Tonbridge is one of the leading boys’ boarding and day schools in the UK and is highly respected, both here and internationally, for providing a world-class education. It occupies an extensive site of 150 acres in Kent – just a 40-minute train journey from London Charing Cross. There are some 800 boys in seven Boarding Houses and five Day Houses. One of the key strengths of Tonbridge is that it blends tradition and innovation successfully, with high achieving boys wearing their gifts lightly.
The School is renowned for its excellent teaching and for academic achievement. Each year exam results at GCSE and A-level are outstanding, with boys progressing to leading universities including Oxford, Cambridge and Russell Group institutions: the large majority securing their first-choice destination. Tonbridge leavers have also recently gained places (and scholarships) at top US institutions including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dartmouth, Northeastern and UC Berkeley and, worldwide, at universities in Austria, Australia, Canada, China and Hong Kong.
In the latest Sunday Times ‘Parent Power’ league table, published in December 2022, Tonbridge was the 8th highest ranking independent school in the country, and the top boys boarding school.
Pastoral care is based around an outstanding House system. Strong and positive relationships between boys, staff and parents are central to its success, and the School strives to ensure that each pupil, whether a boarder or a day boy, feels fully at home and well supported. Tonbridge was the first school in the UK to put mindfulness on the curriculum for all Year 10 pupils. There is also a vibrant programme of Co-Curricular breadth and depth, with a wide range of societies covering everything from Beekeeping to Ultimate Frisbee. The School has a strong commitment to widening access and is striving towards doubling the number of boys who receive means-tested fee assistance to be 80 to 100 boys by 2028.
Tonbridge encourages its students to make connections – connections between academic subjects, between different sports and activities, between people, between cultures: with the aim of producing fine minds and good hearts. The School’s ethos is summed up in just two words: ‘Only Connect’.
Vision and Ethos
Tonbridge School aims to provide a caring and enlightened environment in which the talents of each individual flourish. We encourage boys to be creative, tolerant and to strive for academic, sporting and cultural excellence.
A well-established house system at the heart of the school fosters a strong sense of belonging. Tonbridge seeks to celebrate its distinctive mixture of boarders and day boys; this helps to create a unique broadening and deepening of opportunity.
We want boys to enjoy their time here, but also to be made aware of their social and moral responsibilities. Tonbridgians should enter into the adult world with the knowledge and self-belief to fulfil their own potential and, in many cases, to become leaders in their chosen field. Equally, we hope to foster a life-long empathy for the needs and views of others: in the words of the great novelist and Old Tonbridgian, E.M. Forster: ‘Only Connect’.
Tonbridge School aims to provide an unsurpassed education of excellence and breadth; we focus our efforts and resources on achieving this by:
Continuing to strive for Academic Excellence, with our boys achieving the highest possible academic standards, routinely exceeding initial expectations when they join the school. Tonbridge takes advantage of its independence, innovating in curricular matters as appropriate; the academic programme is designed to support, engage, stretch and challenge all boys (including the most able), equipping them for later life.
Offering Co-Curricular Breadth and Depth, with a vibrant and balanced programme encompassing sport, music, art, drama and many other activities to underpin a culture of creativity, innovation and excellence, but also to provide opportunities for service to others, self-reliance and leadership.
Providing Pastoral Excellence, with the house system at the heart of pastoral care, generating the small group identity that strengthens a sense of security, belonging and well-being, and allowing boys to contribute meaningfully to house as well as school activities. This system also aims to focus on each boy’s progress and ambitions (encouraging all to contribute to the school and house communities) and to foster mutual tolerance and respect through appropriate rewards and sanctions.
Encouraging a heightened sense of Individual and Collective Social Responsibility so that, along with the privileges and advantages of a Tonbridge education, there is also a strong sense of social responsibility across the entire school community, among staff as well as boys, based on self-knowledge, carefully fostered spiritual and moral values, and a grounded, outward-looking awareness of others.
The School aims to recruit, retain and develop the best and most committed teaching and support staff to ensure that it is able to achieve its aims. We ensure that all our staffing, communication, recruitment, admissions, development and financial activities support the School’s aims, and that, through the Tonbridge Society, the wider Tonbridge community (including parents, Old Tonbridgians, Tonbridge School Foundation, the Parents’ Arts Society and the Skinners’ Company) helps us achieve these aims, and benefits from the School’s activities.
In summary, Tonbridge School aims to provide an excellent and broad education, to ensure that each boy fulfils his potential and is able to make a significant contribution in his chosen field(s) both at school and in the adult world, where many will become leaders.
Please do not post:
Thank you once again for doing your part to keep Edarabia the most trusted education source.
Twitter
At Tonbridge School, the dedication of the staff and the enriching curriculum have genuinely ignited my child's passion for learning, resulting in remarkable academic growth.
By S.L. (Jan, 2024) |