Curriculum

Wellington's curriculum is firmly grounded in our commitment to developing the full range of every pupil's inherent aptitudes:

• Linguistic and Logical
• Personal and Social
• Cultural and Physical
• Moral and Spiritual

Within the context of our rich and stimulating extra-curricular, cultural and sporting provision, our academic curriculum is designed to give our pupils a broad and rounded education while allowing them maximum opportunity to develop their individual interests and strengths through their chosen fields of specialist study.

Third Form to Fifth Form: the Middle Years Programme and GCSE

From the moment pupils arrive in the Third Form they experience a rich and stimulating education based in the International Baccalaureate Middle Year's Programme (IB MYP). The MYP curriculum, tailored by Wellington's own teachers to meet the aspirations of an increasingly academically gifted intake, offers both breadth and depth in eight key learning areas: Mathematics, Science, English, Modern and Classical Languages, Humanities, the Arts, Technology and Physical Education. While the courses within each field are taught separately by subject-specialist teachers, all are designed to emphasise the links between them and between learning and its real-world context. Similarly, in keeping with the IB ethos, the curriculum accentuates personal enquiry, independent study, internationalism, and social responsibility. In addition, all pupils take Wellington's distinctive courses in Well-being and thinking, which encourage them to reflect on their own personal, social, emotional and intellectual development. Further information on the 3^rd Form course can be found in the MYP Student Guide and the Wellington Curriculum Summary.

Following their initial experience of the MYP, pupils entering the Fourth Form from September 2010 pupils will choose between the MYP or a more traditional programme of GCSEs, selecting not only which subjects they wish to study but what kind of education they want as preparation for their futures in a rapidly changing, intellectually stimulating, technologically developed and fast-globalising world.

The Sixth Form: A Levels and the IB Diploma

On entering the Sixth Form, pupils may choose between A Levels and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.  While plenty of advice and information is offered, pupils at Wellington are free to choose the kind of education they want for their future:

Both pathways are academically rigorous, internationally recognised, and valued by universities and employers.  Both require motivation, commitment and intellectual curiosity.  Neither is inherently more or less difficult than the other; nor is one or the other more suited to strong or weak pupils.  They are fundamentally different forms of education and are suited to different individuals for different reasons.

In consultation with parents and teachers, pupils should think carefully about the two options, giving themselves time to consider what kind of education they value and what aspirations they hold for their place in a rapidly changing, globalising world.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme offers pupils a world class education as preparation for university and the rapidly changing world beyond. Pupils take a balanced range of languages, sciences, humanities and arts along with a course in the theory of knowledge and an independent research project. The IB is designed to keep pupils' options open and to stimulate genuine engagement with learning and our global society. The IB's standards are second to none, and its graduates go on to study the full range of courses at universities in the UK and abroad. It should be taken by pupils who are motivated, interested and keen to embrace a world of diversity and change.

A Levels offer a reputation of academic strength, the opportunity to choose a focused range of subjects for specialist study and six-monthly examination modules with regular re-take opportunities. A Levels are demanding and scholarly; they are the standard in the uk and the choice for those who know exactly what they want to do at university and beyond.

Whichever route pupils choose, they will benefit from the guidance of highly qualified teachers trained and experienced in delivering both courses.  They will also have the support of their tutors, heads of year, careers officers and many others who will help them to perform to the best of their abilities and secure the outstanding results for which Wellington has become notable in recent years.