Wellington College takes ‘Boarding Initiative of the Year’ at 2015 TES Independent School Awards

09 Dec 2015

Wellington College takes ‘Boarding Initiative of the Year’ at the 2015 TES Independent School Awards for its “simple yet effective way to engage parents” in the pastoral understanding and development of their children.

While Wellington College had no trouble getting large audiences for events that had an academic theme, it struggled to ignite the imagination of parents when it came to attending pastorally themed talks. The school sought a way to improve parental engagement in the pastoral understanding and development of their children, educate them in the key issues affecting adolescents and highlight what it was doing to support them.

Research was carried out to establish the best weekly time for a meeting while parents’ advice was sought on the topics they felt that they needed more information on. As a result, parental “masterclasses” on late Saturday morning (with lunch included) have been attended by 76 per cent of parents over the course of the year.

The panel said it was “a simple yet effective way to engage parents in a key area of the school’s responsibilities”.

Winners attended a black-tie event in at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, hosted by Michael Portillo, where over 400 attendees celebrated all that is outstanding in independent schools across the UK.

The awards have 13 categories, including British international school of the year, special needs initiative of the year and senior leadership team of the year.