Welcome to Chessington School
Ms. S. Wilson, Head of School
Our students are truly exceptional, and I am impressed every day with their ambition, dedication, enthusiasm, humour and pride in their school community. Students thrive at Chessington School because they are happy and safe in our nurturing environment, all underpinned by high-quality pastoral care.
Students enjoy first-rate teaching in a superb learning environment. Our talented staff have high aspirations for our students and are committed to improving the quality of their work to ensure that everyone reaches their full potential. Our curriculum is broad and ambitious for all students and coupled with the wider curriculum, we have all the ingredients to give our students the very best education, full of rich opportunities, to ensure they develop into caring, healthy, confident, well-rounded adults, equipped with the skills and qualifications, preparing them for the next phase of their lives.
I hope you will find the information on our website useful, and that it gives you a good flavour of our school; its remarkable students and staff, as well as its achievements, values and ambitions. However, the best way to experience what Chessington has to offer, is to visit us.
I very much hope that we will have the opportunity to welcome you in person, but in the meantime, please feel free to contact either myself or the school office on any matter.
Ms. S Wilson, Head of School
Mr A. Ali, Executive Headteacher
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Chessington School; a true community school where everyone is valued, every day is an opportunity and every moment is focused on success.
I am very proud to be the Executive Head here at Chessington School alongside our excellent Head of School - Ms Wilson. Ms Wilson and I have been here, leading Chessington since 2015 and wea re excited about the years to come. We are a school that has been on the move, is always seeking to get even better and is thriving. We have become the school of choice in the local community, we offer a phenomenal range of opportunities for our young people and have improved outcomes year-on-year, with Summer 2023 outcomes representing some significant success. As the nation saw results drop and progress falter for young people, we were pleased to buck the trend; with our young people continuing to perform. It was great this summer to celebrate with our Year 11s and so exciting to see our Year 12s and 13s joining as part of our growing Post 16 provision. Also of significance and a cause for pride, was seeing our first Year 13s off to Universities around the country following their successes.
Such successes have been as a result of the tremendous work we do with our families, our excellent relationships with young people and from having great teachers at the school. Our teachers are experts, not just in their subjects but also in getting the very best out of young people. They are supported by Teaching Assistants, a high class Operations Teams and Support Staff with the singular aim of your child’s success at Chessington. All of our colleagues here care about increasing the life chances of young people, and they truly do go above and beyond for them.
When you come into our school you will see we are a school of inclusivity, challenge, community and love. Everyone is welcome, differences are celebrated and there is excellent provision for every child, every day. We know our children and this helps them flourish day in and day out. Our transition processes for new Year 6s moving to join us in Year 7, really focus on ensuring, not just their academic success but that through their school days at Chessington, they have a smile on their face and a friend at their side. We know that happy children learn best and we are determined to ensure our young people are happy and successful.
We encourage our young people to aspire to excellence and take every day as an opportunity, whether that is academic excellence, a passion for the creative and performing arts, sporting prowess, service to others or essential student leadership. A stimulating and rewarding range of extracurricular activities, many of which are student-led, contributes equally to shaping inquisitive, confident, dynamic and successful individuals. We always say that ‘you don’t know you will be a world champion chess player until you pick up that first piece’ - we are here to ensure they get every possible opportunity.
Finally, if you are looking at this website as a parent looking for your child’s next school, I urge you to come and have a look for yourselves. Attend our open evening, come along for the open mornings, join us for Sixth Form information evening or come along to one of our many events. I assure you that you will see everything we have said; but it's always best to see and feel it for yourself.
We look forward to seeing you and your family again soon,
Mr A. Ali
Executive Headteacher
I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel
MAYA ANGELOU