The Pillars of Our Approach

Our unique recipe ensures children’s academic readiness and most importantly helps us to open their minds and give them the tools and drive to make confident and ambitious decisions on their path to their chosen future.

Celebrating Individuality

Focussing on the individual child is incredibly important. We want children to feel understood and appreciated for who they are. We look to teach them in a way that sparks their interest and feeds their hunger for knowledge.  We would like them to feel confident to share their ideas and to take the initiative.

Thanks to small class sizes, our teachers know every child extremely well and we can flexibly uncover and nurture each child's uniqueness and support strengths and passions.

Backing up this approach, our definition of success centres on personal bests. Of course we celebrate significant achievements but importantly we recognise and celebrate individual progress and contributions, whether this may be mathematical reasoning, resilience, kindness, humility, sense of humour, musical talent or determination. 

Encouraging children to be their best, to put in effort and persevere, and to help others to be their best too, helps children to adopt a growth mindset.

A World of Experiences

Designed to be holistic and stimulating, our curriculum is exceptionally broad and inclusive: we ensure that every child makes the most of the experiences available to them.

Encouraging children to have a go and persevere is a key part of our ethos.  It gives the children the opportunity to learn what makes them tick, develop self-knowledge, humility, and a wonderful can do attitude that is remarked upon time and time again by the heads of senior schools.

For the children it is an exciting and unforgettable journey of discovery including ceramics, science experiments, field trips, textiles, drama, performance, cooking, poetry, music, kayaking, squash amongst many other sports and subjects. 

Westbourne House pupils certainly develop a fantastic, adventurous attitude and take on new challenges with enthusiasm and joy.

Find out more about our diverse curriculum.

Ready to Shape the World 

There are many skills that will be critical for this generation such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence and cognitive flexibility. 

Throughout our history, the school’s focus has gone beyond that of academic achievement – to the growth of the whole child. We hire talented teachers to inspire young minds, develop key skills and attitudes, teach leadership and encourage positive mental health and wellbeing.

Inside the classroom and out, pupils are encouraged and rewarded when they demonstrate High Performance Learning skills, values and attitudes; all of which empower our children to think flexibly and creatively, work together with kindness and empathy, while developing the capability to be resilient, persevere and succeed even when things don’t go to plan.

We ask children to follow the Westbourne Way, which guides them to be kind, honest, respectful and to support others to be the best they can be.

Exceptional teaching by specialist staff creates contagious enthusiasm for subjects and their experience enables them to empower children to think for themselves, ask questions and gain deep understanding. 

We ensure that our children regularly practice the skills that will hold them in good stead throughout life such as performing in front of an audience, working as a team and being a leader - all of which build resilience and self-belief along the way.

Our home grown weekly Learning4Life lessons combine the practical application of strategies to encourage wellbeing and citizenship.

We prepare children to create the world they'll want to live in.

Find out more about personal development.