Welcome from the Headmistress

Welcome to Headington Rye Oxford – a fantastic school community with a refreshingly global outlook, located in inspirational Oxford.

Whether your son or daughter joins our school at 3 in our Nursery, part way through Prep School, at the beginning of Senior School or perhaps in our Sixth Form, you can feel confident they have started on a path which will help them succeed and flourish.

Why choose Headington Rye Oxford? The answer will be different depending on your own family circumstances and the point at which you choose to join us but throughout the School, we are proud to offer academic excellence, with Headington Rye Oxford consistently ranked in the top 100 UK schools, first-class specialist teaching at all levels, an impressive amount of choice in what and how your child will learn, flexibility and incredible facilities.

We think it’s a fabulous school but we don’t expect you to take just our word for it. A visit from ISI inspectors in January 2023 found the School to be ‘Excellent’ in all areas. You can read highlights from the Senior School report here and the Prep School report here.

With the Prep School only separated from the Senior School by a pedestrianised path, our Prep pupils benefit from shared facilities and teaching expertise. Whether that’s our fabulous Forest School in the magical woodlands at our leafy, green secluded Prep School site, swimming in our 25m pool, sprinting their way to a photo finish at Sports Day or learning the rudiments of movement from our Director of Dance. It works both ways too, with older girls at the Senior School gaining leadership experience working with the younger pupils at the Prep School. There are huge advantages to our all-through school and our pupils learn about what it means to be part of our community from a young age.

We offer a wide range of boarding options for girls from age 11, including full, weekly, half-weekly and occasional boarding. Even if your daughter never spends a night in the boarding houses, she will be able to take advantage of the fact Headington Rye Oxford is a school which never sleeps. Your daughter might join boarders for supper before a production or be invited for a sleepover with a friend. As well as a very generous range of clubs and activities after school, our boarding set up means you can drop off from 7.30 am and collect up until 6.00 pm.

We want your son or daughter to leave here ready for the future, whatever it may bring, and we will equip them with the skills they need – those learned both inside and outside the classroom – to step forward confidently for the next stage of their educational journey.

In the Prep School, girls and boys learn alongside each other, learning from and with each other in a beautiful, tranquil 12-acre site and benefiting from broad teaching, pastoral and co-curricular expertise. As they get older and differences in development and learning style grow, the boys will progress to one of the excellent local schools offering education for older boys while the focus of the Senior School is on providing the best possible experience for the girls in our care. That means no competing for access to sports facilities, lab equipment or computer rooms. Your daughter will be able to complete her formative years free from gender stereotypes and expectations. With no ‘girls’ or ‘boys’ subjects, she can focus on her strengths and interests, whatever they may be. We can also focus on the teaching methods which girls tend to respond to best, such as discussion-based and collaborative learning. And in pure academic terms, extensive research shows girls consistently achieve higher academic results at all levels in a single-sex environment.

We are incredibly lucky to have Oxford and its Dreaming Spires on our doorstep. It’s a truly inspirational setting, with countless writers, Prime Ministers, international leaders, Nobel Prize winners and Olympic medal winners boasting an Oxford education. Well-located with excellent road, rail and bus links, Oxford still manages to provide plentiful oases of green, packed with beautiful parks, nature reserves, woodlands and meadows.

We want your son or daughter to leave here ready for the future, whatever it may bring, and we will equip them with the skills they need – those learned both inside and outside the classroom – to step forward confidently for the next stage of their educational journey.

Your child’s all-round development, their welfare, wellbeing and future once they leave the School are central to our ethos. By creating a happy environment, learning is easier, more enjoyable – and leads to the excellent results your son or daughter deserves.

Mrs Caroline Jordan, MA Oxon

Headmistress
President – Girls’ Schools Association 2016
Vice Chair – Independent Schools Council 2018 – 2020