Our History

The evolution of L’Ecole des Petits

The foundation of L'Ecole des Petits

1977
L’Ecole des Petits was founded in 1977 by Mme Otten when she first came to London from Paris as a newly trained teacher to marry an Englishman. Finding that there were no established Ecole Maternelle in London at that time (only informal English nurseries and playgroups), she decided to set up her own school. She rented a church hall in South Kensington with a friend, decorated it, fitted it out and built furniture herself and started with five pupils aged three to five years old! The school followed the structured French curriculum for early years to which she added her own personal touches, including bilingualism. She understood the importance of this as she had been brought up in Italy and France, and was herself from an early age educated linguistically and culturally in both languages. At the time the project was unique, no other such bilingual establishment existed in London.

A dedicated building

1991
Parental demand for places became so strong that she decided to look for a permanent and more substantial base. She found a derelict former school building that had been empty since the 1950’s and set about renovating it.

The brief was to create a school with a “home from home” atmosphere so that children and parents alike would feel happy, safe and secure when they were at school. This ethos still underlies our schools today.

The building was of Victorian origin, and had previously been ‘The Princess Beatrice Social Centre’ for the Fulham Sands End area, inaugurated by the late Queen Mother, then Princess Beatrice Duchess of York, in 1931. The opening plaque still remains on the playground wall. Today the school caters for up to 130 children.

The Princess Beatrice Social Centre’ inaugurated by the late Queen Mother, then Princess Beatrice Duchess of York, in 1931.

The foundation principle of international bilingualism and bicultural education from an early age became more and more of a feature of the school, providing specialised English and French classes for children aged between 3 and 5 years.

A recognised pre-primary school...

1995
L’Ecole des Petits became the first independent nursery school in the UK to be officially recognised as an Ecole Homologuée by the French Ministère de l’Education Nationale. Mme Otten was honoured as an “Officier des Palmes Academiques” by France for her contribution to International and French Education abroad.

...extending to primary education

2003
In 2003 the AEFE (Agence pour l’Enseignement Francais a l’Etranger) requested that L’Ecole des Petits extend its facilities to include primary education; this coincided with many parents asking the school to do the same. The Ottens followed up on this and came across the Salesians of Don Bosco former primary school building hidden away behind Battersea Square, just 10 minutes from L’Ecole des Petits in Fulham.

The start of L'Ecole de Battersea

2005

L’Ecole de Battersea took form from this moment onwards. The school had originally been built in 1885, a typical church run Victorian school, with large rooms and high double height ceilings, and no central heating! Most classes in the Victorian time took place with tiered stadium type seating catering for a large number of pupils in one room, across age groups, what we today might call “open plan teaching.” The building had been empty for ten years since 1993 and had undergone little updating since its construction.

Mr & Mme Otten took the plunge, invested and working seven days a week non stop totally renovated the building over the six month period February – September 2005, new everything from sanitary ware, plumbing and heating system, to electrical, IT and technical infrastructure, sports and canteen facilities. They added two mezzanine floors with IT suite and library facilities, taking advantage of the high ceiling heights and redesigned the layout to create a modern and friendly primary school environment for the 21st century providing the same “happy, safe and secure environment” as at L’Ecole des Petits.

L’Ecole de Battersea opened in September 2005 with five classes and 85 pupils. Battersea now caters for up to 265 pupils.

The school rapidly gained widespread recognition and within two years established its position as an “Ecole Homologuée” with the French Ministry of Education and has since regularly achieved “Outstanding” in Ofsted inspections.

Today, the two schools continue to operate in conjunction with each other, providing a seamless bilingual education form age 3 (Petite Section/Nursery) to 11 years (CM2/Year 6).

“When you come to live in another country, you must adapt to the new customs, culture and language. This allows you to understand the people around you, all the while keeping your own identity.”

Mme Otten, founder

Our History

The evolution of L’Ecole des Petits

The foundation of L'Ecole des Petits

1977
L’Ecole des Petits was founded in 1977 by Mme Otten when she first came to London from Paris as a newly trained teacher to marry an Englishman. Finding that there were no established Ecole Maternelle in London at that time (only informal English nurseries and playgroups), she decided to set up her own school. She rented a church hall in South Kensington with a friend, decorated it, fitted it out and built furniture herself and started with five pupils aged three to five years old! The school followed the structured French curriculum for early years to which she added her own personal touches, including bilingualism. She understood the importance of this as she had been brought up in Italy and France, and was herself from an early age educated linguistically and culturally in both languages. At the time the project was unique, no other such bilingual establishment existed in London.

A dedicated building

1991
Parental demand for places became so strong that she decided to look for a permanent and more substantial base. She found a derelict former school building that had been empty since the 1950’s and set about renovating it.

The brief was to create a school with a “home from home” atmosphere so that children and parents alike would feel happy, safe and secure when they were at school. This ethos still underlies our schools today.

The building was of Victorian origin, and had previously been ‘The Princess Beatrice Social Centre’ for the Fulham Sands End area, inaugurated by the late Queen Mother, then Princess Beatrice Duchess of York, in 1931. The opening plaque still remains on the playground wall. Today the school caters for up to 130 children.

The Princess Beatrice Social Centre’ inaugurated by the late Queen Mother, then Princess Beatrice Duchess of York, in 1931.

The foundation principle of international bilingualism and bicultural education from an early age became more and more of a feature of the school, providing specialised English and French classes for children aged between 3 and 5 years.

A recognised pre-primary school...

1995
L’Ecole des Petits became the first independent nursery school in the UK to be officially recognised as an Ecole Homologuée by the French Ministère de l’Education Nationale. Mme Otten was honoured as an “Officier des Palmes Academiques” by France for her contribution to International and French Education abroad.

...extending to primary education

2003
In 2003 the AEFE (Agence pour l’Enseignement Francais a l’Etranger) requested that L’Ecole des Petits extend its facilities to include primary education; this coincided with many parents asking the school to do the same. The Ottens followed up on this and came across the Salesians of Don Bosco former primary school building hidden away behind Battersea Square, just 10 minutes from L’Ecole des Petits in Fulham.

The start of L'Ecole de Battersea

2005

L’Ecole de Battersea took form from this moment onwards. The school had originally been built in 1885, a typical church run Victorian school, with large rooms and high double height ceilings, and no central heating! Most classes in the Victorian time took place with tiered stadium type seating catering for a large number of pupils in one room, across age groups, what we today might call “open plan teaching.” The building had been empty for ten years since 1993 and had undergone little updating since its construction.

Mr & Mme Otten took the plunge, invested and working seven days a week non stop totally renovated the building over the six month period February – September 2005, new everything from sanitary ware, plumbing and heating system, to electrical, IT and technical infrastructure, sports and canteen facilities. They added two mezzanine floors with IT suite and library facilities, taking advantage of the high ceiling heights and redesigned the layout to create a modern and friendly primary school environment for the 21st century providing the same “happy, safe and secure environment” as at L’Ecole des Petits.

L’Ecole de Battersea opened in September 2005 with five classes and 85 pupils.

The school rapidly gained widespread recognition and within two years established its position as an “Ecole Homologuée” with the French Ministry of Education and has since regularly achieved “Outstanding” in Ofsted inspections.

Today, the two schools continue to operate in conjunction with each other, providing a seamless bilingual education form age 3 (Petite Section/Nursery) to 11 years (CM2/Year 6).