The Millfield Brilliance Award Sixth Form Programme

The Millfield Brilliance Award Sixth Form Programme

This programme is unique to Millfield and designed to enable our students to build upon their skills in four different areas of their personal development. This is a cumulative award, which offers our students the opportunity to acquire different levels of achievement in accordance with how much they both engage and lead within the various extra-curricular and volunteer opportunities we have on offer at the school. The highest level of award would, however, come from an initiative that they have designed and managed themselves.  The different areas are initially taught in module form through the use of teacher-led tasks within the L6 first term PSHE sessions, and present as: 

SELF - Exploring the ways in which students can be the best they can be in terms of personal representation in both the physical and virtual sense. They are encouraged to analyse what it takes to develop and maintain an image that they can be proud of, and not one that might be detrimental to their future progression.  Digital Citizenship, University/work/gap year preparation, personal communication, money management, self-awareness and empowerment all feature within the tasks designed for this module.

WELL-BEING - Designed to help maintain and further build upon our students’ idea of Self, this module will help them to acquire a range of skills that will aid a smoother navigation of the world around them. They will participate in tasks designed to increase their levels of resilience, gain a better understanding of food and nutrition and the role that this plays across all aspects of their daily lives, and to develop routines in which self-care and meditation act as catalysts for a better overall life experience. Further opportunities will be offered within the school MAP programme to upskill in areas such as household maintenance, basic first aid, meal planning, cooking and self-defence. 

LEADERSHIP - This module focuses on the ways in which our students can take a positive and active role in the world. They will be putting themselves and their newly acquired skills to the test in a series of different tasks, which have been designed to both stretch and challenge them collaboratively, creatively, cognitively and even spiritually. Often venturing beyond their comfort zones, they will be tasked with problem-solving scenarios, which may involve awkward and difficult situations and conversations, project managing and team building.  In the process, students will learn how to diffuse a difficult situation, stay calm, be kind, maintain their authenticity, stay positive as well as appropriately disruptive and, through all of this, to build their own personal level of brilliance.

GLOBAL AWARENESS - None of the above can be truly actioned until our students go out into the world, as this is where their personal and global awareness is most likely to be challenged. This module will introduce them to the ways in which they can put what they have learned into practice. Our overseas expeditions, community projects, volunteering, mentoring and personal skills development activities are all available as a means of actively building upon our students’ personal and emerging skill sets, and to engage them in something that they can genuinely feel proud of, leaving a positive legacy behind them.

Current students' projects include:

• Building overseas mentoring and environmental programmes;
• Developing a potentially countrywide strategy for raising awareness of the 17 UN sustainable goals;
• Setting up a pen pal scheme with local vulnerable adults;
• Working on projects collaboratively with local schools;
• Producing an in-house magazine;
• Providing in-house training with Southwest volunteers, leading to a qualification which enables them to steward at local events;
• Developing a lasting documentary resource for the local community.