Copthorne Preparatory School


Copthorne Preparatory School is an independent preparatory school for children aged between two and thirteen near Copthorne in West Sussex, but just over the county boundary in Surrey.
The school is owned by an educational trust. It has a nursery school for infants from the age of 2½, a junior department for children under the age of eight, and a main school for those aged eight to thirteen.

Buildings

The main building, or 'Old Block', is largely taken up by dormitories and sleeping quarters for staff, but it also has the school's dining room, a music room, a theatre, and some classrooms. The 'New Block' is the main teaching building.

History

The 'Old Block' of Copthorne Preparatory School began as a private English country house called Emsworth House and in the 19th century was owned by a family called Kensington. In 1900, it became a small girls' school. In 1902, after that had closed, Bernard Rendall, a brother of Montague Rendall, then the Second Master of Winchester College, founded the present school with a view to preparing boys for Winchester.
The Rendalls had a brother-in-law, Dr Edward Wilson, one of the men who died in 1913 while on Robert Falcon Scott's polar expedition, and Wilson used Copthorne School to prepare for his trip, with the boys giving money to provide huskies. A stained glass window in the school chapel commemorates him.
The school motto, Pervincet Vivida Virtus may be inspired by the lines of the Swiss writer Henricus Loritus Glareanus, in his poem Ad Erasmum Roterodamum -
In 1928, Edward Skeete Workman took over the running of the school in partnership with J.P. Howard. Tim Workman took over as Headmaster in 1952 on the death of his father and was later joined as joint Headmaster by David Sale. Then Sale was joint Headmaster with David Cann and then with David Newton. Sale died in 1984, David Newton was the sole Headmaster until his retirement in 1999, then was followed by Charles Allen who was Headmaster for six years. The present head, Kylie McGregor was appointed in 2025.
During the Second World War, the school was evacuated to the Lee Bay Hotel in Ilfracombe. Its home was requisitioned for use by the Army and then by the Royal Air Force.
In 1976 the school was formed into a charitable trust, and in 1980 girls were admitted for the first time. A Pre-Prep school was started in the late 1970s.
A Nursery was opened in 1997. The school is now predominantly a day school, although some children board weekly and others flexi-board.
Copthorne School is in Surrey and has some of playing fields and woodland. It is now a member of the Caterham Family of Schools, affiliated with Caterham School.

Notable former pupils

Former pupils of the school, known as Old Copthornians, include:
  • Derek Abbott, scientist and engineer
  • Charles Brutton, soldier, Clerk of the peace, and cricketer
  • Charles Graves, author
  • Robert Graves, poet, novelist
  • Richard Perceval Graves, biographer, poet
  • Stuart Head, Great Britain and England field hockey international
  • Sir Adrian Holman, diplomat
  • Rory Knight-Bruce, author, journalist
  • Dennis Price, actor
  • Frederic Raphael, author
  • Edward Sanders, actor
  • Oliver Stewart, First World War flying ace
  • Sir John Stanley, Conservative member of parliament
  • Crispian Steele-Perkins, classical trumpet player
  • Derek Tangye, author
  • Francis Wheen, journalist

    Notable former staff

  • Sarah Kennedy, radio and television presenter who was matron at the school for a time