Sixth Form Choices

Okay so I'm applying for Hills Road and another sixth form and wanted to know more up to date experiences regarding HR, as I need to chose what Sixth Form I go toin a few months and I felt here was the best place to ask. Here's a few general questions I have:
(1) By lack o support, do people mean in or out of class, or a combination of both. E.g., not answering emails or not answering questions clearly during lesson
(2) Is it true there are Dr*g @bu$er$ there?
(3) Are people there competitive in general grade achievement and such, or is it more of just a hardworking environment
(4) Idea of how much homework on average per subject
(5) Does the bursary act as sufficient support?
(6)Clubs you recommend/don't recommend.
(7) Does the law society actually help with law exams and degree later on
I was mainly wondering about History, English Literature and psychology, since those are the subjects I plan on taking.
Thanks!

I thought it was a rumour! Thanks for clearing that up

Okay so I'm applying for Hills Road and another sixth form and wanted to know more up to date experiences regarding HR, as I need to chose what Sixth Form I go toin a few months and I felt here was the best place to ask. Here's a few general questions I have:
(1) By lack o support, do people mean in or out of class, or a combination of both. E.g., not answering emails or not answering questions clearly during lesson
(2)Are people "snobbish", in general?
(3) Are people there competitive or more casual?
(4) Idea of how much homework on average per subject
(5) Does the bursary act as sufficient support?
(6)Clubs you recommend/don't recommend.
(7) Does the law society actually help with law exams and degree later on
I was mainly wondering about History, English Literature and psychology, since those are the subjects I plan on taking.
Thanks!

hello although I'm not a current student there but applying for it just like you
according to a friend who is currently in yr 12 there isn't a drug issue as far as she is concerned
hopefully you can get the answers you are looking for
best of luck xx

Yeah, I don't know if the drug and alcohol issue is actually THAT big, but I can say that it is still present.😭
I do see people vaping and occasionally smoking around the car park near the sports centre, and in some rare cases, the front of the school (It only seems to happen when it is out-of-reach from staff). We actually got an announcement a week ago on a "reminder" concerning alcohol and drugs, and it was mentioned that a number of incidents did happen this year both on-site and during College trips (I am aware of a few incidents, actually).
But honestly, I wouldn't worry about that too much! Just focus on yourself, surround yourself with positive people, and remember to keep your mental health up! If you manage that, you should be fine if you end up being a student here. :PPP

Thanks xx but tbh there will always be a small group of people doing such stuff in every school😭

Hiii, I'm currently a Y12 student at Hills Road. I can try my best to answer some but not all of these questions, due to my restricted knowledge haha. 😄
Q1: I don't know about lack of support, but I assume that you mean subject-wise (Though there is support for other general aspects in the school - mental health, careers/future stuff etc). I can confirm that most, if not all subjects have help sessions run by teachers allocated at different times throughout the week, if you are needing supporting out-of-class.
I do History (RRR) for one of my subjects, so I can tell you that there are help sessions for History called "History Plus" that happen different days of the week, they seem to mainly focus on certain topics (There will be Microsoft Teams announcements by the teacher running them to let you know the specific topic focus), but they would also accept general History questions if you are desperate. If you don't want to attend such a session because you are busy (or have better things to do and etc) you can just message an available teacher on Microsoft Teams (or find them yourself) if you have a general History question. I would personally find them myself and talk to them face-to-face, as from my personal experience, responses may be delayed on Teams as they are obviously not always looking at their notifications 24/7... But it is up to you, whatever makes you comfortable honestly. ❤️
About the "now answering emails" part, I personally don't email my teachers much due to the availability of Microsoft Teams --- I prefer the informal approach, so I can't really tell you much... In most cases, I would think that they will respond to your emails and not leave you on read, especially when urgent. But of course, you also have to understand that some teachers may be busy (or in the worst case scenario, may even forget that you sent an email/message --- I think that this has only happened to me once). 😅
In-class support depends on the teacher and their way of teaching, regardless of the school and the course. My current History teachers are quite lovely and laid-back, accepting any questions at any point --- But I would let them finish talking first, rather than interrupting them during the lesson, regardless of who it is. However, teachers can be quite wilful to go through the lesson content quickly (So help may be minimal at certain points, but don't be afraid to ask! Getting an answer is better than getting no answer). But yeah, that's all I have to say support-wise, I don't know if I missed out anything important.
Q2: In general, I can only assume that there is a good fraction of the 2000(?)ish students who can be regarded as snobs. I have had a fair share of meeting boastful people (-Who seemingly keep flaunting their wealth at any given point or boast about probably getting into an Oxbridge school due to their "oUt-Of-ThIs-WoRlD" ego or intellectual - Yes, those types)... Then again, you can't really avoid them anywhere in the world, so just keep an eye out but I would say to give them a chance first. In general, I think that most of the people (who I've interacted with at least) have been pretty friendly and aren't arrogant, but it may just be my luck... And seeing how large the school is (in terms of numbers and diversity), I can't really judge the general snobbishness. I can only assure you that there are "characters" of EVERY type in this school lol.
Q3: A handful of the people that I've interacted with in my year group have been pretty casual (to the point of being pessimistic or just nonchalant). I would say that this is the majority, because I haven't really met anyone who was TRULY competitive (Super ambitious and all of that jazz, unless you think back to those boastful "I am probably going to Oxbridge" people types --- Though I can assure you, they are probably NOT the majority). So, unlike my response about snobbish people here, I would say that the majority of people are casual, but that is only from what I've seen in my experience here (especially after the mocks).😭
Q4: For the general amount of homework... Eh... It is hard to tell as it fluctuates, but I can try my best to answer this. For History, the amount of homework my class gets seems to be 1 after every double or single lesson (due the next lesson/week) as a general pattern. Usually, this homework relates to any unfinished tasks that need to have been completed within the lesson (Funnily enough, my class in particular seems to be one of the classes that are behind the currently leading classes --- So this may just be the case for my class). Other homework tasks I've had so far have had to do with context, or practice exam questions. I don't think my History teachers check it (to my knowledge) as they don't seem to give much direct feedback on it (or any feedback at all...). Instead, we get starter review tasks during the start of lessons, which basically test our overall knowledge (and these review tasks differ, most of them have been table discussion tasks and writing-on-whiteboard stuff). But again, it depends on the teacher.
Q5: --- Can't answer this question effectively.
Q6: --- Can't answer this question effectively.
Q7: --- Can't answer this question at all xddd.
But yeah, I hope this helped.❤️

Yeah, I don't know if the drug and alcohol issue is actually THAT big, but I can say that it is still present.😭
I do see people vaping and occasionally smoking around the car park near the sports centre, and in some rare cases, the front of the school (It only seems to happen when it is out-of-reach from staff). We actually got an announcement a week ago on a "reminder" concerning alcohol and drugs, and it was mentioned that a number of incidents did happen this year both on-site and during College trips (I am aware of a few incidents, actually).
But honestly, I wouldn't worry about that too much! Just focus on yourself, surround yourself with positive people, and remember to keep your mental health up! If you manage that, you should be fine if you end up being a student here. :PPP

Ohhh actually,.now that you mentioned it, are only PE people ig allowed to go into the gym / those who signed up to use it on the application forms? I heard only some people can use it, but the website said any people could, last time I checked?

This was literally a godsend thank you! I don't even know when to begin replying to this. I actually want to take that history so to get your insight was super helpful! Yeah the "oUT oF ThIS WoRlD" people I'm already kinda used to, and I'm fairly good at deciphering who I should maybe not get too close to, though I am.an ambivert. I'm glad there's support out there and that it sounds like a much more positive atmosphere than I was expecting. I've used teams before so I know what you mean about using it instead of Email, and I'll probably used that to contact teachers since it sounds like I'd get a faster reply. The homework wasn't a shocker (I've done entire sections of History units as homework before due to my class being so behind, so I feel you girl😔✊). Thank you so much!n

IIRC, anyone with the student lanyard/ID is allowed to use to use any facilities at the sports centre. 😄
I think the applications are an old thing.😅

Hiii, I'm currently a Y12 student at Hills Road. I can try my best to answer some but not all of these questions, due to my restricted knowledge haha. 😄
Q1: I don't know about lack of support, but I assume that you mean subject-wise (Though there is support for other general aspects in the school - mental health, careers/future stuff etc). I can confirm that most, if not all subjects have help sessions run by teachers allocated at different times throughout the week, if you are needing supporting out-of-class.
I do History (RRR) for one of my subjects, so I can tell you that there are help sessions for History called "History Plus" that happen different days of the week, they seem to mainly focus on certain topics (There will be Microsoft Teams announcements by the teacher running them to let you know the specific topic focus), but they would also accept general History questions if you are desperate. If you don't want to attend such a session because you are busy (or have better things to do and etc) you can just message an available teacher on Microsoft Teams (or find them yourself) if you have a general History question. I would personally find them myself and talk to them face-to-face, as from my personal experience, responses may be delayed on Teams as they are obviously not always looking at their notifications 24/7... But it is up to you, whatever makes you comfortable honestly. ❤️
About the "now answering emails" part, I personally don't email my teachers much due to the availability of Microsoft Teams --- I prefer the informal approach, so I can't really tell you much... In most cases, I would think that they will respond to your emails and not leave you on read, especially when urgent. But of course, you also have to understand that some teachers may be busy (or in the worst case scenario, may even forget that you sent an email/message --- I think that this has only happened to me once). 😅
In-class support depends on the teacher and their way of teaching, regardless of the school and the course. My current History teachers are quite lovely and laid-back, accepting any questions at any point --- But I would let them finish talking first, rather than interrupting them during the lesson, regardless of who it is. However, teachers can be quite wilful to go through the lesson content quickly (So help may be minimal at certain points, but don't be afraid to ask! Getting an answer is better than getting no answer). But yeah, that's all I have to say support-wise, I don't know if I missed out anything important.
Q2: In general, I can only assume that there is a good fraction of the 2000(?)ish students who can be regarded as snobs. I have had a fair share of meeting boastful people (-Who seemingly keep flaunting their wealth at any given point or boast about probably getting into an Oxbridge school due to their "oUt-Of-ThIs-WoRlD" ego or intellectual - Yes, those types)... Then again, you can't really avoid them anywhere in the world, so just keep an eye out but I would say to give them a chance first. In general, I think that most of the people (who I've interacted with at least) have been pretty friendly and aren't arrogant, but it may just be my luck... And seeing how large the school is (in terms of numbers and diversity), I can't really judge the general snobbishness. I can only assure you that there are "characters" of EVERY type in this school lol.
Q3: A handful of the people that I've interacted with in my year group have been pretty casual (to the point of being pessimistic or just nonchalant). I would say that this is the majority, because I haven't really met anyone who was TRULY competitive (Super ambitious and all of that jazz, unless you think back to those boastful "I am probably going to Oxbridge" people types --- Though I can assure you, they are probably NOT the majority). So, unlike my response about snobbish people here, I would say that the majority of people are casual, but that is only from what I've seen in my experience here (especially after the mocks).😭
Q4: For the general amount of homework... Eh... It is hard to tell as it fluctuates, but I can try my best to answer this. For History, the amount of homework my class gets seems to be 1 after every double or single lesson (due the next lesson/week) as a general pattern. Usually, this homework relates to any unfinished tasks that need to have been completed within the lesson (Funnily enough, my class in particular seems to be one of the classes that are behind the currently leading classes --- So this may just be the case for my class). Other homework tasks I've had so far have had to do with context, or practice exam questions. I don't think my History teachers check it (to my knowledge) as they don't seem to give much direct feedback on it (or any feedback at all...). Instead, we get starter review tasks during the start of lessons, which basically test our overall knowledge (and these review tasks differ, most of them have been table discussion tasks and writing-on-whiteboard stuff). But again, it depends on the teacher.
Q5: --- Can't answer this question effectively.
Q6: --- Can't answer this question effectively.
Q7: --- Can't answer this question at all xddd.
But yeah, I hope this helped.❤️