Caldicott School

Caldicott School
Motto Per Victoriam Ad Gloriam
(Through victory to glory)
Established 1904
Type Preparatory school
Religion Church of England
Headmaster Simon Doggart
Chairman of the Governors Malcolm Swift
Founder Heald Jenkins
Location Farnham Royal
Buckinghamshire
England
Staff 50 (approx.)
Students 290 (approx.)
Gender Boys
Ages 7–13
Houses Cooper, Jenkins, McArthur & Wood
Colours Cerise and green
Former pupils Old Caldicotians
Website www.caldicott.com

Caldicott Preparatory School is a prep school for boys aged 7–13, in southern Buckinghamshire, England.

About Caldicott

Caldicott Preparatory School was founded in Hitchin, Hertfordshire in 1904 by James Heald Jenkins who named his school after his new bride, a Miss Theodora Caldicott Ingram. There were just eight boys. In 1938 the school moved to its present site in Farnham Royal in Buckinghamshire, and became a charitable trust in 1968 under the Headmaster at the time Peter Wright. Today there are around 250 boys. The present headmaster, Simon Doggart, was appointed in 1998; he came from Eton College where he taught history and was master-in-charge of cricket. He is a member of IAPS and the school’s governors include past parents, old boys and headmasters of public schools.

According to the school's website, many pupils at Caldicott subsequently win places at major independent schools, such as Eton College, Harrow School, Winchester College, Stowe School, Marlborough College, Wellington College, Haileybury College and Radley College.

The original Victorian house remains. New buildings have been created around it to provide more contemporary facilities. In 2004 the Centenary Hall was completed to provide a theatre for drama and music and a venue for functions.

Although central London is only 20 miles (32 km) away the school has 40 acres (160,000 m2) of grounds and playing fields. Burnham Beeches, a National Nature Reserve owned by the City of London Corporation is adjacent to the grounds and is often used by pupils. Heathrow Airport is 7 miles (11 km) away.

Child sex abuse

On 30 September 2008 the school was the subject of a feature documentary, Chosen, transmitted on More4 as part of the "True Stories" strand, about the sexual abuse that went on at the school during the late 1960s and early 1970s.[1] The headmaster Peter Wright was active in this, as well as a number of other teachers, targeting boys good at sports and, to a lesser extent, in the choir. In The Guardian published on the same day, a former parent alleged that Lord Justice Scott Baker former Chairman of the Board of Governors, and Simon Doggart the current headmaster, mishandled a case of alleged sexual abuse of their son by a teacher in the early 2000s.[2]

Martin Carson was dismissed for sexual abuse of a pupil in 1972, and went on to teach at the Harrodian School. He was subsequently prosecuted and found guilty of indecent assault and possessing indecent images of children in 2003.[3]

On 4 December 2011, Peter Wright and Hugh Henry, another teacher, were charged with child sex offences alleged to have taken place between 1959 and 1970. For Henry, the charges cover his period at Gayhurst School as well as at Caldicott. They appeared in court in Aylesbury on 21 December 2011 charged with a total of 35 offences against 12 pupils.[4][5] This was the second time that Peter Wright had been charged for child abuse offences; the first time, in 2003, the judge awarded a stay of proceedings predicated upon the passage of time since the offences were allegedly committed.[6]

Hugh Henry was found guilty of 11 counts of indecency, and two of gross indecency, towards a child, and pleaded guilty. He was killed by a train shortly before he was due to return to court for sentencing, his death a presumed suicide.[7]

On 18 December 2013 Peter Wright was convicted of sexually assaulting five pupils aged eight to 13 at Caldicott between 1959 and 1970.[8] Wright was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment on 6 February 2014.[9]

Thames Valley Police on 1 May 2012 charged another former teacher, John Addrison,[10] with sexual offences committed against children at the school between 1979 and 1981. Addrison was subsequently further charged[11] with child sex offences committed at Moor Park School near Ludlow, Shropshire, between 1985 and 1988. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 5 years' prison.

A further ex teacher, David Geddes, was also charged in November 2012, with four charges for offences against 3 school children between 1975 and 1977.[12][13] In the first trial there was a hung jury, and in the subsequent second trial he was acquitted.

More recently, under the current headmaster Simon Doggart, another incident of alleged child sexual abuse was reported in the late 2000s. The headmaster and the chairman of the board of governors, Lord Justice Scott Baker, suspended the teacher (who did not return) but failed to report the incident to the police or social services, contrary to the school's written policy on this matter.[2]

Houses

Each pupil in the school is a member of one of four houses. These are:

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "Chosen". Retrieved 6 February 2014. Chosen won the 2009 BAFTA for Best Single Documentary
  2. 1 2 Evans, Rob (30 September 2008). "Silence in school". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Ex-prep school teacher jailed for child abuse". Daily Telegraph. London. 1 April 2001. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. ↑ "Two ex-teachers charged over 50-year-old sex offences". BBC. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Two men charged with sexual offences against former pupils". CPS News Brief. Crown Prosecution Service. 5 December 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "Hansard 17 December 2007 Column 1108W". Hansard. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Stephen Wright (6 February 2014). "PE teacher, 82, at Nick Clegg's old prep school killed after being hit by a train two days before he was due to be sentenced for abusing young boy". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ex-prep school headteacher convicted of child sex offences". The Guardian. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Nick Clegg's ex-headmaster jailed for abusing boys". BBC News. BBC. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Man charged in connection with sex offences – Buckinghamshire". Thames Valley Police. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Man charged with sex offences – Buckinghamshire". Thames Valley Police. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  12. ↑ "Man to face trial for child sex offences". CPS Thames and Chiltern News. Crown Prosecution Service. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Man on Caldicott Preparatory School sex abuse charges". BBC News Beds, Herts and Bucks. BBC. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 51°33′04″N 0°37′15″W / 51.55111°N 0.62083°W / 51.55111; -0.62083

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