St John's Beaumont School is a

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 ...

day and boarding preparatory school, and is for boys and girls aged 3 to 13 years old.St John's Beaumont
from

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 private schools in the United Kingdom. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the business interests of its ...

, retrieved 25 July 2017 It is situated between

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Runnymede Meadow, The Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, The Savill Garden,and Royal Holloway, University of L ...

and

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old Eng ...

on Priest's Hill, with the school building in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and the sports fields in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. It was opened in 1888, and it is the oldest purpose-built preparatory school in the UK. The building is

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

and was designed by

John Francis Bentley John Francis Bentley (30 January 1839 – 2 March 1902) was an English ecclesiastical architect whose most famous work is the Westminster Cathedral in London, England, built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture. Life Bentley ...

in Tudor style with a Perpendicular chapel,St John's Beaumont
from ''British Listed Buildings'', retrieved 25 July 2017 and it was named St John's, in honour of St John Berchmans, who was

canonised Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

that year.

History

The school was founded by the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, also known as the Jesuits, and was built as a boys' preparatory school for

Beaumont College Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a Public school (UK), public school in Old Windsor, Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while l ...

. On 25 September 1888 the school was opened by the Bishop of Southwark, John Baptist Butt. In 1970, after an initial period of uncertainty following the closure of Beaumont College in 1967, the governors of

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

accepted responsibility for St John's. However students go on, as well as to Stonyhurst, to nearer schools such as

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent boarding school) for boys near the village of Radley, in Oxfordshire, in the United Kingd ...

and

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

. In 2023, the school officially became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

. In 2025, the running of school was handed over by the Jesuits to Intellego Education.

Facilities

It is located 11 miles away from both

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

and Central London. The school was built initially for 60 boys aged between 7 and 13 and this can still be seen in the provision of 60 carved wooden chapel pews and 60 individual dormitory cubicles. However, the school has expanded both its classroom provision and its facilities to accommodate over 300 pupils.St John's Beaumont School Old Windsor
from ''Good Schools Guide 2017'', retrieved 25 July 2017 In 1993 a new swimming pool with four lanes was opened by David Wilkie, a former Olympic Champion and world record holder; it is run by a separate organisation called The Development Company. In October 2009, a new sports centre was opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

, giving the school day pupils, boarders and the local community access to football, cricket, judo and rock climbing of a 30-foot wall. St John's Beaumont School Entrance.jpg, Entrance St John's Beaumont School cricket pavilion.jpg, Cricket pavilion St John's Beaumont School Chapel.jpg, School chapel

Notable alumni

Zafar Ansari Zafar Shahaan Ansari (; born 10 December 1991) is a former British cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club and the England national team. A spin-bowling all-rounder, he bowled left-arm orthodox spin, and batted left-handed. He now w ...

, Surrey and England cricketer *

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American conservative writer, public intellectual, political commentator and novelist. Born in New York City, Buckley spoke Spanish as his ...

, conservative writer and political commentator * Andrew Maxwell Morris, singer, songwriter and composer * Amar Singh (born 1989), art and

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(NFT) dealer, philanthropist,

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

activist, and film producer

List of headmasters

* Fr J. Lynch SJ (1888–1894) * Fr M. Cullen SJ (1894–1897) * Fr J. Lynch SJ (1897–1902) * Fr J. O'Gorman SJ (1902–1904) * Fr T. Ellison SJ (1904–1907) * Fr R. Dalrymple SJ (1907–1908) * Fr F.W.Green SJ (1908–1917) * Fr J. Manning SJ (1917–1918) * Fr G. Sexton SJ (1918–1929) * Fr J. Hill SJ (1929–1936) * Fr J. Sharkey (1936–1946) * Fr E. Basset SJ (1946–1949) * Fr T. Dunphy SJ (1949–1964) * Fr K. McHugh SJ (1964–1970) * Fr I. St Lawrence SJ (1970–1974) * Fr C. Taunton SJ (1974–1978) * Fr B. Walker SJ (1978–1984) * Mr B. Duffy (1984–1987) * Mr D. Gogarty (1987–2005) * Mr G. Delaney (2006–2022) * Dr D. Smith (2022–2023) * Mr P. Barr (2023–present)

References

External links