Future Ready
Preparing boys for a challenging and changing world.
Through our balanced approach – honouring educational traditions while embracing future needs – we prepare boys not just for the world as it is, but for the world they will help to create.
Our Mission
Our mission is to teach boys to think intelligently, act wisely and be fully engaged in a challenging and changing world. To deliver this, we concentrate our efforts in three main areas: developing the young man within, realising his academic potential and providing sustainability over time.
This mission remains constant, but how we achieve it requires regular reassessment.
Our Research
Our current strategic focus emerged from extensive discussions with our governors about which skills their own professional worlds will require in the coming decades.
Combined with research from the World Economic Forum and leading educational thinkers, two clear findings emerged:
- Boys will enter a highly technological world.
- It has never been more important to accentuate what makes us human. While machines will always be faster and more accurate than we can be, the human skills of empathy, creativity, imagination, and sophisticated communication will be more critical than ever for the next generation.
These key findings have informed our three areas of strategic focus.
Our three areas of strategic focus
Digital Technology
As the world becomes increasingly digitised, education must mirror this reality. Every boy needs to be safe and comfortable with digital technology as a minimum, while those with greater interest and ability must have opportunities to excel and innovate.
Examples of strategic action:
- Boys are prepared for a digital future through hands-on learning and innovation, led by our Director of Digital Learning.
- From Lego coding in Year 3 to robotics clubs, esports, and Computer Science GCSE and A-Level, boys embrace all types of digital learning.
Community Partnerships
Before leaving Bedford School, every boy will have made a meaningful contribution to the local community. Through mutually beneficial partnerships, boys engage more fully with the world around them and learn what it means to be responsible citizens.
Examples of strategic action:
- Over 1,000 local primary school pupils benefit annually from our Community Partnership Programme.
- Bedford boys regularly lead 35 co-curricular clubs, teach Mandarin to 40 pupils, and support 300 primary school children through reading initiatives.
- Boys also assist in care homes, hospices and at the Headway rehabilitation centre, support activities at Riding for the Disabled, volunteer in charity shops and carry out conservation work in and around Bedford.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial thinking is essential for success in any career path. Whether boys pursue corporate careers, academic pathways or start their own businesses, they will need skills in design thinking, rapid prototyping and compelling storytelling.
Examples of strategic action:
- Three highly impactful leadership courses (Ivy House, Ready2Lead? and our Peer Mentoring Programme) build confidence and skills in boys, empowering them to lead themselves and others.
- Our ‘Start Up!’ programme focuses the minds of all Year 11 boys after their GCSE exams, inviting them to spend a week as a team to develop an idea through innovation, research, refinement and pitching.
- A specialist ten-week taught curriculum in Year 10 explores the knowledge and skills at the heart of entrepreneurship. The House Entrepreneurship Competition further nurtures innovation and key business skills in boys from all age groups.
