The Oratory Preparatory School

The Oratory Prep School is a Roman Catholic day and boarding school for some 330 boys and girls aged from two to thirteen, founded in 1925. The school is co-educational and is separate from the nearby Oratory School, although they share a similar history. History The Oratory School was founded on 1 May 1859 in Edgbaston, a suburb in Birmingham, "for the education of [Roman Catholic] boys not destined to ecclesiastical estate", meaning not aiming to become priests. In 1922, the original school moved to Caversham Park near Reading, which offered better accommodation. In 1925, The Oratory Prep School was established with just four boys, at Rose Hill House, a Georgian-style country house in Emmer Green, less than a mile away from the main school. Its first Headmaster was Father Sebastian Ritchie, and by 1930 its numbers were up to thirty boys.