Tatler UK - 10.2019

34 Tatler Schools Guide 2020 tatler.com

SOUTH EAST

PUBLIC

HEADINGTON

SCHOOL 

Headington Road, Oxford

OX3 7TD

Website headington.org

Head Caroline Jordan, MA, since

2011; previously Head of St George’s

Ascot Pupils 800 girls: 600 day,

200 boarding Faith C of E Ages

11–18 Term Fees Day: £6,090;

boarding: £13,395 Oxbridge 10%

Registration By Autumn term of

year before entry; £125 fee

Admission ISEB pre-test, CE or

school’s own exam, and interview

Alumnae Emma Watson, Baroness

Young, Lily van den Broecke

PREP Head Jane Crouch

Pupils 264 day girls Ages 3–11

Term Fees £4,880

‘What our girls have in common is

they want to make the best of the

huge advantages they have at our

school. They’re self-confident but

kind. They’re not afraid to put

their opinions across because they

believe they are worth listening to,

but they are also ready to listen to a

dissenting voice,’ explains one staff

member at Headington, a school

which produces sporting hotshots

and Hollywood stars (in the form

of Emma Watson). Binding these

diverse students together is their

remarkable charitable spirit. Every

year, the Headington girls choose

causes which they want to support

and then go to extraordinary

lengths to raise funds: they have

baked cakes, spent mornings litter-

picking, started a letter writing

campaign to their MP about cli-

mate change, collected trolley

loads of food for Oxford Food

Bank, and travelled to Ethiopia

and Botswana to help construct

toilet blocks and teach children at

schools with which Headington

has long-standing links. Back on

home turf, girls represent their

country in rowing and netball, and

there’s plenty on offer for the less

sporty, including mixed ability

dance classes. The school is in the

final stages of its sixth form centre

refurbishment, and, much to

everyone’s excitement, work will

soon start on the new multi-

million pound art school.

HEATHFIELD

SCHOOL 

London Road, Ascot, Berkshire

SL5 8BQ

Website heathfieldschool.net

Head Marina Gardiner Legge,

MA, since 2016; previously

Director of Studies Pupils 180

girls: 35 day, 145 boarding

Ages 11–18 Term Fees Day:

£7,900; boarding: £12,700

Oxbridge Occasional

Registration By October of year

before entry; £200 fee Admission

Online CEM test and interview

Alumnae Sienna Miller, Amber

Le Bon, Daphne Guinness

If you have an Enid Blyton, jolly

hockey sticks image of Heathfield,

think again. This may have been

the case years ago, but this school

certainly packs a punch today. The

new STEM building has brought

science to the fore, and 33 per cent

of results at A-level were A*–A.

There is a raft of development

projects underway including a new

sixth form centre, which will

provide a place to work, relax and

cook, and there are even plans to

introduce an entrepreneur in

residence. Heathfield’s USP is its

diminutive size: ‘being a smaller

school, we can genuinely focus on

every individual and we know each

girl really well. This imbues

confidence, empowering the girls

to have a go at everything,’ says

Director of Admissions Anna

Morgan. Students also love the

small year groups (who board

together, rather than in houses).

‘While you’re there, and even after

his brother are you offered a place.

Famed for its drama, music and

performing arts, the school live-

streams at least four productions

globally each year and has both its

own film academy and dance com-

pany and professional lighting,

media and theatre crew. Curiously,

though, the largest department is

maths, and the school was in the

top five boarding schools in the

UK for A-level results in 2018

with 86 per cent A*–B. ‘Creative

reputation and academic record:

we truly offer the double whammy,’

says the school. Asked how an

outsider might view the school,

one pupil mused: ‘I’m sure they’d

consider it a very strange place,

sort of like a combination of a

Swiss school and Bedales. The

stereotype would most likely be

creative and dramatic, though

people are usually surprised when

they find out the students go to

Edinburgh and Oxford as well as

Central Saint Martins.’

THE KING’S SCHOOL,

CANTERBURY 

The Precincts, Canterbury,

Kent CT1 2ES

Website kings-school.co.uk

Head Peter Roberts, MA, since

2011; previously Head of Bradfield

College Pupils 843. Day: 84 boys,

86 girls; boarding: 331 boys, 342

girls Faith C of E Ages 13–18

Term Fees Day: £9,165; boarding:

£12,985 Oxbridge 6%

Registration One to three years

before entry; £200 fee Admission

Previous school’s report and meet

and greet Alumni Michael

Morpurgo, David Gower,

Millie Knight

‘A university for the young’ is how

one parent describes King’s. It’s

true: Head Peter Roberts achieves

the difficult balance of supporting

pupils while giving them much-

needed independence. The city

location aids this as Canterbury is

the perfectly sized town for school-

aged children to explore. Students

are admitted on the basis of a

reference from their Prep Head

and a meet and greet (no formal

pre-test) so the school doesn’t ]

HEATHFIELD

you’ve left, you feel like part of a

sisterhood. It’s as if even though

we all eventually leave Heathfield,

Heathfield never leaves us,’ says

one girl. Given that Heathfield’s

alumnae includes members of the

fashion elite (Amber Le Bon,

Sienna Miller, Isabella Blow and

Daphne Guinness) it’s hardly

surprising that fashion and textiles

are taken very seriously here, and

standards are very high. Stephen

Lisseman, former creative director

at Gucci, helped students prepare

for last year’s Fashion Show, which

showcased a range of clothes from

costume to demi-couture.

HURTWOOD

HOUSE 

Holmbury St Mary, Dorking,

Surrey RH5 6NU

Website hurtwoodhouse.com

Founding Head Richard Jackson,

MA, since 1970 Lead Head Cosmo

Jackson, son of founder; became

co-head in 2001 Pupils 340. Day:

150 boys, 150 girls; boarding: 15

boys, 25 girls Ages 16–18 Te r m

Fees Day: £9,916; boarding:

£14,874 Oxbridge 5%

Registration By March of year of

entry; £1000 fee Admission Interview

Alumni Hans Zimmer, Emily Blunt,

Ella Mills

If your child displays stirrings of

stardom, Hurtwood House will set

them on a stellar path – alumni

include Emily Blunt and Hans

Zimmer. The admissions process is

rigorous: only after an afternoon at

the school and a personal one-to-

one meeting with the Head and

10-19-Schools-Guide-PublicSouthEast.indd 34 14/08/2019 22:15