Welcome to Thomas’s
A WARM WELCOME
Welcome to Thomas’s
My family has been involved in educational leadership for more than 50 years, ever since my mother started a playgroup to keep me busy and interested when I was 2 years old. Over time, the playgroup became a kindergarten, the kindergarten became a prep school, the prep school became four prep schools and, with the opening of our senior school, we now offer a Thomas’s education from kindergarten to university.
My mother, Joanna, had been an actress and my father, David, a soldier. As a result, my parents’ founding vision for education developed in opposition to the prevailing educational landscape in London, which they found to be more traditional, more narrow and less creative than they would have chosen for their own children. Over time, this vision crystallised around three core elements: a strong set of values, with kindness at the heart; a breadth of curriculum, full of art, dance, drama, music and sport; and academic excellence, achieved because of this approach to childhood, not in spite of it.
This vision remains at the heart of our schools and is as relevant today as it has ever been. Unless we guard against it, the UK system of entry to independent senior schools at 11 and 13 and national examinations at 16 and 18 can constrain the curriculum and have a deadening effect on our children’s education. We must serve the system in which we operate; but we must also look beyond it, to our children’s futures, to an age of machine learning and to a time when the attributes that make us uniquely human – our imagination, curiosity and creativity – will be of greater value than ever before. True to our founding history, the promise of a Thomas’s education lies in our deeply-held conviction that the best education must enable pupils to achieve outstanding academic outcomes and the confidence, character and adaptability to succeed in the world.
For me, this is personal. For 25 years I was a Head, first at Thomas’s Kensington and then at Thomas’s Battersea and I remain incredibly proud of this distinctive style of education, which our teachers make possible for our pupils every day. My own children were pupils at Thomas’s and, as a parent, I experienced the kind, broad and strong foundations for life which they laid down and on which I see them building as young adults today.
I hope these pages convey something of the spirit of Thomas’s. If you are interested in joining us, as a pupil, a parent or a member of staff, do come and see our schools in action to gain a full understanding of the kindness, the breadth and the excellence of a Thomas’s education today. We would love to share it with you.
Ben Thomas
Principal
