History
Highfield School was founded in Southampton in 1892 by Mr EA Wells, the owner and first Headmaster. The school first opened as a boys’ prep with 18 pupils. In 1904, Mr William Mills became the owner and Headmaster and moved Highfield to its present 175-acre site in Liphook, on the Hampshire, West Sussex and Surrey border.
The new purpose-built school opened in September 1907 with 32 boys, all boarders. The school grew steadily; a beautiful Chapel was added in 1910, with other buildings quickly following suit. Mr Mills, who was ordained in 1912 and later became an Honorary Canon of Portsmouth Cathedral, remained Headmaster until 1953. Under Canon Mills, the school grew to accommodate 120 boys and established an enviable reputation for academic and sporting excellence. Highfield pupils won many scholarships to the leading English public schools, including Eton, Winchester, Shrewsbury, Charterhouse, Rugby and Sherborne.
Canon Mills died in 1953 and was succeeded by his son, Peter. The school became co-educational in 1978 and also began to take day children into the junior part of the school. Peter Mills retired in 1979 to be succeeded by Old Highfieldian Robin Orr, who remained Headmaster until 1993. During his tenure, school numbers rose from around 120 to almost 170. Under Nigel Ramage, Mr Orr’s successor, the school began a considerable programme of refurbishment and building work. Mr Ramage was succeeded in 1999 by Phillip Evitt when the compulsory boarding requirement ended, although many children still choose to board to this day, with almost all boarding for at least part of their final two years. Phillip Evitt retired in 2022 and was succeeded by Mrs Suzannah Cryer, current Head of Highfield.
Today, all departments have designated teaching rooms. New Science, Maths and Computing facilities were opened in September 2000. A new indoor swimming pool was opened at Easter 2005, and a new Music School in 2006. Today, Highfield is genuinely co-educational with equal numbers of girls and boys. In 1992, Brookham Pre-prep was built within the grounds of Highfield and this building is home to our Nursery to Year 3 children.
Highfield and Brookham is owned by Mr William Mills, the grandson of the founder. Mr Mills is also Chairman of the Board of Directors. Today, Highfield continues to enjoy an outstanding reputation as a top preparatory school for children aged 8-13 that offers an excellent all-round education, and its long tradition of scholarship success continues.
What we’re up to…
The strength of our drama provision has again been underlined by our Year 5 and Year 6 children who put on a real tour de force this afternoon in the first of two LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) showcase sessions, with the older prep school children set to take to the stage this evening. More than 130 children currently take extra-curricular LAMDA lessons, which are led by professional actors, and the standard seems to get higher every year, as evidenced by today’s amazing solo, duologue and group skits, poetry readings and excerpts. Bravo, children! #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWePerform #TogetherWeEncourage #PerformingArts #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire #ExtraCurricularExcellence
Don’t worry, we’re not encouraging our children to take up smoking… instead, young scientists in Year 4 were tasked with experimenting with varying straw lengths to determine the length of a vibrating air column and the pitch of the sound. They discovered that shorter straws produced higher-pitched sounds while longer straws produce lower-pitched sounds. Much to the amusement of his classmates, it seems this young man drew the short straw… #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExperiment #SchoolScienceExperiments #TheJoyOfKnowledge #CountryBoardingSchoolsInHampshire
Good batting, quality bowling, energetic fielding and phenomenal teamwork and togetherness have been the order of the day as our boys and girls have enjoyed a fantastic afternoon of competitive cricket against our good friends from Farleigh School, all played in a wonderful spirit under blue skies. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWePlay #TogetherWeCompete #GrassrootsSport #PrepSchoolSport #Teamwork #LeatherOnWillow #CountrySchoolsInHampshire
Join us on 10th May for a special opportunity to experience the heart of our school. Meet our Head and the inspiring teachers who help our children thrive every day. Take a guided tour of our beautiful grounds and incredible facilities, led by some of our pupils. This isn’t just an open morning, it’s a real glimpse into school life. Don’t miss out as spaces are limited. Book here: bit.ly/3G2Hhl1. We look forward to welcoming you. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #CountryPrepSchool @talkeducation
The old pond near the science labs has been transformed into a beautiful wellbeing garden in the latest positive pastoral initiative at Highfield and Brookham. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCare #PastoralProvision #HealthyBodiesAndHealthyMinds #CountryPrepSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #WestSussex #Surrey #Hampshire
Everything our inquisitive children do has a point to it. Whether they are adding fractions in maths, conjugating verbs in French, dissecting lungs in science, map reading in geography or whittling sticks at forest school, the children are laying rock-solid foundations and picking up essential skills not only for their onward educational journey but for their journey through life too. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeLearn #BuildingKnowledge #InquisitiveLearners #SchoolsInHampshire #CountrySchoolsInHampshire
Join us on 10th May for a chance to experience the heart of our school. Take a tour of our beautiful grounds and facilities with some of our pupils and meet our head and inspiring teachers. This is more than an open morning; it’s a glimpse into a place where children truly thrive. With just one week to go reserve your places. Tap the link in our bio to book now. We can’t wait to welcome you. #Togetherwegrow #IndependentSchool #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #CountryPrepSchool
Some of our Year 7 pupils took part in the UK Maths Challenge yesterday. This national mathematics competition inspires children to think in new ways and tackle a variety of engaging maths activities. Run by the @ukmathstrust the focus is to build confidence through problem-solving. Well done to everyone who took part. #Togetherweachieve #Nursery #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #CountryPrepSchool #Boarding
With VE Day around the corner, we honoured the 80th anniversary celebrations early in today’s assembly. We welcomed Royal Navy Captain Steve Harman, to lead proceedings, finishing off with a rousing rendition of the national anthem. To top it off, our amazing catering team turned the dining hall into a fabulous street party and the whole school enjoyed a delicious Best of British lunch. #Togetherweflourish #IndependentSchool #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex
As part of their summer term topic, “would you prefer to live on land or under the sea?”, Reception children are looking at exploring animal habitats. What better way to research this than a trip to Marwell Zoo and a fantastic talk by one of the @marwellzoo team. #Togetherwelearn #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex
Amazing Grease drama workshop today for Year 8 with professional performer Charlie Ruhrmund from West End On Demand. The children learned dance routines, explored scenes from the show, and received expert performance tips and advice. We can’t wait for the end-of-year production. #Togetherweinspire #teamwork #IndependentSchool #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook
Give your child more than an education; give them the chance to be seen, inspired, and truly thrive. Join us for our Open Morning on Saturday 10th May and discover how we nurture every child’s potential through a progressive, skills-based curriculum, exceptional teaching, enriching activities and a strong focus on wellbeing. Meet our Head, Suzannah Cryer, connect with our passionate team and enjoy a pupil-led tour of our school and its outstanding facilities. This is more than a school – it’s where children flourish. Book your place here: bit.ly/3G2Hhl1 #Togetherwegrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex
It’s wonderful to see the spirit of teamwork blossoming so early in these young learners’ journey. During Nursery child-initiated learning, this determined duo tackled a phonics jigsaw together, working as a team, problem-solving and celebrating their success. The sense of achievement was so rewarding they chose to do it all over again! #teamwork #aiminghigh #IndependentSchool #Nursery #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #WestSussex #Surrey #Togetherwegrow
As part of their summer term topic concerning food and where it comes from, Year 1 today had a fascinating fact-finding trip to Goodwood Farm, a self-sustaining organic farm with its own dairy and butchery. The children met livestock, ground wheat, took a tour of Goodwood’s vast farming estate and saw where milk, cream and cheese are produced. With the UN sustainable goal of ‘good health and wellbeing’ in mind, on returning to the classroom the children will discuss what they learnt on their travels as they dig deeper into their ‘food, glorious food’ project. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeLearn #TogetherWeEnquire #HealthyEating #HealthAndWellbeing #SustainableFarming
Our children always measure up when it comes to hitting the heights during the school day. Constantly aiming high, staying positive and trying their very best, the children thrive on the many and varied opportunities that come their way in and out of the classroom. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeSucceed #TogetherWeSoar #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire #AimingHigh
There’s nothing quite like the friendly rivalry that only House competitions can conjure up. Today, young swimmers representing Agincourt, Trafalgar and Waterloo did battle in the pool and, after a pulsating tussle which was decided in the final race, an epic cannon relay, Trafalgar secured bragging rights. Well done, boys and girls, for such an amazing House Gala. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCompete #TogetherWeSoar #HouseSwimmingGala #PrepSchoolsInHampshire
It’s not just in school that our children do amazing things, they do so away from school too! Year 4 pupil Inigo will this week be the youngest garden designer at the @gardenersworldmag Spring Fair at @beaulieu_uk when he joins forces with his dad, Jonny, who runs @floreat_gardens. The green-fingered pair will be cultivating connections over the next few days when they spruce up a three square metre plot, having sourced plants, visited nurseries and sourced hedging. Grateful thanks to Paul Ferguson and the @farnham_herald for the wonderful picture! @gardenersworldmag #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeDesign #TogetherWeThrive #FatherAndSonPartnership #GreenFingers #CountrySchoolsInHampshire
Our music department is still drumming up amazing amounts of support, with more children than ever right across the school learning to play an impressive array of instruments such as piano, violin, saxophone, recorder, cello, guitar and drums. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExcel #TogetherWePerform #MakingMusic #SchoolsInHampshgire
With Sports Day beginning to loom up on the horizon, the Prep school children have been put through their paces with a series of one-kilometre ‘time trials’. After proper warm ups, the children tackled two-and-a-half laps of the running track to give the sports coaches the chance to assess the various levels and abilities of all the boys and girls. While not being official races, the children were encouraged to challenge themselves by running out of their comfort zones, something they did with a great deal of success and satisfaction. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCompete #TogetherWeSoar #SportsDay #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire
Our green-fingered Reception children have today been digging deep in Gardening Club. Having learnt that to succeed in tasks you have to do the groundwork first, the focused children embarked on some essential weeding of their vegetable and flower patches ahead of planting pretty sunflowers in the autumn. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCultivate #TogetherWePrepare #GardeningClub #Teamwork #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #CountrySchoolsInHampshire
Are you looking for a unique and nurturing educational environment where your child can truly thrive? The countdown is on to our next Open Morning on Saturday 10th May and we can’t wait to meet all the prospective parents. Why not come along and see for yourself? Simply click the link in our bio to reserve your spot. We look forward to welcoming you. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeEncourage #TogetherWeEmpower #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning
Our sports coaches have today been put through their paces ahead of the new cricket season. Under the expert eye of Head Coach Mr Dunn, the coaching team worked on fielding, batting and bowling drills, honing techniques which they will pass on to the children before matches get under way next week. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCompete #TogetherWeInspire #PrepSchoolSport #CricketCoachingTips #HoningSportsSkills
