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About Us
Admissions
Life at Downe House
Academic
Co-Curriculum
- Sport
- Music
- Drama
- Dance
- Creative Arts
- Leiths Cookery
- Enrichment
- Clubs and Activities
- Charity
Community
News and Media
DH Global

Calendar
Parent Hub
Enquiry
Search

About Us
Admissions
Life at Downe House
Academic
Co-Curriculum
- Sport
- Music
- Drama
- Dance
- Creative Arts
- Leiths Cookery
- Enrichment
- Clubs and Activities
- Charity
Community
News and Media
DH Global

Calendar
Parent Hub
Enquiry
Search

Explore

Downe House, a traditional
girls' boarding school with a
modern twist.

So many things make the difference at Downe House…

Every girl at Downe House is valued, supported and challenged as an individual and provided with an exceptional range of opportunities to explore and develop her strengths. So many things make the difference at Downe – we aim to ignite a love of learning and ensure that when the time comes to leave, she believes she can achieve anything.

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Tours & Open Mornings

The best way to find out more about Downe House is to experience if for yourself. Book onto one of our Open Mornings available throughout the year, including a number of virtual events, or contact us to arrange a personal tour.

BOOK

Life at Downe House

Each day looks different for a Downe House girl – whether she is a science-loving lacrosse player or an actress who wants to learn Italian, we provide her with a real adventure in education.

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Academic

Our successful academic programme fuels aspiration and challenges the girls as they grow into confident young women preparing to play their part in the world beyond Downe House.

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Welcome from our Headmistress

Joining us at Downe House will be the beginning of an exciting and fulfilling journey where your daughter can expect to be challenged and supported in equal measure. Meet our Headmistress, Emma McKendrick, who has has been leading the Downe House community for over twenty years.

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Latest news and blog posts

News and Media

News

Music in the Lent term

We are proud to highlight some of the fantastic music events from the Lent term run by our passionate Music Department.

Discover 28/03/23

Deputy Head's Blog

Helping Our Pupils to Find Their Voices

At our Academic Conference in June, 'Maximising Pupil Progress - What are the keys to success?', all our guest speakers will be focusing on different ways in which their schools aim to achieve this goal. Clare Wagner, Head of The Henrietta Barnett School in north London, has chosen the fascinating topic: helping our pupils to find their voices...

Discover 24/03/23

News

House Debating Competition

Pupils in the Upper School and Sixth Form took part in the in augural House Debating Competition, taking on challenging and thought-provoking motions to see which house would be crowned the best debaters.

Discover 21/03/23

Deputy Head's Blog

Helping Young People to be Outward Looking

In his latest blog, Deputy Head, Mr Matthew Godfrey, explores one of the key characteristics in Downe House’s DNA - to be Outward Looking and the ways in which the school encourages this.

Discover 18/03/23

News

A Level French pupils interview Charline Pouillet

A Level French pupils had the exciting opportunity to interview Charline Pouillet, Director of 'On Detonne Contre Huntington' - an association fundraising for a cure to Huntington's Disease.

Discover 15/03/23

News

Inspiring a Love of Reading in Young Children

In light of the excitement of World Book Day, our Library Manager shares her top tips to help inspire a love of reading from a young age.

Discover 03/03/23

News

World’s Leading Boarding Schools in 2023

We are honoured to be included on the Fortune and Statista list of the World's Leading Boarding Schools.

Discover 01/03/23

News

Day of Musical Theatre

Six Prep Schools cam to our campus in Cold Ash for a magical Day of Musical Theatre. The theme for this year was The Songbook of Alan Menken.

Discover 23/02/23

Deputy Head's Blog

Top of the subject-popularity charts

In his latest blog, Deputy Head, Mr Matthew Godfrey, examines the declining popularity of humanities and other subjects at A Level and beyond. Could Adele, global superstar and singer-songwriter, hold the answer to reversing the trend?

Discover 09/02/23

News

Remember their name – Fame JR Production

The Downe House Drama and Dance pupils lit up the stage like a flame in their latest production of Fame JR. Capturing the iconic coming-of-age story, that all our pupils onstage, backstage and in the audience could relate to.

Discover 08/02/23

Deputy Head's Blog

AI: a teacher’s friend or foe?

In his latest blog, Deputy Head, Mr Matthew Godfrey, explores the impact of the sophisticated online 'help' now available to pupils in the form of artificial intelligence systems like ChatGTP.

Discover 20/01/23

Deputy Head's Blog

Maths for all until age 18? No problem, Prime Minister!

In his latest blog, Deputy Head, Mr Matthew Godfrey, explores how, contrary to the PM’s suggestion, a resurgence of the humanities is likely in the coming years, as the core skills involved in these subjects – not least independence of thought, communication and imagination – become more and more valuable in modern society.

Discover 13/01/23