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Head Students' Welcome
A Warm Welcome to the Sixth Form
Nell McLachlan and Poppy Barnes
Head Students
We are delighted to welcome you to Uckfield College. Our community has a unique atmosphere which is caring, enthusiastic and supportive. We hope you enjoy exploring the amazing opportunities our College has to offer.
Poppy and Nell
Advice From The Head Students
Nell - "As you move through school (and life after) there are going to be so many incredible opportunities offered to you. Take them. Often the things that hold us back are just tiny fears and every time you conquer them one the easier it is next time. The moment I realised the only thing stopping me from doing a new thing was myself, I had a whole world opened to me. So please just take the chance and do it! I promise your older self will thank you for it when you look back at all you have done at Uckfield College."
Poppy - “Dream Big! My confidence has developed and grown so much throughout my time at Uckfield College and if I could give my younger self some advice, it would be to believe in myself and have high aspirations. I feel that as I have grown up from Year 7 at Uckfield College I have learnt to utilise and take advantage of opportunities I am presented with more and more, and am still learning to ignore self doubt and believe in myself. I have been supported with my anxiety and mental health here as well as my academic studies and my extracurricular strengths and passions. At Uckfield, you have the foundations to build on whatever dreams you have: you only live once so aim high and don’t compromise, because the voice telling you to doubt yourself is all wrong! Take all the opportunities that excite you and do what you enjoy. You don’t have to do what is typical or stick to an easy target because there are so many pathways for you to go down and you will be supported every step of the way!”
Academic study
Reflecting now, in year 12, we have both been on an amazing journey academically. Sixth Form is a challenge yet we have been encouraged at every step. Uckfield College has a unique academic structure; you will be inspired and pushed to reach your full potential. The school places a big emphasis on successfully organising your study time; in the Sixth Form we have timetabled study sessions which enable us to stay on top and decrease the burden of work at home. It is a brilliant space to focus and we have found that the support offered for independent study has allowed us to engage and explore our subjects in more depth.
The lessons are an excellent space for learning too. Our teachers are so dedicated and we feel welcome to ask them as many questions as we need. Through their passion they create Uckfield’s caring and supportive atmosphere which makes our school so amazing. Their attentive help is coupled with the offer of fun opportunities within lessons too. Some of our favourite lessons so far have been the exciting practicals in Biology (including dissections and outside ecology work), holding debates over Henry VII’s domestic policy in History, and organic Chemistry experiments in which we are able to utilise our superb labs and equipment. We are also assisted in organising our revision, making it more accessible to our future selves when it comes to exams. In particular some of our folders are near masterpieces (in our opinion).
Furthermore we are lucky to have so many peers that share our devotion for our subjects. We often enjoy sitting in the Sixth Form Garden and practising science flashcards or trying to answer each other's questions about a tricky homework. We have an environment built on a culture of respect and kindness which is the main focus of our community.
Support
Our sixth form support team is so caring and devoted to our wellbeing and academic studies. We have involved and caring form mentors and teachers who are always looking out for us as well as enthusiastic Directors of Year who strive to know us all personally and help us to feel included. Our pastoral leaders are so attentive and thoughtful and are always quick to offer support and kindness at all hours of the day whenever it is needed. We are lucky to have such a strong support team, providing a safe and happy environment alongside high academic aspirations.
We are also fortunate to have an amazing careers team. Our careers advisor is so accommodating and ensures we all build individual career portfolios that will stand out to our future employers. Moreover our College is located in a beautiful area, very close to multiple parks and surrounded by nature (green space being so vital for our mental health). The town centre is also only a 5 minute walk.
Super-curricular and Social Activities
At Uckfield we take pride in our huge range of super curricular activities made available to us. Our College has over 80 super-curricular clubs as well as countless social and educational events to take part in.
Nell: I have attended the Uk Space Design Competition club, Female Lead Society and have even started my own crochet club. Poppy: I have participated in a range of clubs throughout my six years so far at Uckfield. As a passionate musician and performer, I have thoroughly loved the musical and performance-based range of Uckfield’s super curricular clubs and events. Uckfield College has a thriving music scene; here, we have endless musical opportunities such as our annual musicals (this year’s was ‘Mary Poppins), carol services and summer music festivals. We host various ‘Rock The Weald’ concerts which regularly take place at the College and give young musicians within and external to the college a chance to utilise our amazing performance facilities such as our outdoor stage and our theatre. Through music at Uckfield College, I have made so many wonderful friends in many different years and even in different schools and have had many opportunities to get involved and perform. We would strongly recommend any potential students who have a passion for performing arts to attend one of our amazing events to have a great time and experience the talent and excitement of music and performance here.
We also enjoy many academic opportunities, enabling us to build a strong portfolio of skills for our future and push us closer to achieving our dreams. For example, recently in Year 12 a group of us attended a quiz competition and another group will be visiting NASA to gain skills within engineering next year. We both attend Erudite where we have been able to discuss academic concepts and engage with life’s big questions. I (Poppy) also attend Medical Society and soon we will both participate in Model United Nations General Assembly.
The many socialising opportunities we have in the sixth form also allows enriching breaks to our academic studying. Our favourites have been the annual Christmas ice-skating trip and the bowling trip to Brighton Marina. We are currently looking forward to our summer Thorpe Park trip.
Student Leadership
Uckfield College has many opportunities for students across all years to collaborate and contribute to our school. We have 10 College Changemaker Committees; each is led by a passionate sixth form Assistant Head and between 1-2 Prefects who organise the younger students interested in making positive change within each committee. Throughout the year, they arrange events and activities for the wider College. Being a student leader gives you the grounds and freedom to organise projects that you feel inspired to pursue in the committee you chose to adopt. It is a competitive position through which you can get involved with the College community, and build your leadership, interview, communication and teamwork skills.
We thoroughly enjoy being Head Students and we are so proud to be able to represent our College. We organise prefect events and get involved in many aspects of all the Changemaker Committees. We get to improve our public speaking skills and love working alongside our Deputy and Assistant Head Students and Prefects who make up such an inspiring and hard-working team.
We especially enjoy meeting prospective students and their parents and carers (during the recent transition days, College tours and open days) as we get to show off our amazing College, meet new people and welcome them to our community.
Wider Community
One of the best things about the College is the sense of community it builds, both within and outwardly. We are lucky to get to be involved with the rest of the College frequently including peer mentoring, social action (helping in a younger year class), tutoring and recently helping with the Year 6 Transition Days. You can’t help but feel included!
It is also so involved in the wider community. To name a few examples, we have done litter picking in the local area, offered our sports facilities to nearby primary schools and even helped paint the community fridge. We run the yearly Christmas Carol Service in Uckfield Holy Cross Church and contribute many musicians to the annual Buxted Young Musicians’ concert, and host many ‘Rock the Weald’ rock concerts in which we collaborate with RBMS and other schools in the local area.
In addition, we have supported a number of charities through our Christmas collection for our local Food Bank, our Movember charity collection, our technology collection and many more. For us, the recent ‘Thank a Teacher’ bake sale was a highlight and we are grateful to be able to contribute to building a better world around us.
