Twickenham Preparatory School

General information

Twickenham Preparatory School was founded on Twickenham Green in 1969 and moved to its current site in 1992. The current building, known as ‘Beveree’, used to be owned by John Blow, the King’s Musician during the reign of Charles II.

The school has a rather unusual foundation. In the summer of 1969 parents at a boys’ prep school were told by the owner that the school had been sold. The new owner wanted to become Head, so the current salaried Head would no longer be required. Parents were up in arms: they respected the Headmaster, Rev. Donald Hill and had often chosen the school because of him.

A group of them decided to start their own school, with Rev. Hill as the Head. The new school opened the following term in a building on Twickenham Green with 15 pupils. Several teachers and the School Secretary moved to the new school with Rev. Hill. Numbers grew and by the end of the year there were 28 pupils.

As a school with a strong Christian family ethos, it was soon realised that it should become co-educational. Numbers at the mixed school grew to above 100 and the premises on the Green became too cramped. In 1992 the school moved to ‘Beveree’ in High Street, Hampton and in 1998 a major extension, providing a modern sports hall and a new Pre-Prep, was built to accommodate growing numbers. In 2012 new classrooms and facilities for art and music were added. We usually have about 270 pupils with two classes in every year group (Reception to Year 6) and one form each in Year 7 and Year 8.

Twickenham Prep is a charitable trust and as such is a not-for-profit organisation. The school has a board of governors who oversee the management of the school and set the strategic vision. Twickenham Prep is a member of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools (IAPS) and is regularly inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI).