Wimbledon College
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Wimbledon College is a state-maintained voluntary-aided Roman Catholic (Jesuit) secondary school for boys aged 11 to 18.
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[edit] General
The school is based at Edge Hill, Wimbledon, London SW19 4NJ. (Telephone: 020 8946 2533)
It was founded in 1892 "for improvement in living and learning to the greater glory of God and the common good" and to bring up students as "men for others". It is currently the second largest boys school in England[citation needed].
The school has a joint sixth form with the all-girls Ursuline High School, Wimbledon. That school is situated nearby, on Crescent Road.
Currently the Headmaster is Father Adrian Porter SJ, who took over from Father Michael J Holman SJ in 2004. Father Holman's main contributions to the school, in the late '90s and early 21st century, include an entire renovation of the old gym and swimming pool into a new Sports Hall, Learning Resources Centre (LRC) and IT Suite. Shortly after leaving the post of headmaster at the College, Father Holman was appointed the Jesuit Provincial for Great Britain.
Since Father Porter's appointment as headmaster, the College undergone even more changes, including a new visitors' entrance; refurbished classrooms, the addition of an electronic registration system (used in parrallel with traditional registration still, however) and the movement of the LRC and IT Department to the location of the Sixth Form Centre (which has been moved to the location of the former LRC and IT Suites). Since Father Porter's appointment, the College has also had the length of academic Fridays increased, ending now at 3:10 PM rather than 1:40 PM, as was during Father Holman's appointment,and Father Porter's prevous 2:40 PM.
The College is well known in many areas of education and extra curricular activities, including football and rugby (which for the last 25 years has been under the coaching of Alan Clement, Head of Physical Education at the College). The school is also known for music: a new music department was constructed in 2005. For the last 25 years, music has been directed by Robert 'Bob' Rathbone.
The College is well known for its school plays. One is produced and shown every year for two/three nights under the direction of Simon Potter and Jonathan Lomas. The Potter/Lomas Production has been known for well over a decade amongst the school and local community and unfortunately ended in 2006 when Jonathon Lomas left the college. Productions have included: The Ghost Train, The Pirates of Penzance, Forty Years On, West Side Story and more recently Black Comedy and Les Misérables, to be shown early 2007.
The deputy-heads at Wimbledon College are Vincent Capaldi, Angela Reeves, Michael Mahoney and John Austin
[edit] External links
[edit] Miscellaneous
- "The Jesuits in Britain"
- Wimbledon College Southern India Project Website
- DFES page
- Merton Council information
- Ofsted inspection report, 2001 (downloadable pdf)
[edit] Famous former pupils
- Eugene Esmonde - WWII naval pilot, led attack on Bismarck, awarded the Victoria Cross after Channel Dash
- Christopher Hewett - late actor
- Sir John Keegan - English military historian
- Des Kelly - national newspaper journalist, columnist
- Sir Anthony Leggett - winner of 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics
- George Malcolm - musician
- Paul Merton - comedian, writer and TV presenter
- Gerald Robert O'Sullivan - Captain awarded the Victoria Cross in WWI
- John Patten, Baron Patten - politician
- Patrick Reid - Colditz Castle escaper, WWII, and author subsequently
