page_title: Chinthurst School
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chinthurst School / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Three young pupils, guided by a teacher, push small wooden crosses into the lawn at Chinthurst School during a ceremony to mark Remembrance Day, 11 November 2014. School building and another three children and adult in background.
context_page_description: Chinthurst School is an independent co-educational nursery, pre-preparatory and preparatory school in semi-rural surroundings in the village of Tadworth, Surrey, England, 15 miles south of the centre of London. As a member of the RGS Group, the school is associated with Reigate Grammar School and Reigate St Mary's Preparatory and Choir School. Its pupils' ages range from almost three to eleven years.
context_section_description: Chinthurst School was founded 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 ... 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.
  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. More 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. Mr Kelley remained headmaster until his retirement in 1977.
  Within a few years of taking over, Ronald Kelley changed Chinthurst into a modern boys' prep school. In doing so, boarding was phased out and girls were no longer taught. In 1976, the school was changed from a proprietary business to an educational trust, and the Reverend Brian Batty became headmaster 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 much wider opportunities to the pupils than in the past.
  Following Mr and Mrs Egan's retirement in 2009, Mr Ian Thorpe was appointed headmaster. From 2012, the school enrolled girls at all grades in response to demand.
  Mr David Williams was appointed headmaster in September 2013. He was followed in April 2015 by Mr Tim Button, previously the School's deputy headmaster. In February 2017, Miss Cathy Trundle was appointed headteacher.
caption: Chinthurst School pupils placing commemorative crosses into lawn on Remembrance Day
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot N", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Pixelmator 3.6", "Image DateTime": "2017:11:22 8 pm:11:77", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:11:07 10:35:16", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:11:07 10:35:16", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "255/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5557/500", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1362", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1649", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "692459/60", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "692459/60", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}