EDUCATION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
ST DUNSTAN ’ S COLLEGE :
LONDON ’ S MOST PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL PREPARING STUDENTS FOR TOMORROW ’ S WORLD
ST DUNSTAN ’ S COLLEGE , SOUTH LONDON , HAS CHAMPIONED A PROGRESSIVE APPROACH TO EDUCATION FOR OVER A CENTURY , WITH THE OPENING VISION OF THE SCHOOL IN 1888 BEING TO PROVIDE A CURRICULUM ‘ IN ADVANCE OF THE PRESENT TIME ’.
The school ’ s first headteacher , Charles Maddock Stuart , was a pioneer in heuristic education , stating that it is not so much what a child knows that is important but more how ( he ) comes to know it – a revolutionary concept for the time . St Dunstan ’ s was one of the first schools in the country to have science and technology laboratories built to service a curriculum with significant time devoted to handson scientific and practical experiments .
Today , St Dunstan ’ s modern senior school curriculum builds on the legacy of its founding headteachers . Students enter the school embarking on a Renaissance education , studying a deliberately wide range of academic subjects while proactively developing skills and thinking that will support them for life , and committing to a variety of co-curricular activities in a programme that is embedded into the timetable and structured around the college ’ s values . The school , led by Nick Hewlett , believes that this classically liberal education promotes a lifetime of inquisitive independence , allowing young people to approach new and challenging concepts with courage and conviction and to be best equipped for an uncertain future .
“ Our world is changing at breakneck speed . A truly globalised future dominated by AI and biotechnology will require different skills and attributes from the young people we are educating today .” Nick Hewlett explains . “ Our social values are more precious to us than ever before , and so are they under threat as we inhabit a society where the art of rhetoric has diminished and the polarised , entrenched view has consumed us , amplified as it is through the platform of globalised cyber-space . We have a duty to respond to this in the curriculum we offer .”
St Dunstan ’ s bold and brave approach to education has led to the school winning many accolades . Last month , the school was named the ‘ Most progressive independent school in London ’ at the Private
Education Awards 2023 . Last year , St Dunstan ’ s was also named Independent Senior School of the Year at the Tes Schools Awards in London , which are known as the Oscars of education .
St Dunstan ’ s College offers a variety of scholarships and bursaries for students joining at 11 + and 16 +. Find out more information and book at www . stdunstans . org . uk .
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