History

Hunter Hall School was officially launched in January 1985 at a public meeting in Penrith addressed by Viscount Whitelaw. In the following September, it opened as a school for 7 to 11 year olds at Hunter Hall, in the village of Great Salkeld, the home of Aidan Warlow, the Headmaster. In 1989, Mr. Warlow handed over ownership of the school to a newly formed trust consisting of the whole parent body. An executive committee was formed which was empowered to make decisions on behalf of the parents.

Two years later the school, having expanded from its original twenty five pupils to around sixty, moved to the present site, Frenchfield Farm, on the edge of Penrith. Lord Whitelaw came back to open the new buildings in December, 1991.

In 1993, one of the school’s original staff members, Mrs. Louise Dexter, took over as Headmistress. It was at this time that the school opened an infants’ department catering for 4 to 6 year olds.

In 1994, the school became a charitable company with a newly constituted Governing Body. The whole parent body are no longer trustees of the school.

The Nursery department, ‘Nutkins’, opened in 1996.

In 2003, Mrs. Dexter retired and Mr. Allan Short, Deputy Headmaster of St. George’s Prep School in New Zealand, was appointed as the school’s third Headteacher.

When the school moved to Frenchfield, the buildings were those of a normal working farm and far from suitable for an educational setting. However over the intervening years, committed and dedicated staff, parents and governors have helped to create the school we have today. The site retains character of original farm, though extensive modernisation of the facilities has produced a unique working environment: you will not find another school anything like Hunter Hall!