Campus 2030 Phase 1 Announcement

The independent education sector is facing seismic changes. This decision reflects the Governors’ commitment to providing the best educational and pastoral experience for Pangbourne students whilst safeguarding the College for the future. 

For some time, and in line with the Five Year Strategic Plan, the Governors have been developing a Campus Masterplan, Campus 2030, as part of their strategic planning process. The changing economic and social landscape, together with the 2025 legislative changes for independent schools, has provided the impetus to move ahead with this important and exciting development. 

These changes not only put students at the heart of the College, by developing a campus worthy of them, but also allow us to be as operationally efficient as possible, maximising fee and non-fee income in order to build a greater surplus and pass savings on to parents.

This move to true co-education will better prepare pupils for the world beyond Pangbourne. Young people learn about the world in part through their relationships and interactions with their peers and the co-educational experience will strengthen the sense of belonging and identity we seek to foster at Pangbourne. It will also ensure we offer parity of Divisional leadership opportunities to both genders as well as enable us to grow the number of girls within the College, as to date numbers have been limited by the space available in the Girls’ Divisions.

With a change in demand for boarding nationally, the need to consolidate the current boarding provision is irrefutable. Rationalising the boarding accommodation will enable us to provide a more attractive, enriching and rewarding boarding experience for current boarders, and, in turn, grow the number of boarders we have at the College. 

The current Divisions are integral to the much-loved community feel of the College, and we want to ensure that any changes to boarding preserve, protect and strengthen the community feel. 

All of this will deliver a more efficient operating model, which will allow us to offer parents value for money, weather present and future economic storms and build long term financial resilience.

At the heart of the decision to create a dedicated Sixth Form Centre is our aim to better prepare students for life after Pangbourne. The planned changes will enable Sixth Formers to develop independence and autonomy, vital skills for the next stage of their educational journey. The Head of Sixth Form and careers guidance will be based in the Sixth Form Centre, providing ready access to key staff and aiding academic focus. The Centre will have areas for quiet independent study, collaborative work and for socialising, the latter ensuring that friendships formed over time continue to strengthen. Enhancing the Sixth Form provision will also make it more attractive to current and new students, thus allowing us to grow the Sixth Form.

The Governors and Head (both former and current) have for some time been developing a Campus Masterplan, Campus 2030, as part of their ongoing strategic planning responsibilities as College custodians. Parental research conducted by RSAcademics in November 2023 informed the process, as did the social, economic and legislative landscape.

Experienced architects and external strategic consultants were invited in to advise the College as part of the process, and we commissioned an extensive externally-run consultation process amongst parents, staff and students to ensure their voice shaped the detail. There was significant alumni representation throughout, both in staff and parent groups and at Governing Body level, where alumni of both genders input to discussions. The findings of the consultation process shaped the detailed decision making which forms the backbone of this announcement.

The role of the Governing Body is to safeguard the College and guide it through necessary change in order that its best centuries are ahead of it. Together with the Head, it is their responsibility to set the future strategic direction of Pangbourne. The detailed strategic plans needed to be researched, considered, agreed and finalised before they could be shared. We are delighted to be in a position to share them now that the decision has been taken and the first phase of plans are agreed and in place.

The Head’s vision is that the students sit at the heart of the Pangbourne experience. Much will remain the same: your child will continue to be part of a supportive and nurturing community; have access to the same subjects and high-quality teachers; benefit from an extensive co-curricular programme; and be known and cared for in the round by an exceptional team of staff within a Divisional hub. There will be time and space to develop strong friendships alongside interests and skills.

This move will enable us to offer boarders a more enriching and rewarding experience and allow us to respond to high demand for places at Pangbourne, at the same time increasing gender equity since the size of Divisions will no longer be dictated by the available number of boarding house beds. This will, in turn, balance inter-divisional competitions, and allow us to offer students even greater pastoral support. 

This model will be staffed by Pastoral Leaders, dedicated to your child’s wellbeing in a way that isn’t possible in the current model with competing academic and co-curricular commitments. We firmly believe that the student experience will be enhanced by the changes we are making, educationally and pastorally.

Our vision is to provide an academic education alongside an ethos of adventure; supporting our young people to acquire the knowledge, skills, and character to become kind, confident, and articulate adults ready to leave a positive mark on a changing world. We believe that this move will allow us to strengthen and amplify our ethos and values, enhancing the sense of community and enabling our Flag Values to be part of the lived experience of Pangbourne students.

To ensure that the next 100 years are even stronger than the last 100, growth is essential. Our aim is to grow enough to remain financially secure yet small enough to ensure that every individual is known. We intend to benefit from the economies of scale that come from growth without losing the sense of community and esprit de corps that flow from being a community where the individual matters. We will remain small enough for every child to be known and valued, and be large enough for them to thrive.

If it becomes necessary to increase class sizes, this will be within a set maximum cap, one which maintains our focus on the individual. This cap will ensure that every teacher knows every child in every lesson and has the time and space to provide individual feedback and attention during and after a lesson.

We strongly believe that the keystone of educational excellence lies in recruiting and retaining the very best teachers, and we remain committed to employing exceptional staff. The changes to the model will allow for greater specialisation and development of expertise; by separating out roles, teaching staff will be able to focus on the academic life of College and their core role of teaching and learning, whilst pastoral staff will have the time and space to devote to student wellbeing without competing demands on their time. This will ensure the best possible educational experience for every pupil. 

As important is effective communication and data flow between school and parents to understand performance and encourage focus on academic outcomes. The strong results from the February 2025 trial exams are evidence that the College’s renewed focus on academic outcomes will continue to enhance future results. The Campus 2030 changes to buildings will only further enhance the educational environment.

Like all responsible organisations, we have budgeted carefully for these changes. The small upfront investment required is a necessary short-term cost to secure the longer-term efficiencies and stability of the College.

There will be four senior Divisions, which all students will be members of and Parade under. Like day pupils, boarders will arrive in their Division at the start of the day, and go home to their boarding houses at the end of the day when day pupils are collected. Dunbar will remain the Junior co-educational Division.

The buildings currently occupied by Hesperus and Macquarie will be home to the four senior Divisions. Two Divisions will be housed in each and the spaces will be reconfigured over the upcoming summer holidays using the design drawings produced by our architects that can be viewed here.

Following on from the consultation process with staff, parents and students we have decided to keep the current Division names within the new model. 62% of students said they would like to retain the current names, even if it meant they had to change Division and we want, as far as possible, to ensure that the voice of the students is heard. This means:

• The four senior Divisions - which all students will be members of - will be named after the four original senior Divisions: Harbinger, Hesperus, Illawarra and Macquarie.
• The Boys’ Boarding House will be called Port Jackson
• The Girls’ Boarding House will be called St. George
• The Junior co-educational Division (Years 7 & 8) will be called Dunbar, as it is today

The new Sixth Form Centre will be in Devitt House, within part of the area that is currently dedicated to Harbinger Division. Campus 2030 Phase 2 plans are currently in development and will determine what is intended for the remainder of Harbinger and the building currently housing Illawarra Division.

To ensure the very best pastoral care for students and give staff the time and space required to focus on the students, each Division will be staffed by a full-time, Pastoral Divisional Lead, supported by a Deputy. The Pastoral Divisional Lead will report to the Deputy Head Pastoral and attend the weekly Student Support Meeting with the Heads of Section, SENDCO, Assistant Head Boarding, Heads of House and Deputy Head Pastoral. This will ensure a joined-up approach and enable any emerging or current concerns and issues to be discussed and addressed in a timely manner. 

Each Pastoral Divisional Lead will be trained to the standard of a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) to enhance the College’s current safeguarding capacity. Each will also be trained as a specialist in a particular area of need, for instance in bullying and restorative approaches. This will ensure that our Pastoral Divisional Leads have the most up to date knowledge and training. 

Pastoral Divisional Leads will be supported by a Deputy Pastoral Divisional Lead. Tutors will be attached to Divisions to further strengthen the team around the students. Oversight will sit with the Deputy Head Pastoral, supported by the Assistant Head Boarding.

This weekly meeting is a scheduled pastoral meeting where all key pastoral staff meet and review students we are worried about, thus ensuring a timely, joined-up approach. It enables us to engage more closely with our pastoral and academic data to identify any emerging patterns to provide early interventions and support. The meetings also review those students already accessing, or needing to access, additional support because of a pastoral or behaviour-related incident. The support then put in place ranges from a structured restorative conversation through to externally-led programmes which equip students to navigate complex situations. 

During the week commencing 28 April 2025, the student Divisional consultation process will enable every student from Year 8 to Lower Sixth to share their preferences and list up to five other students they would like to be placed with. We will then use our expertise and in-depth knowledge of the students to ensure the optimum balance between friendship and parity: ensuring all have current friends in their new Division whilst enabling fair distribution of students for inter-divisional competitions. The new Divisional structure will provide greater scope for students to socialise between Divisions than is currently possible.

The announcements of allocations for new Divisions will be shared with pupils and parents during the week commencing 12 May 2025. The second half of the Summer Term 2025 will then be given over to the transition programme which will include new Division activities and identity development. 

New students joining Pangbourne in September 2025 will find out their Division during the week commencing 9 June as per the College’s usual admissions schedule.

Siblings are currently placed together unless parents request otherwise, and this will continue to be the case.

Each Division will have lockers for students to store their belongings in safely during the day. There will be a large enough Gun Room (Common Room) for the whole Division to muster and gather for assemblies, and various seating arrangements within it, such as comfy sofas and groups of desks. We are working with architects to ensure there are a variety of break out spaces within the Divisions for students to socialise; these will include single-sex spaces, quiet spaces and general social spaces. Works will be carried out over the Summer break. A first draft of the Division facilities can be accessed here.

Our aim is to build students’ independence and encourage them to take responsibility for their study. Careful thought has been given to providing appropriate spaces for each age and stage. 

• Boarders will continue to have desks in their cabins (rooms) as well as communal study spaces within the Boarding House for projects requiring collaboration.
• For Years 7 to 11, supervised prep will be moved out of the Divisions into classrooms. This will allow us to better supervise and support students than is currently possible. Communal workspaces within the Divisions will be available for those wishing to study independently at other times of the day.

Sixth Formers will have a choice of spaces in which to study during the day, growing their independence and autonomy, and preparing them for life after Pangbourne. In addition to the newly created Sixth Form Centre, with spaces for quiet independent study and collaborative work, they will be able to use the Library and Sixth Form Café.

Changing facilities for both genders are available throughout the Campus. Showering facilities will be available for all pupils who wish to use them after sport.

Day pupils will be able to book in for breakfast and supper via their Pastoral Divisional Lead at an additional cost.

The link between nutrition and performance is well documented, and we are keen that the new structure improves our offering outside of mealtimes. To enhance the range and nutritional value of break and mid-afternoon snacks, these will be provided in the Mess Hall (Dining Room) rather than within the Divisions. This will allow us to better support healthy eating and provide for those with allergies and dietary requirements. The Café will continue to serve a range of drinks and snacks and will no longer be limited to Sixth Form students only.

Galleys (kitchens) will remain a focal point of the boarding accommodation, with ample provisions to ensure growing teenagers have access to food during the evening.  

A key part of our staff recruitment strategy is to ensure that we have the best people in post to help our students grow and develop, and this will be central to our recruitment of Pastoral Divisional Leads and Deputies. Every student will also continue to have a trusted adult they can turn to with questions and concerns. 

The nature of the new Divisions will also create more student leadership opportunities and therefore more role models for students from within their peers. The Pastoral Divisional Leads will work with the students to ensure that the much-prized informal mentoring and support from older students to younger counterparts also continues

The fundamentals of our student leadership structure (prefects) and the existing naval language will remain: Cadet Leaders, Cadet Captains, Chief Cadet Captains (Chiefs) and Chief Cadet Captains of College (Head Girl and Head Boy). However, the new Divisional structure allows us to increase the number of student leadership opportunities and provides greater equality across the genders with each Division having a female and male Chief (Divisional Head Girl and Boy).

During the forthcoming student consultation process, Mr Cheney, Assistant Head Boarding, will be working with the boarders on designing a leadership model for the Boarding Houses which will provide additional scope for student leadership positions.

Although we are retaining the current Divisional names (Harbinger, Hesperus, Illawarra and Macquarie for the Divisions and Port Jackson and St. George for the Boys’ and Girls’ Boarding Houses respectively), we feel it is important to take this opportunity for a fresh start. 

Students within each of the four Divisions, including current Year 8 Dunbar students, will spend time during the latter half of the Summer Term 2025 working with their new Division to determine their Divisional identity. This will create Divisional allegiance, and allow the current Lower Sixth, in particular, to invest in and shape the Divisions they will be leading. 

Our much-loved and highly-contested inter-divisional competitions, a highlight of the year for many, will carry on in a co-educational manner wherever appropriate. If, for any reason, it is inappropriate to compete co-educationally, we will have a Boys’ and Girls’ version. 

We are in the process of re-visiting the calendar to ensure that there is at least one competition every Half Term, and with student input will consider additional competitions to mark the new era. We are confident that this approach will not only help create a more balanced community spirit, but also quickly build Divisional esprit de corps.

The pupils will be central to establishing the identity and culture of their new Divisions. Equally, we are very conscious of the need to keep parental expenditure to a minimum. Additional Divisional sports kit will be limited to a t-shirt that can be worn during inter-divisional competitions. 

Formal peer mentoring will carry on, and Division staff will encourage informal vertical integration to ensure the tremendous value of ‘older sibling’ relationships persists. This will of course be enhanced organically through competitions and community events.

It will be the same as the current process. Dunbar students will be allocated to one of the four co-educational Divisions, only with friends of both genders which will feel familiar, as Dunbar is already fully co-educational. 

We have already written to prospective parents with an update and will keep them informed of our planned improvements through our usual admissions timeline and onboarding process. Those joining the College in September will be allocated to one of the four Divisions, taking siblings into account in the usual way, and join either Port Jackson (Boys) or St. George (Girls) as their Boarding House.

We are continuing with the current horizontal tutor model which allows us to tailor the tutoring to the needs of students as they move through the College. So, a Year 9 student will have an academic tutor for the whole of that academic year who can guide them on GCSE subject selection. They will then transfer to a new tutor for their GCSE years to ensure they have the best support and advice as they prepare to sit their first public exams and choose their A Level subjects. They will then receive bespoke Sixth Form and UCAS guidance from a new Sixth Form Tutor, au fait with the complexities of universities, courses and careers. 

The current mixed tutor group model will continue, however, tutors will now be attached to Divisions to enable them to build stronger relationships and see a student progress through the College. 

Accommodation for all boarders will be consolidated within two boarding buildings, one each for girls and boys. These will be led by pastoral specialists dedicated to providing exceptional pastoral care in an attractive, enriching and rewarding environment. This approach will create an improved, more inclusive, modern, central and fit-for-purpose space at the heart of the College and a better community experience for all our boarders. In line with parental demand, Dunbar will become a Junior Day House and Year 7 and 8 pupils will be able to board or stay overnight in the relevant Boys’ or Girls’ Boarding House.

Port Jackson will be the Boys’ Boarding House and St. George the Girls’ Boarding House and the facilities will retain those names, ensuring that these Divisional names live on, albeit in a different guise.

Each Boarding House will be led by a dedicated Head of House who will have responsibility for the running of the House and the welfare of boarders overnight. They will be line-managed by Mr Cheney, Assistant Head Boarding. A Deputy Head of House will support the welfare of the boarders in each Boarding House. This model will enhance the level of pastoral care we can offer boarders and provide scope for growing the number of boarders in the College.

Pastoral oversight for all students, regardless of their boarding status, will sit with their Divisional Pastoral Lead. This will ensure that parents have one point of contact with a staff member who has the time and space to triage concerns appropriately. For boarders, the Heads of House will play a crucial role, and parents will have direct contact with them for evening, overnight and weekend support. 

We are moving to a new online, centralised pastoral tracking system to support every student and ensure that all necessary staff know everything they need to know about a student to help support them. Heads of House will report to Divisional Pastoral Leads each morning on any matters arising overnight and attend the weekly Student Support Meeting to ensure all pastoral concerns, support and interventions are monitored and reviewed weekly.

Port Jackson has been completely renovated over the last two years and is fit for purpose. St. George is the newest boarding house and requires little alteration. A programme of repainting has already been started, and we intend to utilise furniture from the current Divisions to ensure the best beds, wardrobes and desks are utilised. 

Mr Cheney, Assistant Head Boarding, will be working with the students on this in the Summer Term 2025. Our intention is to devise an activity programme for evenings and weekends as well as an induction programme that will ensure friendships and house spirit are strengthened and Port Jackson and St. George quickly feel like home for boarders from other existing Divisions.

As per the current process, the Assistant Head Boarding and Heads of House will determine room allocations and review frequently.

Laundry will be the responsibility of the pastoral teams in Port Jackson and St. George and the laundry service will be available to anyone who boards.

We understand the huge value parents place on occasional boarding, and day pupils who wish to stay overnight will be accommodated in St. George (Girls) and Port Jackson (Boys) as appropriate. Details of the booking system will be published in due course. 

We aim to use a simple booking system to enable students to book in advance for breakfast, supper and evening prep. Please see the ‘Typical day in the life of…’ examples below for details of what this will look like in practice. 

Sport will not be affected by the changes to the pastoral model at the College. We have seen a positive impact on sport through the changes to the way the College timetable is built, and we expect this to continue over the coming years. The changes will enhance the inter-divisional sports competitions and will help drive greater community participation through ensuring that boys and girls participate in and support all competitions. 

The co-curricular provision will not be affected by the changes to the pastoral model at the College. Students will continue to access countless opportunities, which we anticipate will increase as the campus is redeveloped.

In addition to involving the students in the creation of their new Divisional identity, we have a planned onboarding and induction process in the Summer Term to enable all current students to build esprit de corps in their new Division. In the first week of the new academic year, current pupils and new joiners will come together, participating in activities to cement the new Divisional communities. This will culminate in a Divisional family BBQ on Friday 5 September 2025 for students, parents and staff attached to that Division.

These changes are designed to provide enhanced pastoral support and improve exam results thanks to better supervision and support for academics. Our aim is that all students transition smoothly through the change, remain focussed on their studies and continue to thrive. Staff will be working closely with parents so that together we support our students through the changes. In addition, recognising The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation's (Ofqual) drive to start national exams earlier in the Summer Term, College term dates are being reviewed to support these year groups to achieve the best possible outcomes.

These changes to Divisional models and structures sit outside the traditions of the College. We have carefully considered the consultation feedback and have no plans to change these traditions. Equally, we acknowledge that the current uniform costs for Pangbourne are higher than the sector average and we are reviewing ways to reduce this cost burden for parents.  

We envisage that artefacts such as honours boards or historic items donated by Old Pangbournians will be brought over to the new Division, or remain in the case of Port Jackson and St. George. We also intend to enhance our archives and enable them to be displayed properly in College for more students and parents to experience. 

College pupils participate in up to six Parades throughout the year. These Parades will follow the same process as currently happens. Parading Divisions will all be of an equal size. Drop off and pupil preparation for Parade will take place in the Divisions not the Boarding Houses.

Drop off and pick up for all Divisions and both Boarding Houses will be on Parade Ground.

As articulated at the launch of the Campus 2030 Phase 1, there was a clear need for the College to move quickly to catch up with the sector. Our focus for the next 18-24 months will be on  embedding these changes so that we lift the student experience and further strengthen pastoral and academic outcomes and we do not envisage the need for further strategic changes. Campus 2030 Phase 2 and 3 site developments will continue as planned, improving our site to benefit all pupils. This will enable us to deliver on our vision of providing the very best experience to current and future students. 

The restructure will have no direct impact on fees, other than to ensure we operate as efficiently as possible and are in the best position to offer parents value for money. The Governing Body will decide on fee levels in the normal manner taking account of costs and the need to sustain the College’s financial viability.  

Welcome events are planned for September so that parents can meet key staff as soon as the new academic year starts. Our ambition is to have all new staff – particularly the key Divisional and Boarding House leadership positions - recruited, announced and onboarded as soon as possible so that students and parents can start to build relationships. However, the nature and intricacies of the recruitment process / notice periods is such that it is not possible to give any firm dates here.

Current Parents 

If you have any questions relating to the announcement, please send them to [email protected]. As ever, please do turn to us with your questions rather than WhatsApp, we can only help and provide answers if approached directly. Please note that the [email protected] will not be monitored during w/c 7 or 14 April 2025 due to staff leave.

Prospective Parents

Our Admissions Team is available on [email protected] to answer any queries you might have or to arrange a visit. The next Open Morning on Saturday 26 April 2025 will be an ideal opportunity to hear the Head’s vision for the future and meet the College team. Details of all admissions dates can be found here.

Old Pangbournians and members of the broader Pangbournian Community

Please email [email protected] to raise any questions.