Haringey Sixth Form College Views on Results 2020

The @Haringey6thForm view on #ResultsDay2020 

A wonderful set of A-Level & Level 3 BTEC students who have shown remarkable resilience and can now enjoy achieving a fantastic and well-deserved set of outstanding results!

Well done to Jorghell for receiving a triple distinction in #BTEC Level 3 Business Studies. Now off to study Business Management at @RoehamptonUni. So proud of you!! @haringeycouncil @FENews @AoC_info pic.twitter.com/t6jnEOFeOg

— Haringey Sixth Form College (@Haringey6thForm) August 13, 2020

Haringey Sixth Form College are always very proud of all our students. This year has been like no other, the reasons are obvious so we won’t state them, but yet again we want to share outstanding successes in tomorrow’s A-level and BTEC results, marking yet another year of excellent academic and personal achievements for students at the college.

All our students are so impressive and tomorrow it’s the turn of our A-level and Level 3 BTEC students to celebrate their results – these outcomes, coupled with the vast array of extra-curricular activities completed, are extremely impressive and we are so pleased!

The #H6Experience is all about our amazing students.  Like last year, as this early media release shows, Chief Executive Russ Lawrance, new college Principal Lisa Westray and the whole of #TeamHaringey6 are again determined to do things differently.

As we stated last year, we do not engage in the meaningless comparison culture, using our students as pawns in an outdated statistical bragging process. 

We said it was outdated last year and the Covid 19 situation we have all faced and are facing really rams home this precise point.

#ResultsDay2019 – I am not prepared for Haringey Sixth Form College to engage in meaningless comparison culture using students as pawns: #DiscoverTheDifference – A wonderful set of A-Level & BTEC students achieving a fantastic and well-deserved set of… https://t.co/3SQ3iYk2SL pic.twitter.com/eLaBUSrlqb

— FE News – The #FutureofEducation News Channel (@FENews) August 14, 2019

Haringey Sixth Form College is about people not stats, and we are especially here for our wonderful young people 

Russ explains “Our values as a college mean we really focus on every individual, we do not just to churn out statistics. Just to do that I feel does not reflect on our college, it does not reflect especially on our students, their parents/carers and the great staff. The end results are the icing on the cake but they tell only a small part of a student’s journey and their relationship with our college”.

To be part of #TeamHaringey6 and enjoy the #H6Experience really means something much more than just results, yes as stated they are the icing on the cake and tomorrow’s celebrations will be great, but we do not feel that will be enough, so we are planning (all things being equal) a real celebration just before Christmas when the University term ends. We love our students and they love us.

To that end, Haringey Sixth Form College will not be making public announcements about how well any percentage of its students are doing or have done, but doing things in the way we believe puts students welfare first. Feedback from students backs this up.

Russ explained the decision saying that, “A journey for an A Level student moving from a D to a B grade is every bit as impressive as a straight ‘A’ student as is the same relative journey for all our BTEC students.

“Tomorrow we will all celebrate, but we will have to only for I hope a short period hold back with celebrations, but rest assured we know you all understand this but we are rightly proud of all students achievements and to be clear we will be celebrating tomorrow and then really going for it in December ! We will not let this year fade away for our fantastic young people. The class of 2020.”

We know at Haringey Sixth Form College this is the right way to do all this, we can confidently take this stance as year on year the results and the college experience for young people at Haringey Sixth Form College has got better and better. Our learner numbers and students wanting to come to the college year on year gives us that self-assurance and confidence.

Principal Lisa Westray confirms this stating:

“The #H6Experience has been and will continue to be even better this year, but that is what we do. This is why we are oversubscribed and student numbers have doubled over the last four years, increased income and seen increased investment, Russ has insisted on this. So there is no need to make big public announcements about how well our students have done against others or what percentage have done this or that!

“The staff focus will continue to be on prioritising the wellbeing of our students first and celebrating the individual achievements of each and every one of them; removing the focus from just those that attain, for example, the top grades at A-Level or go to Russell Group Universities. All our students get good grades and all who want to attend a wide range of Universities, including Russell Group Universities, or will go into employment. Staff will be supporting students with their next steps.”

Having reached such high standards at the college and provided so many young people a great #H6Experience, Covid 19 has just given everyone time to get things into perspective. But tomorrow #TeamHaringey6 can reflect on a job well done and this is our core purpose, our first value ‘excellence in all that we do’.

Everyone at #TeamHaringey6 is extremely proud of the results that so many of our students attain, so this is also making sure we do not undermine the journey of very hard work, determination and growth that all our students undertake, whether they reach the impressive heights of the A and A*, DDD or not.

Lisa makes it clear ‘we ensure we celebrate equally all the students who have worked so hard for whatever grade they attain, as their achievements and personal journeys this year have been phenomenal. At Haringey Sixth Form College, we also believe in leading by example, there is a need and a responsibility, for teachers to be role models to the students, again throughout lockdown we have seen just that and more’.

Life isn’t about what may be unrealistic comparisons

Everyone connected to Haringey Sixth Form College has bold and ambitious goals, we work towards high aspirations and we celebrate each point along that journey. You will see, for example, pictures of students celebrating results from tomorrow across all platforms.

Russ makes this point about students welfare ‘I have said this before, and some don’t like it, but tough – at this time of year, often the publicity around A Level results especially is all too frequently modified and lacks authenticity. This culture of comparison can be so damaging and we know it is contributing to a crisis of confidence that is borne out in all the statistics regarding the mental health of young people. At Haringey Sixth Form College we constantly remind our amazing students that they are all individuals and we help them to become mentally strong, articulate and confident in the skills and attributes that they do have, rather than obsessing about those they do not.

Despite our great results, we are not an academic sausage factory. We are #MoreThanACollege”, we always invite people to visit, come and #DiscoverTheDifference.

Lisa commented that for new students the H6 culture starts right at enrolment where:

“we make it clear that if you come to Haringey Sixth Form College to study then you fit in with our ethos and that policy creates a community that grows and thrives on an amazing #H6Experience. This is built on outstanding professional relationships and excellent teaching”.

Russ concludes: ‘Haringey Sixth Form College focuses on building confidence and character and, whilst it’s nice for us to know how good we are, and we all do know this, as staff, trustees, students and parents, I hope you understand even more this year why we are no longer playing the statistics game. I said last year don’t need to do this, it is not in students’ best interests. It may have taken Covid 19 for others to realise this but as ever we do what is right for our young people.”

The new terms starts shortly and we want to thank all friends of the college for their continued support. Our new intake and returning students can look forward to a fantastic, enjoyable but challenging couple of years here at this amazing college.

We are very positive, upbeat and excited about the future, why? Well, have a look at the latest investment and work completed over the summer ready to continue the progress of this great college. You can be anything else can you?!