Donhead is an all-male independent, preparatory day school located in

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, in the London Borough of Merton. The school is under the governance of the Jesuits, a Catholic religious order founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1540.

Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations, w ...

Donhead
retrieved 28 October 2021 Donhead takes boys aged 4 to 11, after which they often continue their secondary education at various independent schools across London.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 jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, 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 Jesuits 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 Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London. History There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...

decided to close

middle schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, resulting in the lowering of the age when students would go from Donhead to Wimbledon College 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 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.

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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) and'' LDS (''Laus Deo Semper)'' before and after finishing each piece of work they complete. Each year is known by a name, drawn from the Jesuit

Ratio Studiorum The ''Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Iesu'' (''Method and System of the Studies of the Society of Jesus''), often abbreviated as ''Ratio Studiorum'' (Latin: ''Plan of Studies''), was a document that standardized the globally influen ...

, 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 and 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

* Fr

Peter Milward Father Peter Milward, SJ (12 October 1925 – 16 August 2017) was a Jesuit priest and literary scholar. He was emeritus professor of English Literature at Sophia University in Tokyo and a leading figure in scholarship on English Renaissance lite ...

, Jesuit scholar (literature) *

Donal Donat Conor Bradley Donal Donat Conor Bradley is the Vice President for Research at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. From 2015 until 2019, he was head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division of the Univers ...

, physicist * Michael Kenny (political scientist) *

Danny Cipriani Danny Cipriani (; born 2 November 1987) is an English professional rugby union player currently unattached. He most recently played for Premiership Rugby side Bath and previously played for Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Wasps in the Premiership ...

, English rugby union player * Tom Holland, actor and dancer * Sir Michael Quinlan, British civil servant * The Rt Rev Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and th ...

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–present)

References

External links

Old Wimbledonians Association website

Donhead profile
isc.co.uk; accessed 30 September 2014. *

ISI ISI or Isi may refer to: Organizations * Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a classical conservative organization focusing on college students * Ice Skating Institute, a trade association for ice rinks * Indian Standards Institute, former name of ...

Inspectio
Reports
accessed 30 September 2014, {{DEFAULTSORT:Donhead 1933 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1933 Independent boys' schools in London Independent schools in the London Borough of Merton Jesuit schools in the United Kingdom Preparatory schools in London Roman Catholic independent schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark Buildings and structures in Wimbledon, London