St Benedict's School, Ealing

St Benedict's School, usually referred to as St Benedict's, is a British co-educational, independent Catholic day school for pupils aged 3–18 situated in Ealing, West London. A Benedictine school, it accepts and educates pupils of all faiths.

St Benedict's School, Ealing was established following the arrival of Benedictine monks from Downside Abbey into Ealing in 1897 to found the first Benedictine Abbey in London since the Reformation. Under the leadership of Sebastian Cave, Ealing Priory School opened on 2 October 1902 with three boys enrolled, following a foundational £5 donation which later featured in the school’s first Priorian magazine. Originally a boys’ school, it was renamed St Benedict’s School in 1948, and ultimately became fully co-educational in 2008.

The school has occupied various premises at various times in its history, firstly in Blakesley Avenue, then taking rooms in the priory in 1904 before moving across to Orchard Dene (which currently houses the junior school) in Montpelier Avenue. In 1906 15 acres (61,000 m²), about a mile from the main school grounds, in Perivale were purchased to provide a sports ground. By the 1920s Orchard Dene was used for boarders and the school was located in two houses on Eaton Rise. A purpose built school building linking these houses was in use by 1936. During the Second World War pupils were evacuated into the now junior school – boarding ceased – and the abbey church was badly damaged by a bomb on 7 October 1940.

In October 2009, David Pearce, a monk of Ealing Abbey and former headmaster of the junior school, was jailed for eight years, subsequently reduced to five years, for sexual abuse offences at the school in the period from 1972 to 1992 and for one further offence in 2007 after he had ceased to work in the school.

In March 2011, Laurence Soper, the abbot of Ealing Abbey during the 1990s, was arrested on child abuse charges relating to the period when he was a teacher at, and the bursar of, St Benedict's School; it was reported in October 2011 that he had failed to answer bail and was being sought by the police. In 2016, he was arrested in Kosovo and extradited to the UK to face trial. In early December 2017, following a 10-week trial at the Old Bailey in central London, Andrew Soper (as he is now known) was found guilty on 19 counts of child sexual abuse including buggery, indecency with a child and indecent assault. He was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.

Children suffered severe corporal punishment which was often used as a means to initiate sexual abuse or for sexual gratification. It was claimed that there were daily queues of boys outside the headmaster's study waiting to be caned. A stated that aged 11 he got into trouble in class. The teacher made him kneel in front of the class and continued the whole of the lesson standing on the boy's hands. Jurors at the trial were told about Soper's victims getting sadistic beatings. One survivor said in court, "I have tried countless times to take my own life as I just cannot cope any more."

Following these incidents, and other alleged offences, the Abbot commissioned a report to be prepared by Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew with a view to making recommendations on the school's governance. As a result of the changes made the Independent Schools Inspectorate said in its 2013 inspection report that the pastoral care at St Benedict's was excellent.

In October 2011 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered its own enquiry into the same matters, to be conducted by then-Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster John Arnold.^{[citation needed]}