Our Philosophy

Promoting and safeguarding our pupils’ welfare is essential as we seek to empower them to thrive and to flourish, finding personal fulfilment through the various strands of their lives at School. We seek to support the development of resilience and self-esteem through their participation in a varied programme of enriching activities, celebrating diversity and encouraging individualism.

We seek to support the development of resilience and self-esteem through their participation in a varied programme of enriching activities, celebrating diversity and encouraging individualism.

We place great emphasis on the Oundle Code, which confirms our aspirations for a school characterised by strong values of mutual respect, wholehearted engagement, understated courtesy, considerate behaviour, and above all a cohesiveness which is inclusive of the Oundle town community, to which the School owes so much, living as it does at its heart. Listening to our pupils and responding to their views enables our relationship to be open and trusting, and the pupils to become their own people in a school which looks beyond the boundaries of its own world.

We want Oundelians to be confident, well rounded, fundamentally decent human beings: all aspects of our programme are underpinned by this ethos.

Oundle has long shown itself to be open to innovation and change, combining a strong and traditional educational model with new disciplines, techniques and facilities. The School’s ability and willingness to develop its delivery of an academic curriculum has been the defining measure of its success. The firm academic foundation that the School has built allows us to adopt and develop new approaches in pedagogy and technology. We aim to promote scholarship and research, and, in time, to position the School as a global leader of education.

Our pupil-centred curriculum nurtures Oundelians’ natural curiosity and ability, affording them the necessary time, resources and expertise to ensure each and every pupil is immersed in creative and productive work across its breadth. Academic excellence is acknowledged, pursued and rewarded at every opportunity, be that in the classroom, in our thriving academic societies or in intellectual endeavours beyond the confines of the School. Our curriculum is further supported by, and continually enhanced through, our inspirational teaching staff, investment in modern classrooms and technologies, the refinement of agile academic structures and the creation of unique learning opportunities for our communities both within and beyond Oundle.

This approach instils a love of scholarship – a Life of Learning – in all our pupils and staff, helping forge an intellectually curious community that collectively seeks to understand better, and ultimately improve, the complex world we inhabit.

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We recognise that the journey through adolescence is seldom straightforward. An important part of our educational responsibility is therefore to enable our pupils to celebrate their growing maturity, as well as to come to terms with personal challenge. We want every pupil at Oundle to know that they are cared for. They should feel that they are listened to and that we are all working together towards a common goal, which is for them to thrive. All staff have a role to play in the pastoral care of the pupils.

The House system lies at the heart of our pastoral care. The Housemaster or Housemistress (Hsm) oversees the whole House and, along with the Deputy Hsm, Matron and Tutor team, ensures that the pupils have a supportive and nurturing environment in which to grow up. A vertical Tutor system within each House enables the Tutors to know their tutees well, to operate meaningfully as the principal point of contact for parents and school staff, and to enable their charges to navigate a successful path through their time at Oundle, both Tutor and tutee being supported and guided by the Hsm. The third element of the tripod of care for each pupil is of course their parents or guardians; prompt and open communication is therefore highly prized.

An important part of Oundle’s vision for the pastoral care of children is the Learning for Life programme. This aims to provide pupils with the resources and opportunity to have informed discussions about the issues which concern them as they grow towards adulthood. Information is shared with parents through the programme to enable them to support their children throughout adolescence. The direct and regular involvement of the Chaplaincy, the Health Centre and the Emotional Wellbeing team in pastoral decisions signals the breadth of care provided.

The co-curriculum is at the heart of Oundle: its breadth and quality are distinctive characteristics of the School, complementing and enriching our outstanding academic education. By providing creative opportunities, competitive activities and the chance to serve, the co-curriculum develops the sense of belonging, identity and purpose fundamental to an individual’s lifelong happiness, fulfilment and wellbeing.

Activity outside the classroom is central to a child’s Oundle experience because it enhances their progress in it, offers invaluable opportunities to develop their character and equips them with the skills required for life and their future careers. Happy, healthy children learn more effectively. Drama, Music and Sport provide opportunities for pupils to challenge themselves and develop qualities such as self-discipline, self-esteem and confidence, which are crucial to their wellbeing. Cadets, the Duke of Edinburgh Award and Electives allow them to develop practical and personal skills, while our Community Action programme provides the chance for pupils to serve others.

The comprehensive involvement of our staff body in delivering the co-curriculum powerfully enhances our pastoral care and our pupils’ academic progress. Activities on the stage, mountainside, sports pitch or in the music school are fundamentally different from the classroom, with shared experiences building the trust between pupil and teacher vital to effective pastoral care. Similarly, those deeper relationships transform the classroom environment, enabling a love of learning and teaching among pupils and staff.

Oundelians do: they are deeply involved in the co-curriculum and they achieve excellent academic results. The two are mutually reinforcing and define a distinctive Oundle education.

We aim to be consistently considered as the boarding school of choice with outstanding day provision for able, curious children who relish opportunity. Our focus in Admissions is on ensuring that the balance of our pupil roll remains true to what we value, enabling us to be nimble whilst retaining our distinctive ethos as a School. We work in partnership with each of our prospective families and feeder schools to ensure that Oundle is the right school for the right child. Conducting ourselves with openness and integrity matters greatly to both Admissions and the School.

Much of Oundle’s success has been built upon a broad intake of pupils keen to make the most of the extensive educational opportunities available to them. These opportunities and the graduated fostering of independence are greatly enhanced by both our boarding ethos and our location within a small, thriving market town. Oundle is academically selective but it is no hot house. We welcome bright, sparky children who are keen to get involved and make their mark. There is no typical Oundelian, with quiet creative souls just as likely to find their tribe as sporty, gregarious individuals. Entry Scholarships provide the support for nurturing specific talent and those developing or revealing potential later in their Oundle career also have the opportunity to join these programmes.

For many families aspiring to send their children to a full boarding school, financial help with paying fees will be required. The willingness of Oundle and its communities to provide financial support through means-tested bursaries is instrumental to ensuring that access to the School remains wide.

We are committed to making a social impact beyond our own School and our own pupils as well as learning from our peers across the educational community.  In addition we want to ensure that the community in which all our pupils grow up is diverse and socially representative.  Our partnerships and outreach programme promotes these twin aims.

Oundle seeks to provide its pupils with a balanced view of the world around them, to which we hope they will become the global contributors of the future. We offer our pupils opportunities to meet people from backgrounds different to their own and to be challenged by others of similar ability and interest, through collaboration with a wide range of schools, universities and other organisations. We promote innovative links and breadth of ideas in order to enable our pupils to act with a confidence that comes from understanding.

In addition, we seek to make the transformative potential of an Oundle education available to children whose family situation would put this out of reach and set aside up to 10% of our income each year to provide bursaries, ranging from 10 to 100%+.  We have for many years enjoyed a close relationship with Royal SpringBoard to enable access for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who have in turn enriched the School they have joined.

The role of the Bursarial team is to support the vision of both Oundle School and Laxton Junior School. The pupils and their education guide all decisions. We aim to provide a world-class, inspiring environment in which the highest standard of education is delivered, instilling confidence in the School’s community by ensuring value for money and respect for the charitable funds we manage.

We make the most of the freedom we have as an Independent School. We seek to ensure that the School’s resources are directed in the most efficient and focused way, through thorough planning and coordinated activity. Part of our strategy is to manage and develop our financial resources to support the education of children from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible.

The Bursary is responsive to the needs of the School, integrated within the School’s planning processes and coordinated in response. We work together to forge a resilient School, able to navigate successfully the contemporary environment for independent schools and to plan thoughtfully for the future. We aim to be an employer of choice, sought out by the talent that can bring the School’s vision to life.