Welcome

Your sixth form journey starts here.

This portal is your guide for the first six weeks — build the habits, skills, and mindset that will define your sixth form studies and shape who you become.

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Enter your name to personalise your Launchpad
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Important: Your progress is saved in this browser on this device. Use the same device and browser every time — your data won't transfer if you switch. If you're using a school computer, bookmark this page and always return to the same machine.

Welcome to the HCS Sixth Form Launchpad.

The step up to sixth form study is real — but so is your ability to meet it. This is your guide for the first six weeks. Mrs Jackson and your sixth form team are here to support you every step of the way.

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4.5–5
hrs independent per subject, per week
6
weeks to build your foundations

The 4.5–5 hour rule — and what it really means

Independent study time is not just revision. It's the whole picture.

For every hour in the classroom, you're expected to spend at least an equal amount — ideally more — studying independently. That means roughly 4.5 to 5 hours per subject, per week. But here's what most students get wrong about what that time should include:

  • Subject mastery (the core). Rewriting notes, making flashcards, mind maps, pictograms, retrieval practice, past paper questions — from week one, not week twenty.
  • Flip learning & lesson preparation. Before every lesson, spend 5–10 minutes reviewing your last set of notes and reading ahead to what's coming. This is called flip learning — arriving at a lesson already familiar with the territory means you can go deeper, ask better questions, and get more from your teacher. After every lesson, review your notes while the content is fresh and write down anything you didn't fully understand. Bring those questions to the next lesson. Asking questions is not a sign of weakness — it is the single clearest sign of a student who is genuinely learning. Your teachers want you to do it. Use the Questions for my teachers field in your weekly study log to capture them as they arise.
  • Super-curricular exploration. Reading around your subject, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, following intellectual curiosity wherever it leads. This is what makes your personal statement compelling and your subject understanding deep rather than surface-level.
  • Futures work. Researching courses, attending virtual open days, exploring careers, building your UniFrog profile, finding work experience. This is not something you do in Year 13 — it starts now.
  • No homework ≠ no work. A free period with no set task is an opportunity. Rewrite today's notes in a different format. Attempt one past paper question. Read one article. These 20–30 minute habits compound into the difference between grades.
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A message from Mrs Jackson — Futures & Opportunities

Whether you're thinking about universities, apprenticeships, conservatoires, the Armed Forces, or you simply have no idea yet — that is exactly where I come in. My role is to help you understand yourself, explore your options, and find the path that's right for you — not the path that looks right on paper. Don't wait until Year 13. Come and talk to me now, in Year 12, while we still have time to explore properly together. 📅 Book an appointment with Mrs Jackson

🎓 You've completed all six weeks.

Every piece of work you've done on this Launchpad is captured here. Click below to generate your personal six-week report as a PDF — then forward it straight to Mrs Jackson with one more click.

Opens a print-ready report in a new tab — save as PDF and email to Mrs Jackson

⏱️ My independent study log — six weeks

Log what you worked on, what type of work it was, and how long you spent. Aim for 4.5–5 hours per subject, per week.

▶ Start logging

👋 Your first week — three things to do today

New to the Launchpad? Start here. Everything else can wait.

1️⃣
Enter your name and form
Fill in the identity card at the top. This personalises the dashboard and labels your weekly reports to Mrs Jackson.
2️⃣
Set your Week 1 goal
Scroll down to the six-week push goals and write one personal goal for this week. Something specific. Something you're choosing for yourself.
3️⃣
Visit Know Yourself
Complete your learner profile sliders, pick your five values, and write your letter to future you. This is the foundation everything else builds on.

Bookmark this page and always return on the same device. Dismiss this card when you're ready — it won't come back.

Study skills

Build the habits that last two years.

Click any skill to learn why it works, how to do it, and to log your practice. Aim to engage with all six in the first three weeks.

Know yourself

The best students know their own patterns.

Work through these sections honestly — not for anyone else, just for you. The more truthful you are here, the more useful this becomes.

1. My learner profile

Rate yourself honestly from 1 (not at all) to 10 (absolutely). This is your starting point — you'll see how it changes by week six.

2. What matters most to me

Pick your top 5 values from the list below. These are the things that, when you're living by them, you feel most like yourself.

Select up to 5

3. Strengths & growth audit

Be specific — "I'm good at everything" tells you nothing useful.

✅ What do I genuinely do well as a student?
🔧 What do I want to improve — honestly?

4. My growth action list

Turn your growth areas into specific actions. Add them here, tick them off as you go. These aren't homework tasks — they're things you're choosing to do for yourself.

5. Letters to myself

Write a letter to your week-6 self now — what do you hope they've achieved, how do you hope they feel? Then imagine what your week-6 self would write back. Both letters are locked until you return at week six.

✉️ Dear future me — written at the start

What do you want to say to yourself at the end of these six weeks? What do you hope has changed? What do you want to remind yourself of?

💌 Dear past me — written from week six

Imagine you are your week-6 self looking back. What would you tell yourself right now? What would you reassure, challenge, or celebrate?

6. Week 6 review

Leave this blank and return at the end of week six. Come back to your learner profile sliders too — update them and see what shifted.

Films & books

Feed your thinking outside the classroom.

These aren't homework. They're the things that make you more interesting to talk to, sharper in your arguments, and better at understanding the world. Each one comes with a question to sit with, a subject link, and somewhere to go next.

News & the World

Understand the world you're inheriting.

One small piece a day. That's all. Not long reads — just staying awake to what's happening.

Why this matters more than you might think

You are about to step into a world that is changing faster than any generation before you has had to navigate. Climate, AI, geopolitics, inequality, identity, democracy — these aren't background noise. They are the landscape of your adult life, your career, and your relationships.

Understanding the world doesn't just make you a better student — though it will. It makes you a more interesting friend, a more compelling person to be in a relationship with, and a more valuable person to employ. Employers consistently say they want people who can think across disciplines, engage with complexity, and hold a conversation about something beyond their own immediate experience.

More than that: the subjects you've chosen to study are not separate from the world. They are lenses through which the world makes sense. History explains why conflicts are happening now. Economics explains who wins and who loses when policies change. Science explains what the data actually says about the climate. Literature gives language to things that feel impossible to describe. Use these tabs to find where your subjects connect to real life — and to discover what kind of change you want to be part of.

📰  Aim for one small piece per day — a single article, a short podcast, one chart. Absorption over volume.
Not sure where to begin? Start with the tab — it's the broadest window onto the world and connects to almost every subject you're studying.
Futures

Every path is a valid path. Let's find yours together.

There is no single right answer to what comes next — and I mean that. University, apprenticeship, the forces, a gap year, straight into work, a conservatoire — each is a serious option with serious rewards. My job is to help you explore all of them properly before you decide anything.

Explore early. Decide better.

In my experience, the students who come and talk to me early — in Year 12, not Year 13 — make stronger applications, ask better questions, and feel far more confident in whatever direction they choose. You have two full years. Use them to explore, not just to decide. I am here for every stage of that journey.

💭 Quick initial ideas — your first thoughts

I won't hold you to any of this — I promise. I expect you to explore, change your mind, and pivot as many times as you need over the next two years. That's not indecision, that's exactly what this time is for. Just jot down where your head is right now. It's a starting point, not a contract. — Mrs Jackson

🎓 University
🔧 Degree apprenticeship
🩺 Medicine, dentistry or vet
🎓 Oxbridge
🌍 Gap year
🎭 Conservatoire
⚔️ Armed Forces
✨ Other — my perfect pathway
Super-curricular

Go beyond what you were taught.

Super-curricular activities are the things you do because you're genuinely curious — not because they're assessed. Universities love them. More importantly, they make you love your subjects.

What is intellectual curiosity, and why does it matter?

Intellectual curiosity is the habit of following ideas further than you need to — asking why something works, not just that it does. In sixth form and beyond, it's what separates students who truly understand their subject from those who can just recall it. It's what makes a personal statement compelling and a seminar worth attending.

It's also part of your 4.5–5 hours. Every hour you spend reading around a subject, listening to a podcast, or attending a lecture counts as real independent study — it builds the kind of knowledge that can't be tested with a flashcard but absolutely shows up in your essays, your interviews, and your ideas. Pick one resource below. Follow it somewhere unexpected. That's where the real education begins.

The links below are just a small handful of the extraordinary opportunities out there — and there is a myriad more waiting if you only start looking. The internet is full of free lectures, journals, podcasts, competitions, and communities built around almost every subject imaginable. Most students never find them simply because they never go looking. Consider this your starting gun. What you discover beyond these pages is entirely up to you.

📓 My super-curricular log

Log what you explored, what you thought, and what questions it raised. Be honest — "I didn't enjoy it" is just as valuable as "I loved it." New entries unlock as you go.

Personal growth

Check in with yourself, every week.

The best students are self-aware. This space is for honest reflection — not for anyone else to read, just for you.

🤝 Who do I talk to about this?

Growth doesn't happen in isolation. If you're struggling — with your workload, your motivation, your wellbeing, or anything else — there are people who want to help. You don't need to have a crisis to ask for support. You just need to reach out.

  • Your form tutor — your first port of call for anything academic or pastoral. They know you and your timetable.
  • A subject teacher — if a specific subject is the source of pressure or confusion, go directly to them. They would rather hear from you early than late.
  • Your head of year — if something is affecting your wellbeing, attendance, or ability to engage with school life, your head of year is the right person to talk to first.
  • A trusted adult — a parent, carer, older sibling, or any adult in your life you feel safe talking to. Sometimes the most useful conversations happen outside school.
  • Mrs Jackson — not just for university applications. If you're feeling uncertain about your direction, overwhelmed by choices, or simply want to talk through what comes next, I am here for exactly that conversation. My door is open.

If something feels too big to handle, please talk to someone. You are not expected to manage everything alone — that's not resilience, it's isolation.

🚀 Six-week push goals

One personal goal per week — something you're choosing for yourself, not because it's been set. Save it, then come back and mark whether you succeeded.

Weekly check-in

Rate how you're feeling this week. Be honest — there are no wrong answers.

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Previous check-ins

Scroll back through your weeks — you'll see the patterns.