Welcome to Westbourne

Our Academic Hub

Based in the heart of Penarth, our Hickman Road site is host to students from Year 6 to IB, supported by an exciting STEM-centric Innovation Hub just across the road.

Classes at Westbourne are intentionally smaller, and with a total of 380 students across the age ranges, our smaller class, higher outcome approach has facilitated some of the strongest academic results in the country.

Minutes away from a wealth of curricular and co-curricular facilities, the Senior site on Hickman Road enjoys on-site labs, school gymnasium, basketball court, a host of classrooms and our IB Sixth Form centre.

Senior School

IB Sixth Form

Home to curious minds…

Conveniently located on leafy Victoria Road with all weather outdoor area, innovative ‘Maker Space’ 3D printing lab, a kitchen garden for exploring nature and a co-curricular offering which expands well beyond the school gate, Westbourne Prep welcomes children from Reception to Year 5.

Classes at Westbourne Prep are purposely smaller and capped, offering unrivalled academic progress, an innovative and rich curriculum and exceptional care and wellbeing for our students.

Students as young as 2 years can join in the learning adventure too, with Little Westbourne Nursery just nextdoor.

Offering a tailored all-weather play area, highly qualified Nursery staff and a play based curriculum ensuring the best possible start to school life.

Prep Through the eyes of a parent

Prep School Curriculum

Little Westbourne Nursery

Home away from home

We offer three accommodation options at Westbourne:

Main Boarding House: Just 2 minutes from the Senior School and home to 40 UK and International boarders from 12+ years.

Offering a variety of bedroom configurations from single & twins to larger shared rooms with communal areas, a permanent chef providing fresh, locally sourced food for all dietary needs and the very welcoming Miss Angell and her boarding team taking the very best care of all of our boarders.

No.5: An IB2 accommodation option offering out of hours academic support for students in the final IB years, as well as supporting the practical skills required for university life beyond.

Home Stay: A select number of carefully selected host families within the local area offering a family setting, this option is available to students from 16+ years.

Explore Boarding Life

See Boarding Case Studies

100+ hectares of land and lakes

With two central lakes, our local country park Cosmeston is just a jog away and well used by both boarders and our PE department.

A haven for wildlife and a site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), Cosmeston is our local Penarth beauty spot and used for cross country running and team building events. It also serves as an excellent location for our boarding students to enjoy a walk and spend time in nature.

Nearby our students will also find golf and horse riding facilities which feature in our Club After School programme.

Prep Co-Curricular

Senior Co-Curricular

Top 10 place to live (& study!) in the UK

Repeatedly voted as one of the best places to live, our home on the South Wales coast affords students – both boarding and day – a host of enriching curricular and co-curricular opportunities.

A safe seaside location, tennis courts, beautiful parks, running tracks, cricket grounds and local football and rugby facilities are woven into school life. Our local Victorian pier also featuring heavily in Forest & Beach School activities as well as providing a picturesque location for an after school summer ice cream!

Boarders (16+) enjoy access to 24/7 fitness facilities, with Penarth leisure centre offering excellent swimming, squash and fitness class options.

We operate a private school bus service across Cardiff & The Vale for day and home-stay students from Reception – Year 13.

School Bus Routes

Athletics & 3G pitches

Taking full advantage of the superb international standard sporting facilities on our doorstep, Leckwith provides our students with the excellent opportunity to race, jump, throw and compete for highly prized House points!

As well as utilising the full athletics facilities, students also enjoy use of the 3G pitches ensuring an active sporting calendar, whatever the weather!

Sport at Westbourne

Explore our Sports Day

Water-sport & so much more

A fresh water lake and the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely, Cardiff Bay is host to many of our water-sport activities.

It also serves as a fabulous location for our boarding students to enjoy the very best in Welsh art and culture with the impressive Millennium Centre and Welsh parliament taking centre stage.

Linked to Penarth by a barrage, the Bay can be easily reached by foot, with a large number of coffee shops and restaurants it is a great location for boarding students to safely explore.

Home to our key events

The capital of Wales offers all the advantages of a modern city, as well as playing host to key celebrations in the Westbourne calendar.

Our exclusive IB Welcome Dinner at Cardiff Castle each September welcomes our newest IB cohort to the Diploma Programme, providing the unique opportunity to dine in the historic hall which has been host to kings and statesmen for generations.

The grandeur of City Hall is host to our Graduation ceremony and our Charity Ball, providing plentiful opportunities for our community to come together.

We’re blessed to be able to offer our Prep and Nursery students access to both a Forest School and a Beach School setting, perfectly known as FAB School!

FAB encourages our youngest pupils to engage with the great outdoors, linked to the curriculum, it helps nurture curiosity through exploration alongside a whole host of benefits of being in the great outdoors.

Beach School takes place within walking distance of the Prep School, typically on Penarth Beach, whilst we are fortunate to enjoy year round access to a private farm to explore the forest element.

Olympic Standard Facilities

Our school minibuses are in frequent use ferrying students to nearby Cardiff Bay where Cardiff Sports Village is host to Olympic standard sporting facilities and many of our sporting clubs.

A 50 metre international swimming pool, an international white water centre and Ice Arena Wales are exceptional facilities, all within 5 – 10 minutes of school.

Our iconic pier

Majestically reaching out into the Severn estuary, Penarth Pier is an iconic art-deco feature within the town and with the beach below, a key feature of Westbourne life.

Forest & Beach School, geography lessons, stand up paddle-boarding enthusiasts, Prom night and of course our boarders all take advantage of the distinctive feature, one of the last remaining Victorian piers in Wales.

Easy reached in 5 minutes on foot from the boarding house & Senior School via a safe, leafy park, the view stretches as far as the opportunities it affords.

An accredited Duke of Edinburgh Award centre, students from 14 years are actively encouraged to enrol in the Bronze award.

Younger students have the same opportunities to engage in wellbeing and challenging activities as part of our co-curricular programme in preparation for the award.

Comprising of four key activities, students will choose something they enjoy from the categories – Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Exhibition. Blessed with both the South Wales coastline and the spectacular Brecon Beacons there are a wealth of opportunities for students to succeed.