{{{Use British English, date=February 2023 {{coord, 51.388, -0.671, display=title {{Infobox school , name = Hurst Lodge School , image = , image_size = , motto = , established = 1945 , closed = , type = Independent , president = , head_label = Headmistress , head = Victoria Smit , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder = Dorice Stainer , specialist =

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

, address = Yateley Hall, Firgrove Road , city =

Yateley Yateley () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. It lies in the north-eastern corner of Hart District Council area. It includes the settlements of Frogmore and Darby Green to the east. It had a population of 21,011 at t ...

, county =

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, country = England , postcode = GU46 6HJ , ofsted = , staff = 30 full-time, 20 part-timeHurst Lodge School
at guidetoindependentschools.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012 , enrolment = 250 , gender = Co-educational , lower_age = 3 , upper_age = 18Hurst Lodge School
at isbi.com. Retrieved 16 May 2012 , junior houses = , senior houses = , colours = , publication = , free_label_1 = Houses , free_1 = Stainer, Scott, Randall, Eden , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = https://www.hurstlodgeschool.co.uk/ Hurst Lodge School, established in 1945, is a non-selective independent school in originally based in Ascot, Berkshire, England, for girls and boys aged three to eighteen, with about 250 children of all ages. The school is now located in

Overview

Hurst Lodge School, originally established in 1945 is located at Yateley Hall in Hampshire. The school moved to the Blackwater, Hampshire site, following a merger with Hawley Place school in 2018. The school was known as HawleyHurst between 2018 and 2020, In 2020, however, the school was renamed Hurst Lodge school, returning to the same ethos and with the same leadership team as Hurst Lodge School that was based in Ascot Berkshire. In September 2021, the whole school relocated to a new permanent base, Yateley Hall in Hampshire.{{Cite web, url=https://www.hurstlodgeschool.co.uk/contact, title=Contact

History

Miss Dorice Stainer, of Hurst Lodge, founded the school in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a course of "Dancing Classes".''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', issue 50336 dated Saturday, 29 December 1945, p. 1 A sister of the film star

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...

,Richard Stayton, ''THEATER: Truly, Madly, Deftly: Juliet Stevenson, a 'national obsession' in England, is making her American stage debut'' dated 21 March 1993
p. 2 of 3
at articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 17 May 2012 and also of Irene Howard, the London casting director of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

, in the 1920s Stainer had been a partner in 'The Misses Stainer and Sinclair, Dancing Teachers', of 39,

Onslow Square Onslow Square is a garden square in South Kensington, London, England. It is set back between the Old Brompton Road to the northwest and the Fulham Road to the southeast. To the north is South Kensington Underground station. To the south is ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, London S.W.7, and after 1928 had continued the business alone at the same address. Immediately before the War, she had been a travelling dance teacher based in Ascot, teaching classes at

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Sunningdale Sunningdale is a large village with a retail area and a civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It takes up the extreme south-east corner of Berkshire, England. It has a railway station on the (London) Waterloo to Reading ...

Virginia Water Virginia Water is a commuter village in the Borough of Runnymede in northern Surrey, England. It is home to the Wentworth Estate and the Wentworth Club. The area has much woodland and occupies a large minority of the Runnymede district. Its nam ...

, and a variety of schools around England. The actress

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadin ...

, a pupil of Miss Stainer's at Hurst Lodge in the 1960s, has described her as "a progressively educational woman who had been a

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

and who believed the arts were fundamental to a child's education". According to an article in ''

'' published in 1986, when Sarah Ferguson, future Duchess of York, was about to leave the school in 1977, she observed a tradition by diving into the swimming pool naked at midnight on the eve of her last day.Alan Hamilton, 'Love on a wing and a smile' in ''

'' (London), issue 62516 dated Wednesday, 23 July 1986, p. 9 The Duchess paid an official visit to her old school on 13 March 1989. In 1992, writing of Sarah Ferguson's time at Hurst Lodge, the journalist

Valerie Grove Valerie Grove (née Smith, born 11 May 1946) is a British journalist and author, who for many years worked as a feature writer, interviewer and columnist for ''The Times'' newspaper. Grove was born in South Shields. Her father, William Douglas "D ...

called it "an expensive boarding school that turned out jolly

Chalet Girl ''Chalet Girl'' is a 2011 romantic comedy sports film directed by Phil Traill. The film stars Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, Tamsin Egerton, Ken Duken, Sophia Bush, Bill Bailey, Brooke Shields and Bill Nighy. The film was produced by Pippa Cross, H ...

s with lots of bounce but not too many

O-levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

". In that year's school performance tables, the proportion of girls sitting

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

who gained five passes at grades A to C was given as 50%, by comparison with 98% for

Wycombe Abbey Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls' boarding and day school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls schools in academic results. The school was founded in 1896 by Dame Frances Dove (1847 ...

and 97% for the Dame Alice Harpur School. In 1998 only four pupils were entered for two or more

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

, but their examination results were slightly better than the average for schools in the

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Windsor Ca ...

. In 1999, the school entered only one pupil for A-Levels, but as the result of her excellent results it appeared in the list of Top Independent Schools published in ''The Times'' on 25 November. In 2001

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

reported that Hurst Lodge was the third most expensive prep school in Great Britain, coming just after

Colet Court St Paul's Juniors (formerly Colet Court) is an independent preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 in Barnes, London. It forms the preparatory department of St Paul's School, to which most Juniors pupils progress at the age of 13. The School w ...

, the junior school of St Paul's, and the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, but before Horris Hill,

Papplewick Papplewick is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England, 7.5 miles (12 km) north of Nottingham and 6 miles (10 km) south of Mansfield. It had a population of 756 at the 2011 census. In the Middle Ages, the village marked ...

, St John's Beaumont,

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to tw ...

and

Ludgrove Ludgrove, or Ludgrave, or Ludgraves, was an estate and farm in Middlesex between Monken Hadley in the west and Cockfosters in the east in what is now north London. It was centered on Ludgrove Farm (the Blue House) near to Cockfosters. History The ...

, all eight of which then charged more than £13,000 a year. In early 2018, Hurst Lodge merged with Hawley Place, under the name HawleyHurst, on a site in

Blackwater, Hampshire Blackwater is a town in the northeastern corner of Hampshire, England, lying in the county's Hart District. Considered to be part of the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area and nearly contiguous to Camberley, Surrey, it is centred WSW from Londo ...

. At the same time as the merger, the school was given a warning from the Department of Education, lifted the next year. In 2020 the HawleyHurst name was changed and the school reverted to its original name, Hurst Lodge.

Inspections

As HawleyHurst, the school's most recent inspection by the

Independent Schools Inspectorate The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is approved by the Secretary of State for Education – under section 106 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 – to inspect independent schools in England. These schools are members of associations, w ...

was in 2019.{{cite web , last1=McBay , first1=Alasdair , title=Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection Reports: HawleyHurst School , url=http://isischools.devprocess.com/DownloadReport.aspx?t=c&r=EQI6520_20191126.pdf&s=6520 , publisher=Independent Schools Inspectorate , access-date=18 March 2021 , date=2019 The inspection found that attainment at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

was higher than in

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

s, but that "The school does not meet all of the required standards in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, and relevant requirements of the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage".

Headmistresses

*1945– ''c.'' 1970: Dorice Stainer *1973: D. A. Carter *1974– ''c.'' 1980: Celia Merrick *1987: A. M. Smit *2006–2011: Victoria Smit *2011–2012: Kate Leiper *2012–present: Victoria Smit (again)

Notable former pupils

Felicity Dean Felicity Jane Dean (born 24 January 1959) is a British actress, who is critically acclaimed for her extensive work in film and on stage, including works with, The Royal Shakespeare Company, Al Pacino, HBO, Sir Jonathan Miller and Joseph Lose ...

, actress *

Emma Forbes Emma Katy Forbes (née Clarke; born 14 May 1965 in Hammersmith, London) is an English radio and television presenter. Biography Forbes's parents are Nanette Newman and Bryan Forbes (né John Theobald Clarke). She attended Hurst Lodge School. ...

, television and radio presenter * Jenna Randall,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

silver medallist in

synchronised swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

, actress *

Belinda Stewart-Wilson Belinda Stewart-Wilson (born 16 April 1971) is a British actress best known for her role as Polly McKenzie in ''The Inbetweeners''. Early life Stewart-Wilson was born on 16 April 1971 in Kensington, the youngest of three daughters of Lieutenan ...

, actress *

Sarah, Duchess of York Sarah, Duchess of York (born Sarah Margaret Ferguson; 15 October 1959), also known by the nickname Fergie, is a member of the British royal family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the younger brother of King Charles III ...

David Banks, ''Sarah Ferguson, the royal redhead'' (Dillon Press, 1987), p. 14: "From Daneshill School, she went to a private girls' boarding school called Hurst Lodge." *

Kerry Ingram Kerry Danielle Ingram (born 26 May 1999) is an English actress, known for her roles as Shireen Baratheon in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' and Rebecca 'Becky' Sidebottom in the Netflix series ''Free Rein''. Career Before being cast in ''M ...

, actress

Notes

{{reflist

External links

*{{official, https://www.hurstlodgeschool.co.uk/ {{Schools in Hampshire {{authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst Lodge School 1945 establishments in England Private schools in Hampshire Educational institutions established in 1945