Ampleforth College

St Dunstan's

Mr Ben Pennington is the seventh Housemaster of St Dunstan’s.  He left Ampleforth as a pupil in 1996 and attended Bristol University before completing a PGCE at Oriel College, Oxford.  He has taught in Sydney, London and more recently in Sherborne, Dorset.  He served for 5 years in the British Army with the Irish Guards and has played professional rugby for Leicester and Bristol. He remains a keep sportsman.  He teaches Mathematics and is presently coaching the Ampleforth Under 16’s rugby team.  Ben is married to Emma and they have two children, Cassius and Constance, a dog called Winston and a mercurial cat called Edward.

St Dunstan’s House is one of the seven boys’ boarding houses at Ampleforth College, accommodating students from 13-18. Founded in 1935, the House transferred from the original school buildings to Nevill House in the late 1970s. St Dunstan, our patron, was one of the leading figures in the restoration of Benedictine monasticism in England following the Viking invasions, and stimulated the so-called “10th century Renaissance” in academic and artistic achievement in late Anglo-Saxon England. St Dunstan was also the first founder of Westminster Abbey, the abbey from which the monastic community at Ampleforth takes its own origin. The House currently has 61 members, of whom 7 are day students. Boarding accommodation is provided in small dormitories of 6 for the first three years, and then in single study bedrooms for the Sixth form.  

St Dunstan's aims to provide an environment in which each pupil can achieve their maximum potential.  The inclusive nature of the house is based on mutual respect and trust.  The desire is to not only enable young men to thrive at Ampleforth College, but to develop the necessary skills to suceed in whatever sphere they move into.  Independent learning and motivation is developed from day one and a mentality of getting involved and "can do" is expected.