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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Colet Court
St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court) 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 Juniors pupils progress at the age of 13.

The School was founded in 1881, named Colet Court in 1892, and renamed St Paul's Juniors from 1 September 2016.

History

The School was founded in 1881 (as "Bewsher's") by Samuel Bewsher, an Assistant Master of St Paul's School and secretary to the High Master. It started with 6 pupils at a house in Edith Road, West Kensington. At about this time, St Paul's School was relocated from the vicinity of St Paul's Cathedral to new buildings in Hammersmith.

Colet Court

In 1883, Bewsher's preparatory school was incorporated into the St Paul's School foundation, and moved into a new building (which still stands) at 100 Hammersmith Road. Originally called Colet House, it was opposite the then St Paul's School. It had more than 300 pupils, and further new buildings to accommodate them were completed in 1890. In 1892 it changed its name from Colet House to Colet Court. The name honours John Colet, the founder of St Paul's School.

In the 1970s, the old buildings became the production base of the Euston Films subsidiary of Thames Television, with standing sets for shows like The Sweeney constructed in the old gymnasium.

The main building survives, and is Grade II listed. It is now occupied as offices.

Barnes

In 1968 St Paul's School moved to its present 45-acre (180,000 m) site in bend of the river Thames at Barnes. The current school buildings in Barnes are set to be redeveloped alongside the renovation of the main St Paul's School. In September 2016 the name changed once more, to St Paul's Juniors.

Operation Winthorpe

Colet Court 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.

The present school

St Paul's Juniors now forms part of a single school campus on the Barnes site. St Paul's Juniors 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 Juniors 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. Providing that a pupil is progressing normally academically, it is expected that all boys will go on to St Paul's at age 13. 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.

The Tatler Schools Guide says of St Paul's Juniors: "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."

Joseph

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 was released in 1969, and remained in the US charts for three months, since when the piece has been 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. ^ 51°29′37″N 0°13′00″W / 51.49361°N 0.21667°W / 51.49361; -0.21667 (Colet House)
  4. ^ Richards, Anthony Noel Gurney (1968). St Paul's School in West Kensington 1884–1968. Privately printed.
  5. ^ Hancock, Sheila (2009). The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw. A&C Black. p. 131. ISBN 9781408806937. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  6. ^ Historic England. "Colet Court School (Grade II) (1286772)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Renewal Campaign". St Paul’s School. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  8. ^ Weale, Sally (13 January 2020). "Review reveals scale of abuse scandal at London private school". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Appointment of Head of St Paul's Juniors". St Paul's School. 8 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Colet Court - Prep School Fees, Results & Alumni - 2016 Tatler Schools Guide - Tatler". Archived from the original on 14 August 2016.
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