Orley Farm School is one of the largest coeducational preparatory day schools in the London borough of Harrow, at the foot of Harrow Hill on South Hill Avenue. The school grounds cover . Orley Farm was founded in 1850 as the preparatory school for the nearby Harrow School, but is now a fully private school in its own right and leavers continue to a variety of other private schools.

History

thumb|right|The school, as seen from South Hill Avenue

Orley Farm has evolved since September 1850 from a boarding school for boys preparing for Harrow, to a co-educational day school.

In 1984, the Official Grant of Arms was awarded. The arms and crest have three historical sources: (1) the stag holding an oak leaf is the Trollope family crest (due to the 1862 renaming of the school after Anthony Trollope's novel Orley Farm,

Orley Farm was originally a traditional boarding prep school similar to the likes of Ludgrove and Heatherdown Preparatory Schools. In 1984, boarding was phased out and the dormitories were converted to classrooms. In 1994, the school administration made the landmark decision of admitting girls for the first time. The Pre-Preparatory department was built and opened in 1995.

Houses

Each pupil and staff is randomly assigned to one of the four houses upon entry: Broadrick (yellow), Julians (green), Hastings (red), or Hopkins (blue). The houses are named after former headmasters and activities are overseen by house teachers.

New Buildings

Butler Hall

In July 2015, the first of four major building projects came online after the school invested just under £10 million to upgrade the facilities. The new dining hall overlooking the pool was named after Lord Butler, a former pupil, who visited the school to open the building.

Elliott Block

In September 2015, the original music school was turned into a building called the Elliott Block. It consists of new facilities supporting Drama and Music and was named after Ian Elliott, a former Headmaster.

  • Sir Arnold Lunn, inventor of slalom skiing and Catholic apologist
  • Martin Stevens, former MP and Conservative politician
  • Dale Winton, radio DJ and presenter

References

  • School Website
  • Profile on the ISC website