Rokeby Preparatory School

Wimbledon (1877–1966)

The school was founded in Wimbledon on 18 September 1877 originally at "Helmsley" (no. 47, Woodhayes Road) by Charles Olive, an Oxford graduate. The Helmsley site is just across the road from the current location of KCS, Wimbledon, which at the time of Rokeby's founding had yet to move from its central London campus. In the first term, however, not a single pupil appeared. In the second term the first boy enrolled (Charles J. Saunders), who later won a scholarship to Merchant Taylors' and continued onto St John's, Oxford. By the end of the first year there were 15 boys attending the school. A year later numbers had increased sufficiently to warrant a larger premises, so the school was moved to another house known as "Rokeby" (at no. 17, The Downs) in 1879 – a site now occupied by Hall School Wimbledon.

When the Association of Preparatory Schools was founded in 1892 (a precursor to the current IAPS), Rokeby was one of the first members.

Kingston (1966–present)

In 1965 the then owner of the school stated his intent to close it, and a group of parents decided that it should be rescued. Rokeby Educational Trust Limited, a charity, was set up in 1966 to establish a successor school on its current site in George Road Kingston. The George Road building (formerly known as "Coombe Croft") was one of a number of houses on George Road that had been owned by the Galsworthy family (whose members included John Galsworthy, author of The Forsyte Saga). Although by this date it was no longer residential, the buildings were still largely laid out as a country house. Over the years, significant investments have been made. First, there was major conversion work in the main house, then the building of the hall and science block, and a kitchen. The 1990s saw the rebuilding of the pre-prep accommodation, followed by the art wing and improved music facilities at the beginning of this decade. There has also been a significant refurbishment of the library, dining room and office accommodation, and a major investment in enhancing IT capabilities in recent years. The new Lower School Building comprising 6 classrooms, a performing arts hall and outdoor play space for the junior boys was officially opened by HRH Princess Alexandra on 16 October 2013.

For many years, the school made use of external sports facilities that were hired from year to year. After nearly 10 years of searching, the school bought its own sports fields in Worcester Park in 2003, some 10 minutes from the school, where a new pavilion was built. The motto of the school is "Smart, Skilful and Kind", which was coined by headmaster Jason Peck when he took over in 2007. Peck had been deputy headmaster to Michael Siegel, who authored a textbook, Latin: A Fresh Approach. There are four houses to which students belong: Bazelgette, Galsworthy, Moody and Olive.

A book by Peter Wicker, headmaster 1968–85, charting the history of the school's first 125 years (1877–2002), was published in late 2009: Rokeby: the first 125 years.

Uniform

The uniform of Junior Rokeby (itself started in 1970), until the unification of the junior and senior schools, was a grey pair of shorts above the knees, a grey woollen blazer with the Junior Rokeby wheel crest and a red and black schoolboy cap. A white, short-sleeved shirt with a red and black striped tie was worn. The senior school wore grey trousers with a grey woollen blazer, distinguishable from the Junior Rokeby blazer by its red and black piping on the lapels. The tie carries grey, black and red stripes. In 2009, Headmaster Jason Peck revamped the uniform by replacing the black in the official school colours with blue in an attempt to bring the school more in line with his views on progressive education. He also scrapped the separate junior school uniform.

School song

To mark the occasion of the Rokeby Centenary, in 1977, Ian Gregory (who taught Latin at the time) composed a Rokeby School song, based loosely on the Carmen Saeculare of Horace, and put to music by Paul Sherrell, then Head of Music. A version of the song follows first in Latin and then in English:

Recent leavers' destinations

Year 8 Boys' destination schools between 2004-2014:

Fees

School fees per term for the 2016/2017 Academic Year are as follows:

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