We find out how pupils at Highfield & Brookham Schools forge links with their near neighbours – and what benefits the community gets as a result…


Having fun during a recent Highreach Holiday

How closely is your school linked to its local community?
At Highfield and Brookham we place great importance on children understanding their place in the wider community. Looking beyond the school grounds children are encouraged to fully engage with the wider world and to find the part that they play in society and as global citizens.

We achieve this through close links with our immediate community and further afield.

Do you run any specific community-focused projects?
A whole host of community-focused projects run at Highfield and Brookham. To name a few that have stood out over the last year are: Highreach Holidays – a week long volunteer-run, residential holiday on our school grounds for moderately and severely learning disabled children.

There is also an annual sponsored walk to raise money for Highreach which around 300 pupils take part in. Haslemere Hounds – an initiative launched by Brian Howard, the mayor of Haslemere, to promote local business and bring the community together whereby people are encouraged to paint a hound statue on the theme of community. Scholars trip to Fontanellato, in association with the San Martino Trust which recognises the courage and sacrifice of the Italian country people who rescued thousands of escaping allied prisoners of war after the 1943 Armistice.

The Highreach sponsored walk at Highfield and Brookham Schools

Highfield Centenary Bursary Fund, which aims to broaden access to children for whom a Highfield and Brookham education is likely to have the greatest impact on their academic and personal development and future life chances.

What benefits do you gain from the places and people in your wider community?
The benefits from our wider community are vast and the Independent School Inspectorate commented, “awareness of moral responsibility for others and the wider world, is well developed.”

Our community is animated by a sense of mission to draw the best out of everyone, sharing values of compassion and generosity.

We are acutely conscious of the importance of service, duty and care to others in our local community and the children benefit from learning the value and importance of giving something back.

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