Worth’s mission to develop the whole person
Fri, Jun 5th, 2026
Incoming chair of governors Sebastian Bailey spoke powerfully on Speech Day about Worth’s mission to develop the whole person and how that is increasingly important in today’s world.
Academia and results are important at Worth, but we also believe that it is through the dual focus on the highest quality education and personal exploration that our pupils are shaped.
In his address to the whole school community, Mr Bailey – a former Worth student who takes over as chair of governors this summer – posed the question: What is the point of school? He began by saying: “It is a question I first asked when I was a 14-year-old student at Worth, then I asked it more seriously as a parent watching both my daughters come through here and it is one I have returned to since being asked to become chair of governors. What is Worth actually for?”
He continued: “The obvious answer is qualifications, results and a career and Worth delivers academically but if you break up the results, the rest is a fragile assumption that we know what the world will need, we don’t. We are living through a period of extraordinary change, partly driven by AI where entire categories of work are being re-made faster than any curriculum can track. Entry level software permanent roles fell by nearly half in the UK last year. So, qualifications are necessary but they are not sufficient.”
Mr Bailey spoke about some of his own experiences of Worth and his work as a psychologist before concluding: “So, what is the point of Worth, what is it actually for? I think I know the answer now. It is to deliver academically, it is to form great learners, it is to build people of character and values but above all to build people who can find meaning, offer service, bear difficulty with grace and live generously in the world, and in the tradition that has animated this place for nearly a century people who are open to an encounter with something greater than themselves and that is rare, that matters and it is a privilege to serve.”
For more on an education at Worth click here.
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