Tatler UK - 10.2019

Head Andrew Halls, who students

variously describe as ‘a remarkable

man’ and ‘extraordinarily humble

and kind’. Children are expected

to work hard, but their heads aren’t

always buried in the books – one

describes the social side of things

as ‘insane’ (in a good way). Social-

ising isn’t solely confined to friends

and parties – a raft of community

outreach programmes includes of-

fering ICT and art lessons at near-

by libraries and hosting afternoon

tea for local elderly residents; over

360 pupils in Year 10 and above

volunteer their Friday afternoons

to helping the community. Here,

it’s definitely cool to be clever,

while drama and the arts are

cutting-edge and sophisticated

(parents, brush up on your Shake-

speare). To put the cherry on the

(presumably perfectly baked) cake,

all the magic happens in nearly

20 leafy acres of SW19.

THE LADY ELEANOR

HOLLES SCHOOL 

Hanworth Road, TW12 3HF

Website lehs.org.uk Head

Heather Hanbury, MA, since 2014;

previously Head of Wimbledon

High School Pupils 708 day girls

Ages 7–18 Term Fees £6,934

KING’S COLLEGE

SCHOOL,

WIMBLEDON 

Southside, Wimbledon

Common SW19 4TT

Website kcs.org.uk Head Andrew

Halls, MA, since 2008; previously

Master of Magdalen College School

Pupils 971 day: 870 boys, 101 girls

Ages 11–18

Term Fees £7,445 Oxbridge 25%

Registration By November of year

before entry; £150 fee Admission

Pre-test for 13+, CE or school’s own

exam and interview Alumni

Marcus Mumford, Dante Gabriel

Rossetti, Chris and Xand van Tulleken

PREP Head Dr Gerard Silverlock

Pupils 435 day boys Ages 7–13

Term Fees £6,730

Asked what they would change

about King’s College Wimbledon,

the majority of parents and pupils

reply: nothing. Upon closer in-

spection, it seems they are telling

the truth. The school’s academic

reputation is hardly a secret. This

autumn, 47 students will take up

places at Oxford or Cambridge,

following in the footsteps of their

predecessors – approximately 25

per cent of the upper sixth have

won Oxbridge places for the past

seven years. This success is helmed by

PUTNEY HIGH

SCHOOL

an indoor pool, extracurricular ac-

tivities abound, and students can

join the eco-squad, become a cyber

mentor (where they help counsel

younger years about online safety)

or even take on a position of re-

sponsibility helping the marketing

team. The school is developing

tighter links with its male counter-

part Hampton School, so they can

capitalise on their ‘dream ticket’ of

single sex education and close ties

with the opposite sex.

LATYMER UPPER 

King Street, W6 9LR

Website latymer-upper.org Head

David Goodhew, MA, since 2012;

previously Deputy Head at Durham

School Pupils 1,228 day: 601 boys,

627 girls Ages 11–18 Term Fees

£6,945 Oxbridge 12%

Registration By October of year

before entry; £125 fee Admission

School’s own exams and interview

Alumni Actors Ophelia Lovibond,

Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman

PREP Head Andrea Rutterford

Pupils 170 day: 91 boys, 79 girls

Ages 7–11 Term Fees £6,325

Latymer is a diverse, oversub-

scribed, progressive co-ed with an

established wellness curriculum, a

focus on mental health and a

thriving feminist society. Science is

popular regardless of gender, and

teachers are treated like university

lecturers, permitted time to work

on Masters and international re-

search. Head David Goodhew

steers the school confidently and

with vision; relieved that all the

construction work is over (‘shiny

new buildings alone do not

make a good education’), he is

now able to focus on the innova-

tive 21st-Century Learning pro-

gramme, and the Global Goals

course for Year 9. A standout fac-

tor is the Inspiring Minds bursary

initiative – by 2024, the school’s

400th anniversary, they aim to

double their bursary support with

a £40m endowment, equating to

one in four students having

fee-assisted places. There is a huge

commitment to widening access,

and Latymer partners with over 50

local state schools to the benefit of

Oxbridge 13% Registration By

December of year before entry; £100

fee Admission School’s own exam

and interview Alumnae Professor

Lesley Regan, Dame Sue Owen,

Vanessa Kirby

PREP Head Paula Mortimer

Pupils 192 day girls Ages 7–11

Term Fees £5,743

While ensuring that the academic

education offered at LEH is

undeniably rigorous, revered Head

Heather Hanbury has been sure to

place great focus on wellbeing, in-

novation and a progressive form of

pastoral care. A key strand of her

thinking is to try and encourage

girls to look after themselves and

stop wanting to please. She would

also love to see a reduction in test-

ing and to broaden the timetable

at Year 7 and upgrade it for the

21st century while encouraging

STEM, languages and Mandarin.

Another shift is towards targeted

homework rather than the setting

of homework for the sake of it (a

win for teachers and students

alike). Popular among parents is

the move to encourage students

not to have their phones in their

room at night (perhaps a losing

battle but valiant all the same) –

she has even provided them with

personal alarm clocks so they don’t

have to use their phone alarms to

wake up. With jaw-dropping

facilities including four lacrosse

pitches, seven netball courts and

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