New Hall School

History

The school was founded in Liège, now part of Belgium in 1642 by Susan Hawley, who also formed the English Community of the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre. The founding Religious Order, the Canonesses Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, is one of the most ancient in the Church and was established in Europe long before the English Religious Community was founded in 1642. The school expanded considerably in size and scope from 1770 under the leadership of Mary Dennett. In 1794, the French Revolutionary Wars forced the nuns to leave the Low Countries. The school reopened on its present site in 1799.

In 1994, the Preparatory Divisions were re-established on the campus at New Hall. Opening with 40 pupils, the school grew rapidly over the following years. In 1995, the Preparatory Divisions welcomed its first boarders and the boarding programme was later extended to boys as well.

In 2001, New Hall appointed its first lady principal, Mrs Katherine Jeffrey. In April 2005, the administration made a landmark decision to go fully co-educational, ending over 360 years of single-sex education. The announcement was made that the Senior Divisions would be embarking on a period of further expansion, with the establishment of a separate Boys' Division (11–16) and a co-educational Sixth Form. The Senior Divisions now accepts boys throughout the 11–18 age range and there are two boys' boarding houses fully established, in addition to the two girls' boarding houses.

The move towards co-education using the "diamond model" has proved extremely successful. New Hall was commended by judges at the 2011 Independent School Awards for the "ambitious and pioneering move" and won the award for "outstanding strategic initiative". In 2016 New Hall was voted TES Independent School of the Year.

The New Hall School Trust (NHST) was established as a new registered charity (1110286) and limited company in 2005. The principal objective of the NHST, as set out in the Memorandum and Articles, is ‘to advance the Roman Catholic religion by the conduct of a Roman Catholic School’. In 2012 New Hall was invited to become the first independent school in the country to sponsor a state primary school that was seeking to become an Academy under the new Government scheme. The new academy formally opened in September 2013, forming the New Hall Multi Academy Trust (NHMAT), a partnership between New Hall School and Messing Primary School.

Buildings

Sir Thomas Boleyn inherited New Hall from his father Sir William in the late 1400s and in 1517, the estate was acquired by King Henry VIII, who greatly enlarged and enhanced the building and called it Beaulieu. The Royal Arms of Henry VIII are now to be seen in the school Chapel. For many years the home of Mary Tudor, New Hall was subsequently granted to the Earl of Sussex by Queen Elizabeth I. Oliver Cromwell later procured the estate for 5 shillings.

Having fallen into disrepair and been somewhat pillaged, the house was bought by a Dutch trader John Olmius in 1738 who refashioned the north wing as a self-contained house with a new entrance and bay windows, interior plasterwork and panelling. Under the reign of George III, he became the 1st Baron Waltham of Philpstown.

Houses

There are six vertical houses named after figures venerated in the Catholic church:

• Acutis House
• Augustine House
• Bahkita House
• Miki House
• Romero House
• Teresa House

The Preparatory Divisions Houses are named after the Four Evangelists, the saints who wrote the Four Gospels:

• St Matthew (Red)
• St Mark (Yellow)
• St Luke (Green)
• St John (Blue)

The Boarding Houses are named as follows:

• Earle Wing, Petre House
• Hawley House
• Petre House
• Dennett House
• Campion House

Academic

New Hall has a strong academic record and regularly tops the exam results table for Essex county. In the 2021 A Levels, it achieved a 97% pass rate at grades A*-B and 75% at A*/A. At GCSE, 79% of grades were 7+ (A*/A).

Pastoral care

Pupils are required to attend regular chapel services. Practising Catholic pupils may choose to actively participate in spiritual activities such as Bible studies and the annual pilgrimage to Lourdes. The school chapel runs weekly Sunday mass which is open to the public and serves the Parish of St Augustine of Canterbury, Springfield. Pupils and staff often serve as musicians, choristers, altar servers, sacristans and readers.

Co-curricular activities

Sport

Students compete at county, regional, national and international level in a wide range of sports and have met with success. In recent years, there has been a significant investment in the sports facilities on campus. The first-class provision now includes: The Waltham Centre 25m 6-lane indoor swimming pool; a national standard athletics track and floodlit Astroturf; 10 floodlit tennis/netball courts; two sports halls; Parsons Hall dance studio; junior and senior cricket wickets and indoor training nets; hockey, rugby and football pitches. New Hall also has well-established links with a local riding school and a golf club.

The more popular sports are cricket, hockey, netball, rugby, and tennis. There is a wide variety of other sports, including aerobics & pilates, athletics, badminton, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, equitation, swimming, volleyball and triathlon.

Past headmistresses and principals

At Liege and then in England it can be assumed that the Prioress was also in charge of the school. At some unknown stage a First Mistress became a quasi-Headmistress in the school under the Prioress. The term headmistress was first used in 1942 and the term principal from 2005.

Former pupils

Former pupils are known as "Old Fishes" or "New Hallians".

• Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN
• Cindy Buxton, wildlife film-maker
• Joanna Scanlan, actor and writer
• Leonora Carrington, surrealist artist
• Anya Hindmarch, fashion accessories designer
• Denise Holt, diplomat
• Amber Rudd, British politician, former Home Secretary
• Emma Gilbey Keller, author and journalist
• Sarah Ferguson, journalist, host of Australian Broadcasting Corporation's 7.30
• Felicity Landon, freelance journalist
• Amanda Stretton, racing driver and motoring journalist
• Virginia Maskell, English actress
• Gina Rippon, professor of cognitive neuroimaging and author
• Rose Glass, film & TV writer/ director
• Dom Morris, Saracens rugby player
• Tomiwa Agbongbon, Leicester Tigers rugby player

Notable staff

• Nasser Hussain, cricket
• Matilda Callaghan, cricket

References

References

1. [http://www.newhallschool.co.uk/catholic-provision Catholic provision]
2. (2004). "Hawley, Susan [name in religion Mary of the Conception] (1622–1706), Sepulchrine prioress".
3. (2004). "Dennett, Mary [name in religion Christina] (1730–1781), prioress of the Holy Sepulchre, Liège".
4. (4 May 2005). "Chelmsford: School to let in boys". [[The Echo (Essex).
5. [http://www.newhallschool.co.uk/about-new-hall/ About New Hall]
6. (21 November 2011). "Top award for New Hall School's diamond success". [[Chelmsford Weekly News]].
7. "History of New Hall and the School".
8. "Earle Wing, Petre House". Newhallschool.co.uk.
9. "Hawley". Newhallschool.co.uk.
10. "Petre House". Newhallschool.co.uk.
11. "Dennett House". Newhallschool.co.uk.
12. "Campion House". Newhallschool.co.uk.
13. (15 August 2019). "New Hall School celebrate record breaking A Level success". [[Chelmsford Weekly News]].
14. (11 December 2021). "The Essex schools which were named among East Anglia's best".
15. (22 August 2019). "New Hall School, Chelmsford, celebrate record breaking GCSE success".
16. "New Hall School – Mid-Essex Deanery". Diocese of Brentwood.
17. (23 February 2014). "National award for channel swimming youngster". [[Chelmsford Weekly News]].
18. (16 February 2017). "Students put in star turns on the slopes". [[Chelmsford Weekly News]].
19. (7 November 2019). "New Hall pupils win gold medal". [[Essex Chronicle]].
20. (11 April 2010). "Old Fishes".
21. (9 March 2020). "Writer/director Rose Glass: "women love messed up stuff."". [[Medium (website).
22. (27 November 2021). "Lowdown on Leicester Tigers' 'explosive' new signing Tomiwa Agbongbon".