Guest article by Stoke Gifford resident Lauren Brenton, a 17-year-old student at Abbeywood Community School who aspires to one day becoming a journalist, following in the footsteps of her grandfather. Lauren is hoping to study media, journalism and culture at Cardiff University from September.
For most young people, ‘Post-16’ or ‘sixth form’ conjures up ideas of meticulous essay writing and constant revision. It would be silly to say they were wrong, especially as the dread of exam season is nearing, but for us at Abbeywood Post-16 it isn’t all work and no play. With the amazing support from our heads of Post-16 and our tutors, we’ve been pushed to try new things we can have fun at, to make it two years we’ll never forget.
From sausage making to treasure hunts spanning the whole school to coffee mornings to relaxing yoga, the list goes on. If you had a chance to attend our open evening on the 8th November, you would’ve been able to speak to our students and staff about Post-16 and the opportunities that studying at Abbeywood Post-16 can give you. The abundance of extracurricular activities we are offered here is plentiful, with opportunities to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and Access to Bristol being some of our most appealing options. If hiking up a mountain and camping isn’t your thing, there will definitely be something that will inspire you, whether that be our mentoring programme ran by Ella, a member of our student leadership team, or maybe the Envision programme that we’re lucky enough to have at our Post-16.
Whether you want to go to university, get a higher apprenticeship, take a gap year or simply get straight into the world of work, the whole of Post-16 and its team will be behind you. We like to compare ourselves to being like a second family for you to come and lean on for support. It really isn’t just about getting grades, it’s about shaping you into an individual who is able to be sent out into the scary ‘real world’ and be able to succeed and be happy with whatever career you pursue.
Obviously grades are important to us and we wouldn’t be at Abbeywood Post-16 if we didn’t think it was the best place for us to achieve the grades we all desperately want, but I can speak for all of us at Post-16 when I say it’s the experience of being an Abbeywood Post-16 student that drives us to succeed, and it’s one we can confidently say you won’t get at other Post-16 centres.
This article originally appeared in the January 2019 issue of the Stoke Gifford Journal news magazine (on page 23). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to over 5,000 homes in Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
