Stanway School, Dorking

Stanway School, Dorking was a co-educational independent pre-preparatory and preparatory school based in Chichester Road, Dorking, Surrey, England for students aged 2 to 11. Originally, girls were able to stay on until the age of 13. However, the demand for this declined as secondary schools began to accept pupils from the age of 11.

Stanway School was founded in 1934 and merged with Nower Lodge School in 2002 [1] to form New Lodge School on the Stanway site. The merged school closed in Summer 2007 [2] due to an ongoing decline in pre-preparatory student numbers.

Stanway started out as a boarding school for girls, led by headmistress Mrs. Bosley, whom the 'Stanway School Award' was later named after. Nicola Hamer née Collins was the first Head Girl and later returned to teach form 2C as an adult. It later became a day school and eventually began to admit boys up until they reached middle school age - typically around the age of 7 or 8.

Stanway had many unique traditions, including the annual Christmas Pudding Stir, in which every pupil present on the day of the Christmas Pudding making, was able to stir the pudding mixture and make a wish. Siblings were always sorted into the same Set. The title of Head Girl was a hereditary honour, which automatically passed down to younger sisters. During the reign of Headmistress Mrs. Christine Belk, pupils were summoned onto the stage during morning assembly, on the day of their birthday (if that happened to fall on a schoolday), for the whole school to sing 'Happy Birthday' to them. Each pupil had to pass a reading test with the Headmistress Mrs. Belk, before being awarded their own Hymn Book.

The Stanway School building was built in the shape of a cross and was said to mark the crossroads between the old Roman Stane Street and Pilgrim's Way, which also gave Stanway its name: 'Stan' from 'Stane' and 'way' from 'Way'. Stanway had its own swimming pool and two tennis courts. There was also a climbing frame and a giant Horse Chestnut tree, which grew in a little hollow pit called 'The Dip', which gave rise to a game of pupils chasing each around the tree, in The Dip, called 'Running Round The Dip'.

Stanway had a summer and winter uniform. The winter uniform consisted of: brown shoes, grey tights, grey knickers, a white vest, a white shirt, a long purple tie, a purple tunic dress, a grey blazer with purple ribbon edging and the school logo emblazoned on the breast pocket, and a grey felt hat, with a purple ribbon, tied in a bow at the back and secured with black elastic. The summer uniform consisted of: a white and purple knee-length patterned summer dress, with yellow accents, with a sash-belt and short sleeves, a grey cardigan, white knee-length socks, white knickers, brown sandals, the same blazer as above and a straw boater hat, with a purple ribbon, tied in a bow at the back, and secured with white elastic. School swimming costumes and gym leotards were purple, sports kit was white, with a grey skirt or jogging bottoms for netball and white plimsolls. There was also a grey sweatshirt, with the school logo on it, which was optional. Swimming caps were compulsory and were the colour of the Set you were in. (Yellow for Swallows, Red for Swifts and Blue for Skylarks: the same colour as the badges, which were small, round and plain.) Ballet dresses were pink and sleeveless, with a sash around the middle, and the shoes were pink leather, secured with pink satin ribbon or pink string for the juniors.

Summer holidays were usually 8 weeks long, whilst Christmas and Easter holidays were both 4 weeks long. Half Terms were 1 week long.