With record numbers joining Hurstpierpoint College this September, Headmaster Tim Manly today opened a brand new girls’ day house, created in response to the significantly increasing demand for places for girls in the Senior School. 

Pelican House, so named after a carved central feature on the magnificent reredos in the College Chapel, opened its doors this morning to a fresh intake of Year 9 and Lower Sixth form pupils, who were joined by a group of Year 10 girls transferring from the very successful, existing girls’ day house, Fleur de Lys. 

Pelican is the fourth girls’ house to be formed, joining Fleur de Lys and the two girls’ boarding houses, Martlet and Shield, since Hurst went fully co-educational in the late 1990’s after nearly 140 years as a male only preserve.

Numbers in Hurst’s Pre-Prep, Prep and Senior Schools have been growing, strikingly since Tim Manly’s appointment as Headmaster in 2005; girls have been joining the school in increasing numbers throughout this time and now account for over 40 per cent of pupils in the School

“We are a very successful school” admitted Mr Manly “but we are certainly not complacent. Our commitment to enable every willing child to realise their full potential – academically and in so many other ways  –  is very attractive to pupils and parents alike and we work very hard indeed to ensure that we deliver on that promise”.

A new girls’ house is only one of the major developments changing the face, but not the character, of the school. After the half-term holiday, the College’s substantial new academic wing will be officially opened, thus completing the third major quadrangle in the school. “This", said Mr Manly, "will become the academic heart of the school, providing the outstanding facilities and equipment we need to continue to provide the academic excellence that will always remain the bedrock of the school’s appeal.”

to see Pelican's new House Page, click here