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Thomas’s Battersea Baccalaureate

At Thomas’s Battersea, our fundamental aim is for children to flourish in their education through three core objectives: our values, co-curricular breadth and academic success. With kindness at the heart of everything we do, every child is encouraged, challenged and supported to find their something, leading to progress and outstanding outcomes for every pupil. As the culmination of this journey, the Thomas’s Battersea Baccalaureate is introduced in Years 7 and 8. Designed as a two-year curriculum in collaboration with the National Baccalaureate Trust, this provision aims to ensure that when Year 8 pupils leave Thomas’s Battersea, they do so with core values, a strong sense of social responsibility, inner strength and positive physical and mental health. By promoting academic success alongside a wide range of skills, interests and attributes, we cultivate a curiosity about the world and develop a lifelong love of learning. The Baccalaureate strives to equip all pupils with the optimism and preparedness to be ready for the next stage of their academic career and embrace the future, setting them on a path to become successful, conscientious and caring citizens who contribute meaningfully to society.

To achieve these outcomes, our four-dimensional curriculum model delivers an academically rigorous approach which we call ‘Learning Excellence’. This provision is knowledge-engaged and skills-led, offering a broad curriculum within a culture of deep thinking and enquiry. The acquisition of knowledge is central, featuring relevant and engaging content connected to real-life contexts to deepen pupils’ understanding. Our teachers encourage manipulation and synthesis so that acquired knowledge can be applied to new situations. Equally important is the skills element, where critical thinking and questioning skills are highly valued, and interpersonal skills are centred on the four Cs: creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. Underpinned by a strong set of values, the curriculum inspires learners to develop core character traits, such as resilience and independence, encouraging the belief that identifying and learning from mistakes is crucial. Furthermore, through dynamic teaching and meta-learning, we build our pupils’ ability to reflect and adapt, instilling a clear understanding of how they learn to encourage self-motivation, maximise progress and nurture active and agile learners who consider the journey to an answer, not simply the answer itself.

The Baccalaureate structure itself extends and challenges our oldest pupils across three strands of skill-based learning, giving them more choice than ever in subjects and their overall learning experience. In the Core Learning strand, pupils are offered expanded subject choices – including four languages: Spanish, French, Latin and Greek – while simultaneously preparing them for the rigours of Common Entrance, scholarship examinations and senior school entry. Through the Personal Project strand, pupils complete an extended humanities essay as part of the curriculum, allowing them to apply their knowledge and engage deeply in research. In the Personal Development Programme strand, pupils develop vital life skills and volunteer in the community, connecting closely with our aim to nurture kind, polite and engaging individuals who are capable of applying their knowledge and using their voices in whichever way the challenges and adventures of life require.

Ultimately, this broad curriculum equips today’s pupils to become the accomplished adults of tomorrow while successfully preparing them for entrance exams to senior schools. Supported by our Future Schools team – which maintains an outstanding record of scholarships and offers to leading day and boarding schools – our leavers move forward with exceptional preparation. As a result, Thomas’s Battersea pupils can walk into an interview, hold a conversation or grapple with a challenging task, all with confidence and charm. By combining academic rigour, broad opportunities, core character traits and social responsibility, the Thomas’s Battersea Baccalaureate ensures our pupils leave as active, conscientious learners ready to embrace the future.

Rupert Hawkins
Head, Thomas’s Battersea