The school was first established in 1880 by Les Dames De La Retraite, an order started in Brittany to enable women to spend time in the catholic practice of 'retreat'.

The nuns were called 'mother' and those who had traveled from France this time apparently aimed to establish a girls school in South London.

[2] During World War II the school was evacuated to Horndean in Hampshire, but was rapidly moved from a site so close to Portsmouth that was needed for the military to Daventry.

The sixth form was, however, small as few families could or would afford the extra years for a girl who was welcomed as an employee by the local banks and business because of the school's reputation for well-behaved and ethical students.

[4] La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils.