Welcome to Middle Years
Your son’s Middle Years (age 13-16) will equip him to succeed in his GCSEs and see him mature emotionally as well as academically, developing a strong sense of who he is and what he wants to accomplish.
Throughout these crucial years, he will be inspired, stretched, and supported, developing the trusting relationships and effective routines that will help him achieve more than he believed he could.
His school life will become richer, as he begins to experience a type of learning only possible outside the classroom. The learning facilities he will use, and how he uses them, will mature. He will talk to Sixth Form students about their chosen subjects, and gain insights into the world of work, as he begins to form ambitions of his own. Even the clubs and societies open to him will become more advanced, as he becomes comfortable forming, presenting, and discussing complex ideas with older students and staff.
Alongside his intellectual development, he will have the opportunity to explore other passions through our broad and vibrant co-curricular programme. In time, he will be given the chance to exercise leadership, collaborating with younger students in his House, leading them in Assemblies, and representing them in bodies such as Student Council. Indeed, this natural variance and diversity of opportunity is key to the open culture we foster at Whitgift, which helps students across the School gel with one another, and form valuable friendships, no matter when they joined.
News & Events
Our Stories
Jack Murray U17 Great Britain Modern Pentathlete
Middle Years Gallery
CHORISTERS
Our Choristers have travelled around the country to sing Even Song or at various concerts and have built up some considerable fame beyond South London! So much so that BBC Radio 4 followed one of our Third Form Minster Choristers for a whole term, trying to find out what life is like as a boy chorister. This resulted in the spectacular Christmas episode of Radio 4’s series The Untold. This was followed by a television broadcast of Midnight Mass at Croydon Minster on BBC One where Twenty-one of our Minster Choristers and Choral Scholars sang live on air with millions watching.
HAIRSPRAY
The West End came to South Croydon with a wonderful performance of Hairspray. Old Palace of John Whitgift, Whitgift and WAVPA (Whitgift’s Saturday Performing Arts School) students joined forces to deliver three sell-out performances, backcombed beehives, styled kisscurls, and glittering costumes. It was a huge it!
WELLBEING
The Tutor and the Year group teams provide emotional support and guidance on a whole range of topics, nurturing each pupil in his quest to find his ‘happy place’ and thrive in his chosen field, be that academically, creatively, sportingly or socially.
SPORT
Basketball is one of 40 Sports to choose from. Basketball at Whitgift is all about discovering a passion and giving everyone the opportunity to be part of a team sport. Having fun and training hard has led to continuous improvement and all participating age groups are ranked in the top three teams in the LISBA League.
SCIENCE
We are going to be facing an increasingly complex web of challenges at the nexus of science, technology and society over the next decade: gene editing, Artificial Intelligence, ubiquitous surveillance, advanced human enhancement, and a growing convergence between material, biological and cyber technologies, to name but a few. The teaching of Science at Whitgift builds understanding based on current knowledge but also constructs a platform to encourage creative development of ideas.