St Paul's Prep School

St Paul's Prep School
(formerly Colet Court and St Paul's Juniors)
Location
Barnes
,
London
,
SW13 9JT

England
Coordinates51°29′15″N 0°14′18″W / 51.4874°N 0.2383°W / 51.4874; -0.2383
Information
TypePrivate preparatory day school
Established1881
HeadmasterOliver Snowball[1]
Staffc.45
GenderBoys
Age7 to 13
Enrolmentc.510
HousesAsh, Beech, Oak, Thorn
ColoursBlack and White    
Websitehttp://www.stpaulsschool.org.uk/

St Paul's Prep School (formerly Colet Court, and then St Paul's Juniors) is a private preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most of its leavers progress.

The school was founded in 1881. It was named Colet Court in 1892, renamed St Paul's Juniors on 1 September 2016[2] and renamed St Paul's Prep School in January 2026.[3]

History

The school was founded as Bewsher's in 1881 by Samuel Bewsher, an Assistant Master of St Paul's School and secretary to the High Master.[4] It started with six pupils in the basement of Bewsher's own home in Edith Road, West Kensington.[4]

Colet Court

In 1883, Bewsher's preparatory school was incorporated into the St Paul's School foundation.[5] In 1884, St Paul's School moved from the City of London to a new building in Hammersmith.[4] In 1890, Bewsher's followed, moving to a red brick and terracotta building at 100 Hammersmith Road, opposite the new senior school.[4][5][6] Renamed Colet Court in honour of John Colet, the founder of St Paul's School, the new preparatory school had more than three hundred boys.[4][5]

In the 1970s, following the relocation of St Paul's School and its preparatory school to Barnes, the old Colet Court buildings became the production base of the Euston Films subsidiary of Thames Television, with standing sets for shows like The Sweeney constructed in the former gymnasium.[7] The main building survives, and is Grade II listed.[8] It is now occupied by offices.

Barnes

In 1968, Colet Court and St Paul's School both moved to their present 45-acre (180,000 m2) site next to the river Thames at Barnes. Colet Court was renamed St Paul's Juniors in September 2016. A redevelopment of the school was completed in January 2026, which was also when the school adopted its current name.[9]

Operation Winthorpe

The school was investigated by the Metropolitan Police for historic crimes of paedophilia, under the operational name Operation Winthorpe. The school has entirely reviewed and majorly revised its safeguarding procedures since. A major independent report published in January 2020 revealed 80 complaints against 32 members of staff over a period of six decades, mainly from the 1960s to the 1990s. There were 28 recommendations on how current practice could be improved.[10][11]

The present school

The school now forms part of a single campus on the Barnes site. St Paul's Prep School and St Paul's School, whilst housed separately, share many facilities, such as the lunch hall, sports centre, swimming pool and some sports fields.

St Paul's Prep School is an all-boys school and teaches pupils from age 7 to age 13. Entry is by examination at age 7, age 8 and age 11. There are currently about 445 pupils, who are all day boys. The current head is Oliver Snowball, formerly the headmaster of Eaton House the Manor Girls' School.[12]

The Tatler Schools Guide says of the school: "These may well be the cleverest boys in the capital, on track for St Paul's (20 SPS scholarships last year, as well as two to Westminster and one apiece to Eton and Marlborough), but they wear it lightly."[13]

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Main article: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, was originally commissioned for and performed by the boys (both orchestra and singers) of Colet Court. The first performance in its original form as a 15-minute "pop cantata" took place in the Old Assembly Hall of Colet Court in Hammersmith on 1 March 1968. The second performance, also involving Colet Court boys, was on 12 May 1968 at Central Hall, Westminster. This was picked up by a reviewer for the Sunday Times. The third performance, of a now expanded version, was at St Paul's Cathedral on 9 November 1968. The first recording of the piece, featuring the Colet Court choir, was released by Decca Records in 1969, and remained in the US charts for three months. Joseph was subsequently performed commercially all over the world and re-recorded on disc and on video. It has been performed again at Colet Court as the annual school play several times, most recently in 2004.

Headmasters

Name Years as Headmaster
J. Bewsher 1887–1929
L. C. Smith 1929–1933
A. N. Evans 1934–1944
H. A. Clutton Brock 1944–1946
J. E. L. Pepys 1946–1955
L. F. Robinson 1955–1956
H. J. G. Collis 1957–1973
W. N. J. Howard 1973–1992
G. J. Thompson 1992–2007
Tim A. Meunier 2007–2016
Maxine Shaw 2016–2022
Oliver Snowball 2022–Current

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ^ St Paul's School Community and Philanthropy Report, November 2022
  2. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "St Paul's School Group | FAQs". St Paul's School Group. 16 October 2025. Archived from the original on 3 November 2025. Retrieved 3 November 2025. As part of this decision, to reflect the structure of the St Paul's Group and ahead of moving into their new home in January 2026, St Paul's Juniors will be renamed St Paul's Prep School.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mead, A. H. (1990). A Miraculous Draught of Fishes: A History of St Paul's School 1509-1990. James & James. ISBN 9780907383055.
  5. ^ a b c Richards, Anthony Noel Gurney (1968). St Paul's School in West Kensington 1884–1968. Privately printed.
  6. ^ 51°29′37″N 0°13′00″W / 51.49361°N 0.21667°W / 51.49361; -0.21667 (Colet House)
  7. ^ Hancock, Sheila (2009). The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw. A&C Black. p. 131. ISBN 9781408806937. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Colet Court School (Grade II) (1286772)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Renewal Campaign". St Paul's School. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  10. ^ Weale, Sally (13 January 2020). "Review reveals scale of abuse scandal at London private school". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  11. ^ Bayley, Sian (16 January 2020). "St Paul's School Barnes abuse scandal: The full story of 50 years of horrific crimes". MyLondon. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Appointment of Head of St Paul's Juniors". St Paul's School. 8 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Colet Court - Prep School Fees, Results & Alumni - 2016 Tatler Schools Guide - Tatler". Archived from the original on 14 August 2016.
  14. ^ Kirk, Tristan; Collier, Hatty (7 February 2017). "Former teacher at top London private school jailed for sexual abuse". The Standard. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  15. ^ "Lives in Brief". The Times. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
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