Our Story
DISCOVER OUR HISTORY
Our Story
The existence of a kindergarten, four dynamic and interconnected independent prep schools and a selective senior school within prime South West London locations is the result of good luck, hard work, vision and tenacity. Initially, brought about by practical circumstances, Thomas’s was a kindergarten in a dusty church hall. Its development into the outstanding group of schools and services that it is today is the result of the Thomas family’s determined search for a broader, kinder and more creative approach to education.
Joanna Thomas, an actress, married her husband David, a Gurkha officer, in 1962. They lived in the Far East until David left the Army in 1969.
1971
Joanna was given a main part in a serial on Granada TV, which took a year to complete. In order to help juggle finances to pay for their young children’s primary education, Joanna set up a kindergarten in a local church hall in Pimlico.
1977
Six years later, the success of the kindergarten and the strong demand for London day schools of quality encouraged David Thomas to give up his job with an American bank and to join his wife in founding a school for older children. Joanna and David sold their family home, moved with their three children into a two-bedroom basement flat and, with the proceeds, took a short-term let on a building in Cadogan Gardens. After just three weeks and some intensive decorating, the first Thomas’s prep school opened its doors to eleven pupils and two teachers.
From the outset, Joanna and David were determined to create a school environment that achieved three key aims: high academic standards, an emphasis on the arts, and plenty of sport, reflecting both their personal and professional interests.
1981
In less than four years, and now known as ‘Thomas’s’, the school had more than 200 children. It expanded into two buildings in Cottesmore Gardens, just south of Kensington Gardens, to create Thomas’s Kensington.
1990
The preparatory school at Cadogan Gardens needed more space and the freehold was acquired for the former Sir Walter St John’s Grammar School in Battersea. The school, which became Thomas’s Battersea, moved to its extensive new premises and the leasehold buildings in Cadogan Gardens were sold.
1993
With an increasing demand for places, the freehold was secured for the former Clapham County Girls’ School in Broomwood Road and the new Thomas’s Clapham opened.
Thomas’s Kindergarten, Battersea was started in the crypt of St Mary’s Church educating 45 children aged from 2 to 4 years old.
1998
Thomas’s Schools Foundation (TSF) was launched at the Royal Albert Hall. The charity had two areas of focus: to identify, develop and support educational activities for children in local primary schools; and to provide funding for bursaries for children to attend a Thomas’s school.
2002
Thomas’s Kensington was provided with its own dedicated Lower School facility through the acquisition of Lady Eden’s School in Victoria Road W8. The existing buildings in Cottesmore Gardens were refurbished to become the preparatory school.
2005
Thomas’s Fulham was founded. Since 1894, this property has proudly overlooked South Park. Previously owned by the London Institute for the Chelsea College of Art and Design, located on Hugon Road, SW6. It was leased by Thomas’s in 2005 and underwent a complete refurbishment. In 2024, the lease was renewed for a further 25 years.
2007
The Principals established The CAIRN Trust as a UK registered educational charity dedicated to ensuring that children in rural Nepal are given the opportunity to gain an education.
2008
The facilities of Thomas’s Kensington were further improved through the purchase of the buildings of the Prue Leith School of Cookery in St Albans Grove W8, then converted into a purpose built theatre, a gym and a dining room.
2013
More than 1,200 Thomas’s pupils came together at The Royal Albert Hall for a spectacular performance, ‘A Celebration of Childhood’.
2015
Discussions began in response to an approach from New King’s Primary School. These led to the establishment of Thomas’s Academy, a state-funded primary school on New King’s Road. It became a member of the Thomas’s family of schools for ten years until 2025, when it joined the Quality First Education Trust.
2017
After 30 years taking school ski trips to the same small resort in Wurzeralm, Austria, Thomas’s purchased a 70-bed hotel on the mountain to create Thomas’s Daheim, now the location of week-long residential trips for pupils and an extensive outdoor learning programme.
2018
Thomas’s Schools Foundation and the CAIRN Trust merged to form Thomas’s Foundation, a charitable incorporated company which seeks to live out Thomas’s values in the world through three core projects: Foundation bursaries, community partnerships, and the CAIRN Trust.
2019
Thomas’s acquired an educational site in Putney Vale, which for four years became the home of the first Thomas’s senior school. The campus offered a broad range of high-quality facilities, including specialist Science laboratories, dedicated art and design and technology departments, and extensive provision for outdoor education and sport. The Putney Vale site has since closed, and the senior school relocated to Richmond, where it became Thomas’s College.
2021
Thomas’s took ownership of Atlantic House and Lytham House on St Albans Grove, Kensington. The buildings underwent a full refurbishment in preparation for the relocation of Thomas’s Kensington from its long-standing premises on Victoria Road and Cottesmore Gardens.
2023
Thomas’s acquired an outstanding educational site in Richmond to become the home of its senior school. The campus has a distinguished history, originally founded in 1843 as the Wesleyan Theological College. More recently, it was home to Richmond American University London. Situated on Queen’s Road, Richmond Hill, the five-acre campus is adjacent to Richmond Park.
2025
Thomas’s College opened in Richmond as a new co-educational day, flexi- and weekly-boarding school, providing a world class education for pupils aged 11 to 18, in exceptional surroundings.
Thomas’s Kensington opened the doors of its new purpose-built school in 1, St Albans Grove, W8, a landmark moment in the Thomas’s story.
