Wellington today

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TODAY

THE MOST IMPROVED SCHOOL IN BRITAIN

Wellington

2007 2014

21st

256th

THE TOP IB SCHOOL IN THE UK

with more than 20 students

A-levels

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And so the new Academic Year began as September dawned, with 240 new pupils joining College for the first time, inspired no doubt by the record exam results that College received back in the summer, and ready to add their own footprint to the blank page that each new year brings. We wish them the best of luck in their Wellington journey. The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness saw great victories on the rugby and hockey pitches, and as we ushered in October conferences on Leadership and days devoted to Service saw the example of the Great Duke ever present. The Exeat allowed trips to China, Canada, Namibia and the States for many Wellingtonians before the fireworks that November always brings, and with it our chance to remember our forerunners who made the greatest sacrifice of all. House Drama, House Art, House Dance and House Sport were ever present, as were university interviews and exams (sometimes it’s easy to forget we are a school too). And so to December, with carols in the frosty air, the pantomime and a chance to pause and reflect on four months of great endeavour, as the young Wellingtonians travelled home for well-deserved Christmas breaks.

We wish you all very happy New Year.

Floreat Wellingtoniensis

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Julian Thomas has been named as14th Master

Sir Mike Rake, Vice-President of Wellington College, has announced that Julian Thomas will succeed Sir Anthony Seldon to be the 14th Master of Wellington College from 1 September 2015.

Sir Mike said: “We have selected from several quite exceptional candidates, any one of whom would have made an excellent Master ; in our final choice we have selected the candidate who, more than any other, we believe can best build

on the strengths and reputation of the College, continuing its path to be one of the leading and most socially progressive co-educational schools in the world.”

Following an early career in ICT in the banking sector and a degree in Computer Science from King’s College, London, Julian taught Maths at Forest School and St. Dunstan’s College, co-authoring several maths text books. He then moved to Portsmouth Grammar as Director of Studies. Following four years as Second Master at Hampton School, during which time he completed an MBA in Educational Leadership (International), Julian was appointed Head at Caterham School in Surrey in 2007.

Under his leadership, Caterham has developed into one of the UK’s leading day and boarding co-educational schools. In particular, Julian has driven the academic and all round achievement of the school, resulting in Caterham gaining national recognition for its innovative approach to learning, outstanding co-curricular provision and over 20 Oxbridge places

this year. Julian’s experience as part of the United Learning group, of which Caterham is a part, means he is also well placed to lead across the Wellington family of schools. Caterham was also one of the founding schools of the London Academy of Excellence, where Julian is a Governor.

Outside the classroom, Julian was a junior county cricketer, won a rugby league half-blue while completing his PGCE at Cambridge and, in later life, has developed a passion for outdoors trekking and climbing; he has climbed Mont Blanc and Gran Paradiso, as well as trekking the Chemin de la Liberte across the Pyrenees.

Julian has just returned from Antarctica where he has spent the last three months skiing from the coast to the South Pole along the ‘Mesner’ route. The team were greeted at the pole with a champagne reception and a chef cooking them steak! Julian now joins a group of only a few dozen people in history to have completed this gruelling challenge - perfect preparation for becoming the 14th Master of Wellington College!

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Record ResultsWellington College pupils have achieved outstanding examination results in every curriculum and at every level in their 2014 public examinations.

Our International Baccalaureate Diploma students secured some of the best results in the world, with five pupils achieving the perfect 45 point score, a feat achieved by only 208 pupils worldwide. 53% of pupils scored 40 points or above, a phenomenal statistic bearing in mind that the world average is 30 points. Furthermore, a record 94.7% of A-level results were graded A*-B and the average result for Wellingtonians was AAA, with over two-thirds of results at A* or A.

At GCSE, 53% of grades were A*, the strongest top grade outcome in the qualification in the College’s history. Combined with the results of the pupils who completed the IB Middle Years Programme, an alternative to GCSEs, a hugely impressive 85% of grades were A*/7 or A/6. This is another ‘best-ever’. A record 15 pupils in 5th Form (Year 11) achieved straight A*s or 7s in their GCSE and MYP results and over 30 pupils secured at least 9 A*s or 7s.

Dr Seldon was full of praise, “If you factor in our national success at the Arts, sport and service, as well as our record in innovation and social responsibility, I doubt there are many schools which are achieving as much. I am immensely proud of all our students.”

On the back of such strong public examination results, it was no surprise to see Wellington College’s name once again moving in an upward trajectory on all recent league tables, leading the Sunday Times to describe us as the most improved school in Britain in recent years. Back in August, a table in The Times placed Wellington College as the highest achieving IB school in the UK with more than 20 pupils taking the Diploma. We were also ranked as the top South-East co-educational school for A-level results and were placed 21st overall. In the Sunday Times table in published in November, which combines all public examination results - GCSE, A-level and IB - Wellington was placed 32nd out of all schools in the UK. Dr Seldon commented, “If league tables were the only measure of how Wellington College is performing, I would be very worried. But I am delighted that we are judged to be at the very top of the country with our Arts, sport and service activities. Our performance on the Sunday Times table over the years tells an interesting story for parents. Eight years ago, we were languishing but the school has

risen steadily: by 2012, we had gone up to 59th, in 2013 to 45th, and this year we were 32nd. Our target for 2015 is to come 20th, and our data suggests that that is perfectly possible. “A word of caution: rankings are above all a statement about the ability of the intake of the school. Schools lower down the table are very often doing excellent jobs with the young people they have – indeed, many are doing better jobs than those at the top, who have only very bright pupils. League tables thus need to be looked at with real discernment, as I have repeatedly stressed over the years. “That said, we can all take pride in the steady rise of Wellington College, which is due to the hard work of our pupils and the quality of our teachers. I am also delighted that our young people achieve far more in the broader curriculum - the Arts, service and sport - than many of those schools above us in these tables, who focus much more on academics alone, rather than the Eight Aptitude emphasis which is the unique ingredient of a Wellington College education.”

94.7%

of all A-Level results between A* - B 53%

of pupils achieved an IB score of 40 points

or higher

85%

5th Form grades were A*/7 or A/6.

KEYFACTS

League Tables The most improved school in Britain

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Record Oxbridge Success Twenty four Wellington College students have reason to celebrate at the start of 2015 having received offers from Oxford and Cambridge. This is a record for Wellington in the new millennium. Amongst them are our Heads of College, Emily Curtis and Nicky Maxwell, who will continue to see lots of each other as they have both won places at Brasenose College, Oxford. Will Wilson, who balanced his application with captaining our First XV rugby team, has also won a place, as has Barbora Bute, who will read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, one of the first pupils to come to Wellington College under the Prince Albert Foundation scheme.

Gaining entry to these two institutions is now harder than ever before as more than six students apply for every one of the 3,000 places that are available, so warmest congratulations to them all. As ever, some highly talented and intelligent Wellingtonians narrowly missed out, but with over 600 university offers already received, including a number at leading US Colleges, 2015 looks like being a vintage year for our departing Upper Sixth.

Oxford:

Lachie Ayles (B) | Classics | WadhamKatherine Borg (O) | Law | St Hilda’s

Sasha Burnet (C) | Oriental Studies | Queen’sBarbora Bute (Ap)| English | Lady Margaret Hall

Nancy Case (A) | English | JesusEmily Curtis (C) | Classics | Brasenose

Ian Lai (ex-T) | PPE| Queen’sNicky Maxwell (Bl) | Psychology & Philosophy | Brasenose

Kate Milliken-Smith (C) | Biological Sciences | NewEnzia Schnyder (A) | Engineering | OrielHarry Thomas (Hg) | Physics | St Hugh’s

Will Wilson (S) | History | KebleHeather Winsor (ex-O) | Biological Sciences | Brasenose

Kelland Xu (Hg) | Mathematics | St Hilda’sMarcus Yu (Hg) | Chemistry | Pembroke

Cambridge:

Charlotte Alder (Ap) | Land Economy | Murray EdwardsSasha Bailey (O) | Natural Sciences | St Catherine’sMaria Chukanova (Ap) | Natural Sciences | Selwyn

James Hamilton (Hg) | HSPS | MagdaleneNico Marrin (T) | Mathematics | Trinity

Max Noble (Hl) | MML (German & Latin) | Gonville and CaiusAndrew Veale (R) | Natural Sciences | Magdelene

Anna White (ex-H) | Philosophy & Theology | FitzwilliamZigan Zhen (Hg) | Mathematics | Homerton

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In September Wellington College was awarded “Artsmark Gold” by the Arts Council, England in recognition and celebration of the stellar quality of the Arts and their vibrancy across Wellington College’s cultural life. “Artsmark” is a nationally recognised award and it is a singular achievement to be awarded its highest - and most coveted - level for both excellence in the Arts and the seemingly endless cultural provision for our students.

The process and preparation of evaluation was detailed and searching, as was the visit and inspection before the Arts Council Awarding Officer granted our Music, Drama, Dance, Creative Writing and the Visual Arts its Gold Level Award.

Dr Seldon praised the achievements of pupils and staff alike:

“We have felt for some time now that Wellington’s provision across all the Arts - dance, drama, music, creative writing and visual art - has been of the very highest quality, and to have this affirmed by Arts Council England is a very proud moment for the College. We have so many talented and creative pupils and staff, who work tirelessly to achieve great things individually and who set even higher standards when working collectively. Anyone who has been to an Art exhibition, a Dance Show, a College production, a music concert, or who has read any of our student-led publications, will know this to be true. I am immensely proud of them all.”

Our seventh inter-House Art competition was held on Remembrance Sunday. The theme was simple: each House was to create a painting of The Duke of Wellington which was up-to-date, imaginative, alive and compelling. The collective thought, collaboration and sparkling ingenuity that went into all of the House submissions was not lost on the Head of Art at Cove School in Farnborough who was this year’s judge. And history was made when the clear winners were deemed to be The Stanley. Their winning work is indeed masterly as well as witty and their starting point was a portrait of the Duke painted by the great Spanish painter Goya. In the original, which hangs in the National Gallery in London, the artist does not hide his dislike of the Duke and, for his part, the Duke did not care much for this actual portrait. The Stanley boys reworked the image, improving on the medals and decorations which Goya disliked painting, and brought the portrait into the digital, 21st century era. Brave and fearless – just like the Duke himself.

There cannot be another school, or indeed gallery, in the land which has had a complete collection of 42 original coloured lithographs by the 20th century master, Marc Chagall, exhibited on their walls for all the community to enjoy. And this visual feast came exactly one year after the ground-breaking Matisse ‘Jazz’ exhibition on the very same walls. What joy there was to be found in the rhythm, energy and colour of the lithographs and how refreshing to have original art work to look at and contemplate!

Arching both exhibitions were a series of concerts and performances specifically designed to complement the work on show. This included an “Animated Gallery” evening which wove creative writing, drama, dance, music and art together in live performances and innovative recitals by pupils. Throughout January 2015 there will also be an exciting and unique “Follow-On-Chagall” exhibition in the V&A café with Chagall inspired works created by Wellington Primary, Academy and College pupils.

Chagall Exhibition Daphnis and Chloe

Inter-House Art

Artsmark Gold Award

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Music MasterclassesThe Michaelmas term saw an expansion of our ever-popular Masterclass series, when eminent musicians come in to work with some of our top young players. Over 80 Wellingtonians have benefitted from inspirational days working alongside leading exponents in various musical fields. These have included: Justin Lavender working with our choral scholars; Bob Porter looking after the Bassoon and Oboe players; Remus Azoitei spending time with the violinists; Jonathan Lipton running a session for the Horn; Ian Clarke mentoring the Flautists; and David Whitson overseeing a day for the brass players. Furthermore, Sam Eastmond and Nikki Franklin offered a popular Jazz & Improvisation Masterclass. No wonder that Wellington music is flying so high currently.

Wellington College was immensely proud to see no fewer than four pupils perform with the National Children’s Orchestra on Sunday, 7th December at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Jasmine Leavesley (Ap) and Will Ryan (P) performed with the Under 13 orchestra alongside James Dundas from Eagle House.

The Under 14 orchestra was led by William Campbell (T) with Erika Smith-Gordon (C) also performing. To cap a fine occasion for these four Third formers, the orchestra was conducted by Natalia Luis-Bassa, the new conductor of the Wellington College Symphony Orchestra.

National Children’s Orchestra

October half-term saw 42 Wellingtonians depart for a tour of leading American Universities. Eleven institutions, including Harvard and Columbia, were visited in just six days across Washington, New York and Boston. Many returned determined to pursue further education on the other side of the Atlantic and all pupils gained significant insights into the realities of a College education in the US. Other highlights of the trip included a walking tour of the Washington memorials, a visit to the Carnegie Deli in New York, and an amphibious tour of Boston and the River Charles. Over the past two years, 36 Wellingtonians have taken up places at US institutions, a trend which further cements Wellington’s reputation as one of the most internationally-minded schools in the UK. This comes on top of Wellington becoming a SAT testing centre in 2012.

US University Trip

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Wellington College, the first school in Britain to introduce well-being lessons into the curriculum, gave a group of lucky pupils the opportunity to take part in a very unusual well-being and personal development expedition to Africa back in October. Twenty four pupils and three adults travelled to Namibia in south west Africa, where they tracked desert elephant and rhino, and took part in daily yoga classes, bush spiritual services guided by a priest who travelled with the group, photography workshops, wildlife master classes and stillness and mindfulness sessions. Mobile phones were left behind as the group experienced a very different form of daily life, cut off from all western luxuries so familiar to them The aim was to give the pupils a life-changing experience and provide them with the time and space for inner reflection, as well as affording them the opportunity to learn new skills and gain new knowledge. Each young person was expected to become an expert in something while on the trip, from star gazing to playing the guitar around the camp fire.

Brynn Bayman, who led the expedition on behalf of the school’s Geography department, said before he left “This is the trip of a lifetime for these young people and it will be both transformative and unforgettable, bringing them to a new understanding of who they are as people and their part in the ‘big picture’.”

Hundreds of pupils and staff from Wellington College and Wellington Academy came together in November to create a unique tribute to the College’s 725 former pupils, teachers and staff killed in the Great War. They assembled on the College’s South Front, and stood in such a way to form the tribute ‘725 RIP’, in commemoration of the vast human loss. The number of Wellingtonians killed was the third highest from any school in Britain, and quite possibly the world.

The pupils and staff stood in silence, with hands on their hearts, while Sir Anthony Seldon, 13th Master, spoke of the great sacrifice of the Great War generation at the College, and how each pupil represented one of those fallen, a striking representation of the enormous scale of the casualties. Then some 3,000 poppies were scattered in amongst them to represent those pupils, teachers and staff injured in the conflict.

It was a highly moving and original way to commemorate those Wellingtonians who lost their lives in the Great War, and was also a wonderful occasion at which Wellington College and Wellington Academy pupils worked side by side.

725 R.I.P. Pupils stand in show of respect

Namibia

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Hundreds of pupils and over 30 teachers devoted an entire school day to mental health awareness and activism, culminating in the production of student activist videos, ‘Black Dog’ art installations and skits written and performed in the school’s theatre.

Events were held across the school, starting with an introductory assembly led by Rachel Kelly, SANE ambassador and former Times journalist who wrote ‘Black Rainbow’ about using poetry to recover from depression. Wellington College pupils were involved through the entire day performing skits alongside the charity Young Activists, watching pieces performed by Only Connect, taking part in discussion groups, creating representative artwork and filming short 2-3 minute videos on everything which they had learnt.

The day culminated with all the work being showcased, the Black Dog art on display, the skits performed to an audience of several hundred people in the College’s Christopher Lee Theatre, and the activist videos being shown. Students voted on the best work in all categories.

Round Square Service Day

The Diana Award

Prestigious US Golf Scholarships

Ryan Lumsden and Edoardo Lipparelli have good reason to celebrate as they have been awarded Golf Scholarships at Northwestern Univeristy and the University of Illinois respectively. From August 2015, Ryan will be under the coaching of Pat Goss and David Inglis at Northwestern University, following in the footsteps of former World Number One, Luke Donald. Edoardo will be just a couple of hours away from Northwestern at the University of Illinois, where the Head Coach is Mike Small. Goss and Small are regarded worldwide as two of the finest University coaches, and are both excited to have such exceptional student athletes joining them. Since these powerhouses of US College golf go head-to-head in tournament play, Edoardo and Ryan will compete against each other in the years to come.

At the beginning of 2015, Ella Nowroz (Ap U6th) was honoured with the national Diana Award, in recognition of her work in 2014 in the service of others. Ella was responsible for organising an innovative day at the school dedicated to mental health activism as part of the Round Square Service Day. She researched and invited speakers, engaged students and undertook all aspects of organising the day.

The Diana Award was set up in memory of Princess Diana’s belief that young people have the power to change the world for the better. It has Prime Minister David Cameron as Patron and the support of the HRH Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince Harry. Ella will attend a special awards ceremony in London later this year.

Delyth Lynch, Deputy Head for Pastoral Care and Wellbeing at Wellington, said that Ella’s work was a very special example of what can be done by a young person with passion and determination, and she praised Ella’s central role in instigating and running the day. “Ella was the one who came up with the theme and then drove all the activities. The day had a hugely positive effect on all those young people, who now understand and think differently about mental health. Ella can take much of the credit for this. Her work had real impact.”

Cressida Henderson, Assistant Head, said: “This is a fantastic achievement which shows clearly that service remains central to what pupils do at Wellington College."

awarded to Ella Nowroz

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WELLING10K

This year’s Welling10K proved to be yet another fantastic occasion. The race saw everything from Austin Powers to Oompa Loompas set off in memory of Jimmy Higham, a Wellington College teacher who so tragically lost his battle with cancer in 2011. The run attracted over 250 participants and eventually raised a grand total of £8000 to go towards the Jimmy Higham Bursary fund. The aim of the bursary fund is to give a pupil from the North West of England, who exhibits the same dedication to learning, hard work and school life that Jimmy came to personify, the opportunity to access an education at Wellington College. With our first Jimmy Higham scholar having arrived at the College in September 2014, never has it been more important to keep the memory alive of this unique and very special individual. Next year’s race is set for Sunday 13th September and we hope to increase participation even further to continue the growth of this brilliant event for pupils, families and friends of the Wellington College community.

Wellington’s Annual fun run

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November’s Charity Fireworks Spectacular once again proved to be a fun-filled evening and a visual extravaganza of fair rides, music, bonfires and, of course, stunning fireworks. On the evening, over 5000 people from both Wellington College and the local community gathered on North Front to celebrate bonfire night. The display helped raise an incredible £11,000 which has been donated to local charities including: Bracknell Samaritans (who provided volunteers on the night), Crowthorne Community Responders (who also assisted with the event), and COATS. Despite the threat of bad weather, the atmosphere was once again electric and spirits could not be dampened. Wellington College’s musical talent was also showcased magnificently by the singer-songwriters who performed brilliantly throughout the evening. A huge thank you to everyone who made this such a memorable night.

FireworksSpectacular

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The success of all other rugby sides in the College has been eclipsed by the remarkable season enjoyed by the Yearlings 4s under the auspices of coaching supremo, Adam Rattray. The Yearlings 4s not only went the entire season undefeated, but also did not concede a single point in any of their matches. Their 41-0 victory against Tonbridge on the final Saturday of the Michaelmas Term meant that their playing record for the season was Played 11, Won 11, Points For 509, Points Against 0. This is a truly remarkable feat.

The best U14D team ever?

1st XV win Daily Mail Schools Trophy Following a sparkling season which included eleven victories over the likes of Millfield, Eton, Harrow, Whitgift, Hampton and Marlborough, the College 1st XV were immensely proud to finish top of the Daily Mail Schools League. The circuit on which Wellington College plays is the strongest in the UK and to win such a prestigious accolade is a truly significant achievement. The boys received their trophy from Sir Clive Woodward in a special ceremony at the College and the squad was lucky enough to spend some time listening to Sir Clive speak about his experiences in the game.

Following on from this success, Jack Ingall (Bl), Rory Brand (Bl), Tom Parton (Hl) and Matt Williams (Bn) have all been selected to train with the England U17 squad, and Conor Dolan (T) and Sam Aspland-Robinson (Bl) with the England U18 squad. Josh Basham (Hl) and Dylan Moss (M) are also at the regional stage in the U16 process.

The College's 1st XI cricket team have enjoyed their most successful season in the new millennium, notching up a remarkable seventeen victories during the 2014 season. Particular highlights include victories over Marlborough, Radley, Harrow, and a previously undefeated Tonbridge side. This meant that the Cowdrey Cup, competed for by the top public schools in the South East, safely made its way to Wellington.Particular congratulations must go to Sam Curran (B) who has been awarded the Cricket Society’s Wetherell Award for the leading all-rounder in schools cricket for the 2014 season. This comes on top of Sam being selected for the England Development Programme and having recently toured to Dubai with England.

1st XI win the Cowdrey Cup

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Wellington Sixth former Morgan Lake has had quite a 2014. Back in the summer, she won double gold at the World Junior Athletics Championship in Oregon in both the High Jump and the Heptathlon. In fact, Morgan record-ed the highest ever score by a youth athlete with a personal best of 6,148 points. This comes on top of her break-ing the 29 year-old UK U17 High Jump record in 2013.

She said: “I don’t even think it’s sunk in yet, I’m so happy. I’ve wanted it for so long; I haven’t really spoken about it with anyone because I didn’t want to jinx it. In the 800m I was so dead at the end, I’d pushed at 200m to go when maybe I should have gone at 150m or 100m but I was just trying to make the line. The world youth record means everything too, it’s what I train for so I’m really happy.”

Following this success, Morgan won the Rising Star Award at the IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco back in November and was also shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award.

Morgan Lake

Girls Secure Four ISHL titles:

The Wellington College girls' hockey teams have enjoyed a vintage season with no fewer than four sides finishing top in their respective Independent Schools Hockey Leagues. These leagues were established to provide a competition for the top sporting schools in the country, with the South league featuring schools such as Marlborough, St Edward's Oxford, Bradfield, Cheltenham and Wellington.As the season drew to a close in December, the 1st XI, 2nd XI, U14A and U14B teams all claimed top spot in their leagues, with

the U15A team coming a narrow second in theirs. Master in charge of hockey and former South Africa international, Gareth Carr, said, "This success is just reward for months of hard work and focussed training under the guidance of some hugely committed and talented coaches. The girls can be extremely proud of their fantastic achievements."

Warm congratulations to Kelly Brick (W), Jess O’Neill (A), Georgie Walton (A) and Coco Thompson (Ap) who have all been involved in regional Tier 1 competitions, and also to Katie Dennison (Ap) and Sophie Ragg (H) who have made it through to Tier 2 with Wessex Leopards, as has Robyn Cumberland (H) with Mercia Lynx.

Netball at Wellington College continues to go from strength to strength under the leadership of Miss Kate Murphy who plays for the Surrey Storm in the National Netball Super League. The school fields up to 20 teams and during the 2014 season both the Under 14 and Under 19 teams reached the National Schools Finals, fin-ishing a notable 4th and 10th respectively. Not to be outdone, this year’s Under 14 side have recently been crowned Berkshire champions and both they and the current 1st VII have once more progressed to the regional stages of the 2015 competition with a place at the Nation-als in March very much up for grabs. These are superb achievements which put the Wellington College girls up there with the strongest netball-ing schools in the UK.

National Netball Success

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Wellington College was granted Teaching School status in March 2013, following several years of building links with other schools including projects to see the private and state sector working more closely together, such as the Independent State School Partnership (ISSP).

As a Teaching School, the school seeks to provide a continuum of professional development for teaching staff across the entire education sector with the desired outcome of improving the educational attainment of all pupils in all schools. Our vision is to embed a culture of aspiration, collaboration and excellence, and to empower those working in schools to develop a strong learning culture. In particular we would like to encourage the use of evidence based practice in schools and classrooms, through a more widespread use of research feeding into the continual professional development of staff.

The partnership is made up of 15 partner schools, which branch across different sectors and different local authorities, and of 3 strategic partners, each of which help with the delivery of particular aspects of

the Teaching School framework. It is very much a collaborative partnership and many of partners deliver various aspects of the alliance’s activity such as initial teaching training via School Direct, continuing professional development (CPD), leadership development and school-to-school support.

Wellington College launched its first set of CPD courses for the Autumn period on October 16th. John Kinniburgh, Head of the Teaching Schools programme at Wellington, commented:

“Professional learning gives teachers control of their own development, directing it towards their interests and giving structure to their career progression. Our aim as a Teaching School is to offer a suite of courses that embed this philosophy across the Partnership. For us, emphasis is on the word ‘learning’ and it is our hope that this suite of courses provides a wide range of opportunities for educators from our Partner schools and others to further develop their professional learning.”

Wellington College’s continued commitment to and activity within its existing Teaching School partnerships gives clear evidence of an on-going desire to bridge the gap between the state and independent sectors, whilst also remaining a leading contributor to current educational debate.

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Wellington College has recently established the first major school-based research centre in the UK believing that children should be taught based on what research shows is effective, rather than relying on guesswork, hunches or ideology. The school has also announced that it is partnering with the Harvard Graduate School of Education faculty on a two-year UK study into what works in teaching. The project will focus on specific areas of pupils’ attitudes and responses to learning, and will include growth mind-set, metacognition and ‘grit’. The findings of this research will be available for all schools and educational institutions to use in the future. Carl Hendrick, who has been appointed as the Centre’s first Head of Research, explained that the school is putting a new emphasis on evidence-based, practical approaches in its teaching and learning as well as investing in high-quality research which can be shared nationwide. He writes, “Too much teaching is based on guesswork, hunches and instinct, or is ideologically driven. It’s not just what we teach, but how and why. We want teaching to be more like medicine, where knowing about and using current research is the norm. Claims for effectiveness should be backed by evidence. “Our work with Harvard Graduate School of Education is unique and will produce findings that we hope will bring about long-term positive change in what happens in our classrooms, not just at Wellington but across the UK. As well as this major project, we will be testing out ideas and developing our own research. The work will also feed into our Teaching School activity, directly

benefiting the new teachers that we train here. The vision is for us to become a hub for evidence-based education in the UK, mobilising, evaluating and disseminating effective research. We are encouraging all schools, state and independent, to start their own research programmes and to share what they discover.” Christina Hinton from the Harvard Graduate School of Education explains, “There is currently a gap between research and practice in education. Practice is too often based on tradition or ideology, rather than evidence on what is actually effective. On the other hand, researchers are often carrying out research that is disconnected from the needs and interests of teachers. Wellington College and our other partner schools around the globe serve as thought leaders in education that help narrow the gap between research and practice by engaging with cutting-edge research, carrying out research that is relevant to practice, and sharing knowledge with educators around the globe. “We are delighted to partner with Wellington College and the state schools in their Teaching Schools alliance on collaborative, school-based research. By partnering with a diverse network of schools on these topics, we hope to develop evidence-based practices that will benefit a diverse group of learners.”

Harvard Partnership

A contemporary print c.1889 provides a still-familiar snapshot of students settling down for a service in the College’s Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Notable above the heads of the congregation is a stained glass window, akin to those in the chancel, designed by the first Master, Edward Benson.

In October 1940, a bomb fell, killing the Master and shattering many of the chapel windows. Hugh Easton’s designs in time replaced the principal windows, whilst others – including that in the picture – were re-glazed with transparent glass.

In 2013, the chapel celebrated its 150th anniversary at the literal and spiritual heart of the school. The original ‘Bensonian’ windows became the inspiration for new stained glass to be installed in the most westerly windows on the north and south sides where clear glazing has languished for so long.

Edward Twohig, Director of Art, and Father Tim Novis, Chaplain, share a vision of installing these windows this year – a project totalling £110,000; the appeal has already raised over £50,000. The designs themselves have been imbued with student-led elements and draw on the colour and history of the chapel, yet remaining contemporary and celebratory.

For more information, or to offer your support, please contact Eleanor Marsden, Deputy Director of Development, in the Foundation Office: [email protected]; 01344 444 209.www.wel l ingtondevelopment.org.uk/chapel-windows/

A Window of Opportunity

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BEST PUBLIC SCHOOL

Tatler Schools Guide 2014