Why would a sixth form college need Oppidan?
Every sixth form college leader we meet has slightly different needs, but they might include the following:
Looking to motivate students who might be struggling pastorally or academically.
Looking to improve student leadership and future pathways opportunities.
Looking to find a low-cost and more objective way to personalise learning.
Looking to improve and innovate their personal development and character agenda for ISI and Ofsted.
What is Oppidan all about?
Personalised, human-led mentoring. We want to improve results and affect outcomes, via character. We want to visit every school in-person, with an inspiring team of mentors who will excite students and bring something different.
What is Oppidan focusing on?
Readiness, oracy and character are our three outcomes. That’s consistent across Key Stages 2-5, with variation in content and activities pitched to each stage. Settling at secondary, building communication skills, developing the right study habits and attitudes pre-GCSE and eventually working out who they are and what they want to achieve; all of this is part of the Oppidan Journey for those on our programmes. See more about our outcomes here.
How does Oppidan deliver?
We always start in-person, in groups of 1:8; students experience several hours of hands-on modular workshops. Follow-up days move to a 30-minute 1:1 format, with a personalised report and action plan. We want to triangulate our feedback to support teachers and parents with every student.
What and how do sixth form colleges pay for Oppidan?
Our typical journey for a school sees students termly, at a cost of £50 per student, per term. We see variety in how independent schools will fund our support, from pastoral, academic or careers budgets to charging parents on an opt-out model.
Who are Oppidan’s mentors?
Successful, youthful and inspiring; our mentors hail from diverse careers outside of their work in schools. See more about our mentors here.
What kind of content is Oppidan using?
All our content is our own, built for our outcomes with the research and support of key organisations in character like The Oxford Character Project (University of Oxford) and The Association for Character Education (Jubilee Centre, University of Birmingham). See more about our modular content here.
Where is Oppidan working?
Oppidan Education supports more than 100 UK state-funded MATs, sixth form colleges, UK independent prep and secondary, and international English-speaking schools. In the UK we've built standout partnerships with sixth forms colleges such as St Dominic’s, alongside a broad mix of other schools of varying size and location. Whatever the demographic or state-of-play for each setting, we've found students to be similar in their engagement with us and their hunger to build skills that will serve their futures.
“The students thoroughly enjoyed the 1:1 sessions and I now have others asking if they could have this at a later date! The mentors were so talented and yet so down to earth, they were relatable and the students were so positive in their feedback to me, Thank you for preparing such a unique opportunity for them.”