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Guidance & support

Post 16 students will receive guidance and support from the following:

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL (Pastoral Care) & HEADS OF YEAR

At BOA, the pastoral care system is overseen by an Assistant Principal, who line manages the Heads of Year and oversees the work of the form tutors.  The Assistant Principal and the Heads of Year will monitor the progress, welfare and attendance of all students, as well as always being on hand to offer support and guidance to students if they are encountering any issues.

The Assistant Principal for Pastoral Care is Ms. Holly Stanton.

The Co-Heads of Year at Post-16 are:

Year 12:

Mr Underwood and Mr Singh

Year 13:

Mr Lees and Miss Razaq

Tutors

All students will be in a tutor group within their year group.  The tutor is the key person concerned with welfare, guidance and academic progress. Tutor groups will meet as a whole and there will also be regular individual tutorials during which students can discuss academic progress and other issues. Tutors will have regular feedback from subject teachers and will also pay due attention to attendance. 

YEar Groups

Tutor groups are arranged within year groups, with each group containing students from across the arts pathway courses.  This way, students will mix with peers from different subject areas and specialisms.  Each tutor group is led by a tutor who will remain with the tutor group throughout Post 16.  

Directors and Teachers

All subject areas are overseen by a Director and Curriculum Lead.  If you need to speak to middle manager about any subject-related issues, you will find the list of Directors and Curriculum Leads in our Staffing Lists, which can be found in the ABOUT US tab.  Directors and Curriculum Leads are the direct line managers for teaching staff, who will guide students to achieve academic success. They will advise students about progress and will regularly report back to tutors and parents.

Teachers are also a useful source of information about careers and progression routes after Post 16 study.

CAREERS ADVICE

For information on careers advice and work experience, please visit the section on CAREERS in the Post 16 tab.  All students in Year 12 and Year 13 receive career advice, either by their subject teachers or the careers lead at BOA, or via an independent careers service - Birmingham Careers Hub.

In the middle of Year 12, the academy will run an in-house “Futures Course”.  This will be dedicated to university choices, UCAS applications, work placements, job opportunities and internships. As well as arranging visits and presentations from a number of our higher education and industry links, we also arrange for students to visit the UCAS Roadshow at the Birmingham NEC in June.

Information about grants, loans and fees will be available to parents and students.

GRADE CARDS

Students will receive 3 progress updates per academic year, plus 1 full written report.  

Assessment and Reporting

Communication with home is of paramount importance. At the beginning of Year 12, parents and carers will receive a settling-in evening report to inform them of their child's attitude and approach to learning, both within the classroom and when completing independent study tasks.   In addition, progress reports are sent home at least 3 times per year. There will be a full written report at the end of Year 12 and an additional parents' evening in the summer term. There is also a parents' evening in Year 13 and students are invited to attend their meetings alongside their parents and carers.