Academic Enrichment

Our enrichment programme offers students the opportunity to attend a 30-minute university-style lecture every week. This initiative aims to foster a love of learning outside the traditional classroom environment. The lectures are enormously popular and we usually have between 50-100 pupils attend each week.

The lectures are led by staff and Sixth Form students and the topics covered are designed to challenge and inspire students. The programme encourages our Sixth Form students to take a leadership role in the school community and learn the valuable life skill of presenting complex ideas to a large audience.

At the heart of this programme is choice. Students choose to attend those lectures which appeal most to them. For those who do not want to attend a lecture, we run a series of enrichment sessions designed to encourage debate and extend the students’ knowledge of current affairs and contentious modern issues such as AI and censorship.

  • General lecture topics:
    • Women in STEM
    • The holocaust – a personal story
    • Crime and punishment in late medieval England
    • Untranslatable words 
    • Women’s voices in poetry in the ancient world
    • What is the unconscious, and how can it explain the bully?
    • How to ‘read’ film with a critical eye 

     

  • Sixth Form lecture topics:
    • Why do we dream?
    • What are the moral responsibilities for those who choose to protest
    • Who really won the space race in the 1960s
    • Will Artificial Intelligence take over the world?
    • The use of digital technology in sport

Beacon Enrichment Portfolio

We also offer the opportunity for every student to develop their own enrichment portfolio across the academic year in an area (or areas) of their choice. This portfolio provides a platform for students to showcase their super-curricular activities and achievements and allows them to demonstrate their ability to think critically and creatively. There is an expectation that the academic scholars engage with this wholeheartedly. 

The Clayton Academic Scholars’ Programme

 The Clayton Society for scholars encourages critical debate of big philosophical or societal issues and this takes place every Tuesday lunchtime. Scholars are also invited to our annual Scholars’ Dinner with a guest speaker. 

“It was a pleasure to be invited to speak to the Tormead scholars, and to have the opportunity to share with them my fascination with story in all its forms. It is fantastic that these girls have the opportunity to engage with learning beyond the classroom, exploring subjects, experiences and thinking outside the curriculum: it was a privilege to be able to share a little of my own academic passions with the leaders and changemakers of tomorrow”

Ms Philippa Brackfield, English Teacher

KYTOS Programme

The KYTOS Biology Enrichment Programme offers unparalleled opportunities to explore the subject beyond the classroom. Students can develop their surgical skills in the Dissection Club, enhance the school environment in the Conservation Club and delve deeper into the fascinating world of forensic science and criminal investigation in the popular Forensics Club.

Where next?

Senior

STEM