"Pupils embrace a clear set of values which transcends material wealth and is aligned with the school's own principles."
In 2011, the Wellington College UK community participated in the process of identifying the values which best encapsulate what we collectively believe Wellington College stands for. After a series of discussions, we arrived at a list of 5 potential values. A vote was then held across the community to ascertain which we should adopt. The result was overwhelmingly in favour of adopting all 5.
These values are now central to our ethos:
Courage
The ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. To take calculated risks in the pursuit of goodness.
Respect
A positive feeling of esteem for a person, group, entity, or quality, resulting in acting with fairness.
Integrity
Consistency or authenticity. Acting in consort with one’s values or beliefs. It is the opposite of hypocrisy.
Kindness
Showing consideration of the needs of others and acting selflessly and generously for their benefit.
Responsibility
Being reliable, dependable, and accountable for one’s conduct. Fulfilling a duty. Acknowledging the need to serve the communities in which we operate.
"Pupils treat one another with kindness and respect, creating a safe environment in which everyone has the chance to flourish."
What are values?
Put simply, values are our deeply held beliefs about the way the world ought to be and the way we ought to treat each other. From a very young age, we begin forming our values with family, friends, and in institutions such as schools. Each of us has a unique values ‘fingerprint’ which has a profound impact on our choices, our behaviour, and the formation of our character. Each of us brings our own value set to the Wellington community and at the same time, as members of this community, we aspire to uphold the 5 Values adopted by Wellington College to express the heart of the College’s character.
Values do not exist in individuals in a vacuum: they are part of a set of common goods that, when upheld, enhance the moral quality of life for all humans. In this way, choosing to live a values-inspired life contributes to the flourishing and well-being of others, as well as enabling us to develop the virtues which form our character. In adopting and championing values, Wellington College is expressing moral wishes not only for our community, but for the impact that our community has on the wider world.
As staff and pupils live, work and learn together in this place, we encourage everyone to look out on our community with open eyes to notice people who exhibit the 5 values and not just celebrate what they do, but emulate their example too.
"Pupils are respectful and thoughtful in the way they treat one another."
Wellington Identity
Wellington College is a school like no other. Where many focus on examination results and view league table position as the main criterion for success, the whole ethos of Wellington is focused on each and every individual who passes through our gates.
If education, in the truest sense of the word, is about bringing the best out of children, then delivering a raft of A and A* grades is not enough, undoubtedly important though examination results are. We aim to inspire and support our pupils so they can become the very best they can be in every single way. By helping them become happy and fully rounded young men and women, examination grades naturally follow, as our outstanding A Level, IBDP and Cambridge IGCSE results clearly prove.
Our educational philosophy is therefore focused around the traits which we want all Wellingtonians to acquire before taking their place in the adult world.
We want our pupils to be inspired by everything they do at Wellington, both inside and outside of the classroom, so they leave school as interested and interesting people.
We want our pupils to adopt a genuinely intellectual approach to their academic work and to their view of the world around them, in the knowledge that a Wellington education is only the beginning of an exciting and life-long journey of learning.
We want our pupils to become truly independent, as those who can think, learn and cope independently will be the leaders and game-changers of the future.
We want each and every pupil to be valued and developed as an individual, so their Wellington experience is much more than just going to school – rather, it is the journey to self.
And we want our pupils to be inclusive in all dealings with other people, so they leave the College not in a bubble of privilege and elitism, but with the ability to engage with their local, national and international communities, and with a burning desire to do good in the world.
