Headfort School

Headfort School, founded in 1949 by Lord and Lady Headfort, and located in County Meath, was Ireland's last preparatory boarding school, until its closure in March 2020.

Location

The school was located at Headfort House, outside the town of Kells, County Meath, some 75 km north west of Dublin. The house was rented by the school from the Headfort Trust.

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

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

Pupils

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

Curriculum

The prep school curriculum included the core subjects of the Common Entrance Examination. English, Maths, French and Science were heavily timetabled. Science included 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 were offered a choice between Latin and Irish. History and Geography classes met three times a week for most forms, Scripture and Computer Studies once. Singing, Art, Design and Music classes were also regularly timetabled, while afternoons were devoted to Games, including hockey, rugby, cricket, horse-riding, squash, tennis and swimming.

Ethos

Headfort aimed 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 was non-denominational, respecting all religions and the right to have none.

Closure

The school, which had had financial issues for some time, closed in 2020, with the senior master, Neville Wilkinson, commenting that COVID-19 was the "final nail in the coffin" and that "liquidation was the "best of the bad options."[1]

Liquidators were appointed in May.[2]

References

Walsh, Louise (25 March 2020). "Ireland's only boarding school for 7-year-olds to close". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
"Liquidators appointed to private primary school by High Court: Financial predicament of Headfort School in Kells exacerbated by pandemic, court hears". The Irish Times. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.