Thomas’s Battersea is a busy, thriving, purposeful school, educating 560 boys and girls between the ages of four and 13. As you would expect of any Thomas’s school, the most important school rule is to 'Be Kind'. We offer a rich and broad curriculum, with Art, Ballet, Drama, ICT, French, Music, and PE all taught by specialist teachers from a child’s first day in school. The school is structured in three, three-year stages (the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools) within a framework of 'Enjoyment, Learning and Achievement', which informs a child’s journey through the school. Children join at the age of four and leave at 11 or 13. Whilst we are proud of our record of the senior school entrance and scholarship successes, we place a greater emphasis on a set of core values, which include kindness, courtesy, confidence, humility, and learning to be givers, not takers. We hope that our pupils will leave this school with a strong sense of social responsibility, set on a path to become net contributors to society and to flourish as conscientious and caring citizens of the world.
It is our aim that each child in our care aspires to fulfill his or her potential. We would like every pupil to become the best that he or she can be. In each school, we aim to offer the highest academic standards, set within a broad and rich curriculum, which inspires enjoyment, learning, and achievement. We expect every member of the schools’ communities to ‘Be Kind’.
We are a Christian school, open to children of all faiths. The most important school rule, which applies to every member of the school community, is to ‘Be Kind’. Our ethos aims and values actively support the upholding of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. These are British values which we cherish and which equip pupils for life in modern Britain. In each school, we aim to engender an ethos of kindness, encouragement, and understanding, in which pupils’ strengths are developed and their weaknesses supported so that each child is challenged without being inhibited. We expect our pupils to make impressive progress as a result of their hard work, the best efforts of their teachers, the judicious support of their parents, and the encouragement of their peers.
Our ambition is to develop in each pupil an enquiring mind and a life-long love of learning. Through enthusiastic, inspiring teaching, excellent resources, and a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils are well prepared not merely for the demands of senior school entrance examinations, but also for a rich and fulfilling future.
The National Curriculum is our starting point, but in each subject, work is planned to stimulate and challenge. We have high expectations of our pupils and track progress carefully so that the standard and pace of the work suits the individual and ensures that all fulfill their potential.
We use to the full our privilege of having on the doorstep one of the world’s great capital cities. Pupils enjoy regular day trips to London’s art galleries, theatres, parks, museums, and historic locations.
From the age of eight, pupils venture further afield on residential trips which ranging from a PGL adventure camp in Year 4 to an English and History trip to Shropshire and an optional French exchange in Year 7. In Year 8 pupils enjoy a Geography field trip to Wales, a trip to the battlefields of Flanders, and an Outward Bound Challenge in the Lake District. Every two years we run a choir tour to Italy and occasionally organize sports tours, such as a very successful football outing to Brazil.
