Reigate St Mary's Preparatory and Choir School is a mixed private prep and choir school in Reigate, Surrey, England.
The school was established in 1949 to serve as the choir school of , and still has that function. In 2003 it became affiliated to Reigate Grammar School and serves as its junior school, with some three-quarters of children leaving the school going on to RGS.
History
In 1918, Godfrey Searle, a Reigate stockbroker, established a fund to provide choral scholarships at Reigate Grammar School for the boy choristers of St Mary's Church. This arrangement came to an end as the result of the school becoming a non-fee-paying selective grammar school under the Education Act 1944, for boys who passed the Eleven-plus, with no provision for teaching junior boys.Alan Mould, The English Chorister: A History (Hambledon Continuum, 2007), pp. 220–221
Reigate St Mary's School was founded in 1949 as a prep school for boys only, with the initial purpose of educating the junior St Mary's choristers and recruiting new ones. At the outset, the Rev. J. P. H. Hobson MA (Oxon) was appointed as headmaster,"HOBSON, John Philip Hilary" in Crockford's Clerical Directory: A Reference Book of the Clergy of the Church of England and of Other Churches in Communion with the See of Canterbury, Volumes 87-88 (Oxford University Press, 1977), p. 473: "HOBSON, John Philip Hilary. b 20. Keble Coll Ox BA 42, MA 46. Offic Dio Edin 46-50; Hd Master St Mary's Sch Reigate from 50: Publ Pr Dio Swark from 50; Perm to Offic Dio Chich from 56. St Mary's School, Reigate, (Reigate 44880)" and John Whitworth, a lay vicar and countertenor at Westminster Abbey, was employed to teach the boys music and singing.Garry Humphreys, "John Whitworth: Celebrated countertenor", in The Independent, 15 September 2013, accessed 20 June 2020
In its early days, boys were admitted to the school at the ages of eight or nine and left when they were about eleven or thirteen."Reigate St. Mary’s Preparatory School" in Surrey Mirror, Friday 26 August 1949, p. 6 In 1950, the school was recognized as efficient by the Ministry of Education."Reigate St. Mary’s Preparatory School" in Surrey Mirror, Friday 7 July 1950, p. 8 Hobson, also a magistrate, was a strict disciplinarian with a zero-tolerance policy towards swearing.Neil Powell, "Minding Our Language" in PN Review 205, vol. 38, number 5 (May–June 2012) In 1961, Hobson married, and his wife joined him in a flat at the school."HOBSON John P H / STEVEN / Tonbridge 5b 2431: STEVEN Evelyn J / HOBSON / Tonbridge 5b 2431" in General Index to Marriages in England and Wales, 1961; Electoral Register for Reigate Constituency – Central (No 1) Polling District (1962), Chart Lane, Flat 1, St Mary’s School at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 26 June 2020 Reigate St Mary's was noted as a successful English choir school in The Music Yearbook, 1973,The Music Yearbook, Vol. 2 (Macmillan, 1973), p. 653 and in 1992 was recommended for its choral music in the Organists' Review."Choral Music” in Organists' Review, vols. 76–78, issue 305 (Incorporated Association of Organists, 1992), p. 236
A new headmaster appointed in 1983, J. Anthony Hart, came from being a housemaster at Scarborough College."HART, John Anthony, b. 3 Mar. 1938" in Ernest Kay, ed., International Who's Who in Education, Vol. 3 (1987), p. 249
In 1998, the school was still for boys only, with an age range from five to thirteen, but with an attached Day Nursery for children between three and five."Larkspur Day Nursery" in Crawley News (Sussex, England), Wednesday 28 October 1998, p. 26 In that year, a sports master at the school, Nick Drewett, killed himself shortly before he was due to appear in court charged with child abuse.Suicide verdict on teacher The Independent, Friday 15 May 1998, accessed 20 June 2020 Another master had also been charged with him; they were subsequently acquitted. Drewett's death led to Crispin Blunt, member of parliament for Reigate, calling for anonymity for schoolteachers accused but not convicted of sexual misconduct.Hansard, House of Commons debate 30 March 1999, publications.parliament.uk, accessed 6 December 2020
By 2004, the school was co-educational.The Independent Schools Guide 2004-2005: A Fully Comprehensive Directory (Gabbitas Educational Consultants, 2004), p. 166 In 2012, the number of children was 290, of whom 190 were boys and 100 girls. By 2016, the total had increased to 337, with 147 girls and 190 boys.
In 2015, nineteen school-leavers won scholarships at Reigate Grammar School, Box Hill School, and Dunottar.David Grantham, Scholarship success for Reigate St Mary’s, at reigate.uk, 16 April 2015, accessed 12 June 2020
School campus Reigate St Mary's occupies a fifteen-acre campus of parkland and sports fields on Chart Lane, Reigate, on the outskirts of the historic town centre.Which School? (Truman & Knightley Educational Trust, 1987), p. 136
The three main buildings are Sunnyside, a Victorian house which belonged to Godfrey Searle, founder of the St Mary's Church Choir; Beech House, built about 2007, now the main classroom block, including a large sports hall; and Cedar House, with the kindergarten and the ICT rooms. A smaller science and arts building also contains the Year 6 classrooms. There is a dining hall and a separate building for the Green Shoots Nursery.Reigate St Mary's review at muddystilettos.co.uk, accessed 15 June 2020; and see Hero Brown muddystilettos.co.uk at The Good Web Guide, December 2018, accessed 23 June 2020
A Garden of Remembrance commemorates choristers of St Mary's Church, Reigate, lost in both World Wars.Reigate St Mary’s Remembers Choristers Lost in the World Wars at choirschools.org.uk, accessed 21 June 2020
Curriculum and character The school provides a broad education, within a tradition of choral singing and Christian values.Independent Schools Yearbook 2012–2013 (A. & C. Black, 20 June 2013 ), p. 1054 There are specialist teaching facilities for music, ICT, and art, and an Early Years Foundation Stage centre for children up to the age of five.
In the ICT classrooms, one suite uses Apple Mac computers and another PCs, and children begin to attend ICT lessons there while in the kindergarten. From Year 4, each pupil has an iPad. The foreign languages taught are French, Spanish, and German.Reigate St Mary’s Preparatory and Choir School at schoolsmith.co.uk, accessed 21 June 2020
School sports are played during the day, and the school is divided into four houses, called Hobson, Malcolmson, Osmond, and Searle, identified by the colours green, blue, yellow, and red, respectively, which compete at rugby, soccer, field hockey, cricket, netball, athletics, and cross-country running.Welcome A Parent’s Guide to life at Reigate St Mary’s 2015–16 at reigategrammar.org, accessed 19 June 2020
Most children at the school come from business and professional families in its locality and reflect the cultural diversity of the population. In conjunction with the Independent Association of Prep Schools, the school has developed a programme called "Education for Social Responsibility". In October 2019, the headmaster commented to The Daily Telegraph "We’ve seen the strength of feeling among the younger generation, as it’s their future we are jeopardising. The need for children to understand what it means to be socially responsible couldn’t be more important."Helena Pozniak, How can you avoid children bunking off school to protest? Put activism on the curriculum, in The Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2019, accessed 20 June 2020
Most Year groups have two classes, but the school is still growing. In September 2020, it is planning to launch a third Year 3 class.Dylan Wiggan, The ingredients for academic success at Reigate St Mary’s, Surrey Live at getsurrey.co.uk, 30 January 2020, accessed 12 June 2020
Choirs Choristers are recruited up to the age of eleven.Reigate St Mary's Preparatory and Choir School, choirschools.org.uk, accessed 15 June 2020 The school has three choirs led by a Head of Choral Music and is a member of the Choir Schools' Association. It is one of the few such schools not affiliated to a cathedral or college.School and Cathedral list at choirschools.org.uk, accessed 20 June 2020 For a school to be a full member of the CSA, it must provide a choir that sings a minimum of four services a week in a particular cathedral, church, or chapel.Peter Kingston, Reaching Out (2010) at choirschools.org.uk, accessed 11 June 2020
In 2000, John Tobin was appointed as Master of Choristers and remained in post until 2014. In his time, the school choir made appearances at Westminster Cathedral, Chichester Cathedral, the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, and Arundel Cathedral. It also sang with Keith Urban, worked on feature film soundtracks, including Milk (2008), Astro Boy (2009),John Tobin at clarionsingers.com, accessed 21 June 2020 and Angels & Demons (2009), and was featured on the soundtrack of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010).Reigate - Choir gets big screen break, TES editorial, 12 March 2010, accessed 21 June 2020 The school choristers also sang two tracks on Michael W. Smith's album It's a Wonderful Christmas (2007)It's a Wonderful Christmas at AllMusic, accessed 20 June 2020 and in the recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Love Never Dies (2010).Love Never Dies at AllMusic, accessed 20 June 2020
In 2016, pupil standards in choral music at Reigate St Mary's were found on inspection to be "exceptional". The school choir was regularly performing in local and national events, including singing at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.Inspection Report Dec 2015 at netdna-ssl.com, paragraph 3.5, accessed 11 June 2020"Reigate students sing at the Rugby World Cup welcome ceremony", surreylife.co.uk, 23 September 2015, accessed 19 June 2020
The singer Mike Christie began his musical career by winning a choral scholarship to the school.Review Mike Christie 10 Years On at celebrityradio.biz, accessed 12 June 2020
The school's archives contain letters written to Godfrey Searle, its founder, by former St Mary's choir boys serving overseas in the First World War.Sarah George, "Fascinating First World War letters unearthed from a Reigate school's archives describe soldiers preparations for war", Surrey Live, 14 November 2017, accessed 25 June 2020
School day The formal school day runs from 8:25 am to 3:30 pm, but children can arrive earlier for breakfast at 7:30 am, and there is an "Extended Day" programme until 6 pm, including a hot meal in the Dining Room at 5 pm.Wrap Around Care at reigatestmarys.org, accessed 12 June 2020 "Wraparound" all-day childcare is available all round the year, apart from four weeks in the summer holiday period.Reigate St Mary’s Prep and Choir School (RSM) at priceless-magazines.com/education, accessed 15 June 2020
Extracurricular activities Many children play a musical instrument. In 2016, pupils were playing chess for the county team.
The school has an indoor heated swimming pool, and additional sports include archery, fencing, and benchball.Reigate St Mary's at ultimateactivity.co.uk, accessed 12 June 2020