Our Philosophy and the Sixth Form
At the Langton we have developed a distinctive dimension to our Sixth Form
curriculum. We encourage our students to get involved in authentic and original
research and all follow a History of Ideas course centred on an intensive series of
under-graduate level lectures supported through university style academic tutoring.
These opportunities take our students far beyond the normal demands of Sixth Form
study and provide them with a real insight into the academic and research dimensions
of university study and future graduate careers.
At the Langton our students spend a significant amount of their time working outside
the parameters of the formal curriculum and the published syllabuses. In the sciences,
for example, students are encouraged to take part in authentic research projects.
These are not projects commonly followed in schools; rather they are original and
often ground-breaking research experiments, where students work alongside academic
and research scientists and make a real contribution to the work of the international
research community. Current research projects cover cosmic ray analysis and particle
physics, astronomy and astro-physics, plasma physics, micro-biology, engineering,
computer science, agricultural science and food security
Offering such projects to our students allows them to gain a real insight into the
demands of academic and scientific research at undergraduate level and beyond and
we have seen tangible benefits through the dramatic increase in students moving on to
science, technology, engineering and medical courses at the very best universities.
This philosophy is not restricted to the sciences. In the Arts, Humanities and Social
Sciences students follow a History of Ideas course covering knowledge and ideas not
commonly addressed in A level syllabuses. The History of Ideas course, which is an
entitlement for all students, covers key ideas in anthropology, ancient history, political
science, psychology, cultural theory, scientific, social and medical ethics, musical and
artistic criticism, economic theory and philosophy. Each student follows a selfdirected programme of study, choosing to attend lectures on topics of interest from a
wide series of presentations which take place throughout the academic year, before
moving on to complete an extended academic enquiry in an area of the student’s own
choosing.
We have found the History of Ideas course to be particularly useful for our students;
some choose to enhance their understanding of their current A level subjects (for
example, a student studying philosophy and English investigating the literature of the
French Existentialists), others support their interests in a particular field (for example
a student taking three sciences and maths choosing to study a problem in medical
ethics to support an application to medical school), and other students develop
interests in university subjects not formally covered in A level syllabuses, recent
examples include anthropology, psychology, law, the History of Art, linguistics,
ancient and mediaeval history and political theory.
The philosophy underpinning the History of Ideas course is further developed through
the Arts and Humanities Society, a voluntary group which hosts guest lecturers up to
twice a week who speak on a vast range of subjects from within the arts and
humanities broadly conceived. We have also appointed to the school Professor
Soderholm who offers courses of lectures through the Arts and Humanities Society
focusing on the development of and debate within literature and philosophy.
1
The research philosophy is also developed in the humanities; in the history
department, for example, students are involved in two pieces of collaborative and
original research; the first in connection with the University of Kent exploring
commemoration in World War One and the second an Open University project
exploring issues connected with ethnic minorities in World War One.
Preparing our Sixth Form students for university and beyond also involves developing
their leadership. Our approaches have grown out of the school’s long standing
commitment to attending to the Student Voice. After initially establishing elected
student bodies, the development of the Student Voice was very much driven by
student led initiatives. A fundamental aspect of the evaluation of teaching and
learning in the school is the student lesson evaluations whereby all students are
involved in the anonymous evaluation of all their teachers, commenting on the quality
of their teachers in categories of competence identified by students. The research
projects outlined above also reflect our commitment to the development of students;
the students are the architects of the projects, whilst the teachers are only facilitators,
and the direction and pace of travel is always determined by students.
Leadership is actively encouraged and significant academic groups across a range of
subjects are run exclusively by students and for students. These groups cover
academic disciplines in economics, biomedical and veterinary science, architecture,
engineering, geography, politics, computing and drama. In these groups students
often present lectures to one-another and invite a variety of prestigious academics into
the school.
At the Langton we believe that if schools teach to the test they get students who can
pass tests, but little else. Our aim is broader; to give students the passion to go on
learning and thinking for the rest of their lives and to give them the skills they need to
be the leaders of their generation.
2