https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1906753356762153010

18:00 PM - 31 Mar 2025

The incredible 'Back to Broadway' cast and crew wowed the audience at Weston Green Church last Friday. The performers blew us all away with the quality of their work and raw talent- all teched so smoothly by our Backstage Crew! A huge and well-deserved congratulations to all! pic.twitter.com/PQMj13OHow

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1906390973065904354

18:00 PM - 30 Mar 2025

We will cover effective revision strategies, timetables, wellbeing support, and insights from Year 12 students, along with subject-specific advice from our English, Maths, and Science leaders. pic.twitter.com/Bq2zF1UIDo

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1905334011259748429

19:00 PM - 27 Mar 2025

Back to Broadway raised the roof at HWS last night, with sassy senoritas and charming chicos along with Roxie and the six murderesses from Cook County Jail, the very talented students from Yrs 7 to 13 gave their heart and soul in exhilarating performances. Congratulations to all! pic.twitter.com/whuUv4rjic

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1905318903791632558

18:00 PM - 27 Mar 2025

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https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1903144582595928485

18:00 PM - 21 Mar 2025

Showing Wednesday 26th March! pic.twitter.com/6OjLMPIZCe

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1903088995933815126

14:19 PM - 21 Mar 2025

Friday 13.34 - Live! All students have set off and started walking on their Silver Duke of Edinburgh hike! pic.twitter.com/5NQXUnZtrD

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1903038897564602879

11:00 AM - 21 Mar 2025

Huge congratulations to our eSports team for securing 2nd place at the Semi-Finals and earning their spot in the National Finals on April 29th! A big shoutout to Alfie, Ben, Leo, Sunny, Mickey & Sam, and Ms Boyd for the support. See you at the finals! pic.twitter.com/z15dF9ZhTU

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1902782190452347296

18:00 PM - 20 Mar 2025

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https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1899883090622767393

18:00 PM - 12 Mar 2025

A huge thank you to the amazing Natalie Ayton from Bstarz for returning to our Drama department on Monday! She ran a brilliant physical performance workshop for our Year 9 students thinking about taking Drama at GCSE. pic.twitter.com/lgpB0NejBI

https://x.com/hinchleywschool/status/1899520707068870700

18:00 PM - 11 Mar 2025

Saturday 8th February saw the Hinchley Wood Robotics team compete in the National LegoFirst Robotics tournament. This is our second year participating and our second trophy! This year the team won for best robot design. Well done to everyone! pic.twitter.com/L6rzqbk50B

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History & Alumni

Serving the Local Community for Over 70 years

Hinchley Wood School's Claygate Lane site originally housed two separate schools, the Kingston Day Commercial School and the Hinchley Wood Central Council School; the former being an existing school moved from its location in Kingston.

The Central Council School opened on 4 March 1940 with 360 children drawn from five different local schools in Thames Ditton, Claygate and Long Ditton; there was no primary school in Hinchley Wood until after the war.  The students were aged 10 - 14 years, the latter being the statutory minimum school leaving age at that time, and the school had nine forms of 40 children each.  Mr P N Halifax was the head teacher who had a team of 12 permanent teaching staff.

In 1947 the two schools were merged to form the Hinchley Wood County Secondary School, although the physical joining together of the buildings took place gradually over many years.

With the merger both head teachers, Mr Bray and Mr Halifax, left and were replaced with one head, Mr Harold Thorp.  Hinchley Wood County Secondary took over the two buildings as well as the commercial courses originally run by the Kingston school.  An extension was built between the two school buildings in the 1960s and it now forms the school administrative offices on the ground floor and the modern languages department on the first floor.

  • In the 1960s the school had around 1200 pupils on roll from the ages of 12 to18 years.
  • Esher Sixth Form College was established in 1977 on the Thames Ditton site of Esher County Grammar School - formerly the Surbiton County Grammar School which was relocated from the current Hollyfield School site.
  • As a result Hinchley Wood became a 12-16 years school and this subsequently changed to 11-16 years when middle and first schools were abolished in Surrey.  The number of pupils on roll in the early 1990s was 600; today the school has 1173 students on its roll.

The school site has been developed over the years to accommodate a range of changes:

  • In 1996 the school successfully bid to become an 11-18 years school.  The first purpose built sixth form centre, which was housed in the Thwaites Building, was opened in 2001 with around 30 students; there are now over 200 sixth form students who enjoy life in the newly built Sixth Form Centre completed on the northern end of the first floor of the main building in September 2014.
  • The art/technology building was completed in 1995 providing two art rooms, one graphics rooms, one food technology room, one resistant materials workshop and three classrooms now used for the teaching of Philosophy, Religion and Ethics.
  • A new purpose built indoor sports centre with fitness gym, dance studio and a dining room with kitchen was opened in September 2002. 
  • In 2005 a new science wing was built on the southern end of the first floor of the main building.
  • The library was amalgamated into a new music centre with recording studio and practice rooms in 2006.
  • At the same time a new learning resource centre was created from the former science labs. 
  • October 2012: two astro truf pitches were built on part of the playing fields.
  • September 2014: the Learning Support Centre was relocated to the refurbished Lower Thwaites Building.
  • April 2016: an NAS Cullum Centre at the school, one of just four such facilities in Outstanding Surrey schools.  The centre planned in conjunction with the National Autistic Society (NAS) employs specialist support staff to work with high functioning autistic students to enable them to flourish in the mainstream school environment.
  • September 2016: two new state-of-the-art Science labs built to cater for the growing number of students who opt for A level Sciences and a purpose built Drama studio.
  • Summer 2018: creation of a third tennis court in the area formerly known as 'the cage'.
  • Summer 2020: main hall refurbishment, new lighting and installation of retractable seating.

Helping the School

If you are a former student of Hinchley Wood School, we want to hear from you!  Your experiences since leaving could help to motivate and inspire our current students to feel more confident in making decisions about their future.  We would love you to stay connected with the school and please do let us know if you would like to return to the school for a visit.

We are fortunate that many former students are able to help the school, either financially or by offering work experience or careers advice. We organise a Careers Fair every year and Corporate Breakfast meetings in the summer term and are always keen to find people willing to offer advice and work experience, or speak to students in small groups.  Do get in touch if you are able to help.