Dragon School

The Dragon School is a private school across two sites in Oxford, England. The Dragon Pre-Prep (children aged 4–7) and Prep School (children aged 8–13) are both co-educational schools. The Dragon Prep School was founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School. It takes day pupils and boarders.

Originally established for boys, the Dragon School also accepted a small number of day girls with a close connection to the school, first admitting girls as boarders in 1994. The school educates children aged 4 to 13 in two sites in North Oxford: Bardwell Road and Richards Lane. Boarding starts at 8 and there are 10 boarding houses, including one weekly-boarding house. Dragon Lane runs along the edge of the school immediately to the west.

History

The school was founded by a committee of Oxford dons, among whom the most active was a Mr George. In honour of Saint George, the group decided to call themselves Dragons.

Teaching started in September 1877 at rooms in Balliol Hall, located in St Giles', central Oxford, under A. E. Clarke. The school expanded and moved within two years to 17 Crick Road, which became known as "School House". Charles Cotterill Lynam (known as the "Skipper") took over as headmaster in 1886.

In 1894, Lynam took out a lease on land at the current site at Bardwell Road in central North Oxford, just to the west of the River Cherwell. £4,000 was raised through subscriptions from local parents for the erection of new school buildings and the move was completed within a year. The school was known as Oxford Preparatory School and also Lynam's, but gradually its current name was adopted.

The Dragon School became the second school to take part in the Harrow History Prize in 1895. Over the years, many of its pupils have won this prize, an early winner being Kit Lynam. The school was run for many years by the Lynam family.

The school has become notable for its large number of eminent alumni.

Heads

The following have been Heads of the school, several from the Lynam family:

• A. E. Clarke 1877–1886
• C. C. Lynam ("Skipper") 1886–1920
• A. E. Lynam ("Hum") 1920–1942
• J. H. R. Lynam ("Joc") 1942–1965
• R. K. Ingram ("Inky") 1965–1989
• M. W. A. Gover ("Guv") 1972–1989 (head of day pupils, co-headmaster with "Inky")
• N. P. V. Richardson 1989–1992
• H. E. P. Woodcock 1992–1993
• R. S. Trafford 1993–2002
• J. R. Baugh 2002–2017
• Crispin Hyde-Dunn 2017–2021
• Mrs E. C. Goldsmith 2021–present

Other teachers

• PJ Wilson, Olympic hockey player

Old Dragons

Former pupils of the Dragon School are referred to as Old Dragons. The following people were pupils at one time:

See also

• Wychwood School, located at the opposite end of Bardwell Road

References

Further reading

• James Bruce Lockhart, Alan Macfarlane, Dragon Days: The Dragon School, Oxford, 1949–1955 (CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1492129400)

External links

• Official website