BSix Sixth Form College

BSix Sixth Form College: Brooke House is a sixth form college located in Upper Clapton, London in the United Kingdom. It officially opened in September 2002, giving students in Hackney the opportunity to study at a college close to where they live. Brooke House has previously been the site of other educational institutions.

BSix Brooke House Sixth Form College was opened on the Brooke House school site in September 2002. It was set up by the then Secretary of State for Education, David Blunkett, and formed part of an unrealised plan to build eleven new sixth form colleges in London. BSix is unusual in the sixth form college sector because it offers courses at all levels and across a wide range of subjects, including vocational courses, like Hair and Beauty, Business and Art as well as a significant number of “A” levels.

After an initial surge of enthusiasm, the educational context changed rapidly. Hackney's local education authority, The Learning Trust, introduced a programme to create five City Academies in the borough, all with sixth forms. As a consequence, many other 11-16 schools applied to open their own sixth forms.

The growth in student recruitment was not as rapid as the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the funding body, had anticipated. In 2005 the college was inspected by Ofsted and judged to be satisfactory. In April 2006 the founding Principal, Angela O’Donoghue, was promoted to lead the much larger City Of Sunderland College. The LSC and the governing body took the opportunity to review the future of BSix. An interim Principal, Joe West, was given the task of canvassing opinion about merger, closure or continuation for the college. The conclusion of the report, the LSC and the governors was that BSix should continue as an independent institution.

A new Principal, Ken Warman, took up post on 30 October 2006. He had previously been Director of the sixth form centre at Tower Hamlets College.

References
  • 'Hackney: Education', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 10: Hackney (1995), pp. 148–65.

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