New Sixth Form College

The plan is for the Sixth Form to grow by 30-40 pupils.  The College does afford the opportunity to grow the existing vertical houses in the future, but there are no plans for this at present. The additional flexibility The College provides will be extremely valuable in ensuring we can meet the ebbs and flows in demand across all entry points. Our intention is to maintain a consistent and balanced composition of the pupil body as regards boarding and day pupils and in terms of gender. We are very mindful of the importance of preserving the strength and the warmth of Canford's community and its size and composition are important factors in that.

We are only planning to grow the Sixth Form by 30-40 pupils. Nevertheless, in recent years, our Strategic Plan has already delivered a number of infrastructure projects that have not only enhanced the quality of our offer, but have also increased our capacity in critical areas.  These include the expansion of our dining facilities into the Old Library and the doubling of our food servery capacity; the new library and learning centre; an upgraded assembly hall that can now house the whole school for the first time in decades; and the move of our day houses into upgraded space in Canford Manor (previously occupied by School House) that provides additional day pupil capacity and much-needed flexibility.  The ratio of staff to pupils will remain consistent and appropriate to ensure all Canfordians receive focused care and support across all aspects of their educational experience.

Canford is a school community first and foremost where we all look out for and look after each other. That will not change. Canford has ten houses currently and a wide range of other different entities within its existing structure. The College will add an additional dimension to those entities which already exist but will not undermine how pupils, staff (and parents) live and work together. The College will see the Upper Sixth pupils build broader networks and closer ties within their own year group than they do now, and the College Hub will ensure the whole Sixth Form interacts and integrates more effectively and more extensively. Our co-curricular programmes already operate widely on a cross year group basis and we will develop this approach further to ensure those cross year community links and relationships develop and grow. As now we will continue to meet and dine regularly and centrally as a whole school community. The physical location of The College also places it at the heart of the School and so it will be very much central to the ebb and flow of daily life. 

We will be looking carefully at staffing numbers to ensure that all pupils continue to receive the very best educational support, including individual tutoring.  Extra income from additional pupils will allow investment in more staff as and when necessary.          

The first three years of a Canford education are extremely important in laying strong foundations academically, and for the personal development and wellbeing of each pupil. This will remain the case and we will continue to focus on ensuring our programmes and the pupils' experience in the Lower School years are relevant and dynamic. It is likely that the restructure in the Sixth Form will give younger pupils a clearer sense of how those first years lead to what comes in the Sixth Form and thus will provide a stronger and sharper sense of connection and aspiration throughout their Canford journey.  We are already exploring further opportunities for younger pupils to build leadership and other core skills and to understand how these will develop as they move through the school. Furthermore, this development will mean that vertical house staff have greater capacity to support pupils across four year groups instead of five.  We will also be able to improve the quality and feel of facilities in the existing day and boarding houses.            

It is important to remember that the vast majority of our pupils' day-to-day rhythms and routines will be unchanged. The academic timetable, co-curricular activities and broader learning activities already familiar to pupils will remain and be enhanced with additional opportunities provided by The College Concept. Furthermore, evidence from other schools that have adopted similar models indicates that greater integration of the Upper Sixth pupils promotes an improved work ethic and enhances academic results. We firmly believe that The College Concept will improve the educational outcomes for our pupils and better prepare them for life after Canford.  As regards opportunities for the first year moving into The Canford College Upper Sixth (current Fourth Form), we will bring forward the handover date for house leadership roles in the vertical houses to the Easter half term for that year (usually the handover is the start of the Summer Term) so these pupils have ample opportunity to lead in houses in their Lower Sixth Year. School leadership roles will transfer at the start of the Summer Term as usual.                                              

As now, all Sixth Formers will have a dedicated tutor for the two years of the Sixth Form to give continuity of support and communication for pupils, staff and parents. We will be further developing the structure, systems and time to enable Sixth Form tutoring to be as effective as possible. We will put in place careful handover plans for each pupil as they move from the vertical house to The College so that pastoral knowledge and insight is shared and understood. That connection will remain should issues arise and, where a pupil has had more difficult issues over time, a special pastoral plan will be set up to ensure additional oversight and support. We will also ensure that an in-depth induction process is in place in the Summer Term of the Lower Sixth to enable pupils and parents to meet staff and understand fully how things will work and who to communicate with. The College staff team will be able to focus primarily on the needs of the Upper Sixth pupils rather than having five year groups to consider.

All Lower Sixth pupils, both existing and new joiners, will be part of one of the existing vertical houses. This will ensure new joiners have a smaller social and pastoral base in the first year as they find their feet and existing pupils will retain the physical and emotional familiarity of their vertical house as they start their Sixth Form journey.  In the Upper Sixth, all pupils in that year group will be accommodated in the new facility.  All Sixth Form pupils (Upper and Lower Sixth) will have access to the learning, working and social facilities in the College Hub building. This will enable Upper Sixth pupils to broaden their networks across the whole year group in that second year.

It is very important to give new joiners as much support and opportunity as possible. Joining as part of a vertical house in the Lower Sixth will provide a smaller environment to help them settle into the school before they move to the College in the Upper Sixth where, as well as living with those peers they have got to know, they will also be able to broaden their networks. As regards house leadership the system will see all Lower Sixth in house having the opportunity to take a lead in the first half term of the school year with formal positions being allocated after half term following a formal application process. As now, new joiners will be well placed to apply for School Pupil Leader roles in the Easter Term of the Lower Sixth. There is a strong record of new joiners taking on leadership roles both in the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth years.   

Not in the current format as leadership roles in vertical houses will be held by the Lower Sixth (which is already the case from the start of the Summer Term) and we will ensure that all pupils have an opportunity to apply for such roles and are well supported and trained to take them on. The Pupil Leader system we have now will run as it does currently with Lower Sixth taking on a wide range of school leadership roles in the Summer Term of their Lower Sixth year and for the first two terms of the Upper Sixth year. We will also introduce a College/vertical house liaison role which will see Upper Sixth pupils from each vertical house work with the Lower Sixth house leader to organise joint events and functions so that ongoing connections are retained. There will also be opportunities for Upper Sixth to take on leadership roles within The College community structure.          

Yes, for most competitions and specific events this will be the case, and where it is different the Upper Sixth input will still count for 'their house' in the overall house competitions.           

The Upper Sixth will still have a role to play in terms of setting an example to younger pupils in their own vertical house and across the school.  This will occur through various activities and events. However, the direct leadership in house will be held by the Lower Sixth. Our research from schools with this structure indicates that those Lower Sixth pupils meet those expectations very successfully, and in our current structure the Lower Sixth pupils display significant maturity, effective role-modelling and strong leadership in a wide range of contexts. The co-curricular programme already offers significant interaction across year groups where leadership from senior years takes place and we will be exploring further opportunities for this to occur, including Upper Sixth interaction with younger years in a range of contexts as well as those in their old vertical houses where appropriate.

We already have a strong cross year group co-curricular approach. This will not change and we will seek to build on this further to ensure that all year groups benefit from working closely with each other in a range of contexts.           

The rationale behind The College Concept is to enable Upper Sixth pupils to experience a different transitional environment so they are better prepared for what lies beyond school. However, this will be within the supportive structure of the School and relationships and loyalties built up in previous years will remain. The intention is that, whilst the Upper Sixth in The College will be part of that community, The College is not designed to replace the loyalty and bonds to the vertical house from which they have relocated. Through various social activities, competitions, events and other means such as clothing and symbols they will maintain that 'house loyalty'. One comparison might be that experienced by an army officer who is posted away from their regiment but retains strong and lasting links to it and wears the badges with pride.      

The Sixth Form at Canford is critical as we prepare our pupils to make the transition from school to life beyond. The College Concept will allow us to enhance our existing provision to support this aim. By giving different experiences, albeit within the supportive structure of the School, we can better equip Upper Sixth pupils to engage positively with the challenges of life beyond Canford which they will encounter a few short months after leaving.  The Upper Sixth in The College will still be subject to the expectations we have of all pupils in terms of behaviour and conduct. However, given the fact that only the Upper Sixth are in situ in The College for certain periods of time, there is scope to introduce different timings, rhythms and activities which are not possible in a vertical house which covers five different year groups. Staff in The College will have scope to work with pupils to explore and develop opportunities in this regard over time.          

As now, all Sixth Formers will have a dedicated tutor for the two years of the Sixth Form to give continuity of support and communication for pupils, staff and parents. We will be further developing the structure, systems and time to enable Sixth Form tutoring to be as effective as possible. We will put in place careful handover plans for each pupil as they move from the vertical house to The College so that pastoral knowledge and insight is shared and understood in an ongoing manner.  Where a pupil has had more difficult issues over time, a special pastoral plan will be set up to ensure additional oversight and support. We will also ensure that an in depth induction process is in place in the summer term of the Lower Sixth to enable pupils and parents to meet The College staff and understand fully how things will work and who to communicate with.                  

It is important to understand that The College is not a mixed house and, whilst there will be many educational and social opportunities which are very much co-educational, the residential elements will be separate and the school rules and expectations on this will be very clear. The College will have three sub sections for boarding boys, boarding girls and day pupils and each section, led by a Vice Principal, will have its own team to supervise and support the pupils alongside the support provided by the Tutor who is allocated for the whole of the Sixth Form. This arrangement will be overseen by the Principal who will help to ensure close co-operation and communication between the vertical house HsMs and The College Vice Principals. The College staff team will have the needs of the Upper Sixth pupils as their primary focus rather than having five year groups to focus on.           

First, it is important to stress this is not a mixed Upper Sixth house albeit the social and educational facilities in the College Hub will allow for improved integration across the whole Sixth Form. Setting clear expectations and creating a purposeful community culture will be a key area of focus. Research shows that this structure has in fact improved work ethic and academic and wider educational outcomes.  Upper Sixth pupils, with their futures very much in mind, will have the opportunity to work individually and collaboratively in a focused and mutually supportive environment with close access to a wide range of work venues. As now, it is about setting clear expectations and instilling the right culture in all things including academic focus and work. The College staff team will have the Upper Sixth as their primary focus in terms of guiding and supporting the pupils in their self-management wellbeing.     

Whilst the Sixth Form Hub element of The College will be co-educational, the residential element will comprise two separate and distinct single sex wings. There will be 119 bedrooms. The two wings will be nominally of the same size, but we have designed the building with future flexibility in mind. To that end, a number of rooms on each of the four floors can be incorporated into either the boys’ or the girls’ wings using structural fireproof, lockable doors at strategic points on the corridors. In that way we will be able to adapt to accommodate year-to-year variations in the gender ratio.

We will ensure that The College facility is appropriately staffed and maintained in line with the tried and trusted procedures already in place.      

This investment is the final part of our strategic plan aimed at ensuring that Canford can continue to attract the most able pupils in a future marketplace that will be categorised by its sheer competitiveness and parental demand for an education of the very highest quality. The development is primarily driven by educational motivations and The College will provide important facilities to support our offering to all Sixth Form pupils, as well as opportunities to access these for those in the lower school. However, Canford will need to appeal to a larger share of a diminishing parent base and the ability to enrol the best pupils irrespective of their gender or intention to attend as day pupils or boarders will be essential. The aim is indeed to expand the school by only 30 or so pupils as we feel it is vital to retain the School's trademark community feel. The Sixth Form has been identified through careful research as the most likely area for future growth but, by accommodating Upper Sixth boarding and day pupils in the new College facility, we will also generate up to 15% additional capacity in the existing 7 boarding and 3 day houses. This will enable us to upgrade and improve those houses and, crucially, will provide significant flexibility at all entry points (13+. 14+ and 16+) as well as in all pupil categories (Girl Boarders, Boy Boarders, Day Girl and Day Boy). This will remove the current problem whereby we have to turn away high quality pupils simply because their particular category is oversubscribed whilst there may be spaces available in other categories.                                                                                                                                                                                                 

We firmly believe that The College Concept will improve overall educational outcomes for our pupils and better prepare them for life after Canford. It is important to remember that the vast majority of our pupils' day-to-day rhythms and routines will be unchanged. The academic timetable, co-curricular activities and broader learning activities familiar to all pupils will remain and will be enhanced with additional opportunities for all Sixth Form pupils provided by The College Concept. Furthermore, evidence from other schools that have adopted similar models indicates that greater integration of the Upper Sixth pupils promotes an improved work ethic and enhances academic outcomes.

The project is being funded from a combination of cash reserves, the proceeds from the sale of investment land and, potentially, some short-term borrowing which would be repaid from future annual surpluses.  Fees have not been inflated beyond the levels required to cover our in-year costs and to generate a sensible annual surplus for reinvestment in the essential maintenance and modernisation of Canford's facilities.  Neither will fees rise as a result of the project - rather the increased pupil roll will generate additional income that will enable the School to operate more efficiently and, in turn, to ensure that future fee rises are no larger than absolutely essential.             

Our singular focus is providing the highest quality education as is possible for our pupils and there can be no distinction drawn between our educational goals and our business goals - our educational outputs as a school dictate the success of the organisation as a business.  Nonetheless, as well as being an independent school and an educational charity, Canford is undoubtedly a business. As such, it is an inescapable truth that we have to continue to make the books balance should we wish to remain financially viable and sustainable, and thus successful in our future delivery of a high quality Canford education.        

The priority at all times must be the provision of education for our pupils and our charitable objectives require us to direct all of our efforts and resources towards our beneficiaries (the pupils).  Nonetheless, wherever we have spare capacity, such as facilities that are not always required for school use, then we look to utilise that capacity to generate additional income.  Obvious examples are the Sports Centre and Golf Club that are run as members' clubs, the letting of our facilities for summer schools and camps, hiring out the theatre and music school during the holidays and using Canford Manor as a commercial weddings venue.  All profits from this commercial activity are gifted to the School annually. Furthermore, our strategic reserves are invested to provide income and long-term growth.