A Liphook school with more than 130 years of history is turning the clock back – dropping the Brookham name and becoming Highfield School from September.

The change will bring the school’s Nursery to Year 8 community together under one name.

Highfield was founded in 1892 and has been owned by the Mills family since 1904, when William Mills became its owner and Headmaster. Three years later, he moved the school to its present site in Liphook, where it has remained ever since.

More than a century on, the family connection continues, with William Mills’ grandson, Bill Mills, now owner and chairman of the board.

Brookham was established in 1992 within the Highfield grounds, after growing demand from families with younger children led to the creation of a dedicated pre-prep. For more than 30 years, the two schools operated with separate names, leadership teams and uniforms, despite sharing the same grounds and wider community.

But that distinction has gradually become less pronounced.

In 2023, one Head and a single Leadership Team were introduced across the school, while the following year saw the uniform brought into alignment across all year groups.

Now the school says bringing the two identities together under the Highfield name is a natural next step.

Bill Mills said: “When Brookham was set up, we wanted it to have a strong sense of identity with a degree of separation from Highfield.

“There were good reasons for this at the time but, since then, the two schools have grown increasingly together, guided by the expert leadership of Suzannah Cryer, and I believe the time has come to unite them under one name.”

The move will also reconnect the school with the Highfield name and its long history on the Liphook site.

Head Suzannah Cryer said the change reflected the way pupils already experienced school life.

“While our name is changing, what sits at the heart of the school remains the same: knowing every child as an individual and giving them the space and support to become who they are,” she said.

“Bringing the whole school together as Highfield feels like a natural reflection of who we are today.

“Our children already grow up as part of one community, and this gives us one identity that carries them right through from Nursery to Year 8.”

Alongside the new name, the school is refreshing its visual identity, including refining its logo to more closely reflect the original cross keys.

Its established colours and whole-school uniform will remain.

Cryer said the school was “incredibly proud” of its history but remained ambitious for the future. The new strapline – One Story. One Purpose. One Highfield. – is intended to bring the school’s history and future together.

The school was recently shortlisted for Independent Prep School of the Year at the Tes Awards 2026 and commended for Student Wellbeing in the Independent Schools of the Year Awards 2026.

From September, the Highfield name will once again cover the whole school – from Nursery through to Year 8.