The Cathedral & John Connon School

After Grade 7, students can follow a one-year IGCSE Foundation course in Grade 8 and then the two-year Cambridge IGCSE in Grades 9 and 10, alongside the national ICSE route. In Grades 11 and 12 they choose between the Indian School Certificate and the IB Diploma Programme, which includes Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS and offers subjects such as Global Politics, Psychology and Environmental Systems and Societies. The school also offers College Board Advanced Placement courses, which appear on transcripts when both course and exam are completed in school.

The school is organised into six sections: the Pre-Primary (Nursery and Kindergarten, taught in combined play-based groups), the Infant School (two-year programme including Grade 1), the Junior School (Grades 2 to 4), the Middle School (Grades 5 to 7), the Senior School (Grades 8 to 10, ICSE or IGCSE) and the High School (Grades 11 and 12, ISC or IB Diploma). Each section has its own building and leadership.

The school aims to help young people learn how to learn, adapt to a changing world and become global citizens with a strong understanding of their local context, valuing both individuality and shared humanity. It places emphasis on honesty and care for others and for the environment, and on a continuous striving for excellence in academic and non-academic life. Its core values are honesty, compassion, inclusion, courage, altruism, service and honour.

Classes are spread across six sites in south Mumbai. The Senior School occupies a building combining Indian and Gothic styles with a central quadrangle used for football, basketball and assemblies, three science laboratories, a robotics lab, a library and an infirmary. The restored 1904 High School building houses smart classrooms, science and computer laboratories, a counselling room and a school hall. The Middle School has an art room, a library, a science lab and an Ideation Lab with 3D printing, and the Junior School sits in the former John Connon building with its wooden staircases. Younger children have play areas, a sandpit and a school hall.

The Senior School has an infirmary staffed by medical personnel, and health check-ups and hygiene workshops are part of the wellbeing programme. Counselling services offer confidential emotional support and workshops on mindfulness and stress, and a Learning Resource Center provides individual learning plans for students with learning difficulties. A careers and university counselling office supports applications in India and abroad. The campus is protected by CCTV, trained security staff and controlled entry, and students wear a school uniform.

Inter-house and inter-school competitions are central to school life. Team sports include football, rugby, cricket and basketball, while individual sports include squash, tennis, badminton, gymnastics, athletics and swimming, and karate is offered as an activity. Cultural life covers debates, elocution and dramatics, and students run clubs such as the Symposium Club for debate and Model United Nations, the Interact Club for social service, a Nature Club for environmental projects and Cathedral News for student journalism and photography. A robotics programme is open to students across the school.