Since the beginning of the year, six of our Year 13 students have been actively engaged in independent study through Canterbury University's distance learning programme.

The students are enrolled in a wide range of engaging courses which offer them the chance to develop advanced thinking, research, analytical, and writing skills.

Despite the challenges associated with this work, these young men have demonstrated commitment and perseverance in their pursuit of academic success. Completing the course requirements independently during their study periods and working to keep up with the demands of the program is no easy feat, but they are balancing this level of commitment well. They exemplify our school's value of courage in taking on this high level of challenge with their academic studies.

Course: MATH199- Advancing in Mathematical Science: Calculus and linear algebra.

• Oliver Hobbs
• Matt Begg
• James Hulyer

What they say: (Matt) This was a great opportunity to gain insight into how university courses are structured.

(Oliver) This course has helped me develop my critical thinking skills, while also teaching me some new mathematics, which is really interesting. (James) This felt like the next step for my maths as well as allowing me to get one step ahead in my future.

Course: ECON199 Introduction to Microeconomics

• Ben Turnbull

Course: PHIL139 Ethics, Politics and Justice

• Matthew Bolter

What they say: The paper has helped me to view the world from different perspectives and helped me to think critically and question my own arguments.

Course: ENGL117 Writing for Academic Success

• Bodhi Keiller

What they say: The course has been a good challenging experience so far. It’s been a great opportunity to improve my writing as well as a good kick to improve my organisation skills. It is definitely something I will benefit from a lot next year studying full-time.