St Hugh's School is a

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 ...

, preparatory school in the village of

Woodhall Spa Woodhall Spa is a former spa town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the southern edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, south-west of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, Horncastle, west of Skegness, east-south-east o ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England, founded in 1925. It was originally known as a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

, although a significant proportion of its students are now day pupils or flexi-boarders. The headmaster is Jeremy Wyld, who has been in post since September 2019.

History

St Hugh's School was founded by Ronnie and Joan Forbes in 1925, initially in a three-storied house on the corner of Iddesleigh Road and Stanhope Avenue. The school expanded rapidly, spreading into another house which later became the offices of Woodhall Spa UDC. In 1929, the school moved to the present site on Cromwell Avenue, with the buildings being extended and enlarged in 1929 and 1933. In 1940, when Lincolnshire airfields became a target for the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

and the school buildings were commandeered for military use, St Hugh's was evacuated to

Storrs Hall Storrs Hall is a hotel on the banks of Windermere in Storrs in the Lake District, Cumbria, England. The hotel, a Grade II* listed Georgian mansion, is also home to the National Trust-owned folly the "Temple" on the end of a stone jetty on Win ...

in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

, until it was deemed safe to return in 1944. Fairmead House, a former girls' school, was purchased for use as a senior boys' boarding house in 1946, with the war-time huts in the garden being put to various uses, and in 1952, Austral House, renamed "Dominies", was added as the headmaster's house. On the death of the founder in 1960, an advisory council was established to govern the school, chaired by

Kenneth Riches Kenneth Riches (20 September 1908 – 15 May 1999) was an Anglican bishop during the second half of the 20th century. He served as the bishop of Dorchester from 1952 to 1957, and as the Bishop of Lincoln from 1957 to 1974. He was also the prin ...

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of Nort ...

. The school became a charitable trust in 1964 and became co-educational in 1980. The school is named after Saint Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln but also

Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln Hugh of Lincoln (1246 – 27 August 1255) was an English boy whose death in Lincoln, England, Lincoln was blood libel, falsely attributed to Jews. He is sometimes known as Little Saint Hugh or Little Sir Hugh to distinguish him from the adu ...

. Little St Hugh was a child whose alleged murder by Jews in 1255 formed one of the most well-known and persistent

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

s. The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

formally apologised for the Little St Hugh allegations in 1955. In some

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

retelling the story, Hugh was playing with a ball, which he lost over the wall of a neighbouring Jewish family, and was murdered after being invited into the garden to retrieve it. Mrs Forbes was familiar with the myth while Mr Forbes asserted that this story should remind his boys to maintain control, both of the ball and where they were allowed to play with it. The story and its moral were represented in the school badge, which showed a ball flying over a wall. In 2020, the school's governing board removed the circle from the logo, retaining the bricks "to reiterate the significance of the educational building blocks".

Campus

The school sits on a campus on the edge of the village of Woodhall Spa. The original building, an Edwardian villa, has been much extended and the buildings on campus now include a teaching block, a science block, a music school, a library, an assembly hall and a

nursery school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

and pre-prep department. The school has a swimming pool and a sports hall. The cricket pavilion looks over the of playing field and the Lincolnshire farmland beyond. ''Fairmead House'' (for senior boys' boarding) and ''Dominies'' (the headmaster's house) were sold as part of the restructuring of the school in the 1990s. All senior boarders are now accommodated in the main building and in ''Raftsund House''—an

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

villa next door.

Houses

The school uses the

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

, with each pupil being placed in a house when they join the school.
The houses are named after three former headmasters; Forbes Kelham and Wheeler.

Academic

Pupils study the usual core subjects of maths, English and the sciences, together with ICT, history, geography, art, cookery, DT, RS and textiles. Language teaching includes

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and either

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. Pupils also engage in music, drama and PE and games.

Sports

The main sports for boys are

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

Rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

.. Older boys also play

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

and

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. Girls play

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

and

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a wooden, plastic, or metal bat that has a cylindrical end. The players score b ...

. The children also compete in

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. The school has its own

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

pool, and is the regional champion at U9 and U11 level. Other sports available include

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, creative dance,

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

and

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that involve using a map and compass to navigation, navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specia ...

Extra curricular

The school has an active music department with two choirs, and an orchestra which often plays full symphony pieces. In addition to curricular drama lessons, all senior pupils have the chance to participate in a full-length musical production, accompanied by a professional band, in the spring term each year. In addition, there is a range of productions for children in different age groups throughout the school year. The school operates a

forest school Forest school is an outdoor education delivery model in which students visit natural spaces to learn personal, social and technical skills. It has been defined as "an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular o ...

in its woodland. The school runs hobbies sessions at the end of each school day.

Headmasters

* G. R. Forbes 1925—1960 * Mr Vincent 1960–1962 * M. J. C. Wheeler 1962—1972 * M. W. Kelham 1972—1994 * P. Wells 1994—1995 * S. J. Greenish 1997—2013 * C. A. Ward 2013—2019 * J. Wyld 2019—present

Notable former pupils

* Henry Samuel Sharpley (1925—2010); farmer; member of the EEC Cereals Advisory Committee in Brussels; chairman of the NFU Labour committee 1961—1970;

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilit ...

1991—1992. *

David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...

(1939—2013); journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and television host. * John Mallett (born 1970); English rugby union footballer, attended the school until 1983.

References

External links

St Hugh's School website

Profile
on the

Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and private. The guide's contributors are predominantly parents, but include researchers and former headteachers. It uses a conversational tone. Selection of schools is made ...

* ISI Inspectio
Reports

St Hugh's School
on the

ISC ISC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Imperial Space Command, a fictional organization in the books by Catherine Asaro * Indian Society of Cinematographers, a non-profit cultural and educational organisation * International Sculpture Center, ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Hugh's School, Woodhall Spa Preparatory schools in Lincolnshire Church of England private schools in the Diocese of Lincoln Boarding schools in Lincolnshire Member schools of the Independent Schools Association (UK) Private schools in Lincolnshire Woodhall Spa