Caterham School

Learning at Caterham School is an exciting adventure, full of opportunities for personal development, achievement and enjoyment. We believe that all of our pupils can be successful in an environment which is caring, optimistic and encouraging. Our results are testament to the uniquely supportive environment that is Caterham’s hallmark.

Caterham is a happy school which provides an atmosphere which supports pupils and enables their success, their development of character and wellbeing. Our supportive environment ensures that by the time Caterhamians leave school they are intellectually curious and emotionally intelligent thinkers, eager to engage with the world around them.

The Harestone Valley, set in the Surrey Hills, provides a stunning location for the School’s extensive campus. The School benefits from 200 acres including sports fields, woodland, high ropes course and outdoor learning centre. Facilities matter because they enable the best teaching and learning to take place. At Caterham we benefit from inspiring Victorian architecture complimented with purpose built facilities including our science complex, a Sports Centre with indoor pool, fitness centre and double space sports hall, a new Centre for Performing Arts encompassing two theatres and a dance studio, the Maggs Library and a dedicated Digital Innovation Centre.

We are a highly successful and ambitious school but, above all else, Caterham is a warm and welcoming community where each member is nurtured and encouraged to flourish.

We are intensely proud that Caterham School is consistently recognised as one of the leading co-educational schools in the country. We are committed to providing an environment in which all pupils are challenged to be the best they can be, and one in which pastoral care and well-being underpin academic, co-curricular and sporting excellence.

We believe in providing an education for life for all Caterhamians and we seek to ensure that the learning experience at our school blends the best of tradition with the exciting opportunities provided by new technology. Learning how to learn is a key facet of a Caterham education and is an essential skill for life in the twenty-first century. We believe that a truly excellent school is about more than academic achievement alone: it is also about developing a passion for learning; a capacity for independent and critical thinking; self-awareness and resilience; self-confidence without arrogance and genuine interests that extend beyond the confines of the classroom.

At Caterham School we focus on developing the whole person, aiming to ensure that each pupil leaves here ready for the challenges of life at university and beyond, and understanding their responsibilities towards others. We want our pupils to leave Caterham well equipped to engage positively with a rapidly changing world as accomplished problem solvers and innovators, confident in their ability to lead and with a clear appreciation of and respect for the views and potential of others.

The School was founded in 1811, in Lewisham, by the Rev. John Townsend to provide a boarding education for the sons of Congregationalist ministers. The abolitionist and philanthropist William Wilberforce was a founding Governor of the School.

In 1884 the School moved to its current site in the picturesque Harestone Valley in Surrey, having outgrown its London premises. In 1890, Caterham opened its doors to the sons of laymen and to day boys. A statue of Rev. Townsend sits proudly at the front of the School and one of the main halls within is named after William Wilberforce.

Caterham School has been co-educational for over 35 years. In 1995, the School merged with Eothen School for Girls to create a new independent co-educational foundation. This merger integrated the schools and enabled co-education for girls and boys aged 3 years andupwards.