St Ronan's School
St. Ronan's School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for boys and girls from 2½ to 13 years located near Hawkhurst in Kent, England. 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
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. He was succeeded by Edward Yeats-Brown, who in turn was succeeded by the present headmaster.
Classes
The school is divided into two parts: Pre-Prep and Prep. The Prep School contains Year 3, i.e. 8 year olds to Year 8, 13 year olds.
Originally, 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.
How it changed since the new headmaster
Since the arrival of William Trelawny-Vernon, the current headmaster, the school has undergone a shocking decline in academic results and more so in teaching levels. The music department is now particularly poor with the music teachers being unable to sightread music and being shown up by one or two talented pupils. In 2007 the three members of the old St Ronan's left, all of whom achieved scholarships to major public schools. It is worth noting that these students received no support from the school and certain members of staff actually hindered them. The former Maths teacher, Mrs Joanna Yeats-Brown, was replaced by Mr Steven Springthorpe, who is quite possibly the worst teacher and most revolting human being in the world. It is sad to see a school, once academically brilliant, musically good and always supportive of the pupils, to be in such a sorry state.