Wetherby School

Wetherby School is an independent school for boys aged 2 1/2 to 8 located in Notting Hill, London. Prince William and Prince Harry attended the pre-prep school in Notting Hill.

This article is about the independent school in London. For the state school in Leeds, see Wetherby High School.

Wetherby School
(Pre-prep)
Address
Pembridge Square

London
,
W2 4ED

England
Information
TypeIndependent pre-prep day school
MottoCare, Share and Be Fair
Established1951
Local authorityKensington and Chelsea
Department for Education URN100519 Tables
OfstedReports
Head teacherMr Mark Snell
GenderMale
Age2 1/2 to 8
Enrolment360
Colour(s)Grey, Red         
Websitewww.wetherbyschool.co.uk

The school is named after Wetherby Place, in turn named after a West Yorkshire town, Wetherby. It is not to be confused with Wetherby High School, the Yorkshire town's local secondary school.

It is part of the Alpha Plus Education Group and is a member of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools.

History

Wetherby School was founded in 1951 as a pre-preparatory school for boys aged 4–8. In 2004 it opened a preparatory department (known as Wetherby Prep, and intended to be a separate school) in a nearby building, allowing boys to stay on until the age of 13. The prep school has since moved to its current location in the City of Westminster. The pre-preparatory school had, as of 2017, 360 boys on its roll, including 88 in Reception. It has since opened a nursery section ("Little Wetherby") for boys aged 2½ to 4.

The school's original building, in 1951, was in Wetherby Place in south Kensington (hence the name, Wetherby School) but in 1971 it moved to its present building in Pembridge Square, on the other side of Kensington Gardens. The school building is a white stucco double fronted Victorian house in the Italianate style typical of Notting Hill and Holland Park architecture, constructed in about 1850. It is on the south side of Pembridge Square, a private garden square with keyholder-only access which the boys use as their playground.

The school was in the middle of a public row with the working unions in March 2019 that was reported by the Financial Times in which leaflets were given to parents outside the school asking them to support the teachers following the school's decision to quit the Teachers' Pension Scheme.[1]

This was followed by another public row, this time with parents, during the Coronavirus crisis in April 2020 that was reported by both The Times[2] and the Financial Times[3] as the school initially insisted in a letter signed by the parent company's CEO, Mark Hanley-Browne, that fees would still be fully payable even if its physical sites were closed. This attitude was described by parents as "the kind of behaviour you’d expect from a distressed hedge fund". The school finally reversed course and wrote to parents announcing it would cut summer fees by 20 per cent. This fee reduction could affect the value of the school in the parent company's accounts as it is based on the fees that the private equity owner expects to obtain during the next ten years something that may explain its reluctance to cut fees contrary to other UK institutions that introduced fee cuts on their own initiative.[4]

Admissions

Pupils are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and operates, therefore, no entrance examination, test or interview. The result is that the school caters for boys of many different abilities and talents.

The fees for the 2019-2020 academic year are £7,710 per term and are increased each year in accordance to, among other factors, the ten year plan set by the Alpha Plus Group for the valuation of its assets. The fees are currently higher than in comparable schools such as Thomas's that charges £7,143 in Kensington and £6,429 in Battersea.

However, because fees are charged (and, to a lesser extent, because of the smart neighbourhood in which it is located), the boys tend to come from a fairly narrow professional family background. It is also a single-sex school, although it is in the same ownership as Pembridge Hall, a similar school for girls which is also located in Pembridge Square. There are no formal joint activities between the two schools, but many children in each school have siblings at the other school.

Uniform

The boys wear a uniform of grey shorts, grey blazers with red trim, white shirts and plain red ties; and a grey peaked cap. The school logo "WS" in red is on the cap and on the breast pocket of the blazer.

Preparatory school
Wetherby Preparatory School
Address
Prep:
48 Bryanston Square
London
W1H 2EA
Information
TypeIndependent day school
Established2004
2015 (senior school)
Local authorityCity of Westminster
Department for Education URN134822 Tables
Head teacherNick Baker
GenderMale
Age7 to 13
Enrolment374
Websitewww.wetherbyprep.co.uk

In 2004, Wetherby expanded to open a prep division for boys aged 7 to 13, sited in Bryanston Square, London. In September 2012, Wetherby Prep was awarded 'Prep School of the Year' at the annual Tatler School Awards at the Dorchester Hotel.[5]

The fees for the 2019-2020 academic year are £7825 per term and are increased each year in accordance to, among other factors, the ten year plan set by the Alpha Plus Group for the valuation of its assets.

Senior school
Wetherby Senior School
Address
Senior:
100 Marylebone Lane
London
W1U 2QB
Information
TypeIndependent day school
Established2004
2015 (senior school)
Local authorityCity of Westminster
Department for Education URN142336 Tables
Head teacherSeth Bolderow
GenderMale
Age11 to 18
Enrolment337
Websitewww.wetherbysenior.co.uk

Due to popular demand, the senior school for boys aged 11 to 18 opened for its first intake in September 2015.[6][7] It is located at the former premises of DLD College London on Marylebone Lane, a ten-minute walk away from the prep school.

The fees for the 2019-2020 academic year are £8310 per term and are increased each year in accordance to, among other factors, the ten year plan set by the Alpha Plus Group for the valuation of its assets.

The Senior school continued to generate losses during the 2018/19 academic year and the parent company does not expect that the situation will change until 2021 the earliest.[8]

Wetherby Kensington
Wetherby Kensington School
Address
4 Wetherby Gardens

London
,
SW5 0JN
Information
TypeIndependent day school
Established2017
Local authorityRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Department for Education URN144516 Tables
Head teacherHelen Milnes
GenderMale
Age4 to 8
Enrolment150
Websitewww.wetherby-kensington.co.uk

Wetherby Kensington is the most recent school to join the Wetherby family, with their doors opening in September 2017. Wetherby Kensington is situated on Wetherby Gardens in Kensington, which is the same street that the original Wetherby School was based back in 1951, and takes boys from Reception – Year 3 (4-8 years old). Helen Milnes, former Deputy Head Pastoral at Wetherby School Notting Hill, is the current Headmistress.

The school was widely featured in the press during 2017 when it was rumoured that Prince George would be joining although the Royal Family finally chose to have him attending Thomas's Battersea.[9][10]

Alumni

References
  1. Hale, Thomas (28 March 2019). "The Alpha Plus pension problem". Aphaville. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  2. Griffiths, Sian (5 April 2020). "William's former school shamed into cutting fees". The Times. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. "TimesUK private schools feel pandemic squeeze". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. Griffiths, Sian (29 March 2020). "Eton and King's cut fees as sop to parents". The Times. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  5. "Tatler School Awards 2012". Tatler. 12 September 2012.
  6. "'You could open a school in a cowshed and still fill it'". Times Educational Supplement. 7 March 2014.
  7. "Wetherby Senior School Opens in Marylebone". Alpha Plus Group.
  8. "Alpha Plus 2019 Accounts" (PDF).
  9. "Change for Prince George".
  10. "Exciting news about Prince George".
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