Month: September 2019

On 27 September, nearly 40 CTK students enjoyed a visit to the busy and bustling Apprenticeship Fair at the Emirates Stadium in North London.  The event gave students the opportunity to talk to employers and training providers about apprenticeships, as well as speaking to the many universities present about Degree Apprenticeships. 

One of the Upper Sixth students who attended and had found it worthwhile, said:

“I didn’t expect to find so many degree apprenticeship opportunities to get my qualifications for accounting and finance.”

If you are planning to look for an apprenticeship alongside or instead of applying to university, please book an appointment to discuss this with the Careers Team at your site or email: careers@ctksfc.ac.uk

Press Release Thursday 26 September 2019

Christ the King Sixth Forms announced plans today to create the borough’s first Catholic selective sixth form centre.  CTK Aquinas will open its doors in 2020 to high performing A Level students and will be the area’s only sixth form centre of its kind.  In another first, Christ the King Sixth Forms will also be launching London’s only Catholic sixth form centre for vocational students, CTK Emmanuel.

Under the plans announced today by Joint Collegiate Principal Shireen Razey, new students joining Christ the King Sixth Forms in 2020 will choose from three distinct sixth form centres, based on their university ambitions, career aspirations and prior academic performance.

CTK St Mary’s will continue to provide an extensive range of both A Level and high level BTEC qualifications at its sixth form in Sidcup.

Joint Collegiate Principal Shireen Razey says: “Over the past 12 months, we have consulted extensively with staff, parents, alumni, universities, our employer advisory boards and Catholic partners.  As a result we have built a distinct picture of why students and parents choose each of our sixth forms as a place to study, what they value about their environment and teaching, and where there are additional opportunities to supply something unique which is not currently offered within the local community.”

From September 2020, CTK Aquinas will launch as a selective A Level centre for excellence.  The Christian values of the Catholic college, combined with a high quality curriculum, developed in partnership with independent schools and the scholarship graduate programme, will appeal to those with top GCSE grades.  Students will be taught in a purpose built sixth form, by specialist teachers with a focus on progressing to the UK’s top Universities.

Students will be offered a range of 23 subjects at A Level and will need to have achieved at least 48 points at GCSE in order to apply, with an average grade profile of 6. Those studying Science and Maths will require a GCSE grade 7 or above.  Students wishing to study for an A Level subject will need a grade 6 or above in that subject at GCSE.  Dress code will be formal, with students required to wear business-like suits, with tailored trousers and skirts.

Another first will be the launch of CTK Emmanuel as a centre for professional excellence.  From September 2020, CTK Emmanuel will provide high level technical and vocational qualifications, for students who aim to progress to university or into careers in engineering, science, media, business, law, health, education, sports and performing arts.   Currently, almost 90% of Christ the King’s BTEC students progress onto university, which is significantly higher than the national average.  In 2018, 50% of Christ the King students that secured a place at a Russell Group University, had studied a Level 3 BTEC Qualification.  CTK Emmanuel will offer the widest range of university focused vocational courses in the area and will be London’s only dedicated sixth form specialising in vocational courses.

In Sidcup, CTK St Mary’s will continue to provide a wide range of 30 A Level and BTEC courses and graduate programmes to suit a variety of abilities, including the highest performing GCSE students on the Advanced Graduate Programme. 

The three sixth forms will provide extensive choice for local students across London and Kent with a wide range of courses on offer to suit all abilities and aspirations, and a place for all hardworking, ambitious students.

Christ the King Chair of Governors Rupert Evenett says; “We believe that across each of Christ the King Sixth Forms, we are able to offer every young person with ambition, drive and aspiration the chance to study up to the highest level and gain entry to leading universities. Our Christian values are underpinned by our CTK graces, built on character education, which are; grit, respect, awareness, curiosity, endeavor and self-control. These values are key to the success of our students and key to our sixth form communities.”

We were delighted to hear that former Christ the King student William Cook, who has graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London with a first in BA Fine Art, he was also awarded the 2019 Goldsmiths Artist Award. Here are some examples of his fantastic work.

CTK was delighted to have Tilly Franklin, Director of Investments at Alta Advisers, launch the annual CTK cross-site External Speaker Programme.  

Over 70 students Business students had the opportunity to listen to Tilly’s inspirational talk about her life, career and what is involved in running a private equity fund.  Tilly explained to students how she came to work in private equity despite not initially studying Business or Finance.

Tilly spoke of her path in education: from attending her local school before going to the University of Cambridge, followed by London Business School and then Harvard University. She also explained about the variety of previous roles she has held at BBC Worldwide Ltd, Virgin Management Ltd. and McKinsey & Company.

David Pearson, Director of Wider Learning, Careers, & Partnerships at CTK, said: ‘Tilly Franklin has got our External Speaker Programme off to a fantastic start. She is one of many high-profile speakers who will be coming into our colleges over the next few months.  Our students gain a great deal from hearing these inspirational, high-achieving individuals speak about their own education and career paths.’

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) students from CTK were given the chance to spend an amazing day at the central offices in London of BNYMellon to learn how to Design an App in a Day.

The Design an App in a Day workshop took key elements from the Apps for Good course, guiding pupils through an interactive development model where they began with an idea and ended with a pitch, outlining their final prototype. Students had the opportunity to hear from BNY Mellon volunteers about a real-world challenge and then had the opportunity to come up with a tech solution. Students explored user needs and features, market research and user profiling before finally, creating drawn wireframes of their app ideas and pitching them back to the class and volunteers. Collaborative working, problem solving and communication skills were are all encouraged and developed during this innovative workshop.

Many students afterwards described the day as being the most productive workshop of their studies so far!

Fourteen CTK students were delighted to recently take part in a corporate mentoring programme with Capgemini and Urban Synergy. Over a number of weeks the programme helped to develop their wider skills as well as offering them an opportunity to gain experience which could lead onto a Degree Apprenticeship.

Capgemini is a global leader in consulting, technology services and digital transformation and is at the forefront of innovation to take advantage of opportunities in the evolving world of cloud, digital and platforms.

Urban Synergy is an award winning mentoring charity that has helped hundreds of young people between 11 and 18 years of age reach their full potential through outcome focused mentoring programmes and have supported many CTK students in the past. A highlight of the programme for students was meeting Christine Hodgson during the least session. Christine is the Chairwoman of Capgemini UK plc and the Careers & Enterprise Company.