Together we learn

Our Nursery

For many children, attending Nursery is the first time they spend significant time away from home. For that reason it is vital that the setting they attend makes them feel happy, secure and valued. Furthermore it is such an important time for your child to develop learning characteristics that will set them up for their educational journey ahead. It is where it all begins and a time of limitless exploration and growth. These early years are fundamental to embed learning habits and develop confidence.

We are an independent Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School in Liphook, situated in 175 acres of stunning grounds in the South Downs National Park on the borders of Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex. Our vision is to teach children to collaborate, to be resourceful and to take charge of their own learning and to provide a welcoming environment in which to do so. We plan a curriculum that cultivates good habits and attitudes that will enable your child to become an eager and courageous learner. As your child progresses through the Nursery years, they will develop into a tenacious, imaginative and logical child who is self-aware, collaborative and inquisitive. The foundations of all of these traits are put in place from the moment your child walks through the Nursery door for the very first time. Above all, we aim to make your child’s time in Nursery a joyous experience. During their time with us their imagination will grow, their thoughts will become more complex and their understanding of the world around will unfold. The aim of our Nursery is to instil a love of learning that will set them up for the rest of their life.

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Core Education

Our Nursery timetable is predominantly led by the children’s interests and is made up of mainly child-led learning time as well as forest school. Our expert Nursery Practitioners curate a wide range of activities for your child to engage with to help them develop prime development areas:

  • Communication and language
  • Physical development
  • Personal, social and emotional development
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the world
  • Expressive arts and design

At Highfield and Brookham, we pride ourselves on our impressive breadth of curriculum, supplying your child with plenty of new skills to discover. Alongside your child’s core education, they will be taught by our specialist subject teachers in swimming, PE, gymnastics, music and Spanish.

Child-initiated

Here at Highfield and Brookham, we have a real passion for and belief in child-initiated learning based on extensive research on how young children learn best. Your child will make decisions about what they want to do, where they want to do it, and what resources they will need. Crucially, the teachers participate as play partners identifying learning opportunities and skilfully responding to the children rather than leading the activities. This is all made possible because of our high staff-to-child ratios. It’s only when your child starts to apply independently what they have learnt that we know they have truly understood and engaged with what they have been taught.

We love the nursery and could not be happier that we chose it for our children.

Outdoor Learning

There is a plethora of evidence in support of outdoor learning and at Highfield and Brookham we see the proof of this every single day. Each of our Nursery rooms has direct access to our wonderful Nursery garden, which is fully equipped with a giant sandpit, mud kitchen and vegetable patch. Your child’s imagination will know no bounds as they explore and discover wonderful new things inside and out. Come rain or shine your child will be able to decide to go outdoors whenever they like, and we know that the lure of splashing in puddles or making mud pies means that children want to go outside whatever the weather. This is why waterproofs and wellington boots are staples in the Nursery wardrobe. One of the most popular activities in the garden is growing vegetables. Your child will plant, water and care for a variety of vegetables in the Nursery garden and, best of all, they will also get to harvest the produce and cook it in their very own kitchen.

With 175 acres of beautiful grounds, outdoor learning at Highfield and Brookham really has no limits. Your child will relish their time in their dedicated space at forest school, which is just a stone’s throw from their classroom door. Here they are free to explore and roam in our wondrous woodland as they hunt for the most magical minibeasts, build the most extravagant dens and craft the most elaborate leaf crowns. We want to engender a love of wildlife and respect for the natural environment in your child.

Free Flow

Your child will enjoy the freedom of free flow across all three of our Nursery rooms for a large proportion of the day. This is where all the children come together and are given the independence to explore their environment. During this time the younger children learn from their older peers, enhancing their language development and communication. Simultaneously, the older children learn valuable skills such as empathy as they take on the position of role models for their younger classmates. This combination of dedicated and shared space is a key factor in your child’s personal, emotional and educational growth.

Open-ended Resources

Our Nursery is purposefully equipped with an exciting variety of open-ended resources for your child to discover. The classrooms are carefully kitted out with blocks, loose parts and modelling resources. A toy fire engine is always a fire engine, but a pile of bricks could be an aeroplane carrying an important guest, a rocket on the hunt for life on mars or even an underground tunnel leading to an undiscovered land. The only limitation is your child’s imagination.

Food

We take food very seriously at Highfield and Brookham and your child will quickly find out why. We hire a fantastic Catering Team who keep your child’s energy at the optimum level so they can fully engage with everything that Nursery has to offer. At 10am your child will enjoy a morning snack on the carpet with their friends. This usually consists of fruit or a slice of our delicious homemade, reduced-sugar banana loaf.

Lunchbreak for our Nursery children is at 11.45am. The Tiny Bears, our very youngest children, enjoy lunch in their room, The Den, before settling down for a much-needed lunchtime nap. Our Little Bears and Big Bears don their gingham smocks and head across the courtyard to the main dining hall. Your child’s lunch is freshly prepared on site by our in-house chefs. Children are served at the table and always have the option to ask for more if they want it.

Mid-afternoon, children gather back on the carpet with the other Nursery children to enjoy a well-earned rest and snack. Cheese and crackers, sandwiches or breadsticks and humous are usually on offer to see them through to tea time.

Rooms

There are three specialist rooms in our Nursery – The Den, Woodlands and Meadows. The Den is home to our youngest cohort, Tiny Bears. This dedicated area, designed especially for our youngest children, allows your child to undertake age-appropriate activities which help them to develop independence, imagination and communication at a pace that is just right for them. Importantly, there is a dedicated space for your child to have their valuable daytime nap if they need it to ensure they are rejuvenated and ready for their afternoon adventures.

At the age of three, and when they are developmentally ready, your child will move up to either Meadows or Woodlands. Both rooms have a managed mix of our Little Bears and Big Bears so they can grow and learn together.

Logistics

Our Nursery is open for 35 weeks of the year. We welcome children from the age of two when they attend for a minimum of two mornings per week. As your child progresses into their final Nursery year, they will attend a minimum of three mornings per week, with lunch. This extended week helps with their readiness for the transition to Reception.

The morning sessions in Nursery run from 8.20am to 11.20am. You can choose for your child to stay for lunch, which the children take in our main dining hall at 11.45am. Collection is after lunch is at 12.20pm or 3.20pm if your child is staying for the full day.

Your child may attend on any days of the week where we have availability, and in any combination of morning, morning with lunch and full day sessions, up to full time, five days a week.

The Nursery Week

  • 7.30am Breakfast club (Optional £)
  • 8am Before-school care
  • 8.20am Doors open
  • 11.45am Lunch break
  • 3.20pm School day ends
  • 3.30pm After-school care (Optional £)
  • 4.30pm Picnic tea and play (Optional £)
  • 6.30pm Last pick up

Drop off

The doors to our Nursery are open for children at 8.20am. We know and completely understand that mornings can be busy for many families, with parents juggling school drop off, work and other commitments. It’s important that your child’s start to the day is calm and stress free to set them up for a successful say of learning. That’s why we offer an earlier 8am drop off option for those families who need it, at no extra charge.

Many of our families make use of our breakfast club, which opens for our Nursery children at 7.30am. Breakfast Club takes place in the main dining hall and your child will be spoilt for choice for what to have for breakfast. There is always a hot option such as beans on toast as well cereal, porridge, yoghurt, toast and fresh fruit. A truly hearty breakfast to kickstart them for their busy day in Nursery.

After School

The Nursery day draws to a close at 3.20pm. We have excellent after-school care provision that covers you if you need a later pick up.

As part of the after-school care programme, your child will have a fantastic choice of games and activities at their disposal. After-school care runs until 4.30pm.

For those families who need a later collection time we offer our ‘picnic tea and play’ session. A high tea will be served at 5pm with a selection of sandwiches, crudités, fromage frais and fruit on offer. Your child will be looked after until 6.30pm if required.

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What we’re up to

There’s no telling which fascinating creepy crawlies you will find when you go on a minibeast hunt in the woods with Mr Baker during science. Just ask Year 3… #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExplore #TogetherWeDiscover #OutdoorLearning #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Having spent the night under canvas, Year 5 headed into the woods bright and early today to brush up their bushcraft skills. Setting up camp is hungry work, so the children were tasked with gathering piles of twigs and sticks before using a flint and steel to make a series of fires on which to cook their own lunch. What an adventure! #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExplore #TogetherWeDiscover #OutdoorLearning #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Artists in Year 6 have been developing their multimedia techniques to produce artwork inspired by Buddha. Under the expert eye of Mrs Pearson, the children used pencils and pastels to recreate the distinctive form of the religious teacher whose teachings on enlightenment and the end of suffering became the basis of the world religion of Buddhism. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCreate #TogetherWeLearn #Art #CountrySchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Warmest congratulations to our U11 boys, who won the Plate competition at the annual cricket festival at @tonbridge.school yesterday. Having lost out to @lancing_college in the Cup competition, the boys stormed back with superb wins against @hazelwoodschooloxted, @thomasslondondayschools and @skippershillschool to secure the prized silverware. Well played, boys! #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeCompete #TogetherWeSucceed #GrassrootsCricket #PrepSchoolSport #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire

Whether it’s in the classroom, playing chess in the common room or taking on another school on the cricket pitch – as our boys and girls did today with a series of brilliant games under sunny skies against St. Edmund’s School, Surrey – it’s important that our pupils gain an understanding of healthy competition. Harnessed properly, competition can prepare children for adult life, help develop key skills such as perseverance and determination, encourage children to step out of their comfort zones, and allow them to learn about setbacks in a safe and encouraging space. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeSupport #TogetherWeUnderstand #CoEdBoardingSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Our children are such an inquisitive and imaginative bunch with an insatiable thirst for knowledge and discovery that even the most seemingly innocuous things can provide a real sense of joy, wonder and possibility. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExplore #TogetherWeDiscover #OutdoorLearning #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

As we count down to Saturday’s fundraising ball in support of the Highfield School Centenary Bursaries Fund, we’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to our amazing sponsors. #TogetherWeAchieve #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #IndependentSchool #CoEdSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex @knightfrank @bii.aero @lapostollewinesuk @bradfield_college @bryanstonschool @canfordschool @charterhousesch @downe_house @hurst_college @marlboroughcollege @wellingtoncollege #ThermcoSystems

Young scientists in Year 6 have today been busy investigating the pH levels of different substances using a variety of indicator papers. Having observed colour changes, the children consulted a pH chart to determine the approximate acidity or alkalinity of the various substances, carefully recording the findings in their exercise books. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeExperiment #TogetherWeExplore #PrepSchoolScience #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Our scenic and calming wellbeing garden has been embellished further thanks to the addition of two rustic oak benches which have been carved from two fallen oak trees on our estate. The green oasis stands on the site of the old pond next to the prep school science labs and offers another wonderful option for children to rest, reset and recharge during breaks in the school day. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeRecharge #PastoralProvision #WellbeingGarden #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire

Congratulations to our girls’ first XI who beat Farleigh on Saturday to progress to the semi-finals of the @iapsuksport U13 Girls’ Cricket Championship for the very first time. They will now compete in the last four of the national competition at Taunton School on June 16. Well done, girls! #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWePlay #TogetherWeCompete #PrepSchoolSport #Teamwork #LeatherOnTheWillow #CountryPrepSchool #Cricket #CoEdSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Year 3 have been busy working on their lighthouse projects in DT today. Having sketched their building designs, the children painted cardboard inners in traditional red and white colours as they worked on the the main body of their coastal structures. Next, the children will turn their attention fully to the electronics required to give the lighthouse its all-important lamp. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeManufacture #TogetherWeDesign #DesignTechnology #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Our amazing woodland is always a source of joy and inspiration for our pre-prep children, but today’s visit to forest school was extra special for Nursery’s Big Bear Cubs. For it was a chance to spend time letting their imaginations run wild in the company of our delightful Reception teachers ahead of moving up in September. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeProgress #TogetherWeExplore #ForestSchool #OutdoorLearning #GrowingUp #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #WestSussex #Surrey

The recent rain and spells of sunshine have really brought our newest wildflower areas to life. Now, we just need a concerted warm spell to attract all the busy pollinators which play a vital role in ensuring a healthy planet and a stable food supply. In the classroom, our pre-prep children have been busy learning all about the important role that bees play while the whole school has been involved in seeding wildflower areas around the grounds as we try to do our bit to protect the environment. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeProtect #TogetherWeNurture #WildflowerPlanting #EnvironmentallyFriendly #ProtectingThePlanet #CountrySchoolsInHampshire

Year 5 use their creativity and problem-solving skills as they compose in verse-chorus form using GarageBand. Instead of relying on pre-made loops, they’re putting their newly learned musical knowledge of primary and secondary chords into practice – creating original songs that are entirely their own. #TogetherWeCreate #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #IndependentSchool #CoEdSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #EssentialSkills

With a summer concert, HighFest, an informal concert at the Pre-Prep and cushion concerts still to come, it promises to be a busy end to a successful and fulfilling school year for our dedicated music teachers and their tuneful young charges. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWePerform #MusicConcerts #PerformingArts #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Our girls were in fine form today as they welcomed their fellow cricketers from Edgeborough School for a series of fabulous matches played in fantastic spirit. While they have clearly progressed and shown improved technique with bat and ball week by week, what was most evident (and so pleasing) was just how much the idea of playing as a team means to the girls, who gave their all and were wholly supportive of each other throughout. Well done, girls, long may it continue! #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWePlay #TogetherWeSupport #PrepSchoolSport #GrassrootsCricket #CountryBoardingSchoolsInHampshire #Liphook #Hampshire #WestSussex #Surrey

This year’s Tatler Schools Awards voting form is now live. We would be truly grateful for your support, simply head to the bio above to find the link. #TogetherWeGrow #IndependentSchool #PrivateSchool #BoardingSchool #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #Tatler #TatlerSchoolsGuide2025 #TatlerSchoolsAwards2025

The sun and the rain has sparked some wonderful growth to add another level of calmness and serenity to our dedicated wellbeing garden. The revamped space on the site of the old pond next to the prep school science labs is the latest addition to our pastoral portfolio and offers a tranquil retreat where children are encouraged to relax, chat and connect with one another during breaktimes. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeRecharge #TogetherWeCare #PastoralProvision #WellbeingGarden #Nursery #PrePrepSchool #PrepSchool #IndependentSchool

School trips are an invaluable part of a child’s learning journey, fostering independence, confidence and resilience as they provide real-world learning experiences outside the classroom. Our Year 6 children are this week in Suffolk, engaging in fieldwork to embellish their theoretical knowledge with practical application at the National Trust site of Flatford Mill. It follows hot on the heels of our scholars touching down in Fontanellato, where the children took to the Freedom Trail to follow in the footsteps of former Highfield and Brookham headmaster Peter Mills, who escaped from a German prisoner of war camp in northern Italy in 1943. The Year 8 children also took in a tour of the 12th Century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a trip to a cheese factory where the world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano is produced, as well as spending time with their Italian peers and catching up with old friends at Comprensivo di Fontanellato e Fontevivo, who send two pupils to Liphook for six weeks each year. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeLearn #SchoolTrips #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #BoardingSchoolsInHampshire

Our upper prep children have safely negotiated the first day of a busy week of exams. With four more days to go, we know the conscientious girls and boys have prepared well and can achieve anything that they set their minds too. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeAchieve #ExamSeason #CountryBoardingSchoolsInHampshire #IndependentSchool #Liphook #PrepSchool #PrePrepSchool #Nursery #Liphook

Children at Highfield and Brookham are not only being primed for academic success, they are being equipped with the essential skills needed to thrive in life beyond the classroom. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeLearn #TogetherWeThrive #IndependentSchoolsInHampshire #CountrySchoolsInHampshire #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #Liphook

The children on our Junior Cookery course whipped up a delicious Mexican feast today, guided by the brilliant cook Sophie Neish! They made Mexican corn salad with spicy beef mince, soft tortillas and finished with a tasty lemon drizzle cake. Along the way, they picked up valuable skills – cooking boosts maths and literacy, builds confidence and, most of all, it’s great fun! No wonder it’s such a popular holiday club. #HolidayClubs #LifeSkills #TogetherWeAchieve #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #CoEdSchool #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

The value of music in schools is immense, and it’s rightly been in the spotlight recently. At Highfield and Brookham, we see music as a vital part of school life. It builds confidence, creativity, focus, teamwork, and supports academic success. From rhythm games to choirs, ensembles and instrumental tasters, every child is included and inspired. Music helps children feel seen, heard, and empowered. Read more in our latest blog: bit.ly/45jDmv1. #MusicMatters #TogetherWeThrive #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #CoEdSchool #IndependentSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Our new library furniture has arrived! We’ve created a warm, cosy and inviting environment where children can curl up with a good book, encouraging them to pause, relax, and immerse themselves in reading. According to the @booktrust, reading not only supports academic development, but boosts mental wellbeing, speech and social skills, imagination, empathy and creativity. #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #IndependentSchool #CoEdSchool #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex

Today’s Multi-Activities club got off to a wild start in the woods with den building, swinging on ropes, mud pies, and even woodland pizzerias! There’s no limit to the imagination and fun when children are free to explore. Fresh air, friends, and the great outdoors. What better way to enjoy the school holidays? #TogetherWeExplore #LearnOutdoors #Nursery #PrePrep #Prep #SchoolHolidayClub #Liphook #Hampshire #Surrey #WestSussex #CoEdSchool #IndependentSchool

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