Donhead Preparatory School

Side of school

The name Donhead perhaps originates from the Anglo-Saxon "head" meaning top and "don" meaning hill – "the top of the hill". The building known as Donhead Lodge was built in 1867 and was first occupied by a barrister, one Freeman Oliver Haynes. Mr Haynes died in 1880 and soon after a Miss Elizabeth Arnold became the owner. In 1902 the house was taken over by Henry Smail and remained in the family's ownership until after the death of Mrs. Smail in 1932. By the early 1930s, Wimbledon College was looking for premises for a preparatory school. Fr Oscar Xavier Withnell SJ, Wimbledon College's rector at the time, was given first refusal to purchase a nearby house at a purchase price of £6000. This house was "Donhead Lodge". Donhead's first pupils consisted of three classes named Elements, Preparatory, and Lower Preparatory, and numbered approximately 67 boys in total. They entered the school for the first time at 9:50 Monday morning 5 September 1933 under the guidance of Donhead's first headmaster, Fr Miller.[2]

Although the three classes had migrated across the road, the journey to and from the College was repeated many times as Donhead relied on the College continuing to allow it to use certain facilities - chapel, gymnasium, playing fields, etc. Mr Wiber, with Fr. Rector's final approval, negotiated with the firm Dempsey's of Tulse Hill to supply a "Royal Blue" uniform.[2]

For many years the College authorities regarded Donhead mainly as a Junior Department and exercised fairly tight control on all aspects of the school. From the beginning the boys in each class were organised into two sides to compete against each other in the marks given for academic work (Romans and Carthaginians). The reward for the winners at the end of term was the "Victory Walk", originally an afternoon free of classes and taken up with a pleasant walk on Wimbledon Common. In the course of time alternative attractions replaced the walk but the title remained.

Sport was an activity which relied on the use of the College fields on Edge Hill or at the recently acquired grounds on Coombe Lane. The recognised sports were Rugby and Cricket and the first school rugby match was against Kings College School (away) in November 1935, the Under 11 team losing by 0-18. Athletics was given a short season in the spring and early summer and Donhead were given some events on the College Sports Day. Other sports that took place were cross-country, boxing, swimming and croquet (on the Donhead lawn). The "House" system did not start till 1936 and initially there were two houses, Loyola and Xavier, with the first House Tea being held in July 1937, when Xavier beat Loyola by 715-677. For a short period of time, the Lower Preps had their own teams, Aloysius and Stanislaus.[2]

(Sacred Heart Church) used for school masses. Thomas More's ancient relics are stored under the alter.

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) and LDS (Laus Deo Semper) before and after finishing each piece of work they complete.

The Ratio Studiorum, dated 1598, formally issued in 1599

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 tradition continues in Jesuit public schools extending to Figures (Year 7), Rudiments (Year 8), Grammar (Year 9), Syntax (Year 10), Poetry (Year 11), and Rhetoric (Year 12).

The school has a chapel that has capacity for 50 pupils.[3] When there are masses for the entire school, such as the end of trinity term, the school uses the local parish church, Sacred Heart Church, which is situated on the same street. The church was built in 1887 in the gothic revival style, founded by Edith Arendrup, designed by Frederick Walters and served by Jesuit priests until 2014.

The 1st XV kit acquires and extra red hoop in addition to the blue and white resulting in a tri-colour jersey.    

In 2011, the school's Rugby Union Under 11A team were the National champions. They beat Blundell's in the final.[4]

In September 2018, the school's ten-year £8m facilities development plan was completed.[3][5][6] Donhead has more than doubled in size between 2006 and 2016.