St James' Independent Schools in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
(UK) are three fee-paying schools for children aged 4 to 18. The Junior and Senior Girls' Schools are in the
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The borou ...
, and the Senior Boys' School in
Ashford, Surrey
Ashford is a town almost wholly in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, with a small area contained within the boundaries of the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west-southwest of central London. Its name derives from a crossing point ...
.
In 2019
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
UK School Guide ranked St James' Senior Girls School 102nd with 82.1% scoring A*-B at
A-Level, and St James' Senior Boys 251st with 75.9% scoring A*- B at A-level.
Meditation and Mindfulness
St James' incorporate stillness, meditation, reflection techniques into the school routine.
Sanskrit Language
Unusually for a UK school, the St James Schools teach
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
.,which is a compulsory second language for the junior students. Being an ancient Indo-European language its study illuminates the grammar and etymology of modern languages of that family, including English; its philosophical concepts provide a wealth of human thought; regarded classical language par excellence and considered positive while assessing university admissions. It also helps students grasp maths, science and other languages better. Warwick Jessup, head of Sanskrit department, says: "This is the most perfect and logical language in the world, the only one that is not named after the people who speak it. Indeed the word 'Sanskrit' itself means perfected language." Paul Moss, Headmaster of the school, says: "The
Devanagri script and spoken Sanskrit are two of the best ways for a child to overcome stiffness of fingers and the tongue. Today’s European languages do not use many parts of the tongue and mouth while speaking or many finger movements while writing, whereas Sanskrit helps immensely to develop cerebral dexterity through its phonetics."
Students of St. James chanted
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
hymns in presence of
Queen Elizabeth at the
Buckingham Palace in 2010 to celebrate beginning of the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
.
Connection with the School of Economic Science
The
School of Economic Science
The School of Philosophy and Economic Science (SPES), also operating under the names the School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy and legally named the School of Economic Science (SES), is a worldwide organisation based in ...
, through associated overseas schools, supports independent children's schools in a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland (
John Scottus School
John Scottus School comprises a primary and secondary school in Dublin, Ireland.
History
The schools are named after John Scottus Eriugena, the Platonist philosopher, theologian and poet of Early Medieval Ireland. The school ethos is inf ...
), the West Indies and the United States.
The St James' Schools are legally independent from the School of Economic Science. They seek to preserve the ethos of their founding philosophical principles which are derived from the
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' ( ...
philosophical tradition, which the schools describe as encompassing the concept of unity, and of a multicultural approach which embraces all faiths – and no faith. Philosophy is taught and transcendental meditation is an optional practice in the schools.
The
Education Renaissance Trust, a UK registered charity, was founded by the SES in 1998 with the aim of "
aking theirphilosophy of education based on spiritual values available more widely". The ERT provides support and funding for the St James schools worldwide, and currently runs inset training days for teachers in UK state schools.
Today, only around 10 per cent of the children have parents involved with SES.
Criticisms
In the early 1980s the London Evening Standard ran a critical series of articles
focusing on the School's discipline regime and its links to the
School of Economic Science
The School of Philosophy and Economic Science (SPES), also operating under the names the School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy and legally named the School of Economic Science (SES), is a worldwide organisation based in ...
.
An independent inquiry into mistreatment of pupils between 1975 and 1985 at St James' and its then sister school St Vedast's, which closed in 1985, was funded by the schools and chaired by James Townend QC. The report, published in January 2006, concluded that "mental and physical mistreatment" of some pupils had occurred, including "criminal assaults" by teachers, during the ten-year period considered by the inquiry. Townend's report also found that throughout this period the schools' management and governors were failing to the extent that they "were not in any real sense in charge of the Schools".
In his conclusion, Townend stated that there had been "a real change of ethos and conduct of the schools" since the period of abuses he identified in his report.
In December 2020 a
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
report stated that nearly £1m in compensation had been paid to dozens of former students at St James and St Vedast schools following historical allegations of abuse.
Following the legal action, which was launched against the school in 2016, the BBC reported 45 former students who attended the schools between 1975 and 1992 had so far received payments of up to £30,000 each. All of the cases were settled without an admission of liability and did not come before court.
Former schools
St Vedast's School for Boys, at
Sarum Chase
Sarum Chase is a large detached neo-Tudor mansion, at 23 West Heath Road, Hampstead, London,Maurice Bradshaw, ‘Salisbury, Francis Owen (1874–1962)’, rev. Charles Noble, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; ...
in West Heath Road, Hampstead, London,
was sold in January 2005 for £9,300,000.
[Charity Commission Accounts, 2005, page 22.] The building is now a private residence.
Notable former pupils
Notable former pupils include:
*
Clara Salaman
Clara Rachel Salaman (born 19 May 1967 in Islington, London) is an English actress and author.
She is known for playing the role of DS Claire Stanton in the long running ITV drama ''The Bill'' from 1999 to 2001. She first appeared on The Bil ...
, actress, ''
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983.
The programme focused o ...
''
*
Emily Watson
Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Wa ...
, actress, star of ''
Breaking the Waves
''Breaking the Waves'' is a 1996 psychological drama film directed and co-written by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier and starring English stage actress Emily Watson as her feature film acting debut. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 197 ...
'' and ''
Appropriate Adult
In English law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18. The term was introduced as part of the policing reforms in the Police and Criminal Evidence ...
''
References
External links
St James Independent Schools WebsiteSchool of Economic Science website
Education Renaissance trustThe Parents & Pupils Inquiry Action Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Independent Schools
Independent boys' schools in London
Independent girls' schools in London
Independent schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Independent schools in Surrey
Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association