Chinthurst School

School characteristics

Founded in 1908, the school has the corporate structure of a charitable trust and is a member of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools. It became co-educational in 2012, reversing a change to boys-only that was made in the early 1950s.

With fewer than 200 pupils, the school considers itself small enough to allow everyone to know one another well and to feel valued, and large enough to have a strong community and a wide range of academic subjects, sport and creative arts. The school promotes traditional values and encourages families' close involvement in their children's education and the life of the school; pupils "have a love of learning and look after each other in a genuinely friendly, family atmosphere". The school is non-selective, with mixed-ability classes of no more than 18 pupils; it reports outperforming national standards for both state and independent schools.

The school's buildings are set around a central playing field. Facilities include a multi-purpose sports hall, indoor heated swimming pool, floodlit artificially turfed courts, and additional playing fields off-site. Classrooms are well resourced: interactive whiteboards are used and WiFi connects all classrooms to a state-of-the-art ICT suite, a product of collaboration with Cisco that resulted in the school being shortlisted in 2011 for Outstanding Financial/Commercial Initiative in the Independent Schools Awards.

All prep school pupils take part in many physical activities designed to improve their confidence and skill, guided by the school's specialist coaches: there are two physical education lessons per week and two afternoons of games. Additionally there are optional early morning sessions, Saturday morning practices, and a variety of after-school practices and hobby activities.

School history

Chinthurst School was established in 1908 by Miss Alice Katherine Atkins in a perfume factory. Two years later, the first dedicated school building was erected on farmland at the present site. Records from the school's early days have not survived. However, it is apparent that under Miss Atkins and her headmistress in the 1910s, Miss Thwaites, the establishment was principally a girls' school that accepted a limited number of boarders. The distinguished archaeologist Aileen Fox (then Aileen Henderson) remembered, on joining the school as an 11-year-old in 1918:

Chinthurst was run by the formidable Miss Thwaites, and took some thirty girls, some of them boarders, between the ages of eight and fifteen. We were divided into three classes, mostly taught by Miss Thwaites with an assistant, the mild Miss Titmus, and another teacher for the youngest ones. Miss Thwaites was a Dickensian figure, shabbily dressed, thin, erect, with a sallow complexion, a pointed nose, dark eyes and a penetrating voice. She was a good teacher though severe and had little patience with the mediocre or lazy child. I started there as a weekly boarder in October 1918 ... Thereafter I bicycled daily ... the mile and a half through Walton village and across the common; traffic was minimal and no one was in the least concerned for our safety. ... The teaching was a change from what I had had ... it was much more disciplined and less imaginative. It relied on textbooks for the various subjects, containing parcels of facts and few illustrations; these we had to read at home and to come prepared to answer in class.

In 1934 a Major Bradley bought the school for his son and bride as a wedding present. Described as "liberal for the time", it appears to have been reasonably prosperous as a co-educational day and boarding school. Other buildings were added in this period.

After the second world war, Chinthurst remained a co-educational day and boarding school until the Bradleys sold the school in 1953 to Mr Ronald Kelley and his wife Joan. Ronald Kelley remained headmaster of Chinthurst till his retirement in 1977. Chinthurst in the 1950s still had many similarities with the pre-war school, notably in the accommodation: there were several outbuildings, including a garage that served as a carpentry workshop; a large building used as a gymnasium, where plays were also performed; and stables for horse-riding.

Ronald Kelley transformed the school. Within a few years of taking over, he changed Chinthurst into a modern boys' prep school. In doing so, boarding was phased out and girls were no longer taught. In 1976 owing to his generosity and the foresight of the first governors, the school was transformed from a proprietary business to an educational trust. The Reverend Brian Batty became headmaster in 1976, jointly with Mr Kelley for a year, then independently until 1982.

Headmaster Mr Trevor Egan and his wife Heather were appointed in 1983. Under their leadership for the next 26 years, the school thrived and expanded, offering far wider opportunities to the pupils than in the past.

Following Mr and Mrs Egan's retirement, in 2009 Mr Ian Thorpe was appointed headmaster. The school continued to strengthen its academic and sporting achievements and from 2012 enrolled girls at all grades in response to what proved to be strong demand.

Mr David Williams was appointed headmaster in September 2013. Mr Tim Button, the School's deputy headmaster, was appointed headmaster in October 2015.

Independent Schools Inspectorate report

The Independent Schools Inspectorate's report of its inspection in December 2014 assessed Chinthurst School as being "successful in meeting its aim to produce well-rounded individuals" and "very successful in preparing pupils for their move to senior schools". The school "provides a broad and balanced curriculum with an excellent range of extra-curricular activities."

The inspection found that:

Pupils' personal development is excellent. The school succeeds extremely well in fulfilling its aim to teach consideration for others, traditional values and respect for the community ... pupils are extremely well behaved, and relationships between pupils and staff and among the pupils themselves are excellent. The quality of pastoral care and the attention given to the pupils' welfare, health and safety throughout the school are excellent. ... Throughout the school, the teaching is generally of good quality, but is not always sufficiently challenging to enable the most able pupils to achieve at the highest level or to develop their ability to work independently. Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning and are well prepared for the next stage of their education ... they show a very high standard of moral development ... [and] social awareness. ... They are confident and articulate, listen extremely well, have well-developed writing skills and good mathematical skills. ... Pupils' sporting achievements are excellent. ... Pupils also achieve well in music, art and drama and in a wide range of extra-curricular activities.

The inspection report also commented:

The school has excellent links with parents, carers and guardians. From their responses to the pre-inspection questionnaire and in discussion at meetings during the inspection, parents were overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They particularly value the warm, friendly atmosphere and the overarching family ethos which they believe makes the school so individual. They feel part of a special community and say that Chinthurst is their school, not just their children's. Parents, including those with children in the EYFS [Early Years Foundation Stage], are confident that all staff know their children extremely well and appreciate the open-door policy which promotes regular, informal communication.

Notable alumni