At enrolment, you may be asked to choose from one of our timetabled enrichment courses to complement your academic studies. See below for our current list of enrichment courses.
Community
‘The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common’.
The below enrichments are designed to bring students from across the college together, united in both their differences and their shared interests.
Singing is proven to be good for your mind, body and soul. Joining choir is a great way to complement and enhance your A-level studies while learning new skills, having fun and making friends. We rehearse in an informal, friendly environment, and perform regularly throughout the year, singing in a variety of styles, from pop to classical, folk, gospel and music theatre. Song requests are welcome and no experience is necessary. The choir will perform in concerts at the end of each term, so you will be required to attend a few extra rehearsals.
Target Audience: All students
If you love making decorative items, this is the course for you. This crafts skills course will include working with fabrics, origami & cut paper; for example we will be using recycled maps/papers to make jewellery & constructing our own handmade books.
Target Audience: This course is suitable for students already with stitch based skills and also students already following a creative pathway who wish to develop stitch based skills and techniques.
Do you sing or play an instrument? Looking for others to perform with or opportunities to perform? Interested in composing or song writing? Or want to join the WQE Jazz Band?
This course will link you with other musicians to work towards performing at open mic sessions and end of term concerts. We will help you find music, or write your own, and offer tips on improving your rehearsing and performing skills. If you play trumpet, sax, trombone, flute, clarinet, piano, drums, guitar, bass or drum kit to around grade 5 standard and can read music, sign up to this course or join the WQE Jazz Band. For more information, contact beth.williams@wqe.ac.uk.
Target Audience: All students – all styles and abilities welcome.
An opportunity to explore the latest breaking news, top headlines and debates in the media. You’ll listen to short podcasts and discussions on big news stories followed by plenty of opportunity to discuss, debate and develop your own thinking. This is open to anyone with an interest in current & world affairs who is ready to engage in discussion and challenge assumptions.
In the first half of the course you will be involved in Drama workshops introducing you to a variety of skills and conventions used in performance, we will look at current theatre practise and investigate how theatre can work within the community. The group will collectively decide upon
a project for performance selecting a specific target audience. In the second half of the course, over a series of weeks we will write, devise and rehearse a performance piece which will be either taken out into the community, or a group will be invited into WQE Drama Studio to watch. In the past we have targeted a local primary school and created performances ranging from ‘The BFG’ to ‘Life in the Amazonian Rainforest’.
This year we are hoping to develop the course to make it more relevant to our students who want to work in the community whether in health, social care or education. This may mean that we choose to perform to people with disabilities, older people, school children or whatever the group will decide.
Target Audience: You should have an interest in performance, a good sense of humour and be
prepared to work in groups practically. This is a good course to help build drama skills, confidence
and a sense of social responsibility. No previous skill in performance needed.
Challenge
‘The call to someone to participate in a competitive situation‘.
The below enrichments are designed to bring students from across the college together to challenge themselves and each other.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
This activity is for less experienced players who are looking to develop their attacking and defensive skills both through drills and match play. There may also be the opportunity for internal competition. Players will need a positive and committed attitude and should be aware that this this course runs through the autumn and winter and that full outdoor kit (including boots and shin pads) will be required.
An exciting, fast-paced indoor alternative to football that is widely played across the world and is officially recognised by both UEFA and FIFA. The sessions will focus on this 5-a-side game with skills development and match play and will undoubtedly also improve your fitness. You will need appropriate football kit including shin pads and trainers.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
A mixed ability and gender course. Multisport groups will experience different activities every week. This course offers you a variety of sporting activities, including ball sports, racquet sports, fitness activities, and outdoor activities etc. This should appeal to any of you who enjoy more than one sport.
WQE Competitive Sport involves a commitment to training and performance. College teams play in local, regional and national competitions. They are a great opportunity to develop skills and learn new ones and are also great for meeting new people and developing confidence.
Competitive sport provides lots of experiences that are valued by universities and employers. Training and matches take place within the college timetable. Some popular competitive sports will have a selection process which students would be required to attend.
Open to all students keen on this sport no matter what ability level or experience. You will have the opportunity to develop your skills through singles and doubles play. More experienced players will have the chance to represent WQE in external competitions.
One of our most sociable sports, this mixed ability, mixed gender enrichment requires no previous experience but you must be keen to learn, prepared to throw yourself around and enjoy the team aspect of sport. You will be taught the core skills of volleyball in the first few weeks and then as these progress, more match experience will really allow you to enjoy this exciting game to the fullest. We will be aspiring to compete in the Association of Colleges Regional tournament and the National Cup, plus other local friendly fixtures.
This enrichment welcomes all abilities, and is a great way to improve your fitness and develop teamwork skills. If you have played basketball before, an experienced basketball coach will give the team the opportunity to be competitive in the regional tournament. However, you don’t need to have any previous experience playing basketball, just sign up being prepared to turn up each week, work hard and you will find your skills develop quickly. As a minimum, you will have the opportunity to compete in the Association of Colleges Regional tournament, the National Cup and local friendly fixtures.
Following on from the success of our national team, women’s cricket is growing in popularity and you have the chance to develop a range of skills in batting, bowling and fielding. A keenness to learn, work with others of differing abilities and get stuck in are essential requirements but you will have fun along the way! Pads, helmets and bats are provided.
This enrichment welcomes all abilities, we just ask you have lots of enthusiasm and are prepared to train outside in all weathers. You will have the opportunity to improve on existing skills, develop new skills and work on fitness, and if you have the desire to, develop your coaching skills. You will be required to have appropriate football boots and shin pads for every session. You will also have the opportunity to experience the variety of football games that exist including outdoor grass Futsal and 5-a-side. As a minimum, you will have the opportunity to compete in the Association of Colleges Regional tournament, the National Cup and local friendly fixtures.
Whether you have played a bit before or just fancy giving it a go this is a chance to have fun, meet new people and learn new skills. You will have the opportunity to keep fit whilst learning the basics of rugby whist experiencing the different rugby games on offer including, Tag, Touch, 7’s and Rugby X. Appropriate footwear will be required as you will be outdoors.
Want to play some football but don’t fancy the full outdoor game? Try the women’s only indoor game. Improve your fitness, meet new people, improve your skills and have some fun. Join us once a week, you’ll need shin pads and trainers. No experience necessary. This session could be delivered by a female or male coach.
You will be using clay to make pots, model figures and create decorative products through a range of mini projects. You will be encouraged to add your own unique twist to each project. This course will cover a range of making processes, including decorative paint and glaze applications.
Target Audience: All students – no previous experience required.
Commitment
‘The state or quality of being dedicated to a subject, cause or activity’.
These enrichments offer an opportunity to try something you have considered, or continue to a higher level something you currently do.
If you are interested in design, building and construction this is an opportunity to gain valuable experience potentially leading to a career in the creative industry.
You will learn design CAD skills, explore drawing plans, elevations and architectural modelling. Visiting guest lecturers who are professionals in this field will give talks about working in the creative industries such as architecture. As part of the course you will explore historical and contemporary design and architecture to help give you the edge at interviews.
Target Audience: All students – particularly those with an interest in architecture, engineering or product design.
Aimed at Year 2 with weak Maths
e.g;
- have not taken A-level Maths in first year and have grade 5 or 6 at GCSE
- students who failed Year 1 A-level Maths.
Reason:
- Year 2 Chemistry has a far greater quantitative emphasis compared with the Year 1 course.
- For those who left Maths behind at GCSE they are out of touch with numeracy and often not fluent enough to tackle the numerical problems. They also have difficulty with some of the Maths which is beyond GCSE.
- A good 50% of the Year 2 work contains quantitative work.
Possible outline assuming 1 block per week.
Topics | No. of blocks |
Volumetric analysis – Year 1 | 2 |
% yield; emp & molec formulae – Year 1 | 1 |
Energetics, cycles, equations – Year 1 | 3 |
Kinetics inc. graphs | 2-3 |
Equilibrium inc. indices and units | 3 |
Acids/bases inc. logs | 4 |
Interpretation of spectra | 2 |
Further volumetric analysis inc. edta | 4 |
Thermodynamics | 5 |
Electrode potentials | 3 |
Synoptic inc. pV=nRT | 2 |
Criteria if oversubscribed:
- Year 1 Chemistry grade – E or D more likely to get in.
- No A-level Maths.
- Year 1 A-level Maths, but U (or E grade).
This information needs to be gathered at enrolment.
In this course you will undertake activities which will give you a better understanding of your personal finance and the global market. You will have the opportunity to enter the WQE apprentice competition as well as competing in a National Investment competition which involves the buying and selling of shares. What you learn through this course will greatly improve your employability and life skills.
Target Audience: All students.
Films often depict and address many sociological issues. We will watch a number of films, across genres, and explore how the issues within them relate to sociological theories. Expect to engage in some interesting and critical discussion of the films that we watch. Afterwards, you should not only understand the films better, but also the society in which you live! You can even suggest films that you think might be relevant. You don’t have to be taking Sociology to enjoy this enrichment, it would be of interest to all.
Target audience: All students
Curiosity
‘A strong desire to know or learn something.‘.
Fancy trying something new?
This enrichment is primarily to give students some time in your week to write. There will be prompts of varying sorts to fire up your creativity as well as to give experience of different sorts of writing. In addition to these there will be some basic discussion of different types and genres of creative writing; of story structure; of constructive critiquing; and of the process of trying to get published. The group will also operate as a critique group for those who feel confident enough to
make use of it.
Target Audience: Anyone with an interest in writing, whether curious to have a go or halfway through their own masterpieces.
This fun photography based course is aimed at students with creative talents seeking to develop their photography skills using a mobile phone.
Each week we will work to a different theme and showcase the work produced at the end of the session. Some of the pieces that you produce will also be taken into Photoshop or Illustrator to
enable you to produce other types of digital art and design pieces, such as comic posters, animated gifs and your own meme sensations.
Target Audience: All students.
Under the guidance of an experienced designer, you will learn a basic skill in creating your very own pattern and techniques in sewing your very own outfit or soft furnishings such as pillowcases, table runners or tote bags. As this is an enrichment for beginners, the outfits are basic cuts and sewing. In the past years, the popular outfits have been maxi/midi/mini kaftans, basic elasticated waist maxi/midi/mini dresses/skirts plus shorts and culottes as well as Abayas (Islamic female dress), kimono vests/tops. Also, very popular have been the tote bags, made of old curtains. Students have upcycled old clothes too and added trimmings giving new life to preloved outfits. Please note that this enrichment is NOT for students who are studying fashion and textiles.
Target Audience: Beginners level
Hola!
Spanish for beginners: a chance to brush up on a popular language for holiday destinations or a chance to improve your careers employability abroad in business, law or medicine.
Spanish for Intermediate: those who already speak Spanish with confidence and would like to
further improve their language skills.
Target Audience: All students – two classes, beginners and intermediate for those who would like to learn Spanish, and those who would like to improve their language skills.
The Sutton 30 enrichment is a unique programme for developing advanced skills of critical thinking, reading, and writing across a wide variety of topics with a view to enhancing both university applications to the Russell Group and Oxbridge and future prospects for highflying professional careers. Part1: Sept-Dec will be appropriate for yr2 students, and Part2: Jan- May for yr1 students. The session will run on a Thursday block 7 (4.15-5.25) to maximise accessibility for students whatever their A level programme.
Career opportunities change all the time. The careers you might end up in probably don’t even exist now! These sessions explore the careers that are out there and look at developing the skills needed to be successful. You will have the chance to explore a wide range of careers and meet working professionals.
Career opportunities change all the time. The careers you might end up in probably don’t even exist now! These sessions explore the careers that are out there and look at developing the skills needed to be successful. You will have the chance to explore a wide range of careers and meet working professionals.
Maybe you have some experience working in sports leadership and coaching or maybe you are looking to develop some new skills? The leadership and coaching programme gives you the chance to learn from experienced coaches in a wide range of activities and situations. There will be lots of practical activity to get involved with and the chance to gain some real world experience. You don’t have to be the greatest sports performer to be an amazing leader and coach.
Statistical claims are made daily in the news, social media, newspapers etc and these are investigated on Radio 4 podcasts hosted by Tim Hartford who tries to make sense of the statistics which surrounds us. This enrichment will allow you to hear these and have discussions. You are not expected to do any calculations, but the enrichment will enable you to appreciate the numbers which surrounds us. Podcasts such as:
How bad is fashion for the environment? How much plastic is in the ocean?
Does toilet paper really cause 15% of global deforestation?
Can China’s data on Covid deaths be trusted?
Has hosting FIFA World Cup really cost Qatar $220bn?
Ed Sheeran and the mathematics of musical coincidences.
Do Fungi really kill three times as many people as Malaria?
There is a growth in professions using statistics, and most organisations will use statistics to grow their business. Even the government uses statistics.
Whatever profession you are considering and whatever you are thinking of studying, whether that may be economics, finance, business, journalism, engineering, design, education, medicine, this enrichment will enrich your understanding of the world around you.
This enrichment will act as an introduction to writing film screenplays with a particular emphasis on the short film format. It will involve a range from activities around the following, scene structure, character development, writing dialogue and creating narrative arcs. There will also be an expectation that some of the tasks set will be undertaken outside of lessons.
Term One
This will be particularly useful for Year Two Film Studies students as they will be writing/making their own films at the time for their NEA. That said this may help Media/English students with creative/recreative writing tasks.
Term Two
This will be perhaps more important for Year One Film Studies students to get an introduction to the writing process around film production. Equally this may be interesting to any students who might be interested in screenwriting as a potential hobby.
This course is designed to extend and develop practical and analytical skills. You will be carrying out detailed practical work including calculations and exam style questions. The course is suitable for second year students who are studying A level biology and intend to pursue a career in science.
Consideration
‘Thoughtfulness and sensitivity towards others‘.
Perhaps you’d like to use your enrichment time to make a positive change to the world of others?
Develop skills in putting forward views in an environment where they get tested. This is an opportunity for you to discuss current affairs and have formal debates in which you are asked to defend or attack a point of view. So whatever your views on Brexit, the Trump phenomenon, fake news, student loans or the fate of the Labour Party there will be something relevant and current to think about and discuss. This is excellent practice for many subjects and something employers like to see on CVs.
Target Audience: All students.
Whoever you are, the law will affect you! Law dictates who you could marry, what house you can buy, where you can travel, what you can get arrested for….This enrichment is an opportunity to learn about some of the key areas that will be important in your adult life and the ways in which the Law works.
Target Audience: All students.
An opportunity to develop thinking and reasoning skills that will not only support your learning in any and all subjects, but also prepare you for life beyond WQE. You will learn techniques for
analysing and evaluating the reasoning in arguments, and how to construct your own arguments in a logically persuasive way. You will discover some of the common errors people make when they reason and how to avoid them. You will also learn techniques for assessing information and sources of information, to determine how credible or believable it is. This is particularly important in an era of ‘fake news’. Many employers test such skills as part of job selection and doing this course may give you a competitive advantage.
Target audience: All students
As a WQE Student Ambassador, you will be given the opportunity to widen your life skills and develop some fantastic employability and transferable skills. You will:
- Help to promote WQE to prospective students and their parents/carers through activities such as Open Day, Post-16 Events with partner schools and Guidance Meetings for prospective students
- Have the opportunity to be involved in charity events including fundraising activities, creating promotional materials and working with and alongside external agencies
- Work alongside the Careers team and get involved in promoting careers events, having your say in focus groups and updating careers resources.
You will develop social and interpersonal skills and improve your communication skills and self- confidence. Your personal and professional skills will be developed which may be beneficial to students considering a career in Business, Event Management, Retail or Marketing. Whether you are considering university of the world of work after WQE, this enrichment will help you enhance your application.
We live in an interconnected world and issues relating to globalisation, climate change, the environment and international politics affect everyone. This enrichment seeks to bring together insights from Geography and Politics and will challenge you to think about the world we live in. Exploring and discussing the key issues facing the planet today including climate change, sustainability, global politics, poverty and development and responses to hazards allowing you to be more informed as a global citizen. You will also be developing your transferable skills of data collection and analysis, which in today’s world of analysing patterns of people’s behaviour will be extremely useful. The course will split into two- students can swap to something new after Christmas, or carry on if they like. Open to all yr groups.
The Criminology enrichment is a chance to explore the themes and ideas behind the study of crime and deviant behaviour without the pressure of an exam course. It combines insights from sociology, biology, statistics, law and psychology and is a fascinating subject. The course will split into part 1: Sept-Dec and part 2: Jan- May so after Christmas students have the option to move onto something new or to stay with the course and new material for the rest of the college year. Open to any year group.
This session gives you the opportunity to learn more about providing first aid, treating sports injuries and dealing with emergency situations. You will get plenty of practical experience as well as the option to work with the College sports teams. You’ll get to meet lots of new people as well as improving other skills such as Leadership and communication.
This enrichment will introduce you to topical issues and debates relating to language and society. You will explore how factors such as gender, age, identity, social class, education, geography (and more) determine the way you use language, and the impact of media and new technologies on social interaction. This is particularly well suited to students of English Language, Language & Literature and Media Studies.
This enrichment will broaden your appreciation and enjoyment of a range of poets and poetic forms, new and old. You will read a poet a week, exploring themes and techniques, then experimenting with these in your own poetry writing. This is particularly well suited to students of Literature and Language & Literature but equally welcoming to those of you who enjoy reading or writing poetry. It will build your confidence and ability to discuss poetry and explore new literary interests.
The purpose of this course is simple; it is designed to broaden your knowledge and understanding of cinema by watching and commenting on a carefully curated selection of films. Last year the focus was on modern global cinema but this year there will be a shift to English language films.
The intention is that there will be screenings of a number of films from different eras of American and British Cinema. These will be looked at and discussed in lessons. These will range from Film Noir through to the British New Wave and also a focus on New Hollywood and independent cinema.
If any current students have taken this option in the first year you can sign up for this year’s course as there will be a wholly different approach taken. It is hoped that some Film/Media Studies students may see this as a useful addition to their work in those subjects.
Target Audience: Any student with an interest in American/British Cinema who wants to expand their cultural capital.
