The Congregation of Josephites was founded in Belgium in 1817 by Constant Van Crombrugghe, a priest of the Diocese of Gent. In response to the needs of the time, following a period of famine and social and political upheaval, he brought together small groups of men and women who would give a basic religious and practical education to the poor young people of his home town of Geraardsbergen. These two groups developed into the Brothers of St Joseph, later the Josephites, and the Ladies of Mary. In due time both congregations moved into middle-class education, and the Josephites became a congregation of priests and brothers.
Having consolidated a base in Belgium with three successful schools, the Josephites founded a school in England, St George's College, in Croydon, in 1869. By 1884 St George's had outgrown its existing facilities, and the Josephites purchased an existing, but ailing, school which had been founded in Woburn Park, Weybridge, some years earlier by Monsignor Lord Petre for the education of the sons of Catholic gentlemen.
In the early 1950's the lower forms were separated from the main body of St George's, and two new schools were founded. Barrow Hills, the boarding preparatory school, was located in Longcross and subsequently moved to Witley. It was sold in 1991 to a consortium of parents and continues in existence with a Franciscan Headmaster. Woburn Hill, the day preparatory school was founded in a large house on the College property and moved to the present site in the early 1960's. In 1995, Woburn Hill became known as St George's College Junior School.
1992 saw major changes in both schools. At the College, the boarding side closed, and the first non-Josephite Headmaster and Bursar were appointed. At St George's College Junior School, the age of transfer to the College was lowered from 12+ to 11+, and a new pre-preparatory department was opened.
The Josephites continue to own St George's College and St George's College Junior School, and the schools are a major focus of their work in England. They retain a major influence on the Board of Governors, and a significant proportion of the 20 strong Weybridge Community work, in various capacities, in the schools, and care is taken that both schools retain a Josephite ethos. This ethos, whilst difficult to distil into a few words, can be seen as having two complementary strands; the maintenance of a family spirit within the schools, and an insistence on the education of the whole child.
Both schools are open to Roman Catholics and baptised Christians of other denominations.
There are many aspects to life at St George's College Junior School. We hope to show you some of the things that make our school unique.
This page will explain who we are and what we seek to achieve.
Here you will find information about our Nursery.
Here you will find information on the Junior School.
Click here if you would like a copy of our Registration Form.
We will be adding pages over the next few weeks explaining more about what happens at St George's College Junior School. This is St George's College Junior School's first month on the internet and so basically everything here is new. We are hoping that we will be adding new things here as they happen.
There are probably likely to be some kind of problem with the WWW pages either grammatical, spelling or just plain bugs.
If you find any of these or you have any comments or suggestions then please e-mail them to us at sgcjs@rmplc.co.uk. with the heading FOR THE ATTENTION OF BR PAT. Thank you very much for using this World Wide Web Page.
We would like to set up e-mail links with schools around the world. Please talk to us!!
Last Updated: 1st March 1996