A NEW sixth form in Rayleigh that will be officially opened next week is already offering 102 students a hugely varied curriculum after “a lot of hard work” to finally open the facility.

The new sixth form at the FitzWimarc School, in Hockley Road, Rayleigh, will be officially opened by the MP for Rayleigh and Wickford Mark Francois next Friday, but the school has given the Echo an insight into how it is doing so far since opening in September and what is on offer.

The Head of Sixth Form, Steve Jolley, is thrilled to be involved in the new sixth form.

He said, “Being part of this exciting opportunity to create a Sixth Form at FitzWimarc was one that I could not turn down.

“As someone from the local area, I am well aware that there has been a need for a Sixth Form at FitzWimarc for many years and I am proud to be involved in the project.

“There has been a lot of hard work involved in getting us to where we are now, but our 102 pioneering students are happy, engaged and ready to achieve great success in the future.”

The work to refurbish the existing Youth Centre into a modern sixth form building began in May 2016.

Meetings had been held with the architects throughout the early months of this year to try and maximise the space and create the best possible learning environment.

Mr Jolley continued: “The opening of sixth form has been a very smooth process.

“The first Year 12 year group has 102 students. There are currently discussions being held to develop and extend the Sixth Form building to accommodate a second year of students from 2017.

Discussing the subjects on offer the head of sixth form said: “The FitzWimarc School Sixth Form has a wide curriculum.

“The school offers A-level courses where there is existing staff expertise and has also appointed experienced members of staff to teach new subjects for the school such as Psychology, Economics and Government and Politics.

“This means that in total we offer 25 A-level subjects alongside two BTEC courses this year. We have tried to develop a curriculum that meets the demands of our students and which will support them in making decisions on their future after Year 13.”

The school is pleased that they are finally able to offer further education for the students of FitzWimarc secondary school.

Mr Jolley added: “The best part of sixth form is that finally students who have had a fantastic education at FitzWimarc are now able to complete their sixth form studies at the school.

“The new sixth form at FitzWimarc, in addition to the Sixth form at Sweyne Park, now means that students from Rayleigh are able to study A-levels without needing to travel.”