Welcome from the Headmaster
Boys and girls, young people, are just that: people. And Repton’s education addresses the whole person, through a rich balance of the three primary facets of school life: the educational, the pastoral and the co-curricular.
Academically, Repton’s passionate and professional teachers offer a world-class teaching and learning experience, in striking contemporary facilities. Wholeness remains the key, and staff are careful to balance the progress of the class with the needs of each individual, encouraging all pupils, including Oxbridge entrants, to aim high, and take aspiration, rather than outcome, as their benchmark.
As a great co-educational boarding school, we at Repton hold pastoral care as the essence of all that we do, in the house, the classroom, and all activities. We take a proactive and progressive approach, encouraging students to live and work well with their peers, juniors, seniors and staff, enabling them to be good friends, sons and daughters, and preparing them to be parents in the future.
Repton is best thought of as a family business, and its boarding houses as the students’ home away from home. Each House is led by a Housemaster or Housemistress who instils the school’s values, sets the moral tone, and offers a strong and warm environment, supported by Matron and a team of tutors, in which boys and girls become self-aware, resilient and kind. They grow up responsible and without a sense of entitlement; we and they are proud to call them Reptonians. In-house dining is a cherished part of the Repton family experience; this and other aspects of House life help to nurture the lifelong friendships that are a hallmark of boarding education.
Repton’s co-curricular provision is outstanding, with pupils achieving numerous sporting honours at the national and county level, in teams and as individuals. However, excellence does not equal exclusiveness: all Reptonians are encouraged to participate, and House sport remains central to the rhythm of the term. Music, art and drama also have their own vibrant scenes at Repton. The Chapel choir sings evensong in cathedrals around the UK and is regularly recorded and broadcast, and the school’s many instrumental ensembles are supported by excellent teaching staff and first-class facilities. Pupils are encouraged to express themselves artistically across a range of visual media, and their work is often displayed alongside that of visiting professionals in the school’s four exhibition spaces. Repton’s 400 Hall offers a magnificent opportunity for performers to take to the stage in plays, musicals and other productions, the emphasis being on access and entertainment, with shows attracting as much enthusiasm from audiences as performers.
Repton is big enough to offer students a diverse environment, whilst also being small enough that all can get to know each other; this welcoming ambience is heightened by the school’s glorious setting in the countryside of South Derbyshire. Repton also boasts a strong global vision, as part of a family of schools including three in UAE, one in Amman, and very soon another in Bangalore. The opportunities for exchange and adventure with these schools are real and developing.
Our location has been a seat of learning and community for more than a thousand years. The school was founded in 1557 on the site of an Augustinian priory originating from the twelfth century, and the neighbouring church has Saxon origins. This unique pedigree reminds the school both of the enduring moral values that underlie its ethos, and of the ways in which its heritage is constantly wrought by adaptation to a new and evolving world.
Please feel welcome to come and visit us at Repton. We would be delighted to meet you.
Alastair Land, the 35th Headmaster of Repton School, with his wife Madeleine, Head of Mathematics at North London Collegiate School and their son Maurice who is four.