Orley Farm School
| Motto | Haec Cogitate (Think on these things) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1850 |
| Type | Preparatory school |
| Headmaster | Mr T Calvey |
| Chairman of the Governors | Mr C Hayfield |
| Founder | Edward R Hastings |
| Location | South Hill Avenue Harrow Middlesex HA1 3NU England Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | Harrow |
| DfE number | 310/6003 |
| DfE URN | 102248 Tables |
| Students | 496 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 4–13 |
| Houses | 4 |
| Website | www.orleyfarm.harrow.sch.uk |
Orley Farm School is a coeducational preparatory day school in the London borough of Harrow, at the foot of Harrow Hill on South Hill Avenue. It was founded as the preparatory school for the nearby Harrow School but is now a fully independent school in its own right and leavers continue to other independent schools. The school grounds cover over 36 acres (150,000 m2).
Contents
History
As "Hastings School", it was founded in 1850 by the first headmaster, Edward Ridley Hastings, who was head for 47 years. The last was the name of a property purchased by the school which happened to have been owned by the family of Anthony Trollope. Trollope described the house in his novel Orley Farm and Hastings, recognising the description, gained permission to rename the school "Orley Farm". Each of the houses has a house colour; Hastings - maroon, Hopkins - blue, Broadrick - yellow and Julians - green. However, the recent headmaster has removed the house ties and the tie has been standardised to a maroon colour. The only exceptions are the people with 'school colours' for exceptional contributions to music or to the school. These students have the crest embossed onto the centre of the tie (music) or have acorns in rows over the whole tie (school).
Orley Farm was originally a traditional boarding prep school similar to the likes of Ludgrove and Heatherdown Preparatory Schools. During the 1980s, boarding was phased out after over 130 years and the dormitories were converted into classrooms. In 1994, the school administration made the landmark decision of admitting girls for the first time. The pre-prep department opened the following year.[1]
Indecent assault
Teacher David Gutteridge was found guilty of indecent assault on a male pupil aged under 16.[2] Gutteridge would invite the victim to his flat at weekends and ply him with cigarettes and alcohol before abusing them. Gutteridge was jailed for 18 months.[3]
Controversy
In October 2012, the then Headmaster, Mark Dunning, was forced to step down after hiding an offensive coded message in the form of an acrostic in the school news letter. The target of this insult was a retiring teacher, and the hidden message was in the text announcing his forthcoming retirement.[4] The Deputy Headmaster, Tim Calvey, took on the role of acting Headmaster (later made permanent).
Houses
Each pupil is randomly assigned to one of the four houses upon entry. The houses are named after former headmasters and activities are overseen by house teachers.[5]
- Hastings
- Hopkins
- Broadrick
- Julians
Former Pupils
- Robin Butler, retired senior civil servant
- Alastair Fothergill, producer
- Keir Giles, academic
- Anthony Horowitz, author and screenwriter[6]
- Sir Arnold Lunn, inventor of slalom skiing and Catholic apologist
- Martin Stevens, former MP and Conservative politician
- Dale Winton, radio DJ and presenter[7]
References
- ↑ About Us - School History
- ↑ http://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/former-teacher-has-been-found-32299/
- ↑ http://www.chichester.co.uk/news/local/former-chichester-school-worker-jailed-for-indecent-assault-on-teenage-boy-1-6632847
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ House System
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- School Website
- Profile on the ISC website
