Kind, Positive, Selective
St Swithun's has an internationally recognised reputation for academic success with kindness and compassion at the heart of our community. We provide a civilised and caring environment which prepares girls for the real world. Our prevailing ethos is one of every girl striving to break her own personal best rather than competing with her classmates. We want our girls to understand that their ability is not fixed but will change over time when they receive good teaching and when they respond to feedback. They will not do everything perfectly straight away and they will make mistakes, but that is often when the best learning takes place. In the words of Samuel Beckett "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” We support academic rigour with a broad, challenging and contemporary curriculum which is delivered alongside the world-class High Performance Learning programme. St Swithun's girls are noted for being confident, kind and mature and their personal development is underpinned by our bespoke programme which is tailored to meet the needs of girls at the various stages of their development. St Swithun's is also accredited to run Girls on Board, a programme to help girls navigate the complexities and dynamics of friendship. In 2018, St Swithun's introduced Positive Education, a programme adapted from the Geelong Grammar School in Australia. This is a whole-school pastoral programme in which everyone practises strategies for promoting positive emotions and resilience. The St Swithun's model focuses on demonstrating how positive emotions, relationships, health and purpose help pupils to become more resilient, successful and happy. By the time girls leave they are courageous, compassionate, committed and self-confident with a love of learning, a moral compass and a sense of humour.
Message from School
“We warmly welcome kind and hardworking girls who wish to make the most of the opportunities and support available here.”
