Sir Walter St John's School
Encyclopedia
Sir Walter St John's was founded in 1700 for twenty boys of the village of Battersea
. As the population and the English educational system changed, so did the school. The school was colloquially known as "Sinjuns".
(1622–1708), of Battersea and of Lydiard Tregoze
, Wiltshire, signed a deed that established a charity to form a school to "teach twenty poor boys of said parish" (Battersea). This was the start of Sir Walter St John's School, which was to survive for 286 years. By 1750, 83 boys and 5 girls were given instruction at the school. Battersea at the start of the 18th century was a village of some 200 dwellings containing about 1500 inhabitants. The rapid expansion of the London area during that and the following centuries, meant that there was a need of education for many more boys.
A document of 1800 shows that the operation was based on the rules laid down by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and much of the curriculum was centred on the Bible
.
. The entry arch of this building still exists.
By 1860 the name "Sir Walter St John's School" was being used. The Elementary Education Act 1870
had the result of splitting off the Upper School to form the newly founded Battersea Grammar School
and in 1880 the Elementary School (part of the Lower School) was closed. The next change occurred in 1902, when the school was reorganised as a Secondary School.
bomb destroyed the west wing in 1941 but it was rebuilt in 1952. The final change in the school's buildings happened in 1961, when the Science Block was replaced.
being taken in the 6th form. To have competition in sports and to help tuition six houses were organised in 1910. An Army Cadet unit was also formed in 1910 which existed until 1969. An Air Training Corps
Flight was started in 1941 and continued after the disbandment of the army cadets. The number of boys in the school grew from 320 in 1917 to 544 in 1928 and remained at approximately at this level until the start of the Second World War in 1939. During this war the school with about 320 boys was evacuated to Godalming
in Surrey, where it shared classrooms with the Godalming County School and Charterhouse School
, a Public School
.
and boxing
. Both were used in other sports.
Prior to Sir Walter St Johns, Boys Grammar School being amalgamated with William Blake School, there were actually 3 houses in the School, the names were as stated above but were actually together:
Grandison Bletsoe (GB), Beauchamp Bolingbroke (BB) and Lydiard Tregoze (LT).
. It was situated on Battersea High Street, next to the Thames, off the B305 and next to the Royal Academy of Dance
. It had around 500 boys with a three-form entry. The school lay in the parish of St Mary's Church, Battersea.
By the early 1970s falling birthrate and governmental pressure was causing the closure or amalgamation of many schools.
. There were about 500 students in the Upper School and 300 in the Lower.
The School had an uncommon status, operated by the local authority but legally a charity, which led to its being mentioned by name in several Education Acts, a highly unusual procedure. This meant that when it closed the assets of the school, principally property, did not revert to the Education Authority upon closure. Instead the Sir Walter St John's Educational Charity was formed in 1992 and continues to support disadvantaged children in the former London Boroughs of Battersea and Lambeth.
An Old Boys Association continues, with a golf society, football and cricket clubs and a masonic lodge.
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
. As the population and the English educational system changed, so did the school. The school was colloquially known as "Sinjuns".
Early history
In September 1700, Sir Walter St John, 3rd BaronetWalter St John, 3rd Baronet
Sir Walter St John, 3rd Baronet , of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, and of Battersea , was an English MP.-Biography:...
(1622–1708), of Battersea and of Lydiard Tregoze
Lydiard Tregoze
Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the County of Wiltshire, in the south west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in other ways.-History:...
, Wiltshire, signed a deed that established a charity to form a school to "teach twenty poor boys of said parish" (Battersea). This was the start of Sir Walter St John's School, which was to survive for 286 years. By 1750, 83 boys and 5 girls were given instruction at the school. Battersea at the start of the 18th century was a village of some 200 dwellings containing about 1500 inhabitants. The rapid expansion of the London area during that and the following centuries, meant that there was a need of education for many more boys.
A document of 1800 shows that the operation was based on the rules laid down by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and much of the curriculum was centred on the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
Development
During the first 150 years the name Sir Walter St John was seldom used and the school was called the "Battersea School" or the "Battersea Charity School". By 1832 the school had grown to hold 90 boys and 30 girls. In 1853 the Charitable Trust Act was enacted and the school passed under the control of the Charity Commissioners. The girls were soon transferred to the near-by Mrs Champion's School. The number of boys had increased to over 200, so the school was split into an Upper School and a Lower School. A new building was constructed in 1859 on Battersea High Street designed by William ButterfieldWilliam Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
. The entry arch of this building still exists.
By 1860 the name "Sir Walter St John's School" was being used. The Elementary Education Act 1870
Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...
had the result of splitting off the Upper School to form the newly founded Battersea Grammar School
Battersea Grammar School
Battersea Grammar School was a Voluntary-Controlled Secondary Grammar School in South London. It was established in Battersea by the Sir Walter St John Trust in 1875 and moved to larger premises in Streatham in 1936....
and in 1880 the Elementary School (part of the Lower School) was closed. The next change occurred in 1902, when the school was reorganised as a Secondary School.
Buildings
Little is known of the early buildings before the Butterfield wing was built. Enlargement occurred in 1898 when the old science block was built. The Great Hall together with the West Block was opened in 1915, while the modified library and laboratory block started operation in 1926. Temporary classrooms were assembled in 1918 but remained in use until the north extension became available in 1938. A LuftwaffeLuftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bomb destroyed the west wing in 1941 but it was rebuilt in 1952. The final change in the school's buildings happened in 1961, when the Science Block was replaced.
Operation in the first half of the 20th Century
The school was organised by the start of the 20th Century into six levels or forms. The Intermediate Degree Examination of the University of LondonUniversity of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
being taken in the 6th form. To have competition in sports and to help tuition six houses were organised in 1910. An Army Cadet unit was also formed in 1910 which existed until 1969. An Air Training Corps
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
Flight was started in 1941 and continued after the disbandment of the army cadets. The number of boys in the school grew from 320 in 1917 to 544 in 1928 and remained at approximately at this level until the start of the Second World War in 1939. During this war the school with about 320 boys was evacuated to Godalming
Godalming
Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...
in Surrey, where it shared classrooms with the Godalming County School and Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
, a Public School
Public School (UK)
A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
.
Houses
The six houses in the school were named after honours given to the St John family and passed down to Walter. A colour was associated with each house, and students were required to wear a cap with the school badge on the front and a small button in the colour of their house on the crown. The colours were also used in sportswear, shirts for football and a sash for FivesFives
Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a special court using gloved or bare hands as though they were a racquet.-Background:...
and boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. Both were used in other sports.
- Beauchamp (Pronounced "Beecham") had blue as its colour. Oliver St John was also Baron BeauchampBaron BeauchampThe titles Baron Beauchamp and Viscount Beauchamp have been created several times throughout English and British history. There is still an extant Viscountcy of Beauchamp, held by the Marquesses of Hertford.-Beauchamp family:...
. - Bletsoe used Brown. Bletsoe Manor was also owned by the St John's family.
- Bolingbroke was the red house. Henry St John was made the first Viscount Bolingbroke in 1712.
- Lydiard used the violet colour. Oliver was also Baron St John of Lydiard TregozeLydiard TregozeLydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the County of Wiltshire, in the south west of England. It has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze and in other ways.-History:...
- Grandison had yellow as its identifier. Oliver was also the first Viscount GrandisonViscount GrandisonViscount Grandison of Limerick, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1620 for Sir Oliver St John, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, with special remainder to the male issue of his niece Barbara, wife of Sir Edward Villiers, elder half-brother of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham,...
. - Tregoze had the green for its use. See above in Lydiard
Prior to Sir Walter St Johns, Boys Grammar School being amalgamated with William Blake School, there were actually 3 houses in the School, the names were as stated above but were actually together:
Grandison Bletsoe (GB), Beauchamp Bolingbroke (BB) and Lydiard Tregoze (LT).
Post-war
After the return to Battersea, the school became Sir Walter St John's Grammar SchoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
. It was situated on Battersea High Street, next to the Thames, off the B305 and next to the Royal Academy of Dance
Royal Academy of Dance
The Royal Academy of Dance is an international dance education and training organization, and examination board that specialises in the teaching and technique of Ballet. The RAD was established in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, and received its...
. It had around 500 boys with a three-form entry. The school lay in the parish of St Mary's Church, Battersea.
By the early 1970s falling birthrate and governmental pressure was causing the closure or amalgamation of many schools.
Comprehensive
Such an amalgamation was planned in 1978 with the lower school (classes 1 to 3) going with the William Blake School and the Upper School remaining in Battersea High Street. The combined school was designated the Sir Walter St John's Comprehensive SchoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
. There were about 500 students in the Upper School and 300 in the Lower.
Former teachers
- George RudéGeorge RudéGeorge Rudé was a British Marxist historian, specializing in the French Revolution and "history from below," especially the importance of crowds in history.-Summary:...
1950-4 (history) - Peter Smith, former leader of the Association of Teachers and LecturersAssociation of Teachers and LecturersThe Association of Teachers and Lecturers is a trade union, teachers' union and professional association, affiliated to the Trades Union Congress, in the United Kingdom representing educators from nursery and primary education to further education...
Closure
The school was finally closed in 1986, when the students were transferred to the new Battersea Park School. The buildings remained unused from 1988 to 1990 when they were purchased by Thomas's London Day School and once again boys and girls received education in Battersea High Street.The School had an uncommon status, operated by the local authority but legally a charity, which led to its being mentioned by name in several Education Acts, a highly unusual procedure. This meant that when it closed the assets of the school, principally property, did not revert to the Education Authority upon closure. Instead the Sir Walter St John's Educational Charity was formed in 1992 and continues to support disadvantaged children in the former London Boroughs of Battersea and Lambeth.
An Old Boys Association continues, with a golf society, football and cricket clubs and a masonic lodge.
Notable Old Boys
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, writer - John Balchin, General Manager from 1969-76 of Stevenage Development Corporation
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- Prof David Phillips, Professor of Comparative Education since 2000 at the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
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's first parliamentary correspondent - Michael Webb OBE, Director-General from 1996-9 of the St John Ambulance in England
- Stanley Whitehead (physicist)Stanley Whitehead (physicist)-Life:Whitehead was born in Sutton, Surrey in 1902 and educated at Sir Walter St. John's School. After winning a scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, Whitehead obtained first-class degrees in mathematics and in physics before carrying out research with Lord Cherwell at the Clarendon Laboratory...
(1902–56) - British physicist - Walter Wooldridge CBE, President from 1954-5 of the Royal College of Veterinary SurgeonsRoyal College of Veterinary SurgeonsThe Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom. Established in 1844 by Royal Charter, its statutory duties are laid out in the 1966 Veterinary Surgeons Act.-Role:...