It is with tremendous pride that Woolwich Polytechnic Sixth Form, rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, celebrates the success of the Class of 2023.

47% of our students received A* - B grades, with a significant number continuing their academic pathways at Russell Group universities, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Warwick amongst others.

Head of School, Mr Tom Lawrence states, "Our class of 2023 have done themselves proud and nearly all have achieved their first-place offers or high-end apprenticeships, securing an average grade that matches 2019 and 2022. We have many students again going to illustrious Russell Group universities. The results day itself has been a great day of rightful celebration for staff and students. All these enormous achievements have been made against a backdrop of significantly tougher marking, particularly at the top end."

This sentiment is shared by Mr Tim Plumb, CEO of PolyMAT, "After such hard work through challenging times, it was fantastic to see so many students with happy faces, being rewarded with progression to university and apprenticeships. This is why we all work so hard, to change lives and ensure ‘Success for Everyone’ that will last for many years to come." 

Ms Hannah Elliott, Head of Sixth Form, comments: “I am so proud of all our students here at Woolwich Poly. Each of them has shown resilience and determination in the face of adversity. Year on year, our results echo our school ethos of ‘Tomorrow's Leaders’ demonstrating the dedication and commitment of the students themselves, as well as our hardworking staff and supportive wider community. We look forward to seeing the future successes of our students as our Sixth Form expands next year to accommodate Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls.” 

• Abubakar - Engineering at Cambridge (A*A*A*A)
• Sam - Maths at Bath (A*A*AA)
• Dario - Engineering at Edinburgh (A*A*AA)
• Mercy - Architecture at Leeds (A*AB)
• Yedidia - Medicine at Plymouth (ABC)
• Calista – Medicine at Southampton (BBB)
• Andrei - Mechanical Engineering at Nottingham (ABB)
• Pharell - Computer Science at Warwick (AAA)
• Prapti – Global Sustainable Development at Warwick (A*AB)
• Callum - English and Drama at Queen Mary’s (A*A*B)
• Neha - English Literature at Kings (AAB)

#woolwichpoly #woolwichpolytechnic #woolwichpolytechnicsixthform #polysixthform #thamesmead #greenwich

Mr Tatton organised 8 of our Year 12 students to take part in the Futures Academy Work Experience programme.

The London Market Group has launched its Futures Academy, a collaborative effort of almost 50 London market firms to offer industry exposure and work experience to over 100 Year 12 students. They have opened up the world of specialty insurance so that young people can view this as a destination career.

The programme ran for two weeks at the beginning of July, running several workshops for students:

• Gaining an insight into the specialty insurance sector - what it does and why it exists.
• Understanding their strengths and how these play into their future career in the sector
• Work on big ideas to shape the future of specialty insurance.
• Spend 4 days on placement with an employer in the sector, getting hands-on experience of life in specialty insurance.

The two weeks culminated in a career’s festival on 14^th July where students came together at the Lloyd’s Building in the heart of the city to network with employers.

Elaine Channing, Programme Coordinator made a lovely comment about our students,

‘It was a pleasure to have your students on the Futures Academy during the last two weeks, thank you for allowing them to take part.  We had high engagement levels during the workshops and the students showed tremendous potential, they certainly impressed us and the employers who supported the event.  We have also had great feedback from the employers who hosted the students for their work placements.  No doubt there are some future Specialty Insurance stars in the making! We look forward to bringing this opportunity to your Year 12 students again next year.’

Jacqueline Girow, Associate Director at LIIBA (London & International Insurance Brokers’ Association) commented,

 ‘All of the participants will now know what a brilliant place the London market is to work and also what our industry is all about. I have no doubt we will see many of these within market firms in the future. Congratulations to all involved!’

Such an amazing opportunity for our students to undertake, thank you to Mr Tatton for organising this for our students. A huge well done to Aya, Amaka, Lane, Albert, Boluwatife, Joey, Emilis and Imran.

Top Achievers Programme Event – Saturday 8^th July 2023

The TAP event on Saturday was a great success. There were 50 students from the current years 10-12 in attendance accompanied by their parents/carers so around 100 in total.

The keynote speaker was Richard Hopkins, Head of the Department of Agriculture, Health, and Environment at the Natural Resources Institute. His talk showed how he has combined biology, chemistry, and maths to come up with innovative ways to prevent insect-borne killer diseases like malaria, sleeping sickness and yellow fever.

Natural Resources Institute Twitter

Natural Resources Institute - Agriculture, Health & Environment Department Website

Sarah Large (from Mansfield College Oxford) ran great sessions on applying to Oxbridge and early entry.

Mansfield College Oxford Twitter

David Vaccaro, Wycombe Abbey’s Director of Learning, and Innovation at Wycombe Abbey School gave two maths masterclasses for Year 11 and 12 students.

David Vaccaro Twitter

Wycombe Abbey Twitter

Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this wonderful event.

Another successful ‘Beyond the Poly Week’ completed!

Year 12 students spent the last week enjoying a variety of workshops and trips as part of their official transition into Year 13. On Friday, all students attended the Step-Up Expo in Olympia, inspiring their choices for education and careers, while Monday was spent at Bloomsbury Institute, working to ‘unleash their creative potential for work’. The week culminated in 1–1 interviews for each student conducted by industry professionals who volunteered their time to work with us. We could not be more grateful. The Year 12 cohort will finish off the year with two weeks’ work experience - Good Luck Year 12!

A special thank you to long-time Woolwich Polytechnic Sixth Form friend, Wing Commander Calvin Bailey for joining us once again.

Dear Parents/Carers,

You will be aware that NEU teachers will be striking on Wednesday 5^th and Friday 7^th July 2023.

Due to significantly reduced staffing, we will be running the following limited programme for invited students only.

These students will be invited in a separate message home.

The timings for both days are as follows:

• 9:00am to 1:50pm for invited students to the Hub
• 8:45am to 1:00pm for invited Year 10 students
• Wednesday only: Beyond the Poly Week for Year 12s ~ See special schedule.
• Friday all Year 12s are to remain at home

We will be providing lunch and/or break for students invited in, but normal payment arrangements will apply.

Additionally, any student not invited in for the above activities who is eligible for free school meals will be able to attend the school from 11.45am to 12.45pm to collect a take-away lunch.

Please look out for messages soon from us to check whether your son/daughter has been invited in.