Mr David Wingfield, the Cambridge-educated Headmaster of Eaton House The Manor Pre-Prep School and mathematics specialist has been appointed the new Headmaster of the Prep School from September 1, 2025.
He will take over from Mrs Sarah Segrave who is leaving to become Headmistress of Sandroyd School in Wiltshire.
Mrs Segrave’s role as Principal will be taken over by a well-known local Headmistress, Mrs Alison Fleming, who is currently Head of Newton Prep in Battersea. Together, Mrs Fleming and Mr Wingfield make a formidable team to take Eaton House The Manor Boys’ School forward.
To mark his appointment, David Wingfield has agreed to answer some questions on his personal philosophy of motivation in learning.
Q: What is your personal motivation mantra – if you have one?
‘It’s not that I can’t do it, it’s that I can’t do it yet!’ is an oft-repeated phrase at Eaton House The Manor Pre-Prep and it is a phrase that can equally be applied to the challenging syllabus offered by Eaton House The Manor Prep. I will encourage boys to have a go and try their best to succeed, even if the path forward is not immediately illuminated.
Q: How important is motivation in terms of a boy’s lifetime success?
With the average number of jobs per lifetime increasing with each generation, it is more important than ever that a boy’s first few years of school build a deep-rooted love of learning that will carry them through life. As educators, it is our duty to foster an environment in which children are not only stretched, but wish to stretch themselves, so that they relish a new challenge, rather than run from it.
Q: How do you motivate boys of all ages?
Above all, I champion creativity and independence. We know that one of the surest ways to build resilient motivation is to support boys’ individuality and freedom of expression, while challenging ‘permission culture’ and anxious perfectionism in relation to schoolwork. It boils down to encouraging children’s natural ability to want to push boundaries, do things their way, take risks and have a go, and it applies equally to English and mathematics.
Q: Is there any method that works well to motivate boys?
As a Headmaster, I seek, with the staff, to support every child, by breaking each task down into small, achievable steps that form part of a challenging trajectory for that individual. Teachers make hundreds of micro-assessments in every lesson, to gauge how each pupil is progressing through a task, and how it may be adapted ‘on the fly’, in order to enable them to make progress during the lesson.
Q: Do you reward effort?
Yes – I love to celebrate small wins. Well-judged praised for effort reinforces self-esteem and motivation.
Q: Can motivation ebb and flow?
I do not expect our pupils to be robots, with equal levels of motivation every hour of every day. We seek to treat them with empathy and understanding when things just will not flow, and we help them to view ‘dips and slips’ as part of the process of deep and effective learning, rather than a cause for disappointment and despondency.
Q: What kind of approach do you adopt?
I foster a ‘Mastery Approach’ and promote a multi-sensory and graduated teaching style that prioritises depth of conceptual understanding as the foundation of pace and fluency of procedure. Teachers model the best examples and sometimes make deliberate mistakes to prove that they are mere hiccups on the path to success.
Q: Can everyone become equally motivated?
I truly believe that ‘Everyone Can’ and in the Prep, as in the Pre-Prep, we will run welcoming and inclusive classrooms. We have a passionate and committed Prep staff and I am looking forward to working with them to build on the fantastic curriculum that is already in place.
Our aim is to educate pupils to be adventurous, curious and brave. This starts in our classrooms and in our approach to learning in English and mathematics and it quickly spreads across the curriculum and beyond the walls of the school. Personal motivation is as valuable for life as it is for senior school and university – it is the surest foundation for success.
To find out more about Eaton House Schools in Clapham and Belgravia please contact Miss Sam Feilding, Head of Admissions on 0203 917 5050.
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