Headfort School

Headfort School, founded in 1949 by Lord and Lady Headfort, is Ireland's sole remaining preparatory boarding school. It is located outside the village of Kells in County Meath, some 75 km north west of Dublin.

Headfort caters for both day and boarding pupils from the ages of seven to thirteen. In 2002 the school started a Montessori division Montessori school which now caters to children from the age of three to seven.

The prep school curriculum includes the core Common Entrance subjects and English, Maths, French and Science are heavily timetabled. Science includes practical work in the laboratory once a week, as well as theoretical work and half an hour’s prep (homework) a week. In addition, parents are offered a choice between Latin and Irish. History and Geography classes meet three times a week for most forms, Scripture and Computer Studies once. Singing, Art, Design and Music classes are also regularly timetabled, while afternoons are devoted to Games, including hockey, rugby, cricket, horse-riding, squash, tennis and swimming.

Headfort aims to inculcate in its pupils a robust self-confidence, encouraging them to express their own individuality whilst balancing these individual rights with a sense of duty and obligation to the wider community. The school is non-denominational, respecting all religions and the right to have none.

Headfort House is over two hundred years old, having been built for the Earl of Bective. It was designed by the renowned Irish architect George Semple, using Ardbraccan limestone for its exterior construction. The interior was designed by influential Scottish architect Robert Adam: Headfort has the only intact Adam interior in Ireland. Much of the original furniture is still in place.

Headfort School utilises the main house as well as its spacious gardens and grounds.

References

    1. ↑ Headfort School Website http://www.headfort.com/
    2. ↑ Goulding, Lingard. Your Children are not Your Children: The Story of Headfort School. The Lilliput Press, 2012./
    3. ↑ Dix, Dermot. My Week. The Sunday Times, 8 December 2013.
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