St Ronan's School

Introduction

St. Ronan's School is a co-educational establishment located near Hawkhurst in Kent. It currently has about 150 boys and 100 girls, all of them day pupils, although boarding is available from time to time. The present headmaster is William Trelawny-Vernon, who was previously a housemaster at Stowe School.

History

(This section is incomplete)

The school was founded in 1883 and was originally located in Worthing. During the Second World War, however, it moved to its present location in Tongswood House. Before passing into the school's hands Tongswood House belonged to the Gunthers, a wealthy mercantile family who were at one time Lord Lieutenants of Kent.

Sir John Vassar-Smith, Bt., was headmaster of the school for a long period until his retirement in 1997. His son, Richard, now teaches science at the school.

He was succeeded by Edward Yeats-Brown, who in turn was succeeded by the present headmaster.

Classes

(This section is incomplete)

The school is divided into two parts: Pre-Prep and Prep. The Prep School contains the following classes:

• Class II (Year 3, i.e. 8 year olds)
• Class I (Year 4, 9 year olds)
• Shell (Year 5, 10 year olds)
• Midway (Year 6, 11 year olds)
• Upper (Year 7, 12 year olds)
• CE (Year 8, 13 year olds)
• Schol (Year 8, 13 year olds)

In practice all of the classes are divided into several groups taught by different teachers. The exception to this rule is Schol, which is a single unified class. CE and Schol contain children of the same age, but CE is for those who plan to take Common Entrance into their chosen secondary school, whereas Schol is for those who plan to take the scholarship route. Prior to the retirement of John Vassar-Smith the system was somewhat different, as follows:

• Class II
• Ib
• Ia
• Shell
• Midway
• Schol

Each class tended to contain a mixture of ages since advancement was based most of all on academic ability. In the present system pupils are generally only ever advanced a year beyond their age group.

On a etymological note, Shell got its name from the fact that its classroom was originally the large apse of the ballroom now known as the 'Great Space'.