Sir Walter St John's School
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| Motto | Rather Deathe than False of Faythe |
|---|---|
| Established | 1700 |
| Closed | 1986 |
| Location |
Battersea High Street Battersea London SW11 3JB England 51°28′26″N 0°10′26″W / 51.474°N 0.174°WCoordinates: 51°28′26″N 0°10′26″W / 51.474°N 0.174°W |
| Local authority | ILEA |
| Staff | c. 30 |
| Students | c. 500 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | 6 |
| Publication | The Sinjun |
Sir Walter St John's was founded in 1700 for twenty boys of the village of Battersea. As the population and the English educational system changed, so did the school. The school was colloquially known as "Sinjuns".
In September 1700, Sir Walter St John, 3rd Baronet (1622–1708), of Battersea and of Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire, signed a deed that established a charity to form a school to "teach twenty poor boys of said parish" (Battersea). This was the start of Sir Walter St John's School, which was to survive for 286 years. By 1750, 83 boys and 5 girls were given instruction at the school. Battersea at the start of the 18th century was a village of some 200 dwellings containing about 1500 inhabitants. The rapid expansion of the London area during that and the following centuries, meant that there was a need of education for many more boys. A document of 1800 shows that the operation was based on the rules laid down by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and much of the curriculum was centred on the Bible.
During the first 150 years the name Sir Walter St John was seldom used and the school was called the "Battersea School" or the "Battersea Charity School". By 1832 the school had grown to hold 90 boys and 30 girls. In 1853 the Charitable Trust Act was enacted and the school passed under the control of the Charity Commissioners. The girls were soon transferred to the nearby Mrs Champion's School. The number of boys had increased to over 200, so the school was split into an Upper School and a Lower School. A new building was constructed in 1859 on Battersea High Street designed by William Butterfield. The entry arch of this building still exists.
By 1860 the name "Sir Walter St John's School" was being used. The Elementary Education Act 1870 had the result of splitting off the Upper School to form the newly founded Battersea Grammar School and in 1880 the Elementary School (part of the Lower School) was closed. The next change occurred in 1902, when the school was reorganised as a Secondary School.
Little is known of the early buildings before the Butterfield wing was built. Enlargement occurred in 1898 when the old science block was built. The Great Hall together with the West Block was opened in 1915, while the modified library and laboratory block started operation in 1926. Temporary classrooms were assembled in 1918 but remained in use until the north extension became available in 1938. A Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the west wing in 1941 but it was rebuilt in 1952. The final change in the school's buildings happened in 1961, when the Science Block was replaced.
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