Wells Cathedral School case studies (6)

Impact of partnership work done in 2025 (ISC annual Census 2026)

• 10 state schools involved
• 1001-2000 state school pupils involved
• 286 staff hours given

Impact Statement

Wells Cathedral School continues to have three primary areas of partnership with the maintained sector - in music, in Maths and in history - in addition to much general community engagement which includes a number of primary schools. One of the basic principles is that our own pupils participate and learn wherever possible so that the events become interactive.

Christmas Concerts in Wells Cathedral include more than 500 children from local primary schools who prepare the music in their own schools and then come together to perform over three nights. WCS pupils play and support the primary school performers.

A programme of five or six instrument days per year has been developed, now including trumpet and flute days. The teaching resources of the Music Department plus visiting professors, are deployed to give a full day of instruction and demonstration for up to 60 young people; our own pupils participate, demonstrate and lead sections as necessary. The School supports non WCS (almost entirely from state schools) pupils to “Be a Chorister for a Day” by providing staff, pupils and physical resources to partner with the cathedral. We have held a “Side by Side Orchestra Day” with local schools, allowing primary schools aged pupils to play alongside our own music specialist pupils in a performance. Various ensembles have also performed in primary schools, care homes and Wells Market Place to the benefit of schools and the public - approximately 300 events in total. In addition, a member of of Music Department Staff and L6 Music Tech pupils and other percussionist pupils ran a project for Lancot Challenger Academy, one of the Challenger Multi-Academy Trust Schools (CMAT) in June 2018. This took the form of writing a school song; lyrics were suggested by the school, which were set to music by L6 Music Tech students. A day of percussion, keyboard and guitar workshops was then run at the school including pupils and staff to prepare, perform and record the song with the school.

There is an annual Maths Week in November. In 2018/19 one day of the Festival was dedicated to pupils of visiting primary schools, all of them from the maintained sector. The focus is on competitive mathematical activities. Numbers vary year by year between 100 and 200. Five WellsCS teachers are involved and pupils support. These are in addition to our thrice yearly ‘Be a Mathematician for a Day’ Saturday workshops which invite primary school children (60-90 during the year) who love Maths to work with our staff and pupils for a day. The Director of Specialist Maths runs master classes for the Royal Institution.

Interactive medieval and Viking days are led by the Senior School’s Head of History, usually in costume. At least one a year goes to a local primary school (50 pupils), and one primary school regularly visits WCS for another day - 30 pupils. There are readings in Old English, archery, stone carving, calligraphy and medieval cookery, or research into Viking warfare, weapons making and role playing manoeuvres. The history department maintains a public access website www.polydorian.wells-cathedral-school.com in which teaching resources for the medieval period are made available for Year 7 and Years 12-13. In addition in October/November 2018 WCS pupils and staff assisted with the building of a World War One trench replica for the Wells Museum. Our pupils also made a very large number of the poppies for display in the Bishops’ Palace garden. Over 30 of our pupils also provided trumpet playing services for local Remembrance Services, and our own CCF and Drum Corp led the Wells City Remembrance Parade.

The School has also made its facilities available on a regular basis for a large number of external organisations including Cedars Hall for the Festival of Literature and Comedy Festival, the swimming pool for local groups to use; we run weekly Toddler and Parent groups for the local community; we provide the venue for a local choir’s weekly rehearsal.