St James Independent Schools
St James Independent Schools are three fee-paying schools in England for children aged 2 to 18. The Nursery, Preparatory and Senior Girls' Schools are in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and the Senior Boys' School in Ashford, Surrey. The boys' school site was previously home to St David's School for Girls.
St James Independent Schools
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- St James Independent Schools
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In this article
Overview
Overview
In 2019 The Times UK School Guide ranked St James' Senior Girls School 102nd with 82.1% scoring A*-B at A-Level, and St James' Senior Boys 251st with 75.9% scoring A*- B at A-level.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — St James Independent Schools • Established — 1975 • Type — Private day school • Head Label — Heads • Head — David Brazier, Emma Bell, Hilary Wyatt • Address — Earsby Street, London W14 8SH; Church Road, Ashford, Surrey TW15 3DZ • Country — England • Gender — Boys and Girls • Lower Age — 2 • Upper Age — 18
Meditation and mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness
The St James Schools incorporate stillness, meditation and reflection techniques into the school routine.
Sanskrit Language
Sanskrit Language
Unusually for a UK school, the St James Schools teach Sanskrit., which is a compulsory second language for the prep students. Paul Moss, previous Headmaster of the school, says: "The Devanagri script and spoken Sanskrit are two of the best ways for a child to overcome stiffness of fingers and the tongue. Today’s European languages do not use many parts of the tongue and mouth while speaking or many finger movements while writing, whereas Sanskrit helps immensely to develop cerebral dexterity through its phonetics." Students of St James chanted Vedic hymns in the presence of Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2010 to celebrate the beginning of the Commonwealth Games.
Former schools
Former schools
• Illustration — Former site of the Senior Boys School at Pope's Villa, Twickenham St Vedast's School for Boys, at Sarum Chase in West Heath Road, Hampstead, London, was sold in January 2005 for £9,300,000. The building is now a private residence.
Connection with the School of Economic Science
The School of Economic Science, through associated overseas schools, supports independent children's schools in a number of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the West Indies and the United States. The St James Schools are legally independent from the School of Economic Science. They aim to preserve their founding philosophical principles which are derived from the Advaita Vedanta philosophical tradition, which the schools describe as encompassing the concept of unity, and of a multicultural approach which embraces all faiths – and no faith. Philosophy is taught and transcendental meditation is an optional practice in the schools. Today, only around 10 per cent of the children have parents involved with SES.
Notable former pupils
Notable former pupils include: • Nida Manzoor, director. • Clara Salaman, actress, The Bill • Emily Watson, actress, star of Breaking the Waves and Appropriate Adult
Criticisms
In the early 1980s the London Evening Standard ran a critical series of articles focusing on the School's discipline regime and its links to the School of Economic Science. An independent inquiry into mistreatment of pupils between 1975 and 1985 at St James' and its then sister school St Vedast's, which closed in 1985, was funded by the schools and chaired by James Townend QC. The report, published in January 2006, concluded that "mental and physical mistreatment" of some pupils had occurred, including "criminal assaults" by teachers, during the ten-year period considered by the inquiry. Townend's report also found that throughout this period the schools' management and governors were failing to the extent that they "were not in any real sense in charge of the Schools". In his conclusion, Townend stated that there had been "a real change of ethos and conduct of the schools" since the period of abuses he identified in his report. In December 2020 a BBC News report stated that nearly £1m in compensation had been paid to dozens of former students at St James and St Vedast schools following historical allegations of abuse. Following the legal action, which was launched against the school in 2016, the BBC reported 45 former students who attended the schools between 1975 and 1992 had so far received payments of up to £30,000 each. All of the cases were settled without an admission of liability and did not come before court.
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People and holdings
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Studied at
1- Emily WatsonPerson
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article St James Independent Schools, revision 1355072323 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Times, The Sunday. Parent Power 2019: Best UK Schools Guide. The Times. 0140-0460.
- 2.The joy of daydreaming. 2010-05-31.
- 3.Sanskrit @ St James.
- 4.Sanskrit : A day of teaching Sanskrit at St James School, London. 9 December 2012 cbignore.
- 5.Interview with Elena Jessup of St James, London. Sanskrit Literature. 21 June 2008.
- 6.Katoch, Prakash. Sanskrit and Vedas – what the learning means. Hill Post. 2016-02-09.
- 7.Katoch, Prakash. Sanskrit and Vedas – what the learning means. Hill Post. 2016-02-09.
- 8.Jules., Evans. Philosophy for life and other dangerous situations. Rider. 2013. 9781846043215.
- 9.St James & the SES – Media coverage.
- 10.Cult schools: parents seek a bigger say. Evening Standard. 9 June 1983.
- 11.SES and its strange schools. Evening Standard. 9 June 1983.
- 12.Townend QC, James. Report of a Private Independent Inquiry Commissioned by the Governors of St James Independent Schools and held in London between 20 June – 06 October 2005. Report. St James Schools.
- 13.Townend Report.
- 14.Croxford, Rianna. Pupils' historical abuse at London schools claims total £1m. BBC News. 17 December 2020.
- 15.St Vedasts School for Boys, Sarum Chase – Hampstead – Greater London – England. British Listed Buildings.
- 16.Charity Commission Accounts, 2005, page 22.
- 17.Charity Commission Accounts, 2006.
- 18.Sarum Chase.
- 19.Director Nida Manzoor (2008) and Hounslow Diaries. St James Seventh Form. 2018-11-22.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 September 2026.
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