The Senior School, for pupils aged 11 to 16, comprises the largest section of the School. In a nutshell, it provides a well-structured,disciplined environment that offers boys the affirmation, encouragement and clear lines that enable them to become decent, young Catholic men, Oratorian style, capable of moving with relative ease and urbanity in the world. The crux of our educational philosophy can be expressed in the following dictum:
If the bar of expectation for boys is set low, then they will scrape under it; but, if the bar of expectation is set high, then they will leap over it.
And here, we look to give all the support, encouragement, affirmation - and discipline - required to enable our boys to leap over the challenges of faithful living and working, fitting them with all the intellectual, spiritual and character tools necessary to make a success of their onward path.
The intellectual life of Senior School is made up of discrete subjects taught be specialist teachers, sometimes in specialist classrooms, located in the senior school. At the base of the curriculum is RE, where pupils learn about their Catholic faith, how to grow into it, and how to express this through music. Expect wider reflection on the life of faith and the Catholic habit of being and seeing to infuse all parts of the curriculum!
The formation of Catholic character sits at the base of the School's approach to pastoral support. Structures, staff, programmes and procedures are all targeted with this end in mind. On joining the School, boys are allocated to one of six forms, which go to comprise a year group within one of the six Houses. The six Houses are named after six Henrician, Elizabethan and Jacobite martyrs, and Housemasters cultivate a distinctive flavour, or spirit in each of the Houses. The Houses are organised longitudinally, with each House comprising of each of one year group, or class, from 1st to 5th Form inclusive. The Housemaster has the oversight of the boys’ intellectual and moral formation, and is ably supported by Assistant Housemasters and Form Teachers. The School also enjoys strong and professional in-house counselling provision, which can be made available to pupils. The Houseroom is a base for pupils to socialise and to have lunch: House Councils also enable representation on whole school issues. The presumption is that pupils will remain members of their allocated House throughout their time at the School. This enables the important principle of continuity in their pastoral development.
The boys’ formal spiritual formation consists of a non-negotiable diet of daily prayer, fortnightly Chapel, half-termly Benediction, annual retreats and regular Religious Education, in addition to a number of whole School masses at the Brompton Oratory throughout the year on important days of fast and feast. The School's Annual Carol Service is also held at the Brompton Oratory Church on the last day of the Michaelmas Term. Pupils are invited to participate in voluntary Rosary groups, sacramental confession, and, of course, Mass, all of which take place on a weekly basis. Pupils are carefully instructed in serving and reading at Mass. The Headmaster takes the morning service in the Chapel, and, on a weekly basis, shares one of the reflections with parents via the Newsletter. The School is blessed to receive the services of a full time Chaplain, in the form of Fr George, himself a Father of the Brompton Oratory.
Whilst we understand that boys will have their varying degrees of personal engagement with the faith, especially as they move through adolescence, we feel it important that all boys are confronted with the challenge of coming to terms with ‘that which neither eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard.’ Moreover, in instilling into pupils the good habits of worship, meditation and openness to friendship with God, we very much hope to fortify them against life's challenges, when the floods and storms of life provide adverse currents and strong headwinds.