Basic Information & Location
St Teresa’s Effingham is a selective, independent boarding and day school for girls aged 2–18 in Effingham, Surrey, England, established in 1928. Sited in a privileged position just outside the affluent and delightful village of Effingham in leafy Surrey, St Teresa’s occupies a beautifully secluded campus of approximately 55 acres.
School Motto
St Teresa’s is a dynamic school which has embraced the challenge to modernise and update, whilst holding true values and philosophies which define its character and spirit. The changes at St Teresa’s have been wide-ranging and both an academic and aesthetic nature, with improvements to the environment implemented on a grand scale throughout the campus.
Academic Matters
A ‘can-do’ attitude is encouraged at all times, and a wide range of opportunities both within and beyond the curriculum enables girls to develop and discover new abilities, interests and talents while they study towards achieving first-rate GCSEs and A levels. St Teresa’s is not an academic hothouse but aims to draw out the talents latent in every girl so that at St Teresa’s she will become the best she can be. No class is greater than 20. GCSE groupings are smaller and, for A Level lessons, a tutorial style in preparation for university. Girls are supported but encouraged to think independently and to take responsibility for their own learning.
Boarding / Pastoral Care
Boarding is available for up to 85 boarders on a full, weekly, flexi or occasional basis, with different arrangements for each age group. The school offers this full range of boarding options in recognition of the often busy and complex lives led by modern families, and the need to provide stability and continuity in the lives of the girls, so vital during their years at school.
Extracurricular
Activities include mainstream sports but the girls also have the chance to try football, step aerobics, street dance, trampoline and many other activities. Early mornings see the school’s cross-country running group enjoying the beautiful countryside around school, the trampoline squad in the sports hall and the elite swimming teams in the pool. All pupils are encouraged to participate in the various musical and theatrical productions which take place on a regular basis. This helps to build a surprising level of confidence in the girls, and rewards them with plaudits from an audience which can include family, friends and peers, and members of the local community.