Bridging Courses for Year 11 and Year 13 students

Six week courses covering a wide range of subjects, to provide further opportunities for our pupils, and those in our partner schools, to increase their skill sets in preparation for the next stage of their academic life, Introduction to A Level or Preparation for University.

Aims

The bridging courses were initially created for City of London Freemen's students, however it quickly became apparent that the majority of resources could easily be adapted to suit other school environments where they may have varying levels of teaching capacity available during the current COVID-19 crisis.

A total of 28 courses have been shared with seven other City of London schools, and our local partner school Rosebery. Hundreds of students across the eight schools are now benefitting from the additional resources, in preparation for starting A Levels or University in the autumn term. 

Background

Once it became clear that exams were unlikely to take place due to the outbreak of COVID19, Freemen's resolved to take the opportunity presented to help students thrive in the next stage of their education.

The six week courses were shared with all of our partner schools after May half term, providing the opportunity for students to access the resources throughout the second half of the summer term. 

Resources

The courses were designed for the students at Freemen's School, with the main aim being to increase the skill set of students, for example to increase their ability to conduct independent research and analysis.  These skills are not specific to one examining board, therefore the majority of courses could easily be shared across schools without too much alteration.

Some changes were necessary to reduce the amount of teacher interaction required, in order to ensure lack of teacher capacity wouldn't be a barrier for students in other schools you may wish to access the courses.

Impact

The courses are still taking place, however a review will be undertaken at the end of term to try to ascertain how many students have accessed the courses.

Pupil Involvement

The courses are aimed at current Year 11 students - Introduction to A Level, and current Year 13 students - Preparation for University.

Frequency

The intention is to work with the schools during the autumn term to develop further resources which can be shared across all schools.