Claremont Fan Court School

The first house to be built on the Claremont Estate was Vanbrugh House in 1708 by Sir John Vanbrugh.[5]^:7 In 1714 it was bought by the Earl of Clare (from which the name Claremont is derived)[5]^:8 who later became the Duke of Newcastle. Many notable residents have lived on the estate since, including: Lord Clive of India,[5]^:13 Princess Charlotte and Prince Leopold,[5]^:20 Princess (later Queen) Victoria, King Louis Philippe and Queen Marie-Amélie,[5]^:44 and the Duke and Duchess of Albany.[5]^:52 The grounds too have been sculpted by several notable architects, including Vanbrugh, Capability Brown and William Kent.[6] Throughout this period many changes were made to the buildings and grounds of the estate.

In 1922, a school for girls began at Mrs Packers’ house (who later became the first principal of Claremont School).[5]^:61 After moving to Clear View in Norwood in 1923 due to an expansion in pupil numbers the school moved again to Claremont in 1931 after acquiring 33 acres of the Claremont estate.[5]^:61 By 1936 it was at full capacity with 85 pupils.[5]^:61

During the Second World War, the school was evacuated to Llandrindod Wells in Wales, and Claremont was let to the Hawker Aircraft company, whose design team under the aeronautical engineer Sydney Camm produced the Hawker Tempest fighter.[7]

In 1946 the school returned to the Claremont Estate, purchasing White Cottage in 1949. By 1955 the stables had been converted to a junior school, thus allowing pupils to number 200, with half of these as boarders. By 1970 a new gymnasium, art rooms, dining room, kitchens and music block had been built.[5]^:64–65

In 1932 a preparatory school for boys was founded at a small house called The Lodge in Banstead, Surrey.[8]^:4 The school briefly moved to Warren House before again moving to Fan Court, Chertsey in 1934, when it also received its formal constitution[8]^:9 and was admitted to the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools.[8]^:16

In its early years, only five pupils attended, hailing from South Africa, USA and England.[8]^:12–13 This rose to 56 prior to the outbreak of World War II and up to 85 by 1956.[8]^{:18, 35} The school magazine was called Vox Leonis (named after the lion on the school crest).[8]^:15 The Old Boys’ Club and Friends of Fan Court were established in 1936 and 1947 respectively.[8]^:27 A summer garden party called Fan Court Day was held annually to celebrate the school's community and included entertainments, exhibitions and speeches.[8]^:16

During World War II the possibility of evacuating the school to Canada or the Bahamas was considered, however never occurred.[8]^:20–21 The School planted a tree to mark the end of the war in 1945.[8]^:25

In 1967 a junior school for boys and girls was opened at Fan Court. Girls were able to stay at Fan Court until the age of 10 when they became eligible for entrance into Claremont School.[8]^:53 This further strengthened the connection between the two schools that had existed since Fan Court had been established. Other demonstrations of this link include: Claremont's financial support in 1955 for the construction of Fan Court's swimming pool,[8]^:34 alternate-year joint parties beginning in 1964,[8]^:51 a joint carol service in 1967[8]^:54 and joint meetings from 1967 onwards by committees and Friends of the schools.[8]^:54

In 1978, Claremont School and Fan Court School amalgamated on the site of Claremont School to become a co-educational school for pupils from 2½ to 18 years.[5]^:66 During the 1980s the Joyce Grenfell Centre was built (named after the former Claremont School pupil) housing a music school, theatre, computer suite and design and technology classrooms.[5]^:66 A new junior school and principal's house (called Clearview after the former location of Claremont School) were also built. During the 1990s White Cottage became the Sixth Form centre and a new sports hall was built.[5]^:61

• 1972 – Claremont School celebrated its Golden Jubilee with the construction of a new science facility.[5]^:66
• 1979 (August) – HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother visited the Mansion after an opening ceremony at the Claremont Landscape Gardens.[5]^:66
• 1996 – After repairs, the Belvedere was opened to the public for the first time to celebrate the centenary of the National Trust.[5]^:66

On entering the school pupils join one of the following four houses:

• Longcross (yellow) - named after the previous location of Fan Court School; the crest features the Longcross lion[8]^:9
• Norwood (blue) - named after the previous location of Claremont School; the crest features the Claremont torch[5]^:61
• Radnor (red) - named after the county in Wales in which Claremont School was evacuated to during WWII; the crest features the Welsh dragon[5]^:63–64
• Esher (green) - named after the current location of Claremont Fan Court School; the crest features a crown for Esher's past royal associations[9]

Various school interhouse activities take place throughout the year in addition to the House point system and sports day. These have included competitions in: singing,[10] film creation, drawing, recycled fashion, engineering and cooking.[11]

Since 1933, Fan Court School has used a house system, starting with three houses (Cayley, Lings and Macgregor) followed by the addition of a fourth by 1936 (Cazalet). Cayley and Cazalet were named after benefactors of the school.[8]^{:5–6, 18, 22} Claremont School introduced its house system in 1928 with four houses (Normans, Saxons, Tudors and Stuarts).[5]^:10

In the Autumn and Spring terms girls play lacrosse and netball, and in the Summer term they play cricket and athletics.

In the Autumn and Spring terms boys play rugby union and football, and in the Summer term they play cricket and athletics.

The motto, crest and song are all derived from those of Claremont Fan Court's predecessor schools:

• The school motto is “Be Strong in Understanding” which recognises Fan Court School's original motto "Be Strong".[8]^:5
• The school crest combines a lion and torch. This references the original crests with the torch from Claremont School and the lion from Fan Court School.[8]^:4–5
• The School song is titled “Nisi Dominus Frustra” which was the original motto of Claremont School.[5]^:65 The words are by Phyllis M. Cooper and the music by Fenella Farrar (Bennetts).[12]

• Anne Sebba, award-winning British biographer, writer, lecturer and journalist
• Michaela Strachan, television presenter[21]
• Anthea McIntyre, Conservative Member of the European Parliament[22]
• Miles Millar, screenwriter and producer
• James Hamilton, 4th Baron Hamilton of Dalzell (1938–2006), stockbroker and Conservative peer
• Kate Staples, British female former pole vaulter and star of Gladiators
• Joyce Grenfell, OBE an English actress, comedian, monologist and singer-songwriter

• Debra Searle (1975), adventurer, television presenter, and author
• Hayley Tullett (1973), Olympic middle distance runner.