Coloma Convent Girls’ School and St. Anne’s College share a common heritage.
St Anne’s College was founded on 12th September 1909 by the Daughters of Mary and Joseph (in those days known as the Ladies of Mary). It was established as a sister convent and sister school to Coloma, which at that time was in Tavistock Road, West Croydon.
St. Anne’s was situated in the Surrey Hills, near Sanderstead railway station. Part of the building’s perimeter wall and railings are still in place today together with gates which bear the same distinctive badge worn by the sisters on their blue scapulas. Sadly, the school itself closed in 1979 with the abolition of Direct Grant schools.
Over the years there have been many connections between St. Anne’s and Coloma, never more than today. The chapel at Coloma is named after St. Anne, and the statue outside the chapel once stood in a niche above the front door of St. Anne’s College. The chapel doors, also from St. Anne’s, were brought to Coloma in 1982.
The memorial window in the foyer of the chapel is very special indeed. it commemorates the period when St. Anne’s pupils were evacuated to Dunblane, Scotland during the Second World War. This window was in the entrance hall of the college in Sanderstead until the closure.
In 1979, the remaining St. Anne’s pupils finished their education here at Coloma. St. Anne’s and Coloma shared the same ethics and beliefs . . .and often teachers. The last headmistress at St. Anne’s (Sister Mary Gabriel 1964-1979) came to Coloma in the same role. (1980-1989).
If you wish to find out more about the St Anne’s Old Girls’ Association, please email