I’ve finally finished Year 12! That’s a bit of a bittersweet thing to write as I really loved Year 12 (I think it’s been my favourite year in a long time) but at the same time, I’m so glad it’s over. I’ve changed a lot over Year 12 and my life has changed too. This year didn’t end the best way possible which is proving difficult to deal with but I’ll get there.
I’ve decided to write this post, summing up what this year has involved, how I’ve found it etc. Be prepared, this is probably going to be a long one.
The Beginning of The End
The sad reality about Sixth Form is that it is signalling the end of your school career. This was the last school year of being a child, my birthday is the first weekend back at school so I’ll spend the vast majority of my next school year as an adult which is a really weird thing to think.
In terms of my Sixth Form, I decided to stay on at my secondary school and enrol in their Sixth Form. I know a lot of people expected me to go to a Grammar for Sixth Form but that was a big no for me. Yes, my GCSEs would have probably got me into one but I didn’t want to go through the travelling and I’m someone who hates change so obviously, I didn’t like the idea of changing school when I didn’t need to.
The experience of being in Sixth Form has been weird. It is definitely this weird mixture of being in Sixth Form but merging with the whole school. My tutor group this year was still part of the vertical tutoring across the whole school which ended up with me being the only Sixth Former in a room of younger years. We also have our own ‘team’ in the Sixth Form but you also have your Heads of House but you don’t. All of our lessons still take place on the proper school site and our study room is by all the Maths rooms but at least we have our own little building to stay away from everyone else.
Subjects
Personally, I didn’t find the jump to Year 12 bad at all. Yes, there’s slightly more work but you have frees when you can do it. I did start out with 4 A levels and dropped down to 3 but it looks like they encouraged everyone who took four to do this anyway.
I personally don’t have a part-time job so I definitely had more time than other people to do work. During this school term, I did roughly 24 hours of studying a week, sometimes more sometimes less. You can definitely see all this work reflected in my grades compared to everyone else but I went a bit too far. I ended up not doing anything but studying and this is something I definitely want to improve upon going into next year.
English Literature
Yes, this was the subject I dropped. Truthfully, I really miss it. I approach all my subjects in an Englishy way if that makes sense. One of my friends still takes it and I helped her with an essay for it and I actually really enjoyed it. I also remember a lot about the different texts which surprised me. I definitely wouldn’t go back and not drop it, I didn’t feel comfortable in the class and the books weren’t great but I do still miss it.
History
History is definitely my smallest class with a total of 5 people in the class (including myself). History is definitely the most content-heavy of my subjects, I currently have 4 folders on the go and a 5th for my coursework. The topic: Britain Transformed 1918-97 is definitely my favourite, probably due to it being very politics heavy. The America course I’m doing is okay, it’s definitely my least favourite out of the three. I’m studying America 1920-55 which is basically just the Great Depression plus a little bit afterwards. The parts of American History that I would be interested in all takes place in another course that I’m not doing which is sad. I’ve started studying the Witch craze now and it’s okay. I think when we get to the witch trials themselves it will be more interesting but I can see there is a LOT to learn for this paper.
I also have coursework for History which is a change for GCSE. I’m having to do my coursework on the New Deal which is annoying. Why? Because that is basically my America paper but focusing on the part I find the most boring. I actually haven’t got that far through the coursework yet but it looks like you basically have to compare different historian’s interpretations of the New Deal which I guess is quite good as it was quite a polarising issue but it’s really not that interesting.
Media Studies
Well, this is definitely my least organised lesson. We have literally done random parts of the specification without going into the whole detail required. I am finding the course really interesting though and it is definitely the subject I ‘get’ the easiest.
I’ve started my coursework for Media this year too and we get to create film marketing for a film we’ve made up. My one is personally a hybrid genre of romance and time travel (if you can class that as a genre). We basically have to create two posters, a DVD cover and a website for it and it’s actually going really well. I really need to find some time to take photos though as I need to replace the images but I think I’m currently ahead of everyone else so I don’t think I have anything to worry about.
Drama and Theatre
I actually really like this subject, more I think than I expected. My class is small again, only six people in total, which I actually think works really well. It definitely means that we’ve grown well as a group and we get on well (most of the time). GCSE Drama was a struggle as I was definitely the one ‘in charge’ and that’s kind of the same this year. When it came to the practical parts, I was the one who kind of became the leader as it was the only way to get anything done.
I’ve already completed two performances (where the acting doesn’t actually count towards the final mark thankfully), studied one of my set plays and have a live theatre example. Next year is definitely going to be busy as we need to complete a devised piece, a performed piece in front of an examiner and study another set play. It is going to be weird next year as all my Drama teachers left last year but I’m sure we can all get through it.
Mock Exams
I’ve had two lots of Mock exams this year and my results have definitely improved throughout the year.
In my first lot of mock exams I got:
- Drama – A
- History – B
- Media – B
I also recently had another set of mock exams in the last week of June where I managed to achieve:
- Drama – B
- History – A
- Media – A*
As you can imagine, I’m very happy about my results and it does reflect the work I’ve put in but at the same time, I definitely need to think about the work I’ve put in and weaken it. I need to find time to relax rather than just study every single day. I do have more mocks next year before my actual exams so it will definitely be interesting to see how that goes.
The Committee
I don’t think I mentioned it on here before I disappeared but I applied to be chair of the Sixth Form Committee and I got it!! The role of the Committee is to basically plan all the events that take place during the year such as non-school uniform, activities for Christmas, yearbook and prom. I’ve only been head for about 8 weeks so I’m still trying to work out how to approach it all but I’m trying.
Before the break for Summer, the Committee actually managed to create a summer event. It was a sporty, activity event with things such as a tug-of-war, obstacle course, watertight and soak the teacher. I think it went really well, even though there were only 19 of us who actually showed up in the end. We raised about £20 which is good so we can use that for any events coming up and buy a whiteboard eraser for the Committee room which we really do need.
In terms of the other members, it’s okay. A few people have already quit and a lot don’t term up for meetings but then again it is voluntary. I’m going to be tougher next year, keeping a note of everyone who attends meetings so be warned everyone on the committee reading this.
Thoughts on After Year 13
Whelp. This has certainly been a confusing year in this regard. I went into this year thinking that I was going to study Creative Writing at a local university. From there, I have definitely had a range of other stuff:
- Film Production
- TV Production
- History
- History and Politics
- History and Film
I’ve also changed a lot whether I want to move away for university or stay local (although when I thought I would move away, I still wanted to apply to my local universities). I had my heart set on doing History and Politics applying for universities local and up to 2 hours away.
Then the breakdown happened.
I haven’t been doing that well mentally recently. I had a lot of stuff that I hadn’t worked through and stuff from the past came to the surface again. My anxiety has become really bad again but I’m working on it. It kind of all started when I went to Oxford University open day and I had a HUGE meltdown then. I had secretly had Oxford as my university of choice but it wasn’t for me. I struggled. I realised that the only reason I wanted to go to University was so I could have a degree to become a teacher. That’s it. I didn’t want to experience all the social life or the moving away, I just wanted to get a degree.
It was then I discovered the Open University and I think that’s going to be the way for me to go. Currently, I’m thinking of studying English Literature and Creative Writing (told you I missed English) but you never know it might change again and that’s okay. I’ve also been thinking about possibly doing this degree part-time alongside an apprenticeship but we’ll have to see.
Looking Forward to Year 13
Year 13 is weird, isn’t it? I know it’s going to fly by and by this point, I think I’m ready for school to end. That place isn’t filled with the best memories and I just want to get it over and done with now.
I have been asked to help the little Year 7’s when they start which is nice. I also have a lot of Committee stuff to do and all my exam stuff. It’s definitely going to be a busy year.
I hope you enjoyed this post. How have you found your academic year if you’re in education? Is there anything you’re looking forward to?
Beth x
Bethany and Books 