The First 100 Years of Hilden Oaks: 1919–2019

The founding headmistress, Mrs Alys Keith-Lucas first ‘unlocked the door’ to the school on 7th May 1919. She had sadly been widowed during the First World War and found that she needed to support herself and her three young sons. She was a highly intelligent woman who was exceptionally gifted; with a first-class brain and a great interest in education. She was very advanced in her ideas and full of original thought. Her teaching experience had come in the form of assisting her mother to run a school in France, where her father was vicar to the English community, and also through working with a family friend, Miss Muriel Boldero, at her school in Eastbourne. The school was very small with no scope to expand, so after researching suitable areas to open a new school for boys up to the age of 7 and girls to 13 or 14, she decided upon Tonbridge, and persuaded Miss Boldero to join her, to help run it.

The first property she bought was ‘Kenford’ at 13 Dry Hill Road, Tonbridge, and the school opened with just three pupils, including her youngest son Bryan.  By the end of the first term, fourteen children had enrolled but that number had doubled by September 1919. The uniform consisted of a green blazer with the letter ‘K’ (for Kenford) on the pocket, but was optional.

As the numbers of children on roll continued to grow, so did the need for larger premises. Within a year, Mrs Keith-Lucas had bought ‘Hilden Oaks’ at 35 Dry Hill Park Road around the corner, and renamed the school. The new premises were much larger than Kenford and the grounds provided a third of an acre of playground for the children. Mrs Keith-Lucas also bought an old army hut to use as an ‘outdoor classroom’ as she loved to have lessons outside whenever the weather permitted. The additional grounds also meant that the children could play basketball, and in the summer, stoolball, and it also enabled them to play matches against other local schools.  Initially Hilden Oaks had no tennis court of its own, so they rented the one in the garden of Dryhurst (38 Dry Hill Park Road), where the school is located today. A tennis court was later built in the grounds of No 35.

Miss Lawson (the first teacher employed by Mrs Keith-Lucas) was asked to design a new school logo for the green blazer and cap, which consisted of the letters ‘THO’ (for The Hilden Oaks).  

Hilden Oaks continued to grow and with additional pupils, several new teachers also came on board. Among them was a music teacher, Mrs Carol Bottle, who made the school quite famous when she and the children made their own bamboo pipes to play in local concerts. Some of Mrs Bottle’s music compositions were subsequently published and copies are still in the school’s possession.

Fees in those early days were a modest five guineas a term and teachers were paid a mere £30–40 per year!

In 1926, following the death of her father, Mrs Keith-Lucas’ mother bought some land next door and built a house which she named ‘Lavenders’ (now 47 Dry Hill Park Road).  Having been a teacher herself, she became involved in the school and kept her garden open, so she could enjoy watching the children playing. 

As the school continued to expand ‘Birnham’ (no 33) was acquired, a communicating door installed, and the former garden was absorbed into the existing school grounds.  For the children who didn’t live close enough to go home at midday, lunches were provided by Mrs Children, at Dry Bank (situated opposite the school in Dry Bank Road). This was an arrangement that would continue for many years. 

The numbers of pupils grew rather dramatically after moving to Hilden Oaks but stayed at around the 50 mark for several years before increasing to 70 and then declined to about 60 in 1929. However, as a result of “The Slump”, when the daughters of wealthy landowners (who had formerly had governesses at home) swept into the school, there were a record 100 children on the register by 1932!

The school ran on a fairly even keel for many years but both Mrs Keith-Lucas and Miss Boldero had suffered with ill-health for some time and eventually in 1933 both decided to retire. Mrs Keith-Lucas’ eldest son Alan had qualified as a teacher but was still only twenty-three, so it was decided that he and Miss Nancy Dickinson, who had joined Hilden Oaks as a teacher in 1925, would take over the running of the school, with Miss Dickinson as a salaried co-principal. Miss Dickinson lived in a flat at the top of school, but to save any talk of impropriety, Alan built a wing onto his grandmother’s house next door!

This arrangement remained for four years, but in 1937, despite enjoying his work immensely, Alan had an opportunity to go to the USA, which he did, leaving Miss Dickinson as the sole headmistress. 

Miss Dickinson continued to run the school, leasing the premises from Mrs Keith-Lucas, for many years to come.  During her tenure as headmistress, Hilden Oaks thrived and became affectionately known as ‘Miss Dickie’s’.  During the war, the pupils who remained in Tonbridge, would shelter in the cellars underneath the building during air raids. By this time, they were only taking on children up to the age of eleven. Teachers came and went, but several stayed for twenty years or more. 

Following the death of Mrs Keith-Lucas in 1955, it took 10 years for her estate to be wound-up. Miss Dickinson had been leasing the school and her attic flat, and these leases were not due to expire until 1965 and 1968 respectively.   However, Miss Dickinson decided to retire in 1965, aged nearly 70, having been a teacher and headmistress at Hilden Oaks for forty years! With her retirement, and the expiration of the lease on the building, the question was raised about what would happen to the school, which had been thriving for forty-six years. It was proposed that an educational trust should be set up and Mrs and Mrs Kellagher, whose children were already attending Hilden Oaks, kindly came to the rescue by purchasing 38 Dry Hill Park Road, opposite and entered into a 20-year lease agreement with the Hilden Oaks Educational Trust, to pay back the loan over that period of time. There is no doubt that had they not done this, the school would almost certainly have had to close at that time. 

Mrs Smerden was appointed as headmistress to oversee the smooth transition of the school to an educational trust and for the move to new premises across the road, and she stayed until 1968.   

It was later discovered that 38 Dry Hill Park Road (or Dryhurst as it was originally known) had been the home of the writer and essayist, E M Forster and his mother, when he was a day boy at Tonbridge School. A Blue Plaque, to commemorate this fact, was installed at the front of the building in 2013.

Mrs Layton West became headmistress in 1968 and set about the process of further settling the school into the new premises and making a fresh start. She introduced a new school uniform in cherry red and grey (which are still the school colours) with a new school crest. The new school buildings were smaller than previously, so infant classrooms were built in the grounds and later in 1970 were extended to include an additional classroom and to make them self-contained.

In 1975 Mrs Layton West retired and Mrs Baker took over. In 1977 the Kindergarten was opened for boys and girls from 3 ½ to 5 years old. In 1979 Hilden Oaks celebrated its Diamond Jubilee. Mr Dickinson, brother of the former headmistress presented the school with a clock in memory of his sister, and Professor Alan Keith-Lucas visited from the USA. 

In 1981 the parents’ association known as FoHOS (Friends of Hilden Oaks School) was formed, and in 1983 the Trust made the final loan repayment, early, to the Kellaghers, taking full ownership of the property. 

From 1985 to 1988 Mrs Chaffin was headmistress, and in 1986 the new school hall was completed. 

Following this, Mrs Bacon became headmistress. She introduced Cork and Holm houses, the house point system and sixth form monitors. The first computers were installed, and keyboard skills begun to be taught. In 1991, land to the rear of Simla House, next door, was purchased, including a stable block, pond and additional garden.  The Stable Block was refurbished and opened in 1993 as a study block for Forms V & VI (now Reception classrooms). In 2001 the facilities were greatly enhanced when the Salmon building was opened by Mrs Jean Salmon, Chair of Trustees at that time, former parent and great supporter of the school, together with Mr Cedric Streeten who was one of the first pupils in the early 1920s. 

Mrs Bacon retired after 17 years as headmistress in 2005, and Mrs Sunderland (later to become Mrs Webb) took over.  Shortly after her arrival, Acorn House was completed and opened (initially for main school, but later became home to Pre-school and Nursery).  

The school had become renowned locally for its small size and a reputation for educational excellence in a very caring and nurturing environment; helping children to reach their full potential. The pupils were predominately girls, but boys were welcome from Kindergarten to Form 2 (aged 7). In order to adapt to the economic environment and to meet the needs of working parents, Hilden Oaks became the first independent prep school in the area to open a nursery for babies, which proved to be very popular.  In 2010, following several requests from parents, the decision was made that it would become completely co-educational with all children being able to attend from 3 months up to the age of 11. 

Many changes were made within the buildings and classes moved regularly. Walls were knocked down and every inch of the school was used to maximum capacity. The school office moved from the top floor to the ground floor, the computers were updated, and iPads & laptops replaced the computer suite. 

Breakfast, After-School, and Holiday Clubs were established to provide wrap-around care throughout the year.  

By the time Mrs Webb handed over the reins to Mrs Joiner in 2015, the number of children on roll had grown from 68 to almost 200, in ten years.

Soon after starting at Hilden Oaks, Mrs Joiner introduced Values-based Education, an initiative she had been involved in implementing at her previous school. With a strong family ethos and traditional values already running through the school it seems a natural progression and in June 2017, Hilden Oaks was awarded a quality mark ‘iVET’ by Values-based Education. Since then the school has continued to introduce many new and innovative initiatives such as mindfulness, Think Curriculum and One Planet, all of which, further information is available on this website.

Centenary Celebrations

We started our centenary celebrations at the beginning of the academic year 2018-19 with the children being given a centenary badge by FoHOS. At the end of October 2019, the Archbishop of Canterbury was visiting Tonbridge and the children were invited to sing for him. Following a blessing on the school, the Archbishop presented the head boy and head girl with an oak centenary plaque. In February 2019 every Hilden Oaks family received an oak sapling to plant and the children participated in two Creative Curriculum days, where they explored the history of the school and other events during the past one hundred years.

On 7th May we celebrated Founder’s Day with a special service at St Saviour’s Church and in the afternoon, we were delighted to welcome Mary Benjamin (Alys Keith-Lucas’ granddaughter) and Sarah Keith-Lucas (her great granddaughter) to Hilden Oaks. Sarah very kindly talked to the children about her role as a BBC meteorologist and weather presenter.

The following Saturday over five hundred past and present pupils, parents, staff, trustees and members of the Keith-Lucas family came together for a Centenary Tea Party. We were thrilled that two of the former headmistresses, Mrs Bacon and Mrs Webb were able to join us and they, together with Mrs Joiner cut a special centenary cake. The children danced through the decades, around the maypole, and played and sung music written by Mrs Bottle. In June, FoHOS organised a Centenary Ball for the parents as well as a family picnic at Riverhill. The highlight for the children, however, was a surprise ‘Pop-up Circus’ which was set up on Hillside for the day. They learnt a variety of circus skills in the morning and then were treated to a performance by the professionals in the afternoon. The final celebration of the school year was Prize Giving and Speech Day when we again welcomed Mary Benjamin as our guest speaker, Sarah Keith-Lucas and several other members of the family to join us. 

Hilden Oaks has changed much over the past one hundred years, moving with the times in terms of the education and the resources we provide, yet fundamentally we have maintained the traditional values set by our founding headmistress, at the heart of the school. We have seen many boys and girls step over the threshold and go on to lead fulfilling and successful lives. We are extremely grateful to the past and present principals, trustees and staff who have made and continue to make Hilden Oaks so successful.

We look forward to seeing what the future will bring. 

A full history of Hilden Oaks was published in May 2019 to mark our Centenary.
Copies are available from the school office or email: publicity@hildenoaks.co.uk

Since 2019

Learning in Lockdown 2020

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, we had to quickly adapt to new ways of working. Click here to find out how.

Building for the Future 2021-2022

During the summer holidays in 2021 we embarked on a building development project to extend and improve our teaching spaces, music suite, hall and kitchens. The project was completed in Spring 2022. Click here to find out more