Thorpe Hall School is a

non-selective In biochemistry and pharmacology, a ligand is a Chemical substance, substance that forms a Complex (chemistry), complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. The etymology stems from ''ligare'', which means 'to bind'. In protein-lig ...

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The school is a member of the

Independent Schools Council The Independent Schools Council (ISC) is a non-profit lobby group that represents over 1,300 schools in the United Kingdom's independent education sector. The organisation comprises seven independent school associations and promotes the busin ...

. The school admits students from age 2–16. The curriculum broadly follows the

National Curriculum for England The National Curriculum for England was first introduced by the Education Reform Act 1988. At the time of its introduction the legislation applied to both England and Wales. However, education later became a devolved matter for the Welsh government. ...

. The school also offers means tested

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awa ...

Facilities

Facilities include a nursery with outdoor learning area, a wilderness area, three purpose built classroom blocks, a Design and Technology workshop, an Art Studio, a Food and Textiles Studio, a fully-equipped Theatre seating 250 people, 11 acres of land including a 7-acre sports field. A new £2m Sports Hall broke ground in January 2018 and as was opened in November 2018 by Olympic Gymnast Max Whitlock MBE

History

Thorpe Hall School first opened with a cohort of six boys in 1925. Rev. E.D. de Russet was Headmaster from 1925 to 1930. Mr Benjamin Young was Principal and Headmaster from 1956 to 1971. The Current Headteacher, Mr Andrew Hampton, was elected Chair of the Independent Schools Association in 2014 for one year and elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. In 2016 the school applied to the Southend Borough Council to improve its sports facilities. This included the building of a new sports hall.

Notable alumni

Notable attendees of the school include TV presenter

Rachel Riley Rachel Annabelle Riley (born 11 January 1986) is a British television presenter. She co-presents the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show ''Countdown'' and its comedy spin-off '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown''. She is a mathematics graduate. Her t ...

, musician

James Bourne James Elliot Bourne (born 13 September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is known as the co-founder of pop punk bands Busted and Son of Dork, and he also created his own electronic project: Future Boy. From 2013 to 2015 ...

and actors

Sam Strike Samuel Harry Strike (born 18 January 1994) is an English actor. Life and career Strike was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He starred in two revival series of CBBC's ''M.I. High'' as Dan Morgan from 2013–2014. In 2014, Strike guest starred ...

and Joe Gallucci.

Reputation

The school was ranked among the top 100 Preparatory Schools by

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

for excellent SAT's results in 2015, 2016 and 2017 It has been recognised with awards from the Independent Schools Association for Excellence & Innovation in Senior Provision in 2016, Excellence & Innovation in Early Years in 2017, Pupils' Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2019. The school competes in many sporting events around the UK through links with th
Southend Primary Schools Sports Association
and the Independent Schools Association. In 2014, the deputy head at the time, Martin Goldberg, was found dead in his home by police officers investigating child pornography allegations.

References

{{authority control Private schools in Southend-on-Sea