The Sixth Form College is Worth the Journey

Holding the distinction of being Wirral’s No1 Sixth Form means that students come to us from all four corners of our fair peninsula, and with our new subsidised bus route from Neston adding to the South Wirral and Heswall services, that journey has never been easier. But, sometimes, not even the Wirral boundaries are enough to stop our determined learners.

We like to make sure that every 90 minute commute, or hour-long bus ride, or even permanent relocation is worth it, from the outer reaches of Liverpool, or Chester, or Ellesmere Port, and there’s no one better than our students to tell you just that.

First year, Ava Powell-Wallis joined us from Ellesmere Port Catholic High. While many of her high school friends played safe and stuck with local sixth form options, Ava took the end of her GCSE exams to mean a fresh start, both educationally and geographically, choosing a sixth form that was best for her.

Ava said: “My high school friends all go to the same school now for sixth form and I still keep in touch with them, but I made new friends here straight away so it doesn’t feel like I’m missing out or I’ve been alone at all.”

Explaining her decision, Ava, who takes English Language, History, Law and Psychology with us, said: “There were so many subject options I could take coming here as well as wanting a fresh start. I did enjoy school but this was a whole new experience and felt exciting. I looked at a few colleges closer to me but none of them had as many options as they do here. Some only had four options in total. Most had option blocks too so I couldn’t take what I wanted to.”

Ava jumps on the bus every day to Claughton from Little Sutton on the very edge of the Wirral; a journey which takes an hour each way but one that she makes the most of.

“I don’t mind the journey at all. I can revise and go over work that I need to before I get to college to it’s actually quite good!”

New Neston Bus Service from Birkenhead Sixth Form College on Vimeo.

Fellow first year, Miaoxue Chen, has even longer to travel than Ava. From leaving her family home near Prescot in Liverpool every day, Miaoxue can spent up to an hour-and-a-half travelling into college, but her 100% attendance record speaks for itself.

Honours Programme student Miaoxue, who studies Biology, Maths, Psychology and Applied Science, left the Wirral last year after completing her GCSEs at Prenton High School.

She said: “I always knew I wanted to come to the Sixth Form College and my family moving to Liverpool wasn’t going to change my decision.”

Jacob Khan is a student that moved the other way to Miaoxue. Jake joined us from his previous Liverpool sixth form as he wasn’t achieving results to the potential that he knew he possessed. Like Ava, he too left lifelong friends behind in his previous school but took the decision for his own personal progression, and it’s a decision that he says he now fully appreciates.

Jake said: “Without sugar-coating it, it’s always going to be a difficult and nerve-wracking time to move from  a place you’ve been at since you were three and you felt comfortable, but after my first week here it felt like I’d been a student here forever. My personal and guidance tutor fully supported me when I first arrived, as did the subject teachers, and they all gave me some great advice, plus I made friends really quickly, despite initially feeling apprehensive about leaving my old friends behind in Liverpool.”

Jake explained that he’d driven past the college many times on his way from his Liverpool home in Huyton to his father’s in Greasby and took the decision to stay with his dad on a more permanent basis to fit in with his educational choices.

Jake is now on course for the highest possible grades in his chosen Sociology, Media Studies and Film Studies and concluded: “I can honestly say that I have never felt so motivated and driven in an educational environment. Not only have I improved in my subject areas but I also feel as though I have grown as an individual and I am much clearer now on the path that I wish to go down in the future.”