Together we progress

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…

Such is the extent of our children’s exposure to specialist teaching in the arts that you can visibly see their confidence rising day by day when they take to the stage to perform. And nowhere was this more evident than during our amazing house music competition on Friday, when solo singers, duos, ensembles, instrumental musicians and groups raised the roof and the decibel levels in the school theatre. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Music

That magical moment when you get a wonderful round of applause after bravely performing in front of your peers and parents at a school concert. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Music #Concert #SoloPerformer

Ten gymnasts have done the school proud at the Danes Hill School Gymnastics Festival, with Rosie H delighted to pick up silver medals in her age group for her floor and vault routines. The girls train regularly after school with coach Mrs Ogilvie, who said she was “extremely proud” of the way the team performed. Pictures courtesy of DE Photo. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Gymnastics

We’ve had the most amazing house music competition today, featuring brilliant solo singers, duos, ensembles and instrumentalists, not to mention the all-important ‘shout’ element where all pupils in their respective houses perform a big group hit. And the winner? Agincourt! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Music

Our theatre reverberated to the sensational sounds of Samba and the rocking rhythms of Rio today as the excellent Jo from Dance Days gave our pre-prep children a dancing masterclass. The enthusiastic children learnt a series of key steps and body movements as they created a real carnival atmosphere. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #SambaWorkshop

Happy songs and happy children were the order of the day at our informal spring concert in the pre-prep today. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #MusicConcert

Do you want to discover why Highfield and Brookham School was recently named ‘best prep school’ by an educational agent during their visit? Then why not join us for our next Open Morning on 15th March? Explore our fantastic grounds, superb facilities and nurturing environment for children aged 2-13. Don’t miss this opportunity to see first hand what makes our school so special. To reserve your place, simply click the link in our bio! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning #ComeAndSeeUs

We’ve had some fantastic sports action against our friends from Westbourne House School today, with the girls giving their all on the football pitches and the boys playing some great hockey on the astro. The children really do wear the school colours with such pride as they welcome visiting teams on Wednesdays and Saturdays. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #SchoolSport #BoysHockey #GirlsFootball

Want to discover why Highfield and Brookham School was recently declared the ‘best prep school’ by an educational agent during their visit? Then join us for our next Open Morning on 15th March! Explore our fantastic grounds, superb facilities and nurturing environment for children aged 2-13. Don’t miss this opportunity to see first-hand what makes our school so special. To reserve your place, visit bit.ly/3wB8kPB #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning #ComeAndSeeUs

Our extra-curricular Drawing Club in the pre-prep has been in full flow this afternoon, with the eager young children adding more imaginative and creative pictures to their ever-growing portfolios. Cool cats, jazzy jeeps and brilliant buildings were among today’s artistic achievements. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Drawing #Art

Our children are a pretty healthy bunch, so they didn’t need asking twice to take on the Great Smoothie Challenge. With team names, logos, ingredients, colourful and informative posters and fruit preparation all done by the the pupils in true entrepreneurial spirit, the acid test was how the smoothies tasted. Well, it looks like they tasted good, very good indeed… #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #HealthyEating #FruitSmoothies

We’ve rounded off another wonderful season of inter-school swimming galas with a battling win against our friends from @stivesschoolhaslemere, maintaining our proud unbeaten record. Our children have loved swimming home and away against some very strong squads and look forward to crossing swords with them in the pool again next year. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Swimming #InterSchoolGala

Colourful, charismatic and downright fun literary characters were brought to life as our children celebrated last week’s World Book Day in fine style. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #WorldBookDay

Not all heroes wear capes, but some do. As today was Break The Rules Day, it seemed very appropriate for Spiderman – aka coach extraordinaire Mr Dilworth – to give our U9 boys a pep talk ahead of their hockey tournament next week! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Hockey @haslemerehockey

The school regulations have been royally flouted today as part of Break The Rules Day, with funds raised going to our cherished Highreach charity which provides holidays for disabled children. Home clothes, jewellery, hats in classes, (fake) tattoos and coloured hair were the order of the day for the children, who also closely inspected Head of Boarding Miss Van den Berg’s uniform. Luckily for Miss van den Berg, her uniform was up to scratch! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #BreakTheRulesDay

Happy International Women’s Day to the wonderful ladies who, unstintingly and selflessly, bring so much joy, care, love, laughter and devotion to every aspect of our whole school community. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #InternationalWomensDay

We’ve had the most amazing day celebrating World Book Day UK. Dressed as their favourite book characters, the children staged a colourful parade in the sports hall before our pre-prep children were joined by their prep school peers for some quality reading time and a morning of book-themed arts and crafts. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #WorldBookDay

Long live the magic of World Book Day. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Books #Literacy

Don’t forget it is our Open Morning on 15th March! Join us and discover why Highfield and Brookham School was declared the ‘best prep school’ by an educational agent during their recent visit. Explore our fantastic grounds, superb facilities and nurturing environment for children aged 2-13. Don’t miss this opportunity to see first-hand what makes our school so special. Head to our website to book. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #OpenMorning

No matter what your age, there is always something new to discover, to learn, to investigate, something that captures the imagination and inspires us. Our children teach us this every single day. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Learning

Parents and peers of our talented young musicians have been treated to another lovely cushion concert, this time featuring two solo singers, a flautist and a pianist. It’s wonderful to see the children grow in confidence and stature each time they perform. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Music #CushionConcert

Young eco warriors in Year 5 have been getting their hands dirty today planting the first of 400 trees. Having taken receipt of the first batch of hawthorn, blackthorn and silver birch trees as part of a brilliant project run by the The Woodland Trust, with the second batch due in the autumn, the children prepared an area of ground and planted the first saplings on the golf course. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Trees #TreePlanting

Excitement levels in pre-prep have reached fever pitch as the first of Reception’s five fluffy ducklings has hatched. Tweet, named by the children in Bluebells, has been having a wonderful time strutting around in the spotlight as he waits for his friends to join him! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #ducklings

Pre-prep children have been exploring their emotions at an after-school club which promotes calmness and wellbeing. Having discussed feelings associated with being happy, sad, angry and excited, the children crafted colourful mindfulness wheels with a moveable top layer which allows them to show how they feel at any given time. And the overriding feeling during the activity? Happy, of course! #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #SpringTerm #Mindfulness

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