Wellington's Values

In April 2010, the Wellington College community voted to adopt 5 values to help us put well-being right at the heart of everything that we do. We want these values to underpin and drive all that we do at Wellington and in our lives beyond it. The values are:

COURAGE

INTEGRITY

RESPONSIBILITY

RESPECT

KINDNESS

The Wellington education places these five core values at the centre, using the eight aptitude model of truly holistic education as a means of delivering them and with wellbeing as the end result.

What is well-being?

‘Well-being is a dynamic state, in which the individual is able to develop their potential, work productively and creatively, build strong and positive relationships with others, and contribute to their community.’ You can find out more about well-being here.

The 5 values selected by the entire Wellington College community are: Courage, Responsibility, Integrity, Kindness and Respect. By collectively upholding the values, we will make the experience of living, working and studying at Wellington College one that enhances and enriches life.

A value is a deeply held belief about the way the world ought to be. Our values are acquired during our life time and they drive our emotions, our actions and our life paths. When we see others upholding or transgressing our values, it is likely to produce a powerful emotional response in us, because our values matter. We each have our own set of personal values and the 5 Wellington values are not intended to supplant those, but when we act in the name of the College, we will uphold these 5 values above all others.

The values defined.

• Courage: the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. To take calculated risks in the pursuit of goodness.

• Respect: a positive feeling of esteem for a person, group, entity or quality, resulting in acting with fairness. This can include self-respect, which involves not compromising one’s values just to gain approval from others.

• Integrity: consistency or authenticity. Acting in consort with one’s values or beliefs.

• Kindness: showing consideration of others and acting selflessly for their benefit.

• Responsibility: being reliable, dependable and accountable for one’s conduct. Fulfilling a duty. Acknowledging the need to serve the communities in which we operate.

What can I do?

We can all uphold these values through everything that we choose to do at Wellington and rather like learning a musical instrument or a language, the more we practise behaviour that upholds our values, the more they will become integral to our character, to who we are. In turn, this will have an impact upon the character of the College as a whole.

There are countless examples of people in history, politics, literature, sport and the world around us who uphold these values. Notice when people are courageous, kind, responsible, respectful and have integrity. Celebrate what they do and emulate their example.