Hill House School, Doncaster

Hill House School
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
6th Avenue Auckley , South Yorkshire , DN9 3GG England
Coordinates	53°29′11″N 1°00′54″W / 53.486408°N 1.014894°W / 53.486408; -1.014894Coordinates: 53°29′11″N 1°00′54″W / 53.486408°N 1.014894°W / 53.486408; -1.014894
Information
Type	Independent school
Motto	Sapientia et Doctrina
Established	1912
Founder	Reginald Master
Headmaster	David Holland
Staff	80 (approx.)
Gender	Co-educational[1]
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	750 (approx.)
Colour(s)	Blue
Website	http://www.hillhouse.doncaster.sch.uk/

Hill House School is a co-educational independent school for pupils from the ages of 3 to 18 in South Yorkshire, England. In 2012, Hill House was named 'independent school of the Year' at the independent school awards.^[2] It is a member of The Society of Heads, The Independent Association of Preparatory Schools, and the Independent Schools Council.

Early history[]

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Hill House School was founded in Doncaster as a preparatory school for boys in 1912 by Reginald Master. In 1959, Paula Haigh, the wife of the then Headmaster of Hill House School, Mr Hamilton Haigh, founded St Mary's School on Bawtry Road as a girls' school. In the early 1970s under a new head, Hill House began to accept girls, and by the early 1980s had become fully co-educational.

Hill House St Mary's School was born when the two schools merged in August 2002, with primary age children being taught at the Rutland Street site, overlooking Doncaster's Town Fields, and with secondary age children taught at the St.Mary's site on Bawtry Road.

Recent history[]

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In September 2008, Hill House School, reverting to its former name, relocated to the Officers’ Quarters of former RAF Finningley, previous home to Britain's Vulcan bombers, adjacent to the modern Robin Hood Airport. In an £8 million pound project, led by Cadman Construction, the school now has numerous purpose built classrooms allied to historic function rooms. In September 2011, Hill House opened its new Sixth Form and Music School in a £1.1m development, and was accepted into membership of the Society of Heads.

Since 2010, Hill House has been home to the Robin Hood Music and Drama Festival, which takes place in April each year. In 2012, the school acquired 54 acres of land in nearby Blaxton, which has been developed into sports grounds.

In September 2015, having acquired 3 further pieces of land adjacent to the main site, the school's new Paver Hockey pitch was opened by Imran Sherwani, Olympic gold medalist, with Hill House becoming the first independent school in the North of England to possess a blue astroturf pitch.

In February 2015, the school renewed its RAF past by becoming the base of 558 Finningley Squadron of the Air Training Corps

In April 2017, the school's new £1m Dining Hall was opened.

Controversy[]

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In October 2020, the school issued an apology in response to a satirical Tiktok video showing several Hill House students lip-syncing to a song as a joke, about wealth as part of a popular Tiktok challenge, which attracted criticism online after being reposted to a popular Instagram page.^[3]

Catchment[]

The main catchment area includes Tickhill, Bawtry, Epworth, Doncaster, Rotherham, Howden, Retford & Worksop, all of which are served by school transport.^{[citation needed]}

Houses[]

The School has 4 Houses, School (Blue), Master (Red), Field (Green), New (Purple)

House Music Champions

• 2019 School
• 2018 New
• 2017 Master
• 2017 Field
• 2016 Field
• 2015 Field
• 2014 School
• 2013 School
• 2012 School

House Relay Champions

• 2019 School
• 2018 Field
• 2017 Field
• 2016 Field
• 2015 Field
• 2014 Field

Awards[]

• 2012–13 Times independent school of the Year; Winner
• 2012–13 Times Outstanding Strategic Initiative Award: Winner
• 2012–13 Times Outstanding Governing Body Award; Shortlist
• 2016–17 Times Outstanding Community Initiative Award; Winner

Successes[]

• 2016–17 North of England Hockey Champions, 5th in National Finals, at U13 Girls
• 2017–18 North of England Hockey Runners-up, 7th in National Finals, at U14 Girls

Notable former pupils[]

• Jeremy Clarkson, author, journalist and television presenter
• Emma Chambers, actress
• Rosie Winterton, Member of Parliament
• Philip Davies, Member of Parliament
• Richard Dawson, England cricketer; Gloucestershire Cricket Club head coach
• Michael Hills, Rugby player (England U21 + 7s: Sale, London Welsh, & Doncaster (Captain))
• Jonathan Wood, former Doncaster Councillor
• Malcolm Brocklesby, sculptor
• Robert Hannigan, Civil Servant, Director of GCHQ
• John Craig Lawrence, CBE, Director of Joint Warfare in the Joint Forces Command, author, historian
• Hannah Cain, Professional footballer with England U19 and Everton Ladies FC
• Francis Hodder, first-class cricketer, rugby union player and Royal Air Force officer

References[]

External links[]

• Independent Schools Council
• Doncaster Free Press
• BBC News
• Independent Schools Awards
• Society of Heads
• IAPS