A Message from the Headmaster

I am pleased to support the new ASA website and the close cooperation between the School and the ASA. Over time and together we hope and expect to see greater integration between the activities of the ASA and the School to the benefit of alumni and current pupils. At the School, we have established an Development Office and the work that is being done this academic year by Dr Marcus Allen is laying the foundations for a fully supported alumni office in the future. This is an exciting step.

I am also excited and delighted to announce that Ashford School and Ashford Friars Prep School were awarded the coveted title of Independent School of the Year 2010 at a ceremony held in Oxford in early November organised by a trade journal called Funding for Independent Schools. The School won its category for Best Strategic Initiative following a written submission which detailed the rapid progress of the School in the last five years. As a result, we were pitched into the vote for School of the Year alongside the other category winners. The schools represented at the finals included Ashford School, Giggleswick School, Beachborough School, Ruthin School; University College School, King Edward's School, Birmingham, The Portsmouth Grammar School, Bolton School Boys' Division, Royal Grammar School, Guildford, The Manchester Grammar School, Sheffield High School GDST, Stamford Endowed Schools, Vinehall Preparatory School. The panel of nine judges included the Chief Inspector of Schools, the former chair of HMC and Master of Dulwich College, London, the former chair of GSA and Head of Dame Alice Harpur School, the professor of marketing at Cranfield University and the former Bursar of Harrow.

The award is testimony to the buoyancy of the School despite the effects of the recession and continuing uncertainty about the future of UK plc. Numbers are at a record high for recent years with over 740 pupils and nearly 140 boarders; A-level results in 2010 were outstanding with nearly 25% of all grades achieving the new A* and so placing Ashford School within the top 60 UK independent schools and outperforming all Grammar Schools in Kent; music is thriving as those who witnessed the spectacular performance of African Sanctus in Canterbury Cathedral with a choir of 350 will testify; boys’ and girls’ sport flourish at all levels and our newly formed Show Jumping team competed strongly last weekend against teams from King’s, Canterbury and Benenden. In recent months we have been asking our parents and the staff about their perceptions of the School and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. Quotes from parents include:

Over 95% of the staff said that they were satisfied with Ashford School as a place to work. With the completion of the fabulous new Prep School, other building projects on the horizon and the launch of our Development Office, we are on our way to the stated goal of being one of the leading independent schools in the UK.