Recent Comments
Nick Davies on Police dispersal notice in cla… Jim Bush on Cabinet post puts Fahnbulleh… insidecroydon on Philp all at sea as he claims… Derek Nicholls on Philp all at sea as he claims… Sarah Hartman on Police dispersal notice in cla… Arfur Towcrate on Police dispersal notice in cla…
Category Archives: Old Palace
Charity lost £2m last year over closure of Old Palace School
The Whitgift Foundation’s ‘Impact Report’ for last year shows its two boys’ fee-paying schools among the country’s top 10% of independents, as the costs of closing its girls’ school will continue until 2028. By STEVEN DOWNES The closure of Old … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Fiona Fletcher Smith, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Serenity special school, Trinity School, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Hammersfield, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Old Town, Roisha Hughes, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
5 Comments
We’re glad all over! The Croydon Insider looks back on Leipzig
The Croydon Insider returns to its more eclectic look at recent local news, with a visit from the website’s football correspondent to share his experience of travelling to Leipzig for the European Conference League final. Plus, the panel discusses how … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, Andrew Sinclair, Annabel Smith, Croydon Council, Croydon Insider, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Education, Inside Croydon, Ken Towl, Old Palace, Schools, SEND, Tom Bowell, Trinity School, Under The Flyover, Whitgift School
Tagged Andrew Sinclair, Annabel Smith, Croydon, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace FC, Ken Towl, Leipzig, Oliver Glasner, SEND, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Steve Parish, The Croydon Insider, Trinity School, Under The Flyover, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School, Yusuf Osman
Leave a comment
Whitgift Foundation makes 41 ‘life-changing’ bursary awards
£200,000 That’s the value, at least, to the family of one boy of a bursary to attend Whitgift or Trinity independent schools in Croydon through from Year 7 this September all the way to the Upper Sixth. It’s a life-changing … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Education, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Croydon, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Old Palace School, Old Palace School of John Whitgift, Palace for Life Foundation, Paul Cleal, Roisha Hughes, Shirley Park, South Croydon, Trinity, Trinity School, Westfield, Whiftgift School, Whitgift, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
1 Comment
£40m Trinity School expansion given planning green light
The council’s planning committee has given a green light to a £40million development to expand Trinity School in Shirley Park to ready the independent boys’ school to go fully co-educational by 2031. The scheme is the first major re-build since … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Kennedy, Business, Charity, Education, Jason Cummings, Old Palace, Planning, Schools, Shirley South, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Alasdair Kennedy, Clive Fraser, Croydon, Jason Cummings, Mark Johnson, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Roisha Hughes, Shirley, Shirley Park, Shirley South, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
7 Comments
Trinity submits planning application for £40m co-ed conversion
Less than a year after announcing the £30,000 a year fee-paying school would start offering places to girls, plans have gone in for works that will see its expansion to 1,400 pupils. By STEVEN DOWNES Plans for a £40million extension … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Kennedy, Business, Charity, Education, Old Palace, Planning, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Alasdair Kennedy, Croydon, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Shirley, Shirley Park, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
3 Comments
Charity formed last October buys two Old Palace buildings
The Rise School of Excellence has paid £750,000 for two buildings on the site of the former girls’ fee-paying school, as Croydon’s biggest landowners, the Whitgift Foundation, continue to dispose of their properties. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent The piecemeal … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Serenity special school, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Hammersfield, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Old Town, Rise School of Excellence, Roisha Hughes, Serenity Special School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
1 Comment
Old Palace sale completed – for £2.3m less than asking price
A special school operated by Serenity will begin to operate from the historic Old Town site from next month, after the sale was sealed by Croydon’s biggest landowners for £4.7m. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent The Whitgift Foundation last night … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Serenity special school, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Curwen Group, Hammersfield, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Old Town, Roisha Hughes, Serenity Special School, Stephen Curwen, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
4 Comments
Old Palace pupils deliver improved grades in school’s final year
It was a poignant A-Level results day in Croydon Old Town, where the last cadre of pupils in Old Palace School’s 136-year history received the news that could shape their adult lives. Old Palace of John Whitgift formally closed its … Continue reading
Old Palace up for ‘wellbeing’ award just weeks before closure
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The fee-paying girls’ school in Old Town has been shortlisted for a prize at a national awards event to be staged at a 5-star hotel where tickets cost £245 per head. By GENE BRODIE, education correspondent With … Continue reading
Posted in Jane Burton, Old Palace, Red Gates School, Schools, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Bensham Manor School, Croydon, Old Palace, Old Palace School, Old Palace School of John Whitgift, Red Gates School, Sutton High School, TES Schools Awards, Times Education Supplement, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
1 Comment
Foundation sells Old Palace site to Serenity special schools
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Old Palace girls’ school closes in July, with the owners having sold the site, but for less than the £7m guide price. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES The Old Palace private girls’ school site will likely become home to … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Roisha Hughes, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
4 Comments
Trinity boys’ school confirms that it will go co-ed from 2027
EXCLUSIVE: Almost two years since the Whitgift Foundation shocked the Croydon community by deciding to close its fee-paying girls’ school, Old Palace, the charity has decided to re-balance its education provision by converting one of its other large independent schools … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Kennedy, Business, Charity, Education, Old Palace, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Alasdair Kennedy, Croydon, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Shirley, Shirley Park, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
5 Comments
Landowner wants public cash to help delayed Westfield project
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Whitgift Foundation is in talks with the Mayor of London and central government for another multi-million-pound bail-out for Croydon, this one likely to centre around building around 3,000 homes in the town centre. That’s according … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Charity, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, North End Quarter, Old Palace, Planning, Property, Roisha Hughes, Schools, TfL, Tom Copley, Trinity School, Under The Flyover, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Croydon, Hammersfield, London, Mayor, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Roisha Hughes, Sir Howard Dawber, Tom Copley, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
7 Comments
Hindu fellowship buys Old Palace prep school site for £7.5m
The new owners of what was once Croham Hurst Primary are BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, who want to use the site for educational purposes, while making it available for community use, as GENE BRODIE, our education correspondent, reports The Whitgift Foundation … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Charity, Church and religions, Education, Old Palace, Property, Roisha Hughes, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Melville Avenue, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace Prep School, Old Palace School, Roisha Hughes, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation
2 Comments
Buyers found for two former private schools in South Croydon
EXCLUSIVE: The slow saga of the closure of Old Palace School may be about to take a significant step over the future of its former prep school, while Coombe House by Lloyd Park, offered at £6m, is ‘sold subject to … Continue reading
Posted in Charity, Housing, Oakwood, Old Palace, Planning, Property, Schools, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Coombe House, Croydon, Knight Frank, Melville Avenue, Oakwood School, Old Palace, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace Prep School, Old Palace School, PACT Educational Trust, South Croydon, Whitgift Foundation
7 Comments
Foundation sets £7m price tag on Old Palace’s listed buildings
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Whitgift Foundation, the borough’s biggest landowner, is now flogging off the Tudor palace home of the charity’s founder. It might not be an ‘easy’ sale. By STEVEN DOWNES “For sale with vacant possession”. The estate agent’s … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, CPO, Education, Old Palace, Schools, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Andrew Christie, Archbishop John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Croydon, Knight Frank, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
3 Comments
Ghostly convocation that is hardly a good omen for the Palace
SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: As we head into the season of ghostly stories and things that go ‘bump’ in the night, DAVID MORGAN has a tale for troubled times in Croydon… The tram rattled along Church Street and came to a halt … Continue reading
Three large private schools will cut fees to reduce sting of VAT
Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on how one of Croydon’s biggest eceonomic sectors is adjusting to the horrors of having to charge tax At least three of Croydon’s largest private schools plan to reduce their fees from next January, to take … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Halls, Croydon High, Education, Old Palace, Schools, Whitgift School
Tagged Andrew Halls, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Croydon, Croydon High School, Labour, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Rachel Reeves, Royal Russell School, The Budget, VAT, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Leave a comment
Boris Johnson’s former aide given Whitgift Foundation top job
It was an intervention 12 years ago by the then Mayor of London that got Croydon’s biggest landowners into a disastrous £1.4bn gamble with Westfield. Now they are turning to BoJo’s ‘revered’ aide to get them out of the mess. … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Charity, Old Palace, Property, Roisha Hughes, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Christopher Houlding, Croydon, Hammersfield, Martin Corney, Old Palace, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Roisha Hughes, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
3 Comments
Crumbling finances see troubled Foundation lose millions more
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Official figures show that the borough’s biggest landowners saw their funds fall by 5.5% in the latest trading year – and that was before incurring any costs from closing Old Palace girls’ school. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Charity, Old Palace, Planning, Property, Schools, Trinity School, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
Tagged Christopher Houlding, Croydon, Hammersfield, Old Palace, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Old Palace School, Trinity School, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
4 Comments
Girls and teachers in tears as school prepares for closure
At Old Palace of John Whitgift, the fee-paying girls’ school, there’s an ‘end-of-term’ feeling the like of which has never been experienced, by pupils or staff, in its 135-year history. By CAITLIN CLIFFORD Having been at Old Palace since Year … Continue reading
