation in the local area. In 2007 the College was described as 'outstanding' by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector.^[1] and continues to enjoy Beacon Status as one of the country’s top colleges. It is therefore often over-subscribed. The college website states that "you must apply in good time - last year we had over 2400 applications for the 1500 places available."

The Principal, Dr John Guy, has served on a number of government committees, including the Tomlinson Committee on 14-19 reform. In 2001, he was awarded the OBE for services to education.^[2]

1 History
2 College facilities
3 Student Association
4 Enrichment
5 CristalWeb
6 References

[edit] History

The College was originally founded as the Farnborough Grammar School.

In the last two decades it has grown fast, from 1,180 full time students in 1992 to 2960 in 2007.^[3]

[edit] College facilities

The college has recently undergone a major building programme costing over £15 million. The first project was The Prospect Theatre and performing arts suite providing start of the art facilities was opened by The Earl of Wessex in 2000. The latest building - The Dame Kelly Holmes Sports Centre was officially opened on 25 April 2007, by the double Olympic gold medallist herself. The developments have also seen the construction of a brand new quad built in the centre of the college, and fairly recently, the Whitehouse Building which boasts an e-Assessment Centre- an IT centre for students to use. The latest phase is a new physics and arts block to replace the existing 1960's Scola block. Planning permission has been granted and the project designed by internationally renowned architects Broadway Malyan is due to start on site soon. The college has three cafeterias (Time Out, Cafe Direct and Shades) for its students to use and also two large fields which are used for sports & recreational purposes.

[edit] Student Association

Every March, students elect a President, Vice President, and various officers to organise student affairs and social activities both in and outside of the College, as well as charity events. The President and Vice President are members of the Governing Body of the College Corporation, the President also being a member of the Policy and Resources Committee whilst the Vice-President is a member of the Estates Committee, which is responsible for the development of the College buildings. Below is a table of recent Presidents of the Student Association.

Year	Name
2001/02	Amanda Fagg
2002/03	John Bailey
2003/04	Gemma Legg
2004/05	Mary Cantle
2005/06	Phil Gradwell
2006/07	Nick Coxon
2007/08	Mo Saqib
2008/09	Theo McCusker

Apart from the President and the Vice-President, SA Officers also hold positions in the following departments: Environmental Officer, Publications, Events, Charities, Teaching & Learning, Community Links, Sports, and Performing Arts. There is also a Treasurer and Secretary.

In October 2007, the 2007/2008 Student Association broke the College record, that had been set the previous year, for the most amount of money raised in a single College day; the £1,800 that was raised eventually went to a variety of gene therapy charities through the 'Jeans for Genes' initiative.[1]

[edit] Enrichment

Outside of the classroom, the college runs a comprehensive enrichment programme. There are successful sports teams in men's and women's football, men's and women's rugby, netball, badminton, men's and women's hockey, men's and women's basketball and ultimate frisbee. The college also runs a number of other societies and has projects with local schools, such as Copperlink, which produces a drama production with a local handicapped school every year. The college also runs World Challenge, and Young Enterprise, to name but two of the inter-collegial schemes.

The college also has a Christian Union. The college has also recently a link has been set up between The Sixth Form College, Farnborough & Presby Secondary Technical School, Aburi, Ghana. This link is called the Ghana Link and it aims to broaden students from both schools horizons and develop a two way partnership that would be of benefit to both parties. In June 2007 15 students from the sixth form college went to the school in Ghana and stayed for ten days there they took part in many lessons and enrichment activities. The trip strengthened links between the schools and students of The Sixth Form College are continuing to raise funds so that students from Presby Secondary Technical School, Aburi may have the opportunity to visit England sometime in the near future, and to improve the resources of the school.^[4]

In March 2000, Prince Edward opened the new £2.5 million Performing Arts Centre incorporating the modern 300-seat Prospect Theatre and teaching suites for music, dance and drama. This modern development enables the students to study and perform in a superb, state-of-the-art facility. Touring theatre groups regularly visit the theatre to give public performances. The theatre is supported by an experienced technician, along with many students who take an active interest in all aspects of the theatre.

[edit] CristalWeb

CristalWeb is the college's web based management information system that allows both students and staff to see the data that the college holds on them (such as exam results). The system has been operating since mid-2004.