PROCURE AND PLAN > CASE STUDY
Hurst Lodge School is a coeducational day and boarding school in Ascot, committed to the ideas of sustainability, thanks in part to the founder of the Eden Project being one of its owners. Julia Dennison visits principal Vicky Smit, headmistress Kate Leiper and director of finance Nick Leiper
East of Eden W
hen a school’s co-owner is Tim Smit KBE, founder of the Eden Project, it’s of little surprise to find sustainability and a respect for the environment to be fundamental to its ideology. Hurst Lodge School in Ascot, is co-owned by Tim and his sister and principal Vicky Smit and certainly lives up to the expectation. Where for many schools, sustainability is sometimes little more than a buzz word, this three to 18 day and boarding school takes it very seriously. It boasts a small holding of pigs, chickens and ducks, and the children are involved with sourcing and growing their food. As a leading school in Forest Schools (see box out for details), the children are often taking their learning outside to the school’s own woodland and, due to
a close link with the Eden Project, often making trips with parents and staff to Cornwall to visit the famous biomes. “Sustainability is very much in the whole DNA of the place and has become an important part of the curriculum here,” remarks finance director Nick Leiper when I visit the school, which has recently started admitting boys after being all-girls in the senior school since its founding. A FAMILY AFFAIR Hurst Lodge has been in the Smit family for 30 years – with Vicky an old girl herself. The school was founded in the early part of the last century by Doris Stainer, a dancer and the sister of actor Leslie Howard. “She had a dance school in central London that was wiped out by a German bomb,” recounts Vicky. “She had great friends locally – the dancers Ninette de Valois and Anna Pavlova – and they persuaded her to move to Sunningdale. So she bought a large house right next door to Agatha Christie’s stiles and she made a move to the country. She was persuaded to bring around 10 girls with her who were going to be evacuated anyway. So she arrived with a fleet of governesses and these girls and provided English, French and deportment lessons in addition to ballet.” When Doris Stainer died 30 years ago, Vicky happened to be a pupil there. The school’s building was due to be sold when her mother stepped in to buy it, rescuing the school from closure and it has been in the family ever since. Unsurprising for a school founded by a dancer, Hurst Lodge has always had a firm foundation in creativity and is very strong in the arts – last year it won more arts prizes from the Independent Schools Association’s national art competition than any other school. Academics are also strong and results in the sciences are particularly impressive. “I think a lot of people come here because parents are very happy for their children to dance and to do the arts, but they also want them to have secure academics,” says Vicky. “They get a chance to do everything at Hurst Lodge, which I think is so important.” The school has an intimate, familiar feel about it and is a very happy community. “It’s very much a family-orientated, friendly, nurturing school and it’s a lovely place to work,” says Nick. The children clearly feel at home there and although it has a small capacity for full-time boarders, the option of flexi-boarding has proven very popular and the boarding house is often full to bursting, particularly on an evening when boarders are toasting marshmallows around a camp fire. NEW LEADERSHIP After leading the school on her own for some time as principal, Vicky decided to hire a headmistress to join her and recruited Kate Leiper who started in September. “I cover whole school development, while Kate runs the academics,” she explains of their roles. Kate has worked at some of the country’s leading independent schools and is thoroughly enjoying her new role at Hurst Lodge. Her husband Nick has a background in marketing, and joined the school at the same time as director of finance and communications. Prior to their roles at Hurst Lodge, they worked together in two schools, including Ampleforth in North Yorkshire. “It’s different,” says Nick of the school. “I’ve never worked in a school where we’ve had to feed the chickens and the pigs – but the kids love it.” The school also prides itself to being open to change. “As an independent school, when there is a new idea, we can move quite fast, whereas in a state school it has to go through governors and the state,” comments Vicky. Kate has already made a positive impact as the new head and pupil numbers are on the rise. The school is in good shape and the recipient of very positive inspection reports, so it is more evolution than revolution, but there is most certainly a feeling of change in the air. The sixth form has had an overhaul with its students having a much higher profile in the school, including new responsibilities, a smart new dress code and extended privleges. INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE | MAR/APR 2012 33