The Felsted Diploma

The Senior School Felsted Diploma Programme continues to grow and develop, encouraging students to cover a broad base of skills and activities whilst allowing them the flexibility to follow any special interests or talents.

Categories are based upon experiences and skills young people might be expected to have a grasp of as they apply to Universities, Post-18 training courses and employment opportunities. The Felsted Diploma helps students to explore their successes and experiences and challenge them to consider how they might transfer these skills to their future studies and careers. The result: a well-rounded individual who can articulate what they can offer a prospective employer.

Felsted aims to offer a diverse range of opportunities and continues to encourage students to tailor their co-curricular options to suit their own needs, skills and desires.

At all levels students are expected to engage with the following:

Academic Study & Independent Learning
Covers any aspect of academic life at school - can be general commentary on progress or a reflection on a specific event such as mock exams.

Art, Music, Drama & Culture
Covers academic and co-curricular aspects; students may reflect on their time preparing and/or rehearsing for events; any student who is not part of an Arts & Cultures dept or event should aim to view and write about at least one event per term.

Careers (Years 9, 10 & 11)
More Careers events/talks/lessons are being worked into the lower school programme; students should reflect on their experiences of these and any other steps they have taken to prepare themselves for further study and life beyond.

Careers, Work Experience & Volunteering (Years 12 & 13)
As above but with additional focus on 1st hand career experience.

Challenge & Skill
Any activity that students feel challenge them or offer an opportunity to develop a skill. There is now a Sports category on the Diploma so students should be steered away from making sports entries here. DofE, CCF, and the Mon/Fri activities are more likely to feature here.

Internationalism
As in previous years, students should commit themselves to some aspect of the International life of the school. This could be through an event like MUN or the Round Square.

Reading Challenge
Students can aim for Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum reading awards.

Leadership, Service & Environmentalism (Years 10, 11, 12 & 13)
Any activity that demonstrates the school ethos towards leadership and service; environmentalism has been added to reflect the Round Square principles. Any charity work/support may also feature here.

Sport
Students have the opportunity to reflect on their sporting development throughout the year.

The Diploma at different stages

Year 9

The Year 9 programme introduces students to the concept of the Felsted Diploma; students complete fixed entries throughout the year with a focus on developing their reflective entries. Each entry relates to the central categories followed by all students but with a particular focus to help students navigate the Felsted Diploma in their first year.

Study Habits - Lessons and Prep (Independent Study): Offers students a chance to reflect upon their first half term at Felsted and their approach to their studies.
The Bury Project (Creativity/Leadership/Activity/Service): Year 9 students undertake the Bury Project each December; the project allows them to demonstrate their creativity in exploring a set theme such as ‘The 450th Anniversary’ or ‘The Environment’.
Specialism: Students get the opportunity to reflect on a particular skill or activity that they wish to pursue throughout their Felsted career. This may be one of the main sports offered, CCF, an academic favourite - or whatever the individual wishes! For some, this entry gives them the chance to reflect on what they have done and explore their options for the future.
Industry Day (Work and Life Skills): During Enrichment Week in the Summer Term, Year 9 get to visit a variety of local businesses to see what goes on in the day to day running of an office, factory or possibly a farm. Students can reflect on what skills and attributes are required for success in the world of work and think about how their next four years at Felsted can help them prepare for this.

Years 10 & 11

During their GCSE years, students complete entries in each of the four central categories (detailed above) but have the freedom to explore and develop their own interests and skills in doing so.

During the course of Year 10, all pupils will be provided with a menu of project ‘briefs’, which they will need to research, before creating a response to their brief. They will need to log their progress using either a digital or physical journal, demonstrating criteria such as the challenges they have faced and how they have overcome them; decisions they have made and why they have made them; modifications they have had to make. Pupils will each write a report on their project, explaining their research and their response to the brief. Finally, they will have to present their project findings and experiences to the rest of their group and supervisor, and be prepared to answer questions. By completing the project in Year 10, the students will be able to concentrate fully on their GCSEs in Year 11, with the necessary skills to work independently on their subjects to access higher grades.

Project briefs will be grouped under the headings of the Round Square IDEALS, and pupils will be able to select the brief that they are most interested in working on. Pupils will be asked to respond creatively to their brief, producing perhaps a short ﬁlm, a piece of artwork, a script for a short play or a prototype product that aims to solve or tackle an issue set out in the chosen brief.

The FDP serves to better facilitate all students’ learning and, for some pupils, their work may be suitable for external accreditation through CREST or through essay competitions, or similar subject-speciﬁc awards, depending upon the nature of their project and brief. It will also prepare them well for the IB’s Extended Essay or the Extended Project Qualiﬁcation in the Sixth Form, which is greatly valued by universities and ensures they are able to access the independent, university-style learning ahead of them. The EPQ not only earns up to 28 UCAS points (slightly more than an AS), it also helps students write their personal statements and/or letter of application as they can discuss their research and offer opinions on their ﬁndings. With the experience of the FDP behind them, students will feel much more comfortable with, and better prepared for, the project process in Sixth Form and therefore ﬁnd it easier to produce some top quality projects.

Examples

How has a better understanding of an individual’s genetics resulted in a more successful approach to cancer treatment? (2,000 word report)
How are Performance Enhancing Drugs affecting sport in the 21st century, and what is being done about it? (2,000 word report)
How has London transport developed throughout the years and what prompted these changes? (artefact + report)

Internationalism: A number of internationally focused projects, placements, events and activities are on offer to students; from Year 10 onward students are required to engage with Felsted's international Programme.

Sixth Form

Students in the Sixth Form have a busy time ahead of them with a large proportion of their time focused on academic achievements and, for the majority, University applications. To assist with this transition Sixth Form students are expected to complete a sixth category in their Diplomas.

Work Experience and/or Volunteering and/or Current Employment: Students are able to experience, first hand, the working environment and reflect upon their ability to meet basic expectations in the workplace. Additionally, students can experience working life in a particular field and reflect upon whether this area is one they wish to pursue.

It merges together the philosophies and programmes of the Felsted Philosophy of Learning, the Round Square, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Creativity, Action and Service Programme (IB students only) into a single coherent personalised programme that is unique to Felsted. Students will follow a central core co-curriculum, as well as choosing additional options to suit personal preferences and interests.

As part of the Diploma students will make online written entries, which encourages the discipline of self-reﬂection and self-evaluation. In this way all their achievements in and outside the classroom become structured into a vital personal CV, which really assists with the preparation of Personal Statements for university or the workplace. More importantly, it will keep students focused on their aims and goals post-results and consider how they can transfer their experiences to university study and working life.

Felsted offers a diverse range of opportunities and continues to encourage students to tailor their co-curricular options to suit their own needs, skills and desires.

Search

In This Section