Established 1872 Chair of Governors Paula Carter Founded 1872 | Headteacher Jill Aisher Founder Arthur Tooth | |
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Motto Perseverantia, Sapientia, Gratia Type Preparatory school (United Kingdom) Location Otford Court
Otford
Kent
TN14 5SA
England | ||
St Michael's Prep School is a coeducational preparatory school in Otford, located in a 90-acre (360,000 m2) site in the North Downs, Kent, England.
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History
St Michael's was founded at Hatcham in 1872 by the Reverend Arthur Tooth as a school and home for the sons of the clergy, naval and military officers as well as professionals who had suffered bereavement or fallen on hard times. The school now has more than 460 pupils.
Abuse allegations
In 2005, actor John Hurt stated in an interview with the Independent on Sunday that when he was a pupil at the school he was abused by Donald Cormack, then Senior Master of the school and later became Head Teacher until his retirement in 1981. According to Hurt, Cormack used to remove his two false front teeth and insert his tongue into boys' mouths. Hurt also said that Cormack used to rub the boys' faces with his stubble. Hurt said that the experience affected him "hugely". According to the interviewer, Sholto Byrnes, he and Hurt have a mutual friend who had earlier made the same allegations to Byrnes.