Donhead is a mixed

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, preparatory day school located in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a London borough in London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

. The school is under the governance of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, a Catholic religious order founded by

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

in 1540. Independent Schools Inspectorate
Donhead
retrieved 28 October 2021 Donhead takes boys and girls aged 4 to 11, after which they often continue their secondary education at various independent schools across London and Catholic public schools such as the Oratory School and Stonyhurst College.Jerry Hawthorne,
A Wandering Soul
', ShieldCrest, Aylesbury, 2020, pp. 165–168

History

The name Donhead perhaps originates from the Anglo-Saxon "head" meaning top and "don" meaning hill – "the top of the hill" and was first occupied by a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, a Mr Oliver Haynes. From 1880, it was owned by Mary Arnold. Until 1902, she used the building as a school for ladies. In 1932, the owner Henry Small left to the

after his wife died. The first headmaster was Fr Miller. Donhead's first pupils consisted of three classes named Elements, Preparatory, and Lower Preparatory, and numbered approximately 67 boys in total. The first day of the school was 5 September 1933. From the late 1980s, Merton London Borough Council decided to close middle schools, resulting in the lowering of the age when students would go from Donhead to

Wimbledon College Wimbledon College is a government-maintained, voluntary-aided, Jesuit Catholic secondary school and sixth form for boys aged 11 to 19 in Wimbledon, London. The college was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning for the greate ...

from 13 years old to 11 years old. After this lowering of the top age group, like other schools in the borough, Donhead started admitting pupils at a lower age, so that they would still be at Donhead for the same amount of years.

Recent

In 2011, the school's

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

Under 11A team were the National champions. They beat Blundell's in the final. In September 2018, the school's ten-year £8m facilities development plan was completed.

National Churches Trust The National Churches Trust, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, is a British Charitable organization#United Kingdom, registered charity whose aim is to "promote and support church buildings of historic, architectural and community ...

Donhead Preparatory School Chapel
retrieved 28 October 2021 The school had a new chapel built that has capacity for 50 pupils, and uses the Donhead has more than doubled in size between 2006 and 2016.

Traditions

The school runs over three terms: Michaelmas, Lent and Trinity. Following Jesuit teaching, students are expected to sign off with the Latin inscriptions AMDG (''Ad maiorem Dei gloriam'', which translates into English as ''For the greater glory of God'') and LDS (''Laus Deo Semper'', which translates into English as ''Praise God Always'') before and after finishing each piece of work they complete. Each year is known by a name, drawn from the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum, for the prep school: Year 3 (Lower Prep 1), Year 4 (Lower Prep 2), Year 5 (Prep) and Year 6 (Elements). The 1st XV kit acquires an extra red hoop in addition to the blue and white resulting in a tri-colour jersey.

Old Wimbledonians Association

The Old Wimbledonians Association (OWA) came into being in 1905 and was founded by old boys of its Alma Mater, Wimbledon College. Members of the OWA can be old boys of either Wimbledon College or Donhead Preparatory School.

Notable alumni

* Peter Milward (1925–2017) – Jesuit scholar of literature * Michael Quinlan (1930–2009) – senior civil servant * Nicholas Hudson (b. 1959) – Auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster * Danny Cipriani (b. 1987) – English rugby union player * Tom Holland (b. 1996) – actor and dancer * Donal Donat Conor Bradley, physicist * Michael Kenny – political scientist

Headmasters

* Fr Edmund Millar, SJ (1933–1939) * Fr Francis Moran, SJ (1939–1942) * Fr Edmund Basset, SJ (1942–1945) * Fr Christopher Farwell, SJ (1945–1949) * Fr Bernard Egan, SJ (1949–1971) * Fr Philip Wetz, SJ (1971–1985) * Mr Denis O'Leary (1985–1997) * Mr Chris McGrath (1997–2017) * Mr Philip Barr (2017–2023) * Mrs Annie Thackray (2023) * Ms Catherine Hitchcock (2023–present)

References

External links

Old Wimbledonians Association website

Donhead profile
isc.co.uk; accessed 30 September 2014. * ISI Inspectio
Reports
accessed 30 September 2014, {{DEFAULTSORT:Donhead 1933 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1933 Private boys' schools in London Private schools in the London Borough of Merton Jesuit schools in the United Kingdom Preparatory schools in London Roman Catholic private schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark Buildings and structures in Wimbledon, London