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, 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 School is owned by Mr William Mills, the grandson of the founder. Mr Mills is also Chairman of the Board of Directors. Today, Highfield School 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 Head, Suzannah Cryer, has been thinking about something we probably all recognise: that feeling of wanting to know you’ve got the right answer! But problem-solving doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes there’s a clear answer. Other times, there isn’t one at all! And that’s the tricky bit, isn’t it? When you’re faced with something you haven’t done before, where do you even start? What if your first idea doesn’t work? It’s tempting to want someone to tell you what to do next, but there’s so much to be gained from having a go and working things out for yourself. At Highfield, we see this in all sorts of ways. It’s our Reception children figuring out how to build a shelter strong enough to keep Baby Bear dry. It’s Year 4 exploring digestion using a pair of tights in Science! And it’s our U9 footballers rethinking their tactics to help their team. As Suzannah explains, sometimes it’s how you get from A to Z that’s more interesting than the answer itself! #independentschool #problemsolving #progress #criticalthinking #futureskills Independent school Liphook | Prep school Hampshire | Nursery Liphook | Independent school Surrey | Pre prep school Hampshire | Highfield School
Our Year 8s have been busy preparing their canvases with diluted inks in different colours, ready for a mixed-media project exploring the theme of identity. 🎨 It’s a lovely example of how art encourages children to adapt. You might start with one idea in mind, but as colours blend and materials behave in unexpected ways, you have to think on your feet and try something different. And who knows? Sometimes those unexpected results turn out to be your favourite part of the finished piece! @olgahoughtonart #independentschool #highfieldschool #adaptability #creativelearning #prepschool Independent school Liphook | Prep school Hampshire | Independent school Surrey | Highfield School
Things don’t always go to plan. So, what do you do next? At Highfield, we want our children to feel able to give things another go, even when it may feel difficult or be a struggle. Sometimes that means trying a different approach to reach their goal. We asked some of our Year 7s what adapting means to them… #independentschool #highfieldschool #adaptability #resilience #pupilvoice Independent school Liphook | Prep school Hampshire | Independent school Surrey | Highfield School
Young musicians from St Bart’s, Beacon Hill, Camelsdale, Liphook Juniors and Highfield came together yesterday as one orchestra, rehearsing and performing alongside professional musicians from the Royal Military School of Music. 🎶 With music specially arranged for every child’s level, they spent the day in sectionals and rehearsals before performing The Traitors theme, March of the Toreadors and Pirates of the Caribbean. It was wonderful to see them adapt so quickly to playing alongside musicians from other schools, many of whom they had only just met. The progress they made in just one day was remarkable! It’s all part of a collaboration between Highfield and @haslemerefest, which will culminate in the young musicians performing at a special Gala Concert at the Haslemere Festival next year. A HUGE thank you to our Director of Music, Jessica Harman, for bringing the day together, to Captain Ben James and the RMSM band, to our sectional leaders Matt Gunner, Helen Downham and Sarah Craven, and to everyone behind the scenes who made it such a success. 👏 #schoolorchestra #royalmilitaryschoolofmusic #youngmusicians #militarymusic #musiceducation #armymusic
It’s been a busy few weeks of sport, with football, hockey and netball fixtures all underway! ⚽🏑 We’ve loved watching our pupils rise to every challenge, whether that’s switching positions mid-match or picking themselves up after conceding a goal. A great example came when the girls U13s 1st team travelled to Bede’s for their IAPS qualifier. 1-0 down after 4 mins in their opening game, they regrouped and answered back with 3 goals to take the victory! They battled their way to the quarter final, where a draw against @edgeboroughschool went to shuffles, ending in a narrow 2-1 loss. Our footballers showed the same spirit at the 7-a-side tournament. After a semi-final defeat to @twyfordschool on penalties, they bounced back to win their play-off and finish 3rd out of 12 teams! 🥉 Win or lose, our teams keep showing what it means to adapt and keep going! #independentschool #highfieldschool #adaptability #teamspirit #resilience Independent school Liphook | Prep school Hampshire | Independent school Surrey | Highfield School
What happens when life doesn’t go to plan? Suzannah Cryer, our Head, shares how changes in her own journey led her to new paths and why being able to pivot matters so much in this ever changing world. It’s a skill we nurture at Highfield every day, helping our children feel confident when things change and willing to find another way forward. ➡️ #independentschool #highfieldschool #adapting #embracechange #growthmindset Independent school Liphook, prep school Hampshire, boarding school Surrey, Hampshire independent school
What did Year 2 love most about their trip to RHS Garden Wisley? We’ll let them tell you! As part of their Fabulous Forests topic, the children had a chance to explore the vast gardens, take part in a woodland workshop and even discover some of the tallest and widest trees growing there! With so much to spark their imaginations, it was a chance to see how the natural world can inspire their own creativity. Swipe to see their favourite moments… 🌳 “My favourite thing was having a go at planting. My plant pot is on my windowsill at home.” 🌱 “My favourite thing was looking at the water fountain. It was beautiful.” ⛲ “I have two favourite things: collecting the spiky pine cones and counting all the vegetables… AND having my lunch!” “I loved going into the greenhouse. It was like being in a jungle.” 🌿 “I liked making the tree bark patterns appear on my paper!” 🌳 We also discovered a Highfield connection: the workshop leader’s wife plays lacrosse with our Head of Girls’ Games and PE, Ashleigh Gloster. What a small world!
“Whoever you are… whatever you do… however you feel… be YOU!” 💛 Year 2 brought Karl Newson’s Be You! to life in their assembly this week, with a lovely reminder that there really is only one you. They even put their creativity to work, making their own colourful animal masks, each one as wonderfully unique as the person who made it. 🎨 #highfieldschool #independentschool #creativelearning #liphook #beyou Liphook independent school, prep school, pre-prep school, boarding school, Hampshire independent school
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, prep school, pre-prep school, boarding school, Hampshire independent school
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! #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
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
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
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 via the link in our bio
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
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
🎭 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
🏆 We’re Mind Champions! We’re incredibly proud to have won the Mind Champion Award at the School House Awards 2026, recognising our commitment to supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing. A huge well done to our wonderful pastoral team and every member of staff who helps make wellbeing part of everyday life at Highfield. Read more via the link in our bio. #IndependentSchool #SchoolHouseAwards2026 #ChildWellbeing #MentalHealth
This morning our Year 8 pupils heard from Martin Cosser – Charlie’s dad and the founder of @charliespromisecharity, a charity working to fight and prevent knife crime through youth education and community engagement. At Highfield, we want our pupils to grow up with the confidence to make safe, positive choices, and to know it’s always ok to speak up and ask for help when they need it. Today was a brilliant example of that in action. Thank you Martin, for sharing such an important and powerful message with our pupils! 💙 #HighfieldSchool #Safeguarding #KnifeCrimeAwareness #KeepingChildrenSafe #PositveChoices
Today, we have welcomed our children back through the doors, filling the school once again with the unmistakable energy of Highfield! With everyone together again, now feels like the perfect moment to share something very special: ONE, our new school film. A huge thanks to the exceptionally talented team @bobbicee @nathantheys @rojwhitelockphotography & @fin.bunce for bringing our story to life. 🎬 Discover the story behind ONE and watch the full film in our latest blog via the link in our bio.
