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School History
Our Lady’s Preparatory School was founded due to the overwhelming desire and dedication of Father Daniel Boyle to have a Catholic school in Crowthorne, which would offer an accessible Catholic Education to the children in the surrounding area. Father Boyle was the priest at the Church of the Holy Ghost, Crowthorne from 1948 to his death in 1973.
One Sunday morning in September 1961 Father Dan, as he was fondly known, announced that from the next week there would be a school in the parish that any Catholic child could attend. This determined gentleman, who was once a teacher of mathematics, had recruited his Aunt; Mother Michael of the Order of Poor Clare’s and some of her companions to run the school. The original teachers, all Nuns, arrived from Newry, Northern Ireland and began the business of educating the children. Our Lady of the Angels, as it was originally named, opened its doors on 19th September 1961. For a short while the school was run in a charming house called “Aldworth”, which stood on the land now known as Aldworth Close. As children we were privileged to gain our education in the home of the incumbent Nuns – I am not sure they felt quite so lucky to have us in their living space. By October 1962 the school role had grown from 40 to over 100 and a school management committee had been set up to assist the busy Priest in the running of the establishment. It was at this time that the Charitable Trust was established and a Board of Trustees was formed. Funds were raised and the house next to “Aldworth” was purchased by the Trust. This house was called “Meadhurst” and is the original building which can be seen today to the right of the school as you look at it. By 1968 more space was required and the other neighbouring house “The Ousels” was acquired. This space is now primarily dedicated to housing some of the youngest children at Our Lady’s and is entered by what is commonly known as the Nursery Door. At this time application was sought and granted to increase the permitted numbers of pupils to 240. In the early 1980’s the two separate buildings were joined by a single storey building housing the school hall and an additional classroom. This classroom is currently the Baby Room and remains one of the brightest rooms in the school. Over the years it has been favoured by various Teachers and once installed it has proved difficult to persuade them to move to another room in which to teach. Another decade passed before any further building was undertaken and a second storey was added to the central area of the school. This development housed three upstairs classrooms and was an exciting addition to the establishment. Pupils and Teachers alike revelled in the space and facilities of the purpose built rooms. In the millennium year a fund raising project was launched and the school hall was doubled in size. The children and staff of Our Lady’s have benefitted and appreciated the space created by the decision on the part of the Board of Trustees to carry out this building, providing what is an unusually large communal area for a small school. At this time a corridor at the front of the school was also created which enabled a clear passage from one end of the school to the other without passing through the school hall. Over the last nine years various internal alterations have been carried out; such as the creation of the Rainbow Room, now housing cots for sleeping babies. The installation of the commercial style kitchen, facilitating the provision of nutritious hot meals to the children and staff, is probably the most ambitious project undertaken of late and is now an intrinsic part of the school.
As with any developing business there are many ambitions and plans for Our Lady’s and it will be interesting to read this brief history in years to come and witness what changes have taken place. In my long association with the school one thing has struck me above all others and that is that the heart and soul of this community lies with the people within and not the bricks and mortar of the buildings.
Helene Robinson
Headmistress
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