Beyond the classroom

Alongside our first-class academic curriculum, we provide a vast array of enrichment and extracurricular opportunities so all of our girls have the chance to learn something new, hone their unique talents and skills, and step out of their comfort zones. It’s just one of the compelling reasons families choose Nottingham Girls, and as they move up the school into the Sixth Form, these opportunities become more challenging to suit their higher levels of confidence.

We provide countless leadership opportunities, expand girls’ horizons and give them excellent advantages as they move up through the school, into university and on to their careers. They leave us as all-rounders. Smart, creative, confident and adventurous, inside the classroom and beyond.

 

Clubs and activities

Extra curricular clubs and academic lessons often go hand-in-hand, with participation in one leading to success in the other. Many of our clubs provide standalone opportunities, and many others complement what takes place in the classroom or on the sports field. Either way, they are great opportunities to learn something new or get better at something you already love. And in the Sixth Form, there are more tailored offerings to suit the maturity of the Year 12 and 13 cohort.

 

 

Leadership

One of the most sought after and exciting opportunities in our Sixth Form is to become part of the Prefect Team, including the position of Head Girl and Deputies as well as other specific prefects such as Diversity Prefect, Charity Prefect, House Captains and more.

This provides excellent leadership opportunities allowing the older girls to represent the student voice of their younger peers. It’s an essential life skill and something the girls love to get involved in.

Performing Arts

By the time they reach the Sixth Form our students are fairly certain that centre-stage is the place for them. Opportunities for them to perform come in many guises. They take part in whole school productions and in Sixth Form-specific plays each year, and they get to direct the younger girls in our much-loved House Performing Arts Festival and entertain all of us with the hilarious Sixth Form Entertainment at Christmas. And musical opportunities don’t stop at Sixth Form either with students taking part in choirs, ensembles and dedicated rock bands who perform at city centre venues.

Our incredible Squire Performing Arts Centre provides a professional theatre setting for them to hone their talents and enjoy performing to an audience of hundreds, or work behind the scenes if they prefer. Many go on to enjoy professional success beyond school and we’re always proud to see our alumnae on stage and screen in musical and theatrical productions.

 

Read more about Performing Arts at Nottingham Girls

Read more about Music at Nottingham Girls

Sport and Outdoor Learning

Continuing to make use of our excellent sports and outdoor learning facilities on site, our Sixth Formers are still as active as ever. They continue to participate in clubs such as hockey, netball and climbing. They’ll be going for Gold in our Duke of Edinburgh scheme by now, and the World Challenge trips on offer to them are incredible and have so far been jaw-dropping, from Norway to Borneo and most recently, Nicaragua. These are no ordinary trips but include charitable and conservation work such as planting trees and releasing turtles into the oceans. Our students learn so much from these trips and they become better global citizens for the experience.

 

Read more about Outdoor Learning at NGHS

The GDST

The benefits of being part of the Girls’ Day School Trust really come into their own in the Sixth Form. Students are able to enjoy many unique opportunities with our sister GDST schools including our entrepreneur programme GDST Lead, networking events, debating events and careers mentoring from influential alumnae. Girls can continue to perfect life-skills already learnt, such as teamwork and leadership, while benefiting from the supportive family feel of belonging to the GDST.

Older and Wiser

Life is a little different in the Sixth Form, where students are more mature and experienced, and this is reflected in the enrichment opportunities available to them. As well as the many leadership roles available, there are also opportunities for them to become Wellbeing Ambassadors – gaining certification from the Peer Educator Program enabling them to work with younger year groups on wellbeing advice and support. This year the group held a series of workshops with Year 7 students so that they themselves could become in-school Wellbeing Ambassadors without the actual qualification. This is a great example of the Sixth Form being inspirational role models for their younger peers.

From Dissection Club to running assemblies, attending UCAS and other workshops preparing them for the future, our Sixth-Form focused enrichment opportunities help make our provision so outstanding, catering for the needs for our students as they grow.