Elmhurst School, Croydon

51°21′50″N 0°05′32″W﻿ / ﻿51.36389°N 0.09224°W﻿ / 51.36389; -0.09224

School in South Croydon, Surrey, England

Elmhurst School

Address

44-48 South Park Hill Road

South Croydon

Surrey

CR2 7DW

England

Information
Established| 1869; 155 years ago (1869)
Head teacher| Sara Marriott
Gender| co-education
Houses| Scott
Peachell
Squire
Anderson
Website| www.elmhurstschool.net

Elmhurst School is a private day 11+ preparatory and pre-preparatory school for boys aged 3-11 years (to be co-educational from 2024) located in South Croydon, England.[1][2][3] It is the successor to two schools both founded in 1869.[4]

## History[edit]

The school has its origins in two educational establishments dating from 1869.[4] In that year Allen Carr and his wife opened a school for young boys in Croydon. He died in 1875 and his widow, Elizabeth, continued the school. In 1885 she bought an empty property called "Elmhurst" in St Peter's Road, South Croydon, and moved the school there. The other 1869 foundation was opened by Clarissa Prince at her father's house, "The Chalet", Croydon. She was assisted by her sister Florence and others. In the 1880s their pupils included the young P.G. Wodehouse and his two elder brothers. In 1894 the sisters bought Elmhurst from Elizabeth Carr and moved their school there. They called their establishment "Elmhurst School, for the Sons of Gentlemen".[5]

The previous Principal, Henry Wickham, who purchased the school in 2009, is the husband of the author Sophie Kinsella.[6]

The current parent company is Bellevue Education International Limited, which bought the school from Wickham in October 2013.[7][8][9][10] Bellevue bought the school as part of acquisitions driven by funding derived largely from Tarek Obaid, the founder of the oil company PetroSaudi, which has been implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.[11][12]

From January 2024, the school began accepting girls in the nursery and will be fully co-educational from September 2024.[13]

## Curriculum[edit]

The Elmhurst curriculum incorporates the National Curriculum,[14] which is followed throughout the school at Key Stages 1 and 2 in Maths, English, Science and Technology (including Computer Studies), History, Geography, Art, Music and PE. The National Curriculum is extended by the school's own syllabus and schemes of work in these subjects. Religious Education is also taught with the emphasis on Moral Education, the principles being the same for all religions. French is taught throughout the school.

## School houses[edit]

Elmhurst School has four school houses: Scott (blue), Peachell (green) - formerly Leisk House, Squire (yellow) - formerly School House, Anderson (red) - formerly Seddon House. The names of the houses are the surnames of previous owners of the school.[15]

## Notable old boys[edit]

* P.G. Wodehouse, (at Clarissa Price's predecessor school), humorist
* Tom Sharpe,[16] satirical author
* Roger Norman Freeman, Baron Freeman, former Conservative MP and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
* Tarik O'Regan, composer

## External links[edit]

* Elmhurst School for Boys'
* Geograph.org.uk

## References[edit]

1. ^ Elmhurst School Archived 2010-11-17 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Schools Council.
2. ^ "Elmhurst School". Foxtons. 2017.
3. ^ "Elmhurst School". Independent Schools Council. 2017.
4. ^ a b "Elmhurst School". TES. 2017.
5. ^ "History" Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Elmhurst School for Boys, pdf downloaded 29 August 2015; and "Birth and Background", Murphy, N. T. P. The P G Wodehouse Miscellany, 2015
6. ^ "Sophie Kinsella". IMDb. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
7. ^ "About Us: Timeline". Bellevue Education. Bellevue Education Limited. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
8. ^ "Bellevue Education continues empire building". Education Investor Website. Education Investor. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
9. ^ "BELLEVUE EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED - Annual Accounts". Companies in the UK. Bellevue Education Group Limited. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
10. ^ "Bellevue Education International Limited: Shareholders". Company Check. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
11. ^ Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Josh Boswell for the Sunday Times 10 April 2016 Saudi oil tycoon revealed as investor in schools company
12. ^ "How 1MDB's Stolen Money Funded Top UK Private Schools". sarawakreport.org. Sarawak Report. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
13. ^ "Moving to Co Ed". elmhurstschool.net. Elmhurst School. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
14. ^ ISBI.
15. ^ "Elmhurst School". Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
16. ^ "Aims and Objectives". Retrieved 23 August 2012.

* v
* t
* e

Schools and colleges in Croydon

Primary|

* Oasis Academy Shirley Park
* West Thornton Primary School
* Whitehorse Manor Junior School
* Winterbourne Boys' Academy

Secondary|

* Archbishop Lanfranc Academy
* Archbishop Tenison's School
* BRIT School
* Coloma Convent Girls' School
* Harris Academy Beulah Hill
* Harris Academy Purley
* Harris Academy South Norwood
* Harris City Academy Crystal Palace
* Harris Invictus Academy Croydon
* The John Fisher School
* Meridian High School
* Norbury High School for Girls
* Oasis Academy Arena
* Oasis Academy Coulsdon
* Oasis Academy Shirley Park
* Orchard Park High School
* The Quest Academy
* Riddlesdown Collegiate
* St Joseph's College
* St Mary's RC High School
* Shirley High School
* Thomas More RC School
* Woodcote High School

Special|

* Rutherford School
* St Giles School

Independent|

* Al-Khair School
* Cambridge Tutors College
* The Cedars School
* Croydon High School
* Elmhurst School
* Laleham Lea School
* The Laurels School
* Old Palace School
* Royal Russell School
* St David's School
* Trinity School of John Whitgift
* Whitgift School

Further education|

* Croydon College
* Coulsdon Sixth Form College
* John Ruskin College

Defunct|

* Commonweal Lodge
* Croham Hurst School
* Falconbury School
* Purley High School for Boys
* St Andrew's CE High School
* Selhurst High School

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