A new page opened in the history of Hurstpierpoint College in 1995 when 27 girls joined the previously 350- strong boys' senior school for the first time. At the same time, a further 10 girls joined the Junior school.

The College, under Simon Watson (Headmaster, 1986-1995), first drew up plans to become fully co-educational three years previously. The Junior school had welcomed a few girls in 1993, but in 1995 thirteen Shell girls joined the senior school, with 14 sixth formers who transferred to Hurstpierpoint from independent and maintained schools through-out the county.

The arrival of girls at the college attracted much media interest. Stephen Meek (Headmaster, 1995 - 2400), shown in this photo, posed with the girls to provide what might fairly be described as an historic photograph.

In the school magazine two of Hurst's first girls, Alison Lee-Smith and Kate Davis, wrote an article to describe their first year at the school:

"Now into our second year & with Martlet house bursting at the seams, the first year of girls at Hurst seems a distant memory. To be honest, we were all thrown in at the deep end ( to say the least!) yet we have all managed to keep our heads above water, most of the time. We have added a new dimension to college life & have been the cause of much interest, which has not always been a good thing!

Everyone dreads starting a new school. It's the fear of the unknown that takes over & mingles with the excited anticipation of starting something new. Starting here was no different except that, being senior girls, we were not just starting a new school that others had experienced & survived before us. We were the first girls in the senior school & nobody could say to us comfortingly: " It'll be O.K. I was worried too, but it turned out fine".

A few weeks into term, it did not seem as if we were the new girls anymore. In fact, I think most people were surprised at how quickly the girls broke the 150 year old tradition & settled themselves into the school. Everyone adapted quickly from the warning Miss Watson gave us just before we walked nervously into chapel for the first time: "You cannot expect a group of thirty attractive girls to walk into a chapel full of adolescent boys & not be noticed." The second time we walked in I do not believe anyone did notice! We were just thirty more pupils by then.

We did make a difference to school life though. A few masters made comments to the effect that there was not so much bullying since the girls arrived & diverted the attention of the boys elsewhere.

Others believed the atmosphere had changed. By the end of the year, even some of the masters & teachers who had been opposed to girls, admitted that it had not been so bad after all.

Academically, we have raised standards & provided healthy competition for the boys in all subjects.Almost all school activities have been invaded by the girls to some extent. There are girls in the choir, the C.C.F., Shakespeare society, serving on committees, (such as Young Enterprise) & winning prizes for academic achievement. We have even had the first girl sacristans.

New areas of school life have also been made to accommodate the girls, most noticeably in sport where the school has now played its first netball, rounders & girls' tennis & hockey matches; & has an aerobics instructor to visit every Saturday afternoon. Another notable success was last year's production of Henry V, which contained a dozen of the first Hurst girls. Martlet house was the venue for many social events last year, especially our sixth form dinner & summer barbecue.

Although there have been hard times & some unhappiness, everyone has managed to pull through with flying colours. No matter what. I am sure we all feel honoured to have been 'the first girls at Hurst.' The memories of this time will stay with me personally for ever. It is a daunting fact that only one year remains for us sixth formers, & we wish all the success & happiness in the world to our successors.

We have only one more final claim to make to College history: that is to look forward to being one of the first female OJ's."