Heathfield School

• Name — Heathfield School • Motto — The Merit of One is the Honour of All • Established — 1899 • Type — Independent boarding and day school • Religious Affiliation — Church of England • Head Label — Headmaster • Head — Jonathan Williams • Founder — Eleanor Beatrice Wyatt • Address — London Road • City — Ascot • County — Berkshire • Country — England • Postal Code — SL5 8BQ • Local Authority — Bracknell Forest • Urn — 110117 • Enrolment — 240 • Gender — Co-Education • Lower Age — 11 • Upper Age — 18 • Houses — Austen de Valois Seacole Somerville • Free Label1 — Former pupils • Free Text1 — HOGS & SMOGS • Website — https: www.heathfieldschool.net

The school stands in 36 acres of grounds on the outskirts of Ascot and has done so since Heathfield School was founded in 1899 by Eleanor Beatrice Wyatt, its first headmistress. In 1882, at the age of 24, Miss Wyatt and her mother had opened Queen's Gate School in South Kensington, London.

The Reverend William John Butler became Vicar of Wantage on 1 January 1847. His main aims were, first, to revive the religious life in England and second, to improve education. He hoped to achieve these aims by setting up an order of teaching sisters, but he faced many disappointments and spent 25 years trying to improve various day schools in the parish before St Mary's School was founded in 1873. The school was run by the sisters of the Community of St Mary the Virgin and was based in the Queen Anne house on Newbury Street. Sister Ellen was the first Sister-in-Charge and Sister Juliana succeeded her in 1887. Sister Juliana had studied at Cambridge and set a high standard for the girls, entering them for the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations. Sister Annie Louisa joined the school in 1898 and started a guide movement called Scout Patrols in 1899 before Boy Scouts had even begun. She succeeded Sister Juliana as Headmistress in 1903. Sister Annie Louisa was responsible for the chief structural improvements at St Mary's including a science wing and the conversion of an old barn into a gymnasium. By the time Sister Annie Louisa left in 1919, St Mary's was recognised as a "public school with an unusually high standard of scholarship".

The school is equipped with teaching, sporting and leisure facilities. In 2000, the school opened a 25m indoor heated swimming pool. In the summer of 2014, work started on a new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) building, providing a hub for the girls to study science subjects.

The 2018 ISI Inspection report noted that "The quality of pupils' academic and other achievements is excellent" and commended the pupils' enthusiastic committed approach to their learning. It also found the quality of the pupils' personal development excellent. "The overall achievement of the pupils is excellent and represents the successful fulfilment of the school's ambitious aims."

All pupils are placed in one of the four houses upon entry. A Head of House looks after the pupil's and is the first point of contact for parents and pupil's on issues. • House — Colour • Austen • de Valois • Seacole • Somerville

The boarding houses are separate from the house system. Instead, boarders are grouped into houses by years; Bronte Form I-II, Wantage Form III-IV, Phoenix Form V and LVI, Wyatt UVI. Boarders in Wyatt House live in separate accommodation similar to that of a hall of residence to prepare them for university life. Heathfield School started accepting day girls who resided locally from the 2015–16 academic year onwards.