by Wahaaj
"Young people need not leave Bradford to get high quality post-16 education," Mark Rothery.
Over the years, cities like Bradford have suffered from a mix of very good, to not-so-good schools. Currently, Bradford has three secondary schools ranked as inadequate by OFSTED, (including Bradford Girl's Grammar), which is amongst the worst for cities in England and Wales. With such a terrible experience, is it little wonder that some school leavers ditch their local colleges? But don't lose all faith in Bradford's further education provision just yet. Enter Mark Rothery - the Principal of Bradford's leading Dixon's Sixth Form. Mark came to Bradford, via Hull, Middlesbrough and York, on the back of an impressive career, increasing the proportion of students progressing to Russell Group Universities and to securing places to study medicine, veterinary science and dentistry. Although known for his tik-tok videos, Mark is keen to uphold exceptional academic standards for all his students. Let's see what makes the Chief Executive of Bradford's large sixth-form tick.
What does it mean to be a principal of such a prestigious and large college?
“All right...it means a lot of things. I have been in education for 28 years and worked in great Northern Cities seeing students progress and then gone on to do great things. Being the principal of this school is really exciting but what it means to me is more than just myself its actually more about the journeys that our students go on. Bradford was often deemed not to have amazing post 16 provision. But no longer do students need to leave Bradford to get the highest quality sixth form education. We aim to be the best in the country, we are very happy if there other people on the podium with us. We believe Bradford deserves the best and that’s what we are here for at Dixons Sixth Form”
Leading on to this, what exactly is the best part of your job?
“So last year we had one hundred and seventy A-level students, out of which, thirteen went on to medicine and dentistry - that’s probably a higher percentage than any other state provider in Yorkshire. Three students went on to Oxford. Its not about the statistics. Its about students moving on to something that is aspirational, something that stretches them as a person, something that sets them up for the next stage – that is definitely the best thing.”
This Academy is quite different from other colleges and sixth forms in the sense that we have extra 'curriculum enrichments' and 'big meal events' for example. Do you think other sixth forms and colleges should pay heed to this and follow?
"This is all part of being a student here. We believe if something is really good and helps you grow as a person then all the students should do it. We are probably not very different in terms of our enrichment. Some of our other nearby cities have huge numbers of students doing enrichment.
But I think, what makes us a bit different and a bit special are things like our big meal events, our charity days, and our residentials. Probably my proudest moment here was when we ran our Palestinian fundraiser, where we had a barbeque and it was a really sunny day and we managed to raise five thousand pounds for Palestinian International Medical Aid.”
This ties in with kindness. How do you feel the academy shapes students’ future for kindness to others?
“Many of our students are Muslim, part of that is really understanding the nature of kindness, the nature of charity. That gives us as a non–religious organization a really strong foundation for being intentionally kind.
Everybody wants to make a difference in the world, but we want to be intentional about making a positive difference and it’s thinking about how our actions influence others.”
What made you initiate a Tik-Tok page for entertaining students?
“It happened in the first lockdown which was so sudden. I was e-mailing students asking how they are doing in general whats keeping them going, and what I heard back was ‘we are working hard. It's alright.” Certain students were saying that social media is keeping us connected with friends and some students were saying in these conversations ‘why don’t you do it or do something on social media?’ and we did some Instagram lives. What I learnt was that Tik-Tok was used for comedy. So I did it for these students for the first lockdown thinking it would be a one-off. More students were asking for it and I thought that these students are just as special. So as long as there is hard work then every now and then we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
So you have done various things for this Sixth Form from Big Meal Events to making Tik-Tok. What is it that drives you, and motivates you?
“In this college we have hardworking students and staff. We are very similar people, there is something inside us which is a desire to really push ourselves. There’s something in us to take it onto the next stage. I think in life you can only do two things – either go forwards or backwards theres no such thing as standing still and I don’t want to go backwards so the only alternative is going forwards.”
What would be your leaving advice to college students?
“You know A-levels are very different to GCSE, and my advice to students is to believe in yourselves but... also be honest with yourselves. You’ve gotta be really honest: I can’t just learn this I need to do the hard yard to really understand this. It's about being mature, being your own adult to your own learning and not relying on someone else and not pretending to yourself that doing what you did for GCSE will be good enough for A-level. My aim is for you guys to not make that mistake. Actually you're mature enough to do the work needed to build that understanding.”
Finally, on a lighter topic what is your favourite food?
I like a lot of food. Pizza is always a good go to so I’d go pizza!
This was Mark Rothery, Principal of Dixons Sixth Form Academy. You can watch the great man's antics, that include jumping into a lake without taking his suit and tie off, on his tik-tok: @dixonssixth