WELCOME TO SENIOR
Unrivalled Holistic Excellence
When you first visit Westholme School you immediately sense the warm, family atmosphere from the students and staff. This wonderful, vibrant community is a fabulous place to learn and achieve. The magnificent rural setting and first-class facilities provide a stimulating environment that is simply inspirational.
For a hundred years, Westholme has provided a distinctive educational approach. We place an equal importance on the performing arts, creative arts and technology, academia and sport through a plethora of experiences inside and outside the classroom; this fosters happy, confident and well-rounded young people. Our students are at the heart of everything we do: they love coming to school, are fulfilled, purposefully aspirational and form life-long friendships. Small acts of kindness are valued in equal measure alongside achievements in national competitions.
We warmly invite you to visit us soon and experience for yourself our innovative educational philosophy that fully prepares each individual student with the required skills for success in the rapidly evolving 21st century workplace. Please do get in touch with our admissions team who will schedule a tour and answer any queries you may have.
HOLISTIC EXCELLENCE
All Round, Balanced
Our all-round educational philosophy is the raison d’être of Westholme. We pride ourselves in ensuring that equal value is placed on subjects, clubs, societies, activities and experiences inside and outside the classroom to provide a total education experience for all students.
Our unique Holistic Enrichment Programmes provide opportunities from real-life business enterprise opportunities to founding national charities. Students acquire the 21st century essential skills alongside top academic accolades.
ACADEMIC RIGOUR
Personalised 1:1 Support
We are proud to be one of the highest achieving schools in the North West. A unique approach to inspirational teaching and personalised programmes ensure our academic outcomes are simply exceptional.
We are committed to providing the highest quality of education with 1:1 support and help each individual student requires to excel in their academic studies. Teachers go over and above inside and outside of lessons to support students with the help they need to achieve and at the same time, stretch and challenge academically gifted students all the way to the top and attain national recognition. There are opportunities to apply to become an Academic Scholar when joining Year 7 and Year 12.
PERFORMING ARTS
Confidence, Collaboration And Communication
At the heart of Westholme is our professional theatre providing an amazing, real-life West End experience for all students to develop their confidence and essential communication skills.
Equipped with state-of-the-art stage lighting and incredible sound, students regularly have the opportunity to study all aspects of theatre: perform; learn technical skills; stage manage; design sets and make costumes. The theatre is breath-taking and our students are fortunate to utilise it every day.
Our Music Department, equipped with a new recording studio, enables students to study Music Technology up to A Level. Our stunning ensembles include our impressive swing band, orchestra and multiple choirs alongside a variety of smaller ensembles bespoke to individual talents. We also partner with the National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Theatre, industry leading musicians and vocalists and performers in London’s West End.
SCIENCE, MATHS AND ENGINEERING
Curiosity, Problem-Solving And Enterprise
Students at Westholme experience practical, hands on Science lessons every week. They are encouraged to be curious, test hypotheses and apply their investigative skills in our outstanding laboratories.
STEM opportunities are vast at Westholme. Students enter national Maths competitions and many take Further Maths at GCSE and A Level. Students immerse themselves in our popular Medical Society, Engineering Club and Greenpower Society, alongside regular stimulating, educational trips. A favourite destination is CERN, one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research.
SPORTS AND OUTDOOR PURSUITS
Resilience, Determination And Strategy
We challenge all students to excel physically as well as socially through Sport. We are renowned for our excellent facilities including our impressive 20m swimming pool, 7 hard courts for tennis and netball, floodlit astroturf, sports pitches, sports hall and exciting new strength and conditioning gym coming soon. From fell running to Olympic hopeful equestrian riders – we truly encapsulate ‘Sport for All’ at Westholme!
We employ ex-professional athletes on our staff as full-time coaches in a variety of sports to ensure we are able to compete nationally throughout the year. A number of our Sports Scholars access elite pathways and we support every student with professional ambitions by utilising links with representative teams, professional coaches, scholarship programmes, personalised support alongside sports leadership opportunities and qualifications.
CREATIVE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Creativity, Imagination And Adaptability
At Westholme, we passionately believe in our students developing the 21st century essential skills of imagination, adaptability and creativity.
The Creative Arts, including Photography, Food & Nutrition, Product Design and Textiles, are all taught to A Level as our holistic philosophy ensures they have equal status within the curriculum. Life skills are honed through the application of practical artistry at Westholme, stimulating professional artists are welcomed regularly and students become technologically advanced as they are prepared for the 21st century workplace.
WORLD LANGUAGES
Rural Experiences
World Languages at Westholme are vibrant, flamboyant and gregarious! We know that knowledge of languages develop the 21st century essential workplace skills such as improving critical thinking, becoming culturally aware and increasing resourcefulness.
Westholme students are provided with the opportunity to learn French, Spanish, German, Mandarin and Latin to GCSE and A Level. Throughout the year there is the option to take part in exciting international trips to hone their language skills and make memories for life! In English, students are encouraged to take a central role in the lessons, and equally, our extensive co-curricular provision encourages students to be debaters, journalists and poets. Classics is the jewel in our crown and our students love showcasing their understanding of classical civilizations.
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Explore, Discuss and Debate
Students are encouraged to explore both the physical and spiritual worlds in Humanities and Social Sciences at Westholme.
Humanities and Social Science opportunities at Westholme are diverse and exciting. In areas such as Geography, students are able to go on termly and annual off-site educational trips and visits to external sites of interest, ranging from local to international (the most recent being Iceland!). These opportunities are also available to those students studying other subjects within the faculty. Those studying religion, philosophy and ethics, for example, may find themselves on a visit to a Buddhist Temple as part of their studies.
To compliment the trips on offer as part of the curriculum, extra-curricular activities are also available throughout the week.
Our Facilities
Our swimming pool, tennis courts and full-sized astro turf are literally on the doorstep of the PREP building. We have a professional theatre – perfect for drama, public speaking and performing. Our recording studio, photography infinity wall, science laboratories, 3D Computer Aided Design technology and Food Preparation and Nutrition Rooms provides facilities and experiences like no other!
Our new PREP School is fitted with a mono-draught, carbon-neutral ventilation system which reduces CO2 levels all day and provides better air quality for all pupils. This innovation was installed following a study by Harvard University, which found significant declines in cognitive function when CO2 concentrations were increased – which is common in traditional indoor spaces.
View the gallery below to see our range facilities. If you are interested in hiring our facilities then please find more information here.
