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 and Brookham.
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, a new building, designed by Petersfield-based architect, Roger Hill Building Design, was built within the grounds of Highfield to house our Pre-Prep 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 and Brookham continues to enjoy an outstanding reputation as a top Pre-Prep and Prep school for children aged 2-13 that offers an excellent all-round education, and its long tradition of scholarship success continues.
What we’re up to…
Our Year 4s have been hard at work making clay poppies ready for Remembrance. After carefully cutting out and shaping their petals, they got to grips with the potter’s golden rule for making pieces stick: scratch, slip and attach! Next stop: the kiln! 🔥 We can’t wait to see how they turn out once they’ve been fired.
A camp out is the perfect test of creative thinking! Using only what the woodland could offer, Year 7 sparked fires with flint and steel, whittled with sheath knives and cooked sausages over the fires they’d built themselves. 🔥 Once the tents were up and the hammocks were out, a blindfolded woodland course put their teamwork to the test. The day ended under clear skies, with plenty of campers choosing to sleep out under the stars. Smoky jumpers all round and a wonderful opportunity to the children thrive outside the classroom. #independentschool #highfieldschool #outdooreducation #creativethinking #nature Liphook independent school, pre-prep school, boarding school, Hampshire independent school
Year 3 stepped back in time at Butser Ancient Farm, discovering just how inventive people had to be with the materials around them! They tried their hand at chalk carving using flint, then learnt the ancient skill of wattling, with a little friendly competition between the classes to see who could build the tallest fence! Next came cordage-making, which called for plenty of patience. Threading twine through tiny beads proved trickier than it looked, but the children showed great resilience, adapting and trying again whenever things didn’t go to plan. Then it was time to channel their inner archaeologists! Trowels in hand, they dug for old bones and fragments of metal before piecing together what their discoveries might reveal about the past. What a brilliant, hands-on taste of Stone Age life!
Last week we welcomed families to our Early Years Open Morning, which began with a woodland walk through the Highfield grounds before little feet made their way to our Forest School area. There, Mrs Snagg, our Nursery Manager, and Mrs Hunter, out Head of Pre-Prep and EYFS, helped the children make their own clay snails. 🐌 The children also got busy potion-making with forest finds and oranges, which proved particularly popular! Thank you to all the families who joined us. It was a joy to share a little of what Early Years life at Highfield is all about 🍂 #independentschool #highfieldschool #openmorning #earlyyears #forestschool Liphook independent school, pre-prep school, boarding school, Hampshire independent school
Creativity is everywhere at Highfield. It’s turning a fallen branch into something new at Forest School or stepping onto stage for the very first time. Sometimes it’s finding a different way to solve a problem. Have an idea and wondering ‘what if…?’ We want children and young people to have plenty of space for that kind of thinking. To wonder, try things out and have ideas of their own. Because as AI becomes part of everyday life, creativity and human connection will matter more than ever!
Creativity is everywhere at Highfield. It’s turning a fallen branch into something new at Forest School or stepping onto stage for the very first time. Sometimes it’s finding a different way to solve a problem. Have an idea and wondering ‘what if…?’ We want children and young people to have plenty of space for that kind of thinking. To wonder, try things out and have ideas of their own. Because as AI becomes part of everyday life, creativity and human connection will matter more than ever! #independentschool #creativity #creativethinking #essentialskills Liphook independent school, pre-prep school, prep school life, boarding school, Surrey independent school, Hampshire independent school
Every year on the 26th September, European Day of Languages is celebrated… and there’s plenty for us to celebrate at Highfield. 🎉 French and Spanish are a core part of life here, but our languages often stretch well beyond those. We are also delighted to be a multi-cultural school which welcomes so many pupils from around the world, exposing our British cohort to range of new languages and cultures through close friendships. This year’s theme is ‘Languages unite!’, so our languages team have been looking at just how far languages reach across the curriculum. The video doesn’t capture every subject involved (we’d have needed a rather longer film!), but hopefully gives a good flavour of just how much languages connect with other areas of school life. And yes, we know Mandarin isn’t European. But as it’s taught in Middle Prep, we couldn’t resist sneaking it in! 🤭 #independentschool #europeandayoflanguages #multicultural #languageteachers #crosscurricular
Year 1 had a very special visitor this week: our school nurse! 🩺 She came to talk about the important work nurses and doctors do in our community, and how they work together to help people feel better. The children were soon busy checking temperatures and hearing heartbeats through the stethoscopes. As they took turns looking after each other, the children had to listen carefully and think about what their patient needed. Judging by how bandages were applied, we’re in very safe hands! 💙
It’s been a busy week for Year 2 who have been learning beyond the classroom in our beautiful grounds 🪵 One science task had them peering beneath leaves and logs, investigating minibeasts, habitats and microhabitats. Elsewhere, there was more hands-on work… sawing through logs with their teacher, ready for next week’s exciting Little Red Riding Hood task (more to come on that!) Two very different lessons, but one shared skill throughout: working together towards a goal. #independentschool #outdoorlearning #workingtogether #forestschool #nature
Two Nursery birthdays last week could only mean one thing… cake! 🎂 Out came the balance scales, and our Nursery children got to work. When you’re baking with a friend, there’s quite a lot to negotiate. Who’s holding the tray? Who gets to add the next ingredient? Who gets to do the mixing? Amongst all the weighing and maths, there’s also a very real lesson in patience and learning how to work alongside someone else. And when all that teamwork results in birthday cake, even better!
There’s been some serious campaigning going on in Pre-Prep! Our Year 3 House Captain hopefuls have been putting their speeches together, ready to convince their fellow pupils why they would make the perfect leader. And tucked inside one of those persuasive speeches was this little gem: “Working together as a team will lead us to victory and we can rise as one.” Spoken like a true captain! Because while one person might lead the way, it’s everyone around them who makes a team what it is. 🤝 #independentschool #highfieldschool #workingtogether #leadershipskills #democracy
We’re joining forces with @haslemerefest to bring pupils from local schools together for Haslemere Festival Youth Music 2027. 🎻 Children who play an orchestral instrument or recorder, from pre-Grade 1 through to Grade 8, are invited to take part. It starts here at Highfield on 6th October with an orchestral play day alongside musicians from the Royal Military School of Music, before the children work towards a gala performance at Haslemere Hall next May. We want all children to have the chance to make music with others and experience what it means to be part of an orchestra. For some, it will be the first time they hear their own part become part of something bigger. 🔗 Read more about our partnership with Haslemere Festival via the link in our bio. Schools interested in taking part can contact Jessica Harman at jharman@highfieldschool.com. #IndependentSchool #HighfieldSchool #HaslemereFestival #MakingMusicTogether #YouthOrchestra
Together with Haslemere Festival, we’re bringing young musicians from state and independent schools across the local area together for Haslemere Festival Youth Music 2027. 🎺🎻🎷 This exciting project is open to pupils in Years 4–8 who play an orchestral instrument or recorder, from pre-Grade 1 through to Grade 8. We want children to have the chance to make music with others and experience what it means to be part of an orchestra. For some, this may be their first experience of following their own part in a larger group and hearing how it fits with everyone else. It all starts with a play day here at Highfield on 6th October, working alongside musicians from the Royal Military School of Music, before we work towards a performance at Haslemere Hall next May. Interested? Please contact Jessica Harman at jharman@highfieldschool.com. A big thank you to everyone whose support is helping us make it happen, including the Haslemere Challice Community Fund and Tesco Stronger Starts.
Nothing like easing yourself gently into a new school year… by heading straight off to Belgium! Year 8 certainly didn’t hang about this term. Their first few days took them from the battlefields of the Somme to the Last Post at the Menin Gate, with time spent walking through trenches and searching memorials for familiar family names. Being there together gave the children a very real introduction to the stories of the soldiers who fought there. At the Somme, they took on the roles of members of the Pals Battalions, discovering what it meant for friends to sign up and serve side by side – something that felt particularly powerful while travelling and working together as a year group themselves. At Tyne Cot, Bruno and Tabby laid a wreath on behalf of Highfield in the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world: a poignant way to bring that part of the trip to a close. A day at Parc Astérix was also on the itinerary… and even the staff were persuaded onto a rollercoaster or two! Quite a way to start their final year at Highfield. 👏
Nothing like easing yourself gently into a new school year… by heading straight off to Belgium! Year 8 certainly didn’t hang about this term. Their first few days took them from the battlefields of the Somme to the Last Post at the Menin Gate, with time spent walking through trenches and searching memorials for familiar family names. Being there together gave the children a very real introduction to the stories of the soldiers who fought there. At the Somme, they took on the roles of members of the Pals Battalions, discovering what it meant for friends to sign up and serve side by side – something that felt particularly powerful while travelling and working together as a year group themselves. At Tyne Cot, Bruno and Tabby laid a wreath on behalf of Highfield in the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world: a poignant way to bring that part of the trip to a close. A day at Parc Astérix was also on the itinerary… and even the staff were persuaded onto a rollercoaster or two! Quite a way to start their final year at Highfield. 👏 #IndependentSchool #SchoolTrip #History #Belgium #WorkingTogether
Our Open Morning on Friday was a great success and our Year 7s did a brilliant job showing families around Highfield. Thank you to everyone who joined us! 🍂 Now we’re heading into the forest for our Early Years Open Morning this Friday. What might your little one discover among the trees? Come and explore together, then warm up by the campfire while you get to know our fabulous Early Years team. 🔗 Book your place: https://highfieldschool.com/early-years-open-morning/
Our Open Morning on Friday was a great success and our Year 7s did a brilliant job showing families around Highfield. Thank you to everyone who joined us! 🍂 Now we’re heading into the forest for our Early Years Open Morning this Friday. What might your little one discover among the trees? Come and explore together, then warm up by the campfire while you get to know our fabulous Early Years team. 🔗 Book your place via the link in our bio
Today is Youth Mental Health Day, organised by stem4, a charity supporting teenage mental health. This year’s theme, #BuildFutureYou, is about helping young people look ahead with hope and feel supported as they think about their future. To mark the day, we asked our staff to share their own hopes for the future of young people. Swipe to see what they said. 👉 We’d love to hear your hopes too. Share in the comments below. 💙
Today is Youth Mental Health Day, organised by @stem4org, a charity supporting teenage mental health. This year’s theme, #BuildFutureYou, is about helping young people look ahead with hope and feel supported as they think about their future. To mark the day, we asked our staff to share their own hopes for the future of young people. Swipe to see what they said. 👉 We’d love to hear your hopes too. Share in the comments below. 💙 #IndependentSchool #YouthMentalHealthDay #ChildrensWellbeing #FutureGeneration
We’re looking forward to welcoming families to our Open Morning tomorrow! 👋 When it comes to showing our visitors around, we’re handing things over to the people who know Highfield best: our pupils. And there was certainly no shortage of willing helpers in Year 7, who were keen to step forward and take on the role of tour guide. Over to you, Year 7. We know you’ll do a brilliant job! 😊
A big day for Reception! 🏊♀️ Yesterday was their very first swimming lesson at Highfield, but first they had to master getting pool-ready. Which way round does a swimming costume go? And was it hat or goggles first? There was certainly lots to remember! Once in the water, they were off! We may just have some future swimming stars on our hands… 🌟 #IndependentSchool #BuildingConfidence #Reception #SchoolSwimming #YoungSwimmers
A big day at Highfield! 🏊 Our Reception children had their very first swimming lesson today. Before they even reached the pool, there was lots of independence involved, from working out which way round their swimming costumes went to remembering that swimming hats come before goggles! Once they were in the water, they all settled in quickly and made a fantastic start. We think there may be some future swimming stars among them! Well done, Reception – you embraced this new experience brilliantly! 🌟
🎭 Auditions are under way for Year 5’s production of Shakespeare Rocks! Our pupils stepped up to read for their chosen roles today, developing their confidence and bringing each character to life through voice and expression. We’re excited to see this one come together Year 5! #IndependentSchool #Year5 #PerformingArts #SchoolProduction #ConfidenceThroughDrama