About Us | Headmaster’s Welcome | Belvedere College S.J.

About Belvedere

Headmaster’s Welcome

A passion for excellence

Welcome to our website. I hope your visit provides you with the information you are seeking. The College Mission is to engage students in their education so that faith and justice become core values in their life. In nurturing a passion for excellence, the educational experiences offered to students go far beyond the confines of the classroom. Our perspective embraces the challenges and opportunities presented locally, nationally and globally. Our international links with Jesuit schools facilitates an extensive programme of educational exchanges and immersions experiences.

We strive for excellence in all we endeavour. Our vision of the future of education in Belvedere is built on the vibrant tradition of Jesuit education over 400 years and is articulated in part in the College Strategic Plan.

The students in Belvedere come from a diverse social and economic background. The Belvedere College Access Programme (BCAP) supports 10% of the College intake by providing bursaries for students from financially and socially deprived backgrounds. It is not a scholarship based on talent or aptitude and the student intake includes students of all ability, including those with Special Educational Needs. Many past pupils have become leaders in medicine, politics, the Church, law, finance, academia, as well as in the Arts, drama and literature. Being an effective team member as well as developing the skills to be a team leader is an important feature of learning and students have extensive opportunities to develop in becoming “Men for others” (Fr. Arupé SJ)

Academic excellence is much more than outstanding academic results in state exams. The constant challenge is to enable students to achieve their academic potential and Belvedere students consistently achieve outstanding results in State exams. However, Jesuit education is concerned with far more than outstanding examination results. In 2015, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) took a random selection of 15-year-old students in Belvedere, including students with Special Educational Needs, and undertook the PISA assessments in Science, Maths and Reading. The tests explore student understanding in these areas compared to their peers in all the OECD countries and clearly the students in Belvedere achieve outstanding results, which can be downloaded here.

In addition to careful monitoring of student progress, students engage in self-review of their achievements. Parents are actively involved in the academic report system as well as in the life of the college. We welcome constructive feedback, as we share the common goal of continuous improvement with students and parents. The parent reply forms, surveys and questionnaires, help ensure that students and parents are included in the self-review and planning process.

The Whole School Inspection Report commented favourably on the partnership that exists between the College and parents in ensuring an educational provision that is second to none:
“The willingness to seek the opinions and views of all the educational partners reflects a school which is confident in its abilities to implement improvements in the delivery of education to its students.” MLL 2012

The phrase Cura Personalis is used to describe how each student is nurtured and cared for. Each student is helped to explore their unique talents and gifts and made feel they are part of a community that recognises and celebrates achievement in many different fields. Our policies and procedures are developed in consultation with parents and students and informed by the feedback we receive from an extensive system of questionnaires and surveys. e.g. Student Exit Survey results.

Our curriculum extends far beyond the confines of the classroom. The Zayed Prize is a global competition for schools focusing on the area of environment and sustainability and Belvedere is the first European School to win the Award. Our Urban Farm is a reflection of how students are encouraged to innovate and develop an awareness of how they can contribute to tackling the challenges facing society.

We endeavour to support students in becoming self-confident, inquiring, independent, tolerant, individuals who respect the differences of others. Students achieve at the highest level in academic competitions in addition to national and international competitions in science, maths, music, drama as well as rugby and sports. Read more about the latest news in the College here.

Finally, I hope you enjoy this website. Many teachers, students and parents helped develop and maintain it. Thank you for taking the time to explore the site.