The June Week 3 Education Roundup: Latest Independent School News

Considering independent education? Find the best school for your child here. Otherwise, read on for the latest independent school news (June 2025).

Independent School News: June Week 3, 2025

Former DLD College London Student Meets Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace

A former head of school at DLD College London recently met the Duke of Edinburgh in celebration of completing a gold DofE award.

At the annual award ceremony at Buckingham Palace, Arian was only one of four scholars out of 6,000 selected to personally meet Prince Edward.

Discover DLD College London: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/dld-college-london

Beech Hall Pupils Give Explosive Performance in Chemistry Competition

A team of talented pupils at Beech Hall School in Macclesfield brought out their best science moves this month to win third place in a regional chemistry competition.

The four year nine pupils competed against 33 other north west-based schools at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s 2025 Manchester Chemquiz.

Beech Hall headmaster James Allen said: ‘We are incredibly proud of our gifted chemists Bea Adams, Thain Mackintosh, Jacob Inwood and James Irwin. The team admirably represented the school, and were triumphant in achieving a win against some of the most promising chemistry students in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire.’

Songwriting Success for Leighton Park Pupil

An upper-sixth pupil at Leighton Park School in Reading has won a national composing competition for the fifth year running.

Each year since 2020, Eliza has taken home first place in her year group in the Independent Schools Association (ISA) Composer Competition.

She has also been offered an academic scholarship to study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston next year. She said: ‘I am so glad I got recognition for what I love to do.

‘At Berklee, I plan to continue writing songs to continuously develop my skills, so I can hopefully form a career out of my love for songwriting and performing.’

Discover Leighton Park School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/leighton-park

Michael Gove Joins Downe House for Forward-Thinking Education Conference

Downe House School in Berkshire hosted its annual academic conference last Wednesday, which featured the former Secretary of State as its key speaker.

The event’s theme was ‘transforming tradition’. Attended by 200 independent and state school staff from across the UK, it focused on how schools must adapt and innovate to thrive in the future. Topics included use of AI and preparing students for the workplace.

In his speech, The Rt. Hon. Michael Gove called on schools to return to handwritten exams to tackle the growing issue of students cheating using AI.

He said: ‘The surest test of what you can do, what you’ve learnt, and your ability to pass onto the next stage of life, is actually a handwritten paper and pencil test, or an oral examination.’

Discover Downe House School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/downe-house-school

Eaton House The Manor Celebrates Impressive Scholarship Results

Prep boys at Eaton House The Manor have won 11 scholarships this year, including prestigious awards to Westminster School and St Paul’s Boys’.

In addition to the King’s Scholarship (Westminster) and the John Colet Academic Scholarship (St Paul’s), boys have also won scholarships including choral, academic and drama to top schools across the country.

‘To have two boys from a non-selective prep school win the two top academic scholarships in the UK is beyond impressive,’ shared head Sarah Segrave. ‘I have been smiling pretty constantly since these were announced.’

Discover Eaton House The Manor Boys: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/eaton-house-the-manor-boys-school

Abbot’s Hill Pupils Build Mars Rover for International Women in Engineering Day

In Hertfordshire, pupils at Abbot’s Hill celebrated International Women in Engineering Day with a workshop inspired by a female ExoMars Rover engineer.

The pupils learned about Abbie Hutty and her involvement with the rover, which is due to be launched in 2028 to look for signs of life on the planet.

Inspired by Hutty’s work, the girls took on a coding challenge to allow their own model Mars rovers to autonomously move and avoid rocks.

Discover Abbot’s Hill School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/abbots-hill

Innovation Week Takes Over Pennthorpe School

Last week, pupils at Pennthorpe swapped classrooms for creativity as part of the school’s Innovation Week.

The initiative invited pupils from years three to eight to work in groups to tackle a variety of real-world challenges. These included planning a new city, designing an eco-friendly holiday and even marketing cheddar to France.

The school also welcomed local businesses and guest speakers from various industries to share their ideas with the pupils.

According to Pennthorpe, parents said their children came home ‘buzzing with ideas’ and excited about the ‘fascinating’ things they had learned during the week.

Discover Pennthorpe School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/pennthorpe

Berkhamsted Schools Group Appoints New Principal

From April 2026, Martin Walker will join Berkhamsted Schools Group as its new principal.

Walker is currently vice principal of Berkhamsted School. Before this, he spent seven years as headteacher of Berkhamsted Sixth, during which time he introduced initiatives such as a restructured pastoral care system and the appointment of an Oxbridge consultant.

He will take over from Richard Backhouse, who has been in the position for the last decade.

Discover Berkhamsted Schools Group: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/berkhamsted-schools-group

School Partnership Project Boosts Pupil Attendance

A partnership between Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools (Habs) and the state-funded London Academy in Edgware has successfully reached its goal: to improve pupils’ attendance.

To take part in Habs’ swimming, sports and outdoor education sessions, year six pupils at London Academy were required to have had 100 percent attendance the previous week.

Data showed that the sessions raised the average school attendance by over nine percent. For disadvantaged pupils, it rose by ten percent – equivalent to an extra full day of school every two weeks.

Discover Haberdashers’ Boys’ School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/the-haberdashers-boys-school

Renowned Ceramicist Leads Workshop at Repton Prep School

World-famous English artist Paul Cummins MBE is best known for his ceramic poppy installation at the Tower of London in 2014.

This month, he led his first ever school workshop at Repton Prep in Derbyshire, where pupils had the chance to help create art for an upcoming installation.

Paul helped pupils from both the prep and senior school to paint ceramic tulips – an experience Paul said was a ‘privilege’, and one the pupils enjoyed immensely.

Discover Repton Prep School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/repton-prep

The Leys Says Goodbye to Headmaster

As the academic year draws to a close, The Leys School is saying goodbye to its tenth headmaster.

Martin Priestley joined the school in Cambridge in 2014, and will be succeeded by Dr Clare Ives.

Ives is set to become the first female head of The Leys in its 150-year history.

Discover The Leys School: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/the-leys-school

Rising Sports Star Thanks Minerva Virtual Academy for Support

An up-and-coming equestrian, who has been selected to represent Germany in a major competition, has praised teachers at her online school.

Viktoria von Braunmühl said she would never have qualified for the 2025 European Under 25 Championships without the support from staff at the Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA).

She said: ‘Balancing my sport with education has always been a challenge, but MVA made it possible to focus on both. Their flexibility and support have played a key role in helping me pursue my goals.

‘I’ve worked so hard for this and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.’

The young equestrian will compete in Le Mans, France, from 28 July.

A New Type of Sports Day at Wycliffe College

Wycliffe College has introduced a ‘legacy sports day’ as a way to encourage pupils to try something new and compete in an unfamiliar sport.

The initiative was inspired by the 2012 Olympics, which had legacy as its theme. Wycliffe’s director of sport Ben Taylor explained: ‘Part of the aim is to level the playing field a little.

‘But it is also about being more inclusive; we have seen pupils excel in a sport often at a later stage, often in something they assumed they wouldn’t be any good at.’

Discover Wycliffe College: countryandtownhouse.com/schools/wycliffe-college

All photos courtesy of the respective schools.