History of Braeside School
Braeside School
Braeside School was founded by Miss Marjory Wakefield in 1944. Miss Wakefield had attended a teacher training college in the Lake District which had been founded by the Victorian educationalist Charlotte Mason and was eager to broadly follow her principles of educating the child and parents to build relationships and a collaborative love of learning.
Having started on the premises in Palmerston Road, when the opportunity came to purchase ‘Ellerslie’, the current school site, in 1950 and expand the school she did not hesitate. Over the last 70 years there has been much change with new facilities built, including science laboratories and a music and drama studio.
21st CENTURY
In September 2015 Braeside became part of the Oak-Tree Group of Schools and spent the next 10 years modernising in order to offer an excellent all-round education to local families. The Oak-Tree Schools are a powerful group of local independent schools, also comprising Coopersale Hall School in Epping, Normanhurst School in North Chingford and Oaklands School in Loughton.
*A timeline of Miss Wakefield will be produced in the Summer
It was clear for many years before Braeside joined the Oak-Tree Group, and subsequently following the programme of improvements, that both Braeside sites had scope for increased use. It was always the ambition of the previous Braeside owners to bring the school together onto one site to allow for more effective continuity and progression through the key stages.
In September 2020 all Junior pupils, who were previously taught at the Palmerston Road site, moved up to the Main Site on the High Road with the Senior pupils.
Closure
The school officially closed its doors in July 2025 due to the beneficiaries of the Trust deciding to sell the premises.
Timeline
Gallery
