The school was badly hit by the Asian flu epidemic of 1958. “In the first fortnight of term” writes one Old Girl “200 of our 234 boarders took to their beds and languished there for two weeks. In the fifties polio struck though fortunately in a fairly mild form, One old Girl has a vivid memory of this: “A fifth form girl developed polio, fortunately in a fairly mild form, soon after our return from holiday, and this plunged the whole school into quarantine. No strenuous exercise was allowed in case anyone was incubating the disease and gentle walks took the place of hockey.