6th form- Netherhall?

[busylizi]

greetings all. My DS is embarking on his GCSE's this year and we are researching 6th forms (he's at Cottenham atm). Does anyone know if Netherhall 6th form is any good?

ok asked my DH he says its ok - its a long way from Cottenham though

It worries me that Netherhall is ok. So, which secondary schools in Cambridge are in the top rank?

Doesn't Cottenham have a 6th form yet?? If you want serious top stuff - Hills Road of course (ex Hillsroadian ) Also of course, Long Road, Parkside Fed...

I can't imagine that Netherhall would be any better than Cottenham and it would be a difficult journey. We looked at the prospectus (a few years ago) and couldn't see any advantage over (even) Long Road.
Comberton now has a sixth form. Impington has one (does IB).

cottenham doesn't have a 6th form - OK meant not bad but proably not worth the extra journey time compared to long road, or parkside - Hills Rd is of course the best but hard to get in

"Cottenham doesn't have a 6th form" It does now

must be new this year I think

Hi there,

I actually signed up to this forum just to reply to this thread.

I am a Netherhall sixth former- currently. I have to advise you to read the ofsted report, so you know I am not biased.

I am in A2 and I tell you. I hate it. I get no support what-so-ever. There is 1 drop in session in a week for any support, which a) is not enough b) the teachers are very unwelcoming to you for these. I have only got 10 mins of support for my university application.

The teaching is mainly speech based, if you are a visual learner or a 'doing' learner- forget about it.
If you are failing, you do not get any support, but you get the opposite, you get scolded at. Rarely any revision sessions are set for students who are struggling.

Another issue with the college is that it starts at 8.30 for the first 3 weeks of term, for no reason. Imagine your son travelling 2 hours to N'hall ( I travel 1 and ten mins) every morning, for a tutor period, which is valueless.

Lessons are rarely planned, often the last parts of the syllabus is rushed. They could make extra classes to cover the content they cannot do, but they do not. They have some revision classes just before the exams. They are useless. You have to bring your own questions.
Very few resources are provided, e.g past papers, workbooks and mark schemes. You have to pay for the little you get.

There were around 300 people in AS, and now there is 80. That many people were allowed to fail. They blame the students, but I have witnessed. It is them.

I have a friend who got 5A*s at GCSE, but now has 3Es and a U.

The facilities:
Library= closed always, not enough relevant books or it is always booked. There is a sixth form study, which has broken computers and is very very busy, for other reasons than study. Occasionally a teacher will come and shout at students in there, but it doesn't help.

Staff attitudes are appalling, a teacher scolded me and told me I was going to fail, but then I had got a B in my exam- and was one of two people not to resit the exam.

The system is not organised- to get a locker you have to chase a teacher around. Your form tutor has no information about anything. For UCAS ( uni applications) one person is handling all of it, so it is difficult to get his attention as he is teaching and deputy head as well.

Lower school behavior is disruptive. A year 9 was playing with fire, at bus stop and setting other children on fire.

On the open day they will impress you with their beautiful building and colour changing trees. They will be well prepared to market to you.

More students = more funding= higher pay rates

The good:

• Social life, you meet lovely people. My peers are good people, and are the backbone of the next generation in terms of optimism.
• School's traditions- student auctions and sports relief

I could go on and on...

please message me if you need any more info.

I totally agree with this post. The sixth form is honestly dreadful, the teaching is way below standards and the support is absolutely pathetic if anything it is non-existent. There are very decent teachers, however credit must be given to the few that genuinely are fantastic and passionate about what they teach. The rest clearly have completely disregard for the progress or rather lack of progress of their students.
You are exactly right when you say that most part of the syllabus is rushed at the end, there has been so much wasted time that there isn't going to be enough left to finish most of the courses and it is so rushed that topics are being covered with a huge lack of detail and therefore the understanding of the students is quite severely comprehended and will certainly prevent many from achieving the grades that they are capable of. They will try to blame it on the students, but I myself have witnessed that students at the sixth form are intelligent and competent, yet end up getting poor grades and I can tell you it is down to the complete malfunctioning of the system. Many teachers prioritise the secondary school children in terms of marking and students are left with weeks between receiving essays/homework back. How is one meant to improve with so little feedback on how to develop ones skills?
The revision sessions are extremely limited and are rather 'drop in if you have question', what students need is regular, structured, revision sessions with far more emphasis on exam technique. Many previous students had complained about how unprepared they had been in subjects such as biology and that they were clueless when it came to the sitting the finals as so little had been done on exam technique.
Everything students receive, they have to pay for, whether it be a past paper pack or a revision booklet. It's also amazing how there are a few teachers who genuinely have no idea what they are teaching and know little other than how to read off a PowerPoint. The minute an intelligent or even not so intelligent question is thrown their way, they act completely baffled.

Students are won over as you rightly said, at the 'wonderful' open day which is completely false in every possible way. Everything looks glamarous but the reality is far from it. Most of the students are left having to resit the entire year as they fail to achieve the required grades to progress onto A2. It is simply not fair that nothing is being done about the entire situation. There are clearly a lot of problems. The ofsted report last year was awful and that is during inspection when teachers put on an 'act', so can you imagine it is like during normal times? If I have one word of advice for you, do not go to the sixth form center. Avoid it at all possible costs. There are hundreds of students who will say the same thing, and we say it for a reason. Time is very precious and you simply don't want to have to waste a whole year or two of your lives which Netherhall will rob from you. We could also go on and on....