Westminster Under School is one of the foremost independent preparatory schools in the country and, indeed, worldwide.

We have a reputation for academic excellence and for the outcomes of our pupils, as they move on to senior schools, often with academic, music, and sporting scholarships and exhibitions.

However, whilst our pupils are very able and achieve at the highest levels, our curriculum is broad and seeks to develop young people with a love of learning and an enthusiasm for doing great things with this learning: it is not a curriculum, therefore, that ‘teaches to the test’.

The culture of teaching and learning at the Under School is defined by thought-provoking, stimulating, and engaging lessons in which pupils are keen to participate, ask questions, and develop the capability to discover things for themselves. In this sense, we stay true to the ‘liberal’ education alluded to in the founding Elizabethan Charter of Westminster School, with our commitment to a broad curriculum, which extends across English and the humanities, maths, science, arts, and sport. It is a curriculum that fosters depth and rigour of understanding for our pupils, and a willingness to be open-minded about new and enlightening avenues of thinking and doing.

Crucially, the School’s academic excellence is not mutually exclusive of its excellence in pastoral provision. We prioritise the happiness and wellbeing — both physical and emotional — of each of our pupils, and work hard to support those pupils where challenges may arise. In this respect, the Under School enjoys an excellent partnership with our parent body. We aim for our pupils to be fulfilled and resilient young people, who not only look after themselves, but also those around them: alongside our rich academic curriculum is our Values-Based Education, which seeks to nurture a sense of respect, compassion and thoughtfulness in all that our pupils do during their time at the Under School, and beyond.

This is also reflected in nurturing a sense of service in our pupils, primarily through the School’s wide-ranging Enterprise programme. It is a real measure of how generously-spirited our community is that charitable endeavours, often initiated by the pupils, are a routine part of our School, with huge sums raised annually for charities both near and far. Similarly, our pupils take a keen interest in community outreach initiatives, such as visiting and engaging with residents in local care homes, or reading with pupils in local maintained primary schools.

Ours is a happy and purposeful School community, in which each and every pupil is valued. As a community, Under School pupils are enriched by those opportunities in assemblies, at Church, in form and year groups, in House events, and in School Council, to come together and share commonalities in values and dispositions. We are also enriched by the differences in our community, in terms of the respective talents, interests, achievements, cultures, languages, beliefs, and backgrounds of each of our pupils, and there are many opportunities in the life of the School to acknowledge and celebrate these.

The ethos at Westminster Under School is informed by our commitment to ensuring that each of our pupils is happy, enriched – intellectually, personally, and socially – and compassionate, who, by the time they leave us for the next stage of their education, have the desire and qualities to pursue and achieve greater things still.

It is a curriculum that fosters depth and rigour of understanding for our pupils, and a willingness to be open-minded about new and enlightening avenues of thinking and doing.

Westminster Under School is underpinned by a Values-Based Education, with 20 values which guide daily actions and interactions within our School community:

Respect | Humility | Integrity
Inclusivity | Resilience | Courage
Commitment | Ambition | Kindness
Altruism | Service | Loyalty
Happiness | Humour | Optimism
Grace | Curiosity | Innovation
Creativity | Collaboration

These values are also implicit in the following aims, which characterise a Westminster Under School education:

• We strive for each of our pupils to be happy, well, and safe. The Under School is defined by excellence in pastoral care: our absolute priority is the wellbeing of our pupils as they navigate their way through this formative stage of their education.

The strength of the Under School is determined by our team of teaching, support, and administrative staff who endeavour to support all pupils as they progress throughout their time with us. Our pastoral provision is such that our pupils have access to a wide support network, including form tutors and heads of year, as well as the Safeguarding team, should issues and challenges of a personal or social nature arise. We also work closely with pupils’ parents and families in this regard. Through an extensive PSHE programme, delivered in a thoughtful and sensitive manner by a dedicated team, all pupils develop an understanding of the world around them, and how to cope with the opportunities and challenges that they may face, or go on to face, both inside and outside of the School environment. We value and celebrate each of our pupils as individuals, with their own talents, interests, and cultural backgrounds.

• As a Values-Based School, we equip our pupils to live, work, and thrive in a 21st century world with compassion, kindness, and empathy.

Our pupils develop a real sense of respect and regard for those around them, both in the School community and beyond, such that, when they leave the Under School for senior schools, they emerge as young people with a sense of equity, responsibility, and commitment in their ability to make a positive difference in the world.

• We are ambitious for all of our pupils in terms of academic excellence.

We foster a profound love and joy of learning for our pupils with excitement, discovery, perseverance, and the breadth of experiences at its heart. We set out to enrich pupils’ knowledge and understanding across the curriculum and the various disciplines, but we also strive for our pupils to develop independence and intellectual curiosity in their learning: they are empowered in their ability to question, to critique, and ultimately, to think for themselves. Not being bound by a formal examination syllabus, or indeed, being limited to the National Curriculum, means that teachers and pupils have the opportunity to extend and pursue originality of thought. We also work hard to ensure equality of access to the curriculum for all of our learners and their individual needs, through our Learning Development Department.

• We provide a genuinely holistic education and endeavour to offer opportunities for pupils to be enriched beyond the curriculum.

We are justifiably proud of these opportunities, including subject-enrichment clubs and societies that run during the School day, and in particular, through our broad Extras programme of activities at the end of each day. Our pupils develop a wealth of interests in the arts, sport, music and in competitive pastimes such as chess, regularly reaching national, and even international, levels of success. This holistic approach is a true cornerstone of the Under School, and completely at odds with any notion that a WUS pupil participates solely in academic learning at the expense of anything else.

• We expect our pupils to have respect for themselves and for others.

The culture of the Under School is such that we routinely celebrate those things that unite us as a School community, but we also take the time to celebrate individuality – pupils’ respective interests, talents, achievements, languages, and cultural backgrounds, for example, that serve to enrich the Under School. In the classroom and beyond, we promote a spirit of collaborative endeavour for our pupils. It is testament to our promotion of compassion for others that so many of our pupils engage in charitable activity, raising huge sums for local, national, and international charities. They also engage in and enjoy other forms of outreach work, such as visiting local care homes and maintained primary schools. Our pupils leave the Under School as responsible and successful young people who are minded to make a positive difference in the society and world around them.

Broadly speaking, our vision for the 2020s can be expressed as three main objectives, ever mindful of the need for patience and humility which is implicit in the School motto: Dat Deus Incrementum.

1. Transforming lives
We are committed to widening access and becoming needs-blind on entry, as well as supporting families in the School who encounter unexpected difficulties. Mechanisms to achieve these goals include the Ben Jonson Foundation and the George Herbert Fund, both of which are supported by our generous donors.

2. Transforming experience
We want to ensure that the experience of all our pupils – drawn from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible – continues to evolve and improve over time. This will be achieved by structural and curriculum reviews, capital expenditure, and the harnessing of digital opportunities. A commitment to increase diversity, equality and inclusion in all areas of school life will further enrich the experience of all and equip pupils for informed and sensitive engagement with the twenty-first century world.

3. Transforming impact
We believe in the value of a liberal education and want to work with local and global partners to contribute to positive outcomes for young people in the UK and beyond. This will be achieved by existing programmes such as Platform and Horizons, by overseas ventures, and by digital means in order to have the greatest impact.

Taken together, our vision is to cherish, sustain and develop a community of well-rounded scholars, irrespective of financial means, background or beliefs, who care deeply about the life of the mind and the lives of others and who have the educational wherewithal to be good ancestors for those who will build upon our stewardship.