Prospectus
Welcome to Malvern Malvern College is one of England’s great public schools, located in a glorious setting on the slopes of the Malvern Hills. The school has a rich and distinguished history, yet we look to the future in seeking to develop outstanding young people with the skills, resilience and initiative to flourish in a rapidly changing global market place. Malvern has a strong academic focus, with an enrichment programme that stimulates intellectual curiosity and academic breadth beyond the confines of exam criteria. This sits alongside a diverse co-curricular programme that promotes all-round personal development and a happy and healthy lifestyle. Our staff are completely committed to the wellbeing of each individual child. They encourage pupils to be independent, take calculated risks, and adopt the ethos of service to others that underpins the school. We are known for excellent pastoral care and this is the foundation on which excellence in all other areas is built: in pupils’ academic and co-curricular achievements, and also simply in their interactions with those around them and the way that they approach the world with confidence. On meeting a Malvernian, you will find that typically this confidence translates into an optimism and openness to welcome newcomers warmly, something that I very much hope you will experience for yourself when you visit. Keith Metcalfe Headmaster
Learning Our academic programme is broad and challenging; we offer GCSEs, International GCSEs, A levels and the International Baccalaureate. We measure the ‘value’ added to each pupil’s academic achievement through a process of independent baseline testing. We support and seek to stretch our pupils, encouraging independent learning and enquiry. Classwork and homework are complemented by a programme of lectures and educational visits. Academic progress is underpinned by a robust pastoral network, which includes Tutors, House Tutors, Heads of Year and Housems. Our Tutor system provides academic support for each pupil throughout his or her school career. In the Remove (Year 10) and Hundred (Year 11) Tutor groups are House based and composed of boys and girls from their own House. In the Sixth Form pupils generally have the opportunity to choose their own Tutor.
The Houses and Pastoral Care The provision of exceptional pastoral care is central to life at Malvern and at the heart of this ethos is the House system. Each House is run by a Housemaster or Housemistress, or Housem as they are known at Malvern and they, together with the pupil’s Tutor, are the main providers of pastoral support. Each House has its own dining room where the pupils eat together and this serves to reinforce and foster a family atmosphere. Almost eighty per cent of our pupils are full boarders and so the Houses are full at weekends. Pupils develop a tremendous affection and loyalty towards their House and the inter-House competitions are fiercely contested. House life is extremely important at Malvern and it is where strong friendships are forged.
The Co-curriculum The academic curriculum is supplemented by numerous additional activities which form the co-curriculum. The co-curricular programme includes creative, sporting and volunteering options; additionally, there is a wide range of outdoor activities that is evolving all the time. The creative options include new approaches in Art, Design & Technology and in Music and Drama to enable pupils to explore different ideas. Academic societies exist to encourage and stretch young minds and many practical courses which give pupils the chance to test a range of new techniques are offered. Pupils can join a section of the Malvern College Combined Cadet Force or work towards gaining a Duke of Edinburgh Award. These activities are all designed to encourage autonomy and selfreliance and to build confidence. Through our academic and co-curricular programmes, we teach the importance of the human values enshrined in the ‘Malvern Qualities’. They are, in no particular order, resilience, self-awareness, open-mindedness, kindness, collaboration, risk-taking, curiosity, ambition, independence, integrity and humility and are the kind of human values that we have seen best prepare our pupils for life beyond school.
Art, Design & Technology The purpose-built studios of the Lindsay Art Centre and Chapman Technology Centre provide pupils with the best equipped facilities for art and design. Art and Design & Technology are taught as part of the academic curriculum and in the co-curriculum. Artists may specialise in painting and drawing, photography, ceramics, sculpture, and printmaking and pupils studying Design & Technology work in a wide range of media using state-of-the-art technology such as 3-D printing and laser-cutting as well as with the more traditional materials in our textiles, metalwork and woodwork rooms. We take great pride in exhibiting our pupils’ work throughout the school and many of our artists and designers go on to prestigious colleges of Art, Design and Architecture.
Music Malvern has a large and busy Music School where approximately 300 individual music lessons are taught each week. About 120 pupils are involved in choral singing, with as many again involved in groups ranging from the Symphony Orchestra to the Jazz Band. Our pupils regularly perform at a range of concerts in which there are individual performances as well as performances by small to large ensembles. We also regularly stage ‘Unplugged’ concerts of contemporary and popular music. A number of our musicians win instrumental and choral awards to university or music colleges.
Drama Pupils of all ages are involved in our drama programme and all pupils study Drama as part of the curriculum in the Foundation Year; there are frequent opportunities to be involved on stage or behind the scenes and to take part in Dance classes in a range of styles. During the year there are a number of major school productions, plays and musicals which provide a showcase for pupils’ talents. Each House produces a short theatrical production for the House Drama Competition. In addition, many pupils take Speech and Drama lessons leading to LAMDA awards. Pupils are encouraged to compete in regional Arts festivals and to audition for the National Youth Theatre, and National Youth Music Theatre productions. GCSE and A level pupils attend frequent trips to see live theatre at the local Malvern Theatres or further afield in Stratford, Cheltenham, Bristol or London.
Sport Malvern is a school committed to the benefits of participating in sport. Our main sports are cricket, rugby, football, hockey, athletics and tennis for boys, and hockey, netball, cricket, athletics and tennis for girls. The College also has a long and established tradition in rackets. We also offer girls’ football, fives, badminton, basketball, cross-country, shooting and swimming. Professional coaches support our sports teaching staff in training pupils for every level of sporting achievement. Performance Pathways to regional and national sports representation are available to the most talented. Club links are an important aspect of the development of pupils’ sporting potential. We are an official partner of Worcestershire County Cricket Club and work closely with the Worcester Warriors, Hereford United Football Club, Malvern Town Football Club, Hucclecote Netball Club and Stourport Hockey Club. Other links include Worcester Athletics Club, Ledbury Swimming Club and Manor Park Tennis Club. A growing number of current and former pupils are representing their country in a range of sports and we are excited to watch their progress.
Development This is an exciting time for development at Malvern. In the last decade, through the generous support of alumni and friends, the College has built two new boarding Houses and a large sports complex. We have refurbished our rackets courts to give us two courts of equal match-play standard, and in 2015 we opened the new Science Centre as part of the College’s 150th anniversary celebrations; over half of the cost of this project was funded through philanthropy. An additional artificial, water-based playing surface for hockey was installed in 2017 at the Court Road playing fields adding immeasurably to the College’s sports provision. Our latest capital development project is a re-modelled Rogers Theatre on campus: it provides a more flexible layout for productions offering, for example, the possibility of theatre-in-the-round. The new features include an extended balcony and new, retractable seating, improved lighting and acoustics, additional backstage space and a new-build extension creating a studio and new extended front-of-house space. Improvements to the technical and production provision aim to allow pupils to be much more involved in the backstage aspects of the new theatre – a thrilling prospect.
Malvern as a Community We are a Christian foundation within the Anglican tradition but we value our diverse community and encourage the values of tolerance, mutual respect and care for others. We are a forward-looking school and want our pupils to celebrate one another’s cultures and remain open to new ideas. We meet as a community in the Chapel which lies at the heart of the College: here we celebrate our school lives held in common and are able to reflect upon our spiritual and moral values. Pupils are encouraged to put their commitment to the wider community into practice through service, charity work and environmental projects.
The Future Stimulated by the Malvern experience pupils frequently exceed all expectations; their confidence in what they might achieve in the future is strong. The education they receive has helped establish who they are and who they might become. Our leavers depart from Malvern equipped with the values that will see them through the whole of their adult lives, and Malvernians keep in touch with each other beyond school benefitting from a global network of friends. We encourage pupils to plan for their future careers: staff and tutors provide advice, guidance and support to help them make informed decisions about university courses, gap year programmes and career paths. A large majority of our leavers go on to their first-choice university in the UK but a significant number of pupils also join Ivy League universities and top-flight colleges in the US, Canada and across the globe. Malvernians are dependable and industrious and make good recruitment prospects. They invariably serve their communities well and are supportive and kind - admirable qualities that bring them friends and success in the world of work.
If you wish to arrange an individual family visit please contact us t: +44 (0)1684 581 515 e: registrar@malverncollege.org.uk
www.malverncollege.co.uk