Westbourne House School

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Westbourne House School is an independent preparatory school 1½ miles east of Chichester, West Sussex, England. It is co-educational and serves boarding and day-school pupils from ages 3-13. The current headmaster is Brendan Law BA Hons (PG), HDE.

[edit] History

The school was founded in Folkestone on 29th January 1907 and was accommodated in a purpose built school called Westbourne House. The first Headteacher, Miss Hare, ran the school until 1932 when Mr Geoffrey Shilcock took over and changed the school from a pre-preparatory to a preparatory school.

In 1938, with war looming, a temporary safer home was found for the school at Upcott near Barnstaple and in 1939, the school moved to Devon where it remained for seven happy years. Unfortunately, the original building was damaged during the war and so a search was made for another suitable premises. In 1946, the school bought Shopwyke Park which had been requisitioned during the war and now stood empty. After clearing away the Nissen huts from the grounds and some repair of the building, the boys started their first term here in September of 1947.

In 1961, Mr Shilcock decided to retire and the school was due to close. However, the Sharmans bought the school and with the help of Mr Maurice Ellis, the recently retired Head of the Mall School, Twickenham and Miss Blackman, a stalwart of the staff, the school began to grow. In 1967 it became a Charitable Trust in order for all the money to be put back into the school without the burden of tax. Mr and Mrs Sharman developed Westbourne House into a well respected and well loved school. On their retirement in 1989, Mr Sharman became the Chairman and Mrs Sharman a member of the Board of Governors.

Since that time, the school continued to develop in size, structure and methods. Under the stewardship of Stephen Rigby, the school doubled in size, introduced co-education, developed art and music and undertook an ambitious building program. Mr Rigby moved on in 2003 after 14 successful years as Headmaster. Brendan Law was appointed as his successor in September 2003 and the school has continued to develop and grow under his direction. The school is in a secure position in its 100th year.