Our History
The Mall School was founded in 1872 and moved to its present site in 1909. The original house was destroyed by fire in 1960, leaving only the old stable block, which housed the junior activity room and the art room.
1970 – 1986
Temporary accommodation was erected to keep the school going. More buildings were added over the years, notably by Peter Waterfield, who became Headmaster in 1969. At that time, the school buildings – but not the land – were owned by the Headmaster. When Mr Waterfield approached retirement, he handed over the school to an educational trust which was established in 1986. An appeal successfully raised over £200,000 to secure the freehold of the land.
Developments in the 1990s
A major redevelopment programme began in 1990 with the opening of the Waterfield Building, a junior block of six classrooms. The Ellis Building, a matching senior block of nine classrooms, opened in 1992. In September 1993, the Hamblin Building was also completed – it comprised a kitchen, dining room, library and staffroom. The school celebrated its 125th anniversary with the opening of the Thistlethwaite Building for Science and Music in 1997, which completed the fourth side of the inner quadrangle. Well-known sports presenter and ex-footballer, Gary Lineker opened the indoor swimming pool in July 1999.
A new building for younger pupils
In December 2000, the school bought The Old Vicarage at 84 Hampton Road to house Reception and Year 1. The building opened for the Reception classes in September 2002, with Year 1 added a year later. In September 2010 a Creative and Performing Arts Centre for drama, art and design technology was completed, as well as a new sports hall which the ex-England cricketer Angus Fraser opened in January 2014.
During August 2015 we redeveloped the science area to the rear of the Ellis building to create an outdoor classroom with a fabulous Science Garden, greenhouse and pond. In August 2016, the dining hall and kitchen were refurbished alongside a new outdoor area at Mall Infants.
Changes to the pupil cohort
In April 2017, the school announced that it was moving to 11+ and so, at the end of the summer term 2020 the last cohort of 13+ boys left The Mall.
Adapting to a global pandemic
When the worldwide pandemic forced the nation into lockdown, the school adapted its approach to teaching by providing online learning.
At the time, parents of children in Years 4 and 6 wrote to the school, with positive feedback about how quickly the teaching had been changed:
We just wanted to drop you a line to say a big thank you for delivering such a successful return to home schooling this week. It’s very clear a considerable amount of time, thought and effort has gone into making this work as best as it can for all, which has certainly come through in abundance this week given the success of the online teaching and related content. It’s certainly made our job as parents much easier and allows us to focus on supporting the children where we can be of greater benefit to them during the day.
Journey to co-education
The Mall Nursery opened in 2023 at 84 Hampton Road and OFSTED rated it Outstanding in December 2024!
We welcomed girls into Reception from September 2023 and the move to co-education, which is being phased in gradually, will be completed across all year groups by September 2028. View the timeline so far.
