These headmasters are proud to do what they do, and share what they love most about their job.
Cricklade Manor Prep
Headmaster: Mr Barrett
A thriving prep school, we combine academic excellence with numerous extra-curricular opportunities, all within a supportive community. Children are prepared to embrace challenges with confidence and a love for learning.
What makes you most proud of your school?
Our warm and nurturing environment where every child is treated as a unique individual. We tailor our approach to each pupil’s strengths and needs, developing curiosity, building resilience and creating a passion for learning.
Meet the Head: Mr Barrett - Cricklade Manor Prep School & Nursery
Bromsgrove School
Headmaster: Michael Punt
I love being a Head, not least because two days are never the same. Naturally there are challenges and difficult decisions to make but I particularly enjoy working with people, be they staff, parents, friends in the community and particularly pupils.
What are you most proud of about your school?
There is a really purposeful collaborative approach be that in lessons or outside, in School or somewhere further afield. Pupils have a genuine affection for the staff who support them, and the reverse is also true.
Bromsgrove School - Outstanding Education (bromsgrove-school.co.uk)
Kingham Hill School
Headmaster: Pete Last
The most enjoyable aspects always revolve around the achievements of our pupils. The fact that I never know what might happen on any given day; my job definitely keeps me on my toes.
What are you most proud of about your school?
It would have to be our excellent pastoral care. We are a small school where each pupil is known and celebrated as an individual. The sense of community here is unlike any other school that I have been part of.
Kingham Hill School | Independent School For Day and Boarding Pupils
Oxford High School
Headmaster: Marina Gardiner Legge
What we do in schools changes students’ lives. Working with young people who want to make a real difference to the world around them is a privilege and inspires me.
What are you most proud of about your school?
Our students are compassionate, curious and highly motivated. We provide a unique educational experience which fosters a sense of community to develop confident girls who know themselves, find their voice and use it to influence their world.
Pupils have the freedom, time and space to critically think, discuss and feel as they examine the different elements of our changing world.
Christ Church Cathedral School
Headmaster: Richard Murray
I enjoy seeing young people develop a love of learning and an enthusiasm about the world. There is no more rewarding job and every morning I give thanks for my good fortune.
What are you most proud of about your school?
The fact that our pupils can be themselves and are therefore happy and successful. Schools should be, at heart, environments of inspiration. Every pupil feels passionate about the subjects they have learned. It is for this reason that they have the motivation to succeed.
Private Independent Prep School Oxford (cccs.org.uk)
Tockington Manor School
Headmaster: Stephen Symonds
A warm, welcoming prep school, known for excellence across sport, academics and the arts. Children are instilled with a love of learning to last a lifetime, leaving Year 8 equipped with the attitude and aptitude for senior school and beyond.
What are you most proud of about your school?
Tockington has really grown since I started here in 2013 but I’m so proud that our strong family ethos remains. Alongside new pupils and their families we have welcomed new members of staff into the school and to see them all flourish gives me an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction. I am excited to see the school fulfil its exciting aspirations in the future.
D’Overbroeck’s
Headmaster: Patrick Horne
My parents were both teachers, so I initially resisted following in their footsteps! However, I eventually saw the light and realised the joy and the job satisfaction of working in schools. Since then, I have taken on more responsibility and have been a Principal for the last 12 years. Being able to work with staff and parents to make a difference for students is hugely rewarding.
What are you most proud of about your school?
D’Overbroeck’s is a wonderful school. It has just the right balance of providing students with independence and confidence, underpinned by truly superb teaching.
d'Overbroeck's Oxford | A Nord Anglia Education School (doverbroecks.com)
