The common room at Thomas Tallis’ Post-16 Centre is small but fullof life. Tucked away in one corner there’s a young man with asketchbook, putting the finishing touches to a pencil drawing in thestyle of Lucien Freud. There’s scratchy hip hop leaking out of

someone’s iPod ear buds while they puzzle over pure maths.And in another corner, three girls are perchedon the window ledge, sipping on Fanta. “Themost beautiful thing about Thomas Tallis,” saysa current student, who joined the school wayback in Year 7, “is that it’s so mixed. You geteveryone here, all types of people and that’s aspecial thing. “ One long-serving teacheragrees: “We’re lucky enough to have a fullspectrum here.” We pride ourselves on the factthat Tallis is an inclusive school, which celebratesthe diversity of its intake.

Welcome to the Thomas Tallis Common Room...

enter!

So what’s on

offer?You’ll get inspirational teaching and creative learning in this place

Year 12 and 13 are all about extending your knowledgeand sharpening those skills you acquired during GCSE.You’ll be able to choose from a wide range of subjectsat Tallis, including Art, Further Maths, Chemistry andPhilosophy. Obviously, there are plenty of othersubjects on offer and the excellent teaching andstrong tutor system ensures that you’ll be able tosqueeze everything possible from each course youtake. We achieve excellent results each year andwe’re consistently high up in the borough leaguetables. We are not a results factory though, andbelieve that the social skills and enrichment you gainfrom the Tallis Sixth Form are equally important. Thesixth form is an equal mix of students from Tallis andthose from other schools in the state and independentsectors, some from as far afield as Sweden andNigeria. It’s a vibrant, mixed environment that makesfor a sparky education.

but that’s not

all folks...At Thomas Tallis we want you to make the most ofthe academic and social opportunities on offer.

In recent years we have reached the national finals of the Debating Matterscompetition, beating top private schools along the way. Students have takenpart in enrichment trips to New York, to see theatre in Athens and to visitBelgian war graves. When one student found he needed more from thecurriculum, Tallis offered him Astronomy as an extra. And that’s on top of allthe everyday stuff, the radio station, the newspaper, the events (staff vstudent basketball matches; making films, podcasts and fanzines; helping outwith the Fair Trade committee) and the opportunities for mentoring studentsin the lower school. Professionals from all walks of life regularly visit theschool: ceramicists, film-makers, graphic designers, politicians and poetsexpand horizons and extend learning. Variously the school is described as“buzzy”, “creative” and “lively”.

our vision expressed...We know exactly what the school ethos is. “It embraces individuality, it’s

about making a difference, and it’s about going beyond the curriculum.” says

the Head of Year

The head of Sixth Form is sitting in her office, surrounded by papers and phones and books.

Her door is open and you can hear the bursts of laughter and shouting from the common

room - well, the office is in the common room, albeit tucked away in a tiny corner.

“There’s a belief and determination in our students,” she says, “they celebrate success

and they’re willing to take risks. They’ll often go beyond what we think education is, but

still with rigour and discipline.” If a student has an idea, Tallis is willing to run with it and

crucially, fund it. Take the radio station. “Students learn about the subject matter but

they also learn about communication and relationships. These are precious skills.”

Pastoral care is equally important, and students have access to our fully staffed counselling

service as well as formal and informal mentoring. Students meet with their tutor at the

start and end of each day and have a fortnightly individual tutorial.

Some students enrolled on our BTEC media course because they were IT obsessives whowanted to get deep into technology, or mediaphiles who wanted professional skills to geta foot in the door. “A levels aren’t the only measure,” says the head of media. “This isa way of finding your talents and developing your skills. By the end of the course we hadpeople posting films on MySpace and transforming into real experts.” The BTEC grouphave made a film of an anti-bullying conference at Charlton FC which was distributedGreenwich-wide. There was a professional covering the conference who had forgottenhis leads. We’d done equipment checks and had everything plus spares. He had toborrow ours. What we did really mattered.” We presently offer courses in finance,health and social care, business and art and design and there will be an expansion of theBTEC offer in the near future.

Life through a lens

It’s not all about A-Levels. You should checkout what’s happening on the BTEC courses...

The chair of the Sixth Form Committee is sitting confidently on adesk, orchestrating the chatter around her. “Alright everyone,” shesays. “who wants to organise the music at the cultural evening?”Various volunteers are found, whilst questions and answers flyacross the room: the precise content of the African snacks on offer,if anyone can add to the belly dancing already promised; whetherfruit cocktails are a good idea. The agenda marches on and plansfor the new term are discussed - how students can get a show onthe common room radio station (answer: hand in a playlist andyou’ll be allocated a slot); deadlines for student newspaper PeepingTom and a request for contributions for their fortnightly cake sale.“I’ll do some,” offers a lad at the back. “Yeah,” says his mate,rocking back on his chair, “angel cakes are really easy, man.”

Committee HQThe Sixth Form Committee runs events, raises money forprojects both within and without the school and acts as theofficial voice of the upper school...

in for the long haul...

If you’ve got questions, there’s always someonearound to help

A significant number of staff members have been walking up KidbrookePark Road and through the school gates for ten, twenty or eventhirty years . “It’s a good school,” says one long-serving teacher.

“Tallis works a kind of alchemy on students. You see young peopletransform quite dramatically. The older members of staff imbue the

younger teachers with the Tallis ethos and ensure that the magic haspersisted.” Teachers with new skills are constantly joining the school -

and many stay for a long time. The student-teacher relationship is morerelaxed than in the lower school, a dynamic which reinforces the key

concept of independent learning. “Teachers here encourage us; they suggestthings to read and they don’t get bored of all our questions” say two studentswho joined in Year 12 and are now applying for Oxbridge. “In other placesthey’d be too busy to see you in their lunch hour.”

Next!The story continues into the new building...

There are big plans - and the Sixth Form community will be expected

to take part in shaping the most dramatic change in the school since

it opened in 1971. “We’ve had a school council for over ten years so

it’s well embedded,” says the Headteacher. “It’s important to us.

We’re interested in what students have to say and we like to act on

it.” As well as the obvious arts focus, new courses are constantly

coming online as the school grows. And what’s the best thing about

the Sixth Form? “This is a dynamic school. We’re helping support

young people to become independent learners and citizens ready to

meet the challenges of the future.”

Thomas Tallis SchoolKidbrooke Park RoadLondon SE3 9PXt 0208 856 0115 • f 0208 319 4715e admin@thomastallis.greenwich.sch.ukw www.thomastallis.co.uk