Wellesley Haddon Dene School

Last updated

Wellesley Haddon Dene School
Location
Wellesley Haddon Dene School
Broadstairs [1]
,
Kent
,
CT10 2DG

England
Coordinates 51°21′19″N1°25′38″E / 51.3554°N 1.4273°E / 51.3554; 1.4273
Information
Type Private school
Preparatory school
Day and boarding school
MottoA scalis patulis tandem adveniemus ad astra
Religious affiliation Church of England [1]
Established1866
ChairmanAli Khan [1]
Head MasterDuncan Andrews [2]
GenderCoeducational [1]
Age2 [2] to 11
Enrolment130
Website https://www.wellesleyhaddondene.co.uk/

Wellesley Haddon Dene School is a private day preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. The earliest of a succession of schools which merged was founded in 1866. It educates boys and girls aged 2 to 11. The merger of Haddon Dene School with Wellesley House School to form the newly named Wellesley Haddon Dene School in 2022, was associated with plans to expand. The school also includes a number of pupils with Special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Contents

History

The history of Wellesley House School dates back to 1866 but the present main building was built in 1897 to 1898 in 6 acres (2.4 ha) of grounds. [3] The school had been originally called Conyngham House and was located in Ramsgate. [3] In 1929 Haddon Dene School was founded separately. [4] Haddon Dene was initially a boarding and day school for girls, with boys accepted from 1933. [5] : 98  During World War II, Haddon Dene expanded and taught older pupils, [4] where as Wellesley House was temporarily evacuated to Rannoch in Scotland while the Broadstairs buildings were used by the British Army. [6] In the 1950's Haddon Dene moved for expansion reasons to a town block away of the grounds of Wellesley House. [4] In 1969 Wellesley House merged with St Peter's Court, another local prep school, whose grounds were then redeveloped. [3] St Peter's Court had had two sons of King George V as pupils. [3] The King felt corporal punishment of Prince George, Duke of Kent when he swam too far out to sea at Joss Bay, despite being warned not to, was appropriate. [5] : 198  Wellesley House School itself taught one of the Dukes of Gloucester in the 1950s and other prominent pupils included Mike d'Abo, Chris Cowdrey and William Fox-Pitt. [3] [5] : 245  Wellesley's House first headmaster was C.H. Rose followed by C.R. Taylor. [3] Another early headmaster was Leonard Moon. [5] : 245  Originally a typical boys-only boarding prep school, girls were admitted in 1977. [7] Haddon Dene school's first headmistress was Miss Olive Vyse who continued until 1968. [4] Haddon Dene was without boarders at the time of the merger, and with smaller grounds. [5] : 98 

On 22 September 2022, Haddon Dene School merged with Wellesley House School to form the newly named Wellesley Haddon Dene School. [8] The Premises for the new school are as for Wellesley House School, at 114 Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs. [8] It was planned that the merger could eventually lead to an expansion of pupil number to a maximum of 320 pupils. [8]

The school has a number of pupils with Special educational needs and disability (SEND), which in 2023 stood at 23. [8]

Academics

As with prep schools that educate children up to age 11. [1] Wellesley Haddon Dene prepares pupils for the Kent Test (11+) alongside potential pathways to Independent education . [9]

Former pupils

Former pupils are known as "Old Welleslians". [10] This list includes former pupils from St Peter's Court, which closed in 1969 and merged with Wellesley House. [10]

Armed Forces [11] [10]

The Arts [11] [10]

Business [11] [10]

Politics [11] [10]

Royalty and nobility [11] [10]

Sportsmen and sportswomen [11] [10]

Writers [11] [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wellesley Haddon Dene School". ISC . Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Wellesley Haddon Dene". Archived from the original on 9 September 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wooton, Barrie (1992). Early Broadstairs and St Peters in Old Photographs. Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. pp. 1–160. ISBN   0-7509-0054-7.: 75 
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Our History:Haddon Dene School". Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Cawthorne, Bob (2007). The Isle of Thanet Compendium. Broadstairs, Kent: Scribble and Doodle Books. pp. 1–259. ISBN   978-0-9557062-0-2.
  6. ↑ Martin, Selby (2017). Memoirs of a diplomat and teacher. YouCaxton Publications. pp. 1–324. ISBN   9-781911-175315.
  7. ↑ "Wellesley House School - History". wellesleyhouse.org. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Wellesley Haddon Dene School:Short Visit 2023". isi.net. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "The Curriculum". wellesleyhouse.org. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Old Welleslians". wellesleyhouse.org. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Wellesley House: Alumni". Archived from the original on 9 July 2013.
  12. ↑ "Which Tory went where?". The Guardian . 1 June 2007.
  13. ↑ Furness, Hannah (2 August 2016). "The perils of being a Duke: nosy tourists at your castle". The Daily Telegraph .
  14. ↑ Money-Coutts, Sophia (17 August 2016). "Inside Alnwick Castle! The Duke of Northumberland opens up for Tatler". Tatler .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.