The Oratory Preparatory School

The Oratory School was founded on 1 May 1859 in Edgbaston, a suburb in Birmingham, "for the education of [Roman Catholic] boys not destined to ecclesiastical estate", meaning not aiming to become priests. In 1922, the original school moved to Caversham Park near Reading, which offered better accommodation.

In 1925, the Oratory Preparatory School was established with just four boys, at Rose Hill House, a Georgian-style country house in Emmer Green, less than a mile away from the main school. Its first Headmaster was Father Sebastian Ritchie, and by 1930 its numbers were up to thirty boys.[1]

By 1941, the school, based at Caversham Park, was taking boys only between the ages of six and thirteen.[2]

In 1941 Caversham Park was sold, and the prep school merged temporarily with Worth School, which was at Downside Abbey for the duration of the war. Two terms later, the Oratory School re-established itself for senior boys at Woodcote House, and three cottages in Exlade Street were used for classes for a few boys aged about 10 to 13, pending the re-establishment of a prep school.[1]

In 1946 the Oratory Preparatory School re-opened at the Old Ryde, a fine house at Branksome Park, Poole, with 35 boys.[1] The school moved to its current site in 1969, with sixty acres of grounds, amid open countryside and woodland overlooking the Thames Valley, close to Reading. In 1977, a new Pre-Preparatory Department opened, with 21 children, who included girls for the first time. Under a new headmaster, Michael Randell, who took over in 1981, the school developed further and became fully coeducational.[1]

The school accepts children of all faiths, but still has close ties with the Roman Catholic church; Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, sits on the Board of Governors, and Cardinal Baum was a member until his death in 2015.[3] Children at the school are also expected to attend assemblies and weekly services.[4]

The school is in South Oxfordshire, England, although it has a Reading postcode, and is within the area of the Oxfordshire County Council Local Education Authority.

A majority of pupils sit the Common Entrance Examination and are accepted by nearby public schools such as Abingdon, Eton, Harrow, Marlborough, St Edward's School, Oxford, and Wellington.[5]

The 2010 ISI Inspection noted the school's broad curriculum and described the pupils' achievement and quality of teaching as "good".

Most children are day pupils, but the school makes provisions for up to sixty boarders from Year 4 upwards. Boarders have the option to board full-time or part-time.[6] There are seven boys’ dormitories and four for girls. The current maximum number of beds in any one dorm is ten, although most sleep six children each.

• 1925–1938: Father Sebastian Ritchie[1]
• 1938–1941: Ronald Richings[1]
• The school merged with Worth during the Second World War[1]
• 1946: Antony Patton[1]
• 1952: Cyril Bull[1]
• 1958: Christopher Maude[1]
• 1969: P. J. G. Stow. M.A.[7]
• 1977: George André Robertson
• 1981: Michael Randell[1]
• 1991–2006: David Sexon[1]
• 2006–2010: Richard Hillier, layer head of the Yehudi Menuhin School[1]
• 2010–2017: Joseph Smith[1]
• 2017: Rob Stewart[1]

• Tamara Taylor, woman rugby footballer
• Tim Atkins, hockey player

• School Website
• Profile on the ISC website
• ISI Inspection Report