WELCOME
WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
WELCOME FROM THE MASTER It is my privilege, and an enormous pleasure, to be able to welcome you to Wellington College Bangkok. I invite you first to spend some time on our wonderful campus: there is space here to move and to think; there is peace to ponder and to learn; there is nature to explore and to cultivate. Our outstanding school premises are purpose-built, influenced by the grandeur of Wellington College in England as well as the grace and depth of the culture of Thailand. We are just a short drive from the middle of Bangkok, yet the hustle, bustle and grime of the city schools seems many, many miles away. The philosophy of Wellington College, originally developed in the UK, is rich, deep – and absolutely central to our existence. When we talk about our identity, you will feel genuine commitment and belief, not just from me but from everyone in the community. We are, and expect everyone to be, inspired, intellectual, independent, individual and inclusive.
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So every one of our students is surrounded by opportunities to engage with, to explore and to encounter anything and everything there is to learn. The world is not just out there – not just on the page of a textbook or the screen of a tablet: it is right here, ready for your child to experience. That experience can take many forms, and flow through many channels. The Wellington approach to learning is absolutely centred on the individual child: we are all different and therefore what it means to learn something is different for every child. Recognising and acting on this is central to how we work every day. And every one of our parents is central to our process. To understand your child, we need to know you personally and to share the responsibility of guiding your children with you openly and honestly. Smooth flow of information around the childteacher-parent loop is fundamental to what we do.
When we talk about our values, we mean what we say: courage, integrity, kindness, respect and responsibility flow through the school in every way – on the sports field, in the dining hall, in our classrooms and the remarkable, luxuriously spacious Learning Studios.
My own roots are in the UK but education has taken me around the globe. The joy, the excitement and the boundless awe I have felt on my own journey of discovery are what I am most passionate about engendering in others. The world is an amazing place – and Wellington one of the very best schools in it.
And yet a school is not a campus, no matter how ideal the location, nor is it a philosophy – even ours. A school is its people. What teachers aim to instil, they must exemplify powerfully themselves: to engender respect, I must be respectful; before demanding courage, I must find it in myself. Our staff know this, and they practise it with rigour.
Christopher Nicholls Founding Master
WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
WHO IS A WELLINGTONIAN? INSPIRED
INDIVIDUAL
We want Wellingtonians to have been genuinely excited by everything they have done during their years with us. They will have developed a zest for life so that they go into the world ready and able, in turn, to inspire others. This is the core pillar of the Wellington Identity.
The aim of a Wellington education is to allow students to develop themselves fully in every sense. The pastoral care and focus on student wellbeing at the College values each student as a unique individual. The journey to individuality is also reflected in our broad curricular and co-curricular opportunities: all our students discover and develop fully their own talents, passions and interests, knowing that interested children become interesting adults.
INTELLECTUAL Wellingtonians must move into the world able to think critically and to engage in deep learning. They will be able to study beyond the bounds of any curriculum, to be inquisitive and ask questions of everything around them and be imbued with a lifelong love of learning.
INDEPENDENT
INCLUSIVE Wellingtonians will leave the College not in a bubble of elitism, privilege and exclusivity, but with the moral values and social conscience to serve others and do good in life. This inclusivity includes a strong pride in coeducation, a commitment to internationalism and a service programme rooted in depth and honesty.
Wellingtonians develop personal, cognitive, social and study skills to enable them to cope with the challenges of university and their lives beyond. They adapt, cope and thrive in an everchanging world. This is reflected in our academic curriculum, our co-curricular programme, our commitment to the coaching philosophy, and our focus on character development and leadership.
Zest for life
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WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
THE SENIOR SCHOOL YEAR 7 TO YEAR 13 We have an unrelenting focus on academic achievement and expect great things from every one of our students. At the same time, we look always to inspire curiosity, creativity, compassion – and enjoyment. We empower our young people through careful development of the knowledge, skills and independence of mind that will make them responsible – and outstanding – leaders of the future. Harkness teaching, established at Phillips Exeter in the US; co-working approaches to independent study, drawing on Thai understanding of modern work practice; adoption of a Coaching philosophy to underpin our strongly supportive and
reflective culture: these all contribute to the genuine uniqueness of Wellington College Bangkok. In Years 10 and 11, students work towards external IGCSE examinations in a range of subjects. Some, such as English, Mathematics and the Sciences, are core subjects; a broad range of others are optional. In the Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13) we will offer British A-Level examinations. Globally accepted, A-Levels present students with rigorous and very academic challenges, providing an ideal preparation for study at any of the world’s best universities.
Empowering young people 4
WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
Pushing Learning Forward THE PREP SCHOOL YEAR 3 TO YEAR 6 As students move into Year 3, our emphasis is on high academic standards coupled with an extensive and varied programme of Enrichment Courses. Curricular and Enrichment endeavours have balancing strengths, supporting each other in the encouragement of all Wellingtonians to discover, then fulfil, their potential. One of the most important goals in the Prep School is to maintain and enhance our students’ simple desire to know more, find out more, and do more, which underlies deep learning and will set them up for success at this stage and beyond. In every one of our classrooms, and the very well-appointed Learning Studios, you will see rigorous, imaginative, creative teaching, and focused, independent, dynamic learning. The curriculum is based on the National Curriculum for England and includes relevant focus on local culture and history – but it is bound by neither: when you encourage and support both
motivation and developing independence, you find that students themselves will push their own learning forward, often to remarkable new destinations. As they develop greater independence and responsibility, our Prep School students also experience more specialist teaching, including Science in our advanced Meitner Teaching Lab. We introduce the upper levels of subject expertise at an important early stage, encouraging genuine high quality of learning. Students take greater initiative, moving around the School more and following more complex timetables. Wellington’s curriculum is rigorous and stretching, designed to meet the needs of each individual and giving both breadth of educational experience and academic depth, all the time preparing each child for the next stages of their education and their lives.
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WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
PRE-PREP PRE-NURSERY TO YEAR 2 Our youngest Wellingtonians are encouraged to develop their own individual learning skills in safe, stimulating, dymanic and childcentric surroundings. In our Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Reception classes, the children follow the Early Years Curriculum of England. It features a guided play-based approach, where teachers’ detailed ongoing observation provides the main input for assessment of progress and attainment. Teachers design relevant, interesting, learningfocused tasks and activities, providing daily phonics, maths, literacy and other elements of input. Mandarin Chinese is introduced in Nursery.
lessons become more structured. We use the National Curriculum for England as our foundation, upon which a rich, wholly absorbing education is built. The Class Teacher delivers much of the curriculum and provides the excellent pastoral care for which Wellington is justifiably renowned. Specialist teachers generally lead Thai and Mandarin Languages, Music, Swimming lessons and Physical Education. We encourage every child, right from the start, to develop a passion for learning through deliberate exploration, critical thinking and creativity. Even from Pre-Nursery, we expect every Wellingtonian to be looking and searching beyond what is taught in the classroom.
The transition from Early Years to Year 1 sees the style of learning develop: whilst the excitement of discovery is undiminished,
Better at Wellington 6
WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
A GLOBAL FAMILY OF SCHOOLS Wellington College is renowned as a progressive school with a strong international perspective. Our schools in the UK and China host an annual Festival of Education – the UK version is the largest education-focused event in Europe. We will debut the South-East Asia Festival of Education, based at Wellington College Bangkok, next year. Wellington College in Berkshire, England, is one of the world’s top co-educational senior schools and – founded in 1859 by Queen Victoria – is the mother of our very close international school family. In China, we have very highly-regarded schools in Shanghai, Tianjin and Hangzhou; we also run the prestigious Huili bilingual schools. Our Bangkok school is the flagship of a very select group of schools which will open in SouthEast Asia over the next few years.
TEACHERS Selected from amongst the UK’s very best, Wellington College teachers are some of the most capable, talented teachers anywhere in the world. Our recruitment process is tough: demanding interviews; detailed background research, including international police checks; very careful lesson observations. And, once here, no teacher ever stops learning, developing and stretching: our ongoing staff training is relentless.
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WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
ENRICHMENT COURSES Alongside the classroom curriculum, and offered within the timetable rather than after school, Wellington College Bangkok’s diverse range of Enrichment Courses provides an exciting and important opportunity for our students to try new activities, cultivate new interests and develop skills and aptitudes which will bolster their personal and academic development. Like the House system, Enrichment Courses run across year groups, enabling our students to connect and make friends with children of different ages as they learn sports, music, arts, languages, cultural pursuits, and much more; there is definitely something here for everyone!
PREP In a boarding school – such as Wellington College UK – students typically return to their boarding Houses after lessons to complete homework together under the supervision of the House team. At Wellington College Bangkok, even though we are not a boarding school, teachers set Prep (homework) from Year 3 and every day’s timetable includes Prep Time, where students sit with other members of their House to complete their work, in school, under the supervision of members of the academic team. This makes Prep a genuinely beneficial experience, that parents do not have to assist in completing, and offers students a little more time after school to rest, reflect and play.
WELLINGTON EXTRA The Wellington Extra Programme has been operational in Bangkok since the founding of the school. The broad and ever-growing range of optional paid after-school and weekend activities and courses provides Wellington students a fantastic opportunity to learn, develop and play in a way that promotes the Wellington identity and values. Parents who want their children to experience the best on offer from expert coaches and teachers can take full advantage of our outstanding facilities and resources on site. Our innovative programme continues to grow and develop in order to ensure we offer the very best experience to all our students and families.
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WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK PROSPECTUS
SPORT Sport is not just about physical aptitude: it develops the whole person, giving each one of us insight into what it means to persevere, to work in and for a team, to struggle, to push ourselves, to face both victory and defeat. Wellington College Bangkok competes with international schools in Bangkok and participates in international meets and invitationals. Our campus features top-notch sports facilities, including both an Olympic 50-metre pool and a 25-metre short-course swimming pool, a full-size football pitch, 400m running track, cricket pitch, basketball and tennis courts, golf swing room, gymnastics development room, a high-spec fitness suite, a huge air-conditioned Sports Hall and both grass and artificial pitches. In addition, Wellington College enjoys the use of the adjacent Unico Grande Golf Club as its home golf course.
To persevere, to work, to push ourselves
COBIS PATRON’S ACCREDITATION COBIS (Council of British International Schools) is a global membership association of British International Schools representing over 500 member organisations around the world. As a COBIS member organisation, Wellington College Bangkok is proud to have achieved full COBIS Patron’s Accreditation status—the highest level of accreditation—in 2019: the first school in the world to reach this benchmark within its first year of operation. Comments from the glowing inspector’s report include reference to “high quality specialist teaching”; students as “independent learners who ask challenging questions” and “well-behaved, polite and well-mannered”; a “happy atmosphere”; and parents’ “extremely high level of satisfaction with the school”.
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Meitner Science Laboratory Two-storey Library with Reading Cave and Slide Early Years Dining Hall
Dedicated Pre-Nursery, Nursery/ Reception and Junior School Playgrounds
Black Box Drama & Recital Space
Junior School Dining Hall
25 metre saltwater swimming pool
50 metre Olympic-size swimming pool Tennis Courts
Adult Fitness Centre
The Sports Hall Dance Room & Gymnastics Training Room
Artificial Pitches
The Front Field natural turf
Senior School Building I
(open 2021)
Water Sports Lake
The Theatre
The Front Field – a full-size football pitch with 400 metre running track and field event facilities
The Theatre – 600-seat performing arts centre with full orchestra pit (open mid-2020)
Forest Park (open mid-2020)
FACILITIES
ADMISSIONS Wellington College Bangkok is a selective school that aims to admit boys and girls with a wide range of skills and capabilities, including those who demonstrate academic ability as well as enthusiasm and proficiency in the arts, music, sports and service. Enrolment is possible at any point in the school year, depending on available places in the appropriate yeargroup. The admissions process generally consists of an assessment of academic potential, consideration of past school reports and references, and an interview with the student. We endeavour to make the application process as welcoming and comfortable as possible for applicants and parents. Wellington College Bangkok hosts Meet the Master sessions every week during the school year, offering visitors an opportunity to ask questions, tour our facilities, see our classes in action, and attend an in-depth presentation about our school by our Founding Master, Mr Chris Nicholls. The following table shows student age on the 31st August (the British cut-off date) with the corresponding yeargroups.
Age
UK
US/Canada
Thailand
2
Pre-Nursery
Nursery
Nursery
3
Nursery
Pre-School
Kindergarten 1
4
Reception
Pre-School
Kindergarten 2
5
Year 1
Kindergarten
Kindergarten 3
6
Year 2
Grade 1
Prathom 1
7
Year 3
Grade 2
Prathom 2
8
Year 4
Grade 3
Prathom 3
9
Year 5
Grade 4
Prathom 4
10
Year 6
Grade 5
Prathom 5
11
Year 7
Grade 6
Prathom 6
12
Year 8
Grade 7
Matthayom 1
13
Year 9
Grade 8
Matthayom 2
14
Year 10
Grade 9
Matthayom 3
15
Year 11
Grade 10
Matthayom 4
16
Year 12
Grade 11
Matthayom 5
17
Year 13
Grade 12
Matthayom 6
Contact our Admissions team for further information at admissions@wellingtoncollege.ac.th or +66 2 087 8888 ext. 1102
WELLINGTON COLLEGE BANGKOK ROUTE MAPS