A powerful testimony to that ethos is the long-standing tradition of staff choosing the College for their own sons. Since 1945, at least 71 members of staff have made this choice, bringing unique insight into the life of the school through lived experience of its classrooms, pastoral care, relationships and community spirit. Decisions made by teachers and staff to educate their children in a place they know intimately speak to the strength, continuity and integrity of the College’s mission.
That choice — repeated across generations — is more than a mark of loyalty. It is a lived endorsement of Wimbledon College as a place of trust, formation and belonging, where families and staff walk together in the shared pursuit of excellence and character.
At the heart of this formation is the Jesuit Pupil Profile (JPP), a values-based framework common to Jesuit schools across the British Province that identifies and nurtures the qualities the College seeks to develop in young men “for the greater glory of God and the common good.” Through the JPP, students are recognised for virtues such as grateful, faith-filled, curious, compassionate and prophetic — each guiding them to integrate faith with learning, service and personal growth.
Pupils receive regular JPP feedback that tracks progress from “emerging” to “embodying” virtues, grounding personal development within a community that honours both academic achievement and moral formation.
In the spirit of pilgrimage and shared faith that so deeply shapes the life of Wimbledon College, a group of pupils and staff made a profound journey to Rome during the Jubilee Year, where they prayed at key Jesuit sites and were welcomed by Pope Leo XIV in St Peter’s Square — an encounter that students described as strengthening their faith and commitment to living out Jesuit values in the world. You can read more about that here.
One vivid example of the College’s generational story is Mr Ted Sammons, who taught at Wimbledon College from 1948 to 1981 and is thought to have been the fourth staff member to educate his sons at the school. In photographs from his time there – including images taken in Lourdes and in 1944 – Mr Sammons is pictured alongside his great-grandson, Ryan, who is now a pupil in LG (Year 9). Their shared presence across eras reminds us that history is written every day in the lived faith, friendships and family connections that shape school life.
As Wimbledon College enters its 135th year, Founders’ Day was both a moment of thanksgiving and a living affirmation of Jesuit education rooted in Ignatian spirituality, cura personalis (care for the whole person), and the aspiration to form young men for others who will contribute generously to the world.
You can learn more about Wimbledon College here.
Banner photo: Fr Peter Gallagher SJ, Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Britain, joins pupils from Wimbledon College as they deliver a petition to Number 10, calling for climate action ahead of COP29.
