Wimbledon College has a strong tradition as a Jesuit School. At the heart of the Jesuit tradition is the insight of St Ignatius of Loyola that God is to be found in all things. This belief means that Wimbledon College, along with Jesuit schools worldwide, aims to:

• create a caring and disciplined community in which pupils will feel secure and are motivated to be involved in their studies and in a wide range of school activities.
• encourage pupils to recognise the best in themselves and to work hard to develop all of their talents
• instill in its pupils an awareness of the needs of others and a commitment to putting their gifts and energies at the service of others.

Adrian Laing | Headteacher

Opened in 1892, Wimbledon College is a Jesuit school and shares the traditions and values of the 2,500 Jesuit schools and universities worldwide. St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, wrote in 1450 of Jesuit schools being "for improvement in living and learning for the greater glory of God and the common good". This remains our mission today.

Wimbledon College started its life in the parlour of the presbytery of a newly established church - based in house number 3 of Cranbrook Road. In 1893 it moved to the present site, the former grounds of the Anglican Preparatory Military Academy. The first Headmaster was Father James Nicholson SJ and there were only two pupils enrolled when the school first opened. The school now has over 1200 boys on roll from Year 7 to 13.

As a boy progresses through the school he becomes part of this tradition, experiencing at first hand its pattern of teaching, values and practices, informed by the Jesuit vision. It is our hope that each boy will accept this rich heritage and make it his own and in so doing will be prepared for life, which is itself a preparation for eternal life.

Wimbledon College has a wide ranging CPD programme that helps teachers develop throughout their career.

All teaching staff join an online Professional Development platform called Bluesky. Bluesky administers all appraisal, observations and continual professional development so that staff and their line managers can closely track professional development. Induction for new staff all new staff are enrolled onto a course called Jesuit i.

These sessions allow staff to fully understand Jesuit ethos. This is further developed by staffs who wish to pursue this and they can attend a two day retreat session to build upon Jesuit i. Programme for Newly Qualified Teachers. The programme focuses on teachers who have recently completed a PGCE / Schools Direct or other Initial Teacher Programme. The sessions focus heavily on Teaching and Learning but also on introducing you to our unique school and the Catholic ethos it is built on. The programme aims to develop teachers more holistically by focusing on issues such as time management, work-life balance and using new technology to improve lessons. The programme also looks at moving towards middle management and has specific sessions of Head of Line (Year) and Head of Department responsibilities. One such session focuses on using data to track vulnerable students and creating progress matrices. 

Each NQT has a mentor and receives full support from the department and also Professional Coordinating Mentor (PCM). NQTs receive half termly observations and this frequency can increase if need be. NQTs also have the opportunity to attend weekly CPD sessions that are put in place for PGCE students. These sessions are run by experienced members of staff within the school who specialise in certain areas. Some NQT sessions are off site and ran by Merton council and this gives you the opportunity to network with other NQTs from around the borough. NQTs teach a reduced timetable by 10%, this is to support their own development.

Staff INSET: The College places staff development as key priority and there are regular opportunities for staff to attend a range of external courses and INSETs. We use outside speakers to come in and speak to whole staff or specific departments. Our most recent speaker was Jim Smith who focused on creating a love of learning and how to make students more active rather than passive learners.

Wimbledon College runs an internal staff development programme based over two fortnights in the academic year. During a fortnight up to 20 sessions maybe on offer ranging from differentiation, stretching the more able, classroom management and creating a love of learning. We aim to develop teachers more holistically by focusing on issues such as work-life balance, time management skills, data analysis and Jesuit ethos. One such programme ‘what is the heart of Wimbledon College’ allows teachers to reflect but also further develop their understanding of our education mission.

Further Development: We also support staff to undertake Masters Qualifications, PhDs and National Programmes such as National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership (NPQML) as well as the Senior (NPQSL) and Headteacher (NPQH) version of this. Wimbledon College is also part of the Merton Outstanding teacher programme and each year we send select staff to complete this course and provide them with the opportunity to feedback to staff.

Along with learning walks, buddy observations, line manager and colleague observations Wimbledon College offers a range of ways for staff to develop and progress in their career.

If you're searching for your next post, why not contact us now? You'll be working at a great school and be part of a friendly, helpful team. We're always interested to hear from enthusiastic, committed candidates - send us your CV now via our School Talent Pool and say what sort of role you're looking for.