An outstanding education for boys isn’t one that simply relies on academic excellence – that should be a given. Instead, our approach to education affords our pupils with additional academic enrichment and opportunities to develop character, confidence, leadership, and other skills that will allow them to excel in life beyond school.

Certainly, the necessity to equip our pupils with additional skills and experience is perhaps more important at Sixth Form than at any other stage, with universities, employers, and other post-school institutions increasingly requiring candidates to show added value beyond outstanding grades. And, in the current climate, the routes that our pupils want to pursue after school – whether that be university, a specialist drama school, a degree apprenticeship, or any other route – are increasingly diverse, meaning that the skills that we nurture need to be applicable to the ever-changing real world.

As such, we are deliberate about providing a host of leadership opportunities and academic enrichment initiatives for our Sixth Formers, each of which aims to set them up to succeed in whatever comes next.

Here are just a few examples of how this approach translates into aspects of school life here at Warwick…

Warwick Voice

As a school, we believe it is important that our pupils are not only responsible members of the school community but are active participants. This is important for their happiness, sense of wellbeing, and the development of their character. Warwick Voice provides a valuable opportunity for our pupils to engage with school life in a positive way, through having their feedback heard, leading their own initiatives, and encouraging increased involvement in a wide variety of areas.

The goals of Warwick Voice are:

• To give pupils an opportunity to have their ideas and feedback heard, and their questions answered
• To encourage pupil participation – be part of the solution, not just complain about the problem
• To give leadership opportunities in a range of areas of school life
• To increase pupil participation in aspects of wider school organisation and their own areas of interest
• To enable greater collaboration between us, the other Foundation schools, and the local community

Warwick Voice is led by a group of prefects who meet with Mrs Bradshaw (Head of Warwick Voice) on a regular basis. Each prefect has an area of responsibility and leads a subcommittee consisting of pupils from every year group. General themes include the Eco-team, Catering, Teaching & Learning, and Sixth Form. Warwick Voice provides a fantastic chance for pupils to stand up for what they believe in, have their voices heard, and lead on projects that bring about actionable change. In recent times, this has seen the Teaching and Learning Committee acting as a pupil interview panel when recruiting new staff, the Charities Committee arranging the collection of food donations and purchasing ambulances in aid of Ukraine, and the Eco Team helping the school to win a Green Flag Award and pioneering the referendum for a meat-free day which is still adopted by the catering team.

Subject-specific opportunities

Whether our pupils want to enrol on a competitive course, be accepted into a prestigious university, or secure a place on a top degree apprenticeship, it often isn’t enough to just get the top grades. With so many pupils across the country achieving this, we know that we need to afford our pupils enriching opportunities to lead on projects, showcase their talent, and demonstrate extra value and experiences to stand out from other candidates.

This approach is adopted across our subjects, but just one example of this is in performing arts, where pupils are provided with a host of opportunities that support their academic development and assist their desire to succeed as an actor, theatre maker, or within production support. These opportunities include:

• Our most gifted performers being offered challenging principal roles in high-quality, technically demanding productions. Throughout the process, actors are coached to ensure they can sustain the role over the production run, whilst maintaining busy academic lives in school.
• We provide opportunities for sixth formers to direct projects with younger year groups through weekly clubs or towards special events such as festivals.
• Drama Ambassadors are appointed, establishing suitable pupils as role models to inspire younger drama specialist pupils. 
• For those who aspire to design for theatre, we are able to fully include them in the get-in, fit-up and rigging, and scenic artists’ processes of major productions to enrich and deepen practical experiences ahead of vocational training in their specialist field.

Opportunities such as these truly enrich the academic learning of our Sixth Form pupils and help to set them apart from other candidates when they pursue university or alternative career routes. Find out more about our pathway support here.

Volunteering and other Friday Afternoon Activities

The Friday Afternoon Activities programme affords the opportunity for every pupil in Year 10 and above to participate in one of a range of varied and valuable co-curricular activities intended to extend and enrich their education. Whilst all activities are incredibly enriching for our pupils, some of them are particularly effective at developing leadership skills and confidence.

The overriding aim of training in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), for example, is to develop leadership, teamwork, initiative, and self-reliance, all of which help pupils to become more confident and independent. Many of our students also find the experience of volunteering on a Friday afternoon incredibly enriching, helping to raise money for Warwick District Foodbank, mentoring younger children at local primary schools, and working with Kissing It Better to support elderly patients in need of friendship and connection. Volunteering is an integral way to develop character, confidence, and a sense of responsibility, all hugely important qualities that underpin our desire to develop exceptional young men, not just exceptional students.

Floreat Diploma

Our Floreat Programme is a multi-year, interdisciplinary initiative designed to incorporate four virtues that contribute to character development:

• Intellectual virtues - traits which are necessary for the pursuit of knowledge, truth, and understanding. Examples of these are critical thinking, judgement, reasoning and reflection.
• Moral virtues - traits which enable us to act well in situations that require an ethical response. Someone with moral virtues is often courageous, honest, just, and fair.
• Civic virtues – virtues that ensure we are engaged in responsible citizenship. We contribute to the common good for the wider community and society around us. Essentially, we are culturally aware and benefit the wider world we inhabit.
• Performance virtues – those virtues which involve collaboration with others. They allow us to work positively in a group and include attributes such as confidence, leadership, and teamwork.

The Programme is a multi-stage initiative, with the Certificate for Years 7-8, the Award for Years 9-10, and the Diploma for Years 11-13. For our Sixth Formers who wish to undertake it, the Floreat Diploma signifies their wholehearted commitment to developing key virtues and personal growth. Upon completion of the Diploma, pupils are awarded an EduQual accredited qualification, meaning that the Diploma has status and recognition beyond Warwick School.

The requirements of the Diploma are much more extensive than the Certificate and Award, as pupils are required to amass 80 hours of identified activities within each ‘virtue’. Whilst it is undoubtedly a big commitment, we believe that it is a worthwhile one. The Diploma represents a unique opportunity that many pupils at other schools are not afforded, and allows our boys to demonstrate tangible evidence of initiative, leadership, and virtue.

Don’t just take our word for it

Whilst we wholeheartedly believe in our approach to enriching our pupils’ learning and providing opportunities to develop a range of valuable skills, it is a privilege when this approach is recognised by others.

As such, we were delighted to be awarded Centre of Excellence status for 2024-25 by Leadership Skills Foundation. Leadership Skills Foundation state that the schools that are awarded Centre of Excellence status 'represent the very best in leadership skills education, demonstrating exceptional standards and a commitment to continuous improvement' – to receive this award truly illuminates our commitment to providing enriching leadership opportunities.

These are just a few examples of the opportunities afforded to our Sixth Form pupils. Everything that encompasses The Warwick Way – our excellence in teaching and learning, commitment to broadening our pupils’ horizons in and out of the classroom, and sense of belonging – mean that our pupils not only flourish whilst they are with us, but thoroughly enjoy their school experience. It has even led to recent Sixth Form joiners stating that ‘deciding to change schools has been the best decision I could have made.’

Get in touch with us to find out how your son can join our community and have an equally positive experience; our friendly Admissions Team would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Contact them via email at WSS-admissions@warwickschools.co.uk.