Abbreviation | HMC |
---|---|
Formation | 1869 |
Type | Non-governmental organisation |
Purpose | Educational accreditation |
Headquarters | Market Harborough |
Location |
|
Region served | Commonwealth and The Republic of Ireland |
Membership | 351 full members (including international) |
General Secretary | Simon Hyde |
Affiliations | ISC |
Website | hmc.org.uk |
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 302 members are based in the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies and the Republic of Ireland. [1] There are 49 international members (mostly from the Commonwealth) and also 28 associate or affiliate members who are head teachers of state schools or other influential individuals in the world of education, who endorse and support the work of HMC.
The Conference dates from 1869 when Edward Thring, Headmaster of Uppingham School, asked sixty of his fellow headmasters [2] [3] to meet at his house to consider the formation of a "School Society and Annual Conference". [4] Fourteen accepted the invitation, [2] and twelve were present for the whole of the initial meeting: Edward Thring, George Blore (Bromsgrove School), Albert Wratislaw (Bury St Edmunds), John Mitchinson (The King's School, Canterbury), William Grignon (Felsted School), Robert Sanderson (Lancing College), George Butler (Liverpool College), Augustus Jessopp (Norwich School), William Wood (Oakham School), Steuart Pears (Repton School), T. H. Stokoe (Richmond), Daniel Harper (Sherborne School), and James Welldon (Tonbridge School). John Dyne (Highgate School) attended on the second day, and Alfred Carver (Dulwich College) did not turn up. [5] [6] From that date there have been annual meetings.
Until the 1970s, membership was confined to 200 schools.[ citation needed ] In 1996, the association changed its name from the "Headmasters' Conference" to the "Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference". [6] In 2023, the name was changed to HMC (The Heads' Conference).[ citation needed ]
Membership of the HMC is often considered to be what defines a school as a public school in England and Wales. [7] [8] Not all independent schools are in the HMC; in particular, many notable girls' schools are not members, partly because historically the HMC was for boys' schools only.[ citation needed ] In 2005, the association opened membership to heads of girls-only schools. Today HMC's membership includes boys', girls' and co-educational schools.
The following are the member schools, listed with their Head (Headmaster or Headmistress). In some schools other titles are used, such as "Head Master", "High Master", "Warden", "Rector" and "Principal". An up-to-date list of schools whose Heads are members of HMC can be found on the association's website.
HMC Projects in Central and Eastern Europe is a charity offering opportunities for students and young teachers from Central and Eastern Europe to develop themselves, by coming to HMC member schools in the UK for a year.[ citation needed ]
The following are the Chairmen of the HMC until 1996. [40]
The following are the Chairs of the HMC after 1996. [40]
<*> Change to Academic Year Chairmanship
The following were Chairmen of the HMC Committee in the early years of the Conference. [40] In these years they served alongside the Chairman of the Conference (the 'annual meeting') until, in 1921, it was agreed that the Chairman of the Annual Meeting should always also be Chairman of the HMC Committee.
Institution | Year of First Chairmanship | Total Years as Chair |
---|---|---|
Winchester College | 1873 | 15 |
Eton College | 1879 | 14 |
Charterhouse | 1886 | 12 |
Rugby School | 1876 | 11 |
Shrewsbury School | 1898 | 11 |
King Edward's School, Birmingham | 1872 | 7 |
Haileybury | 1897 | 5 |
The Manchester Grammar School | 1953 | 5 |
Wellington College | 1881 | 5 |
Sherborne School | 1870 | 4 |
St Paul's School, London | 1969 | 4 |
Westminster School | 1912 | 4 |
Dulwich College | 1874 | 3 |
Magdalen College School | 1907 | 3 |
Marlborough College | 1877 | 3 |
Merchant Taylors' School | 1892 | 3 |
University College School | 1882 | 3 |
Ampleforth College | 1975 | 2 |
Berkhamsted School (Formerly Berkhamsted Collegiate School) | 2005 | 2 |
George Watson's College | 1976 | 2 |
Harrow School | 1878 | 2 |
Leicester Grammar School | 2015–16 | 2 |
Malvern College | 1906 | 2 |
Monkton Combe School | 1963 | 2 |
Tonbridge School | 1902 | 2 |
Uppingham School | 1869 | 2 |
Ashford School | 2016–17 | 1 |
Bolton School | 1978 | 1 |
Bradfield College | 1900 | 1 |
Bradford Grammar School | 1988 | 1 |
Bristol Grammar School | 1970 | 1 |
Bryanston School | 2000 | 1 |
Canford School | 1989 | 1 |
Christ's Hospital | 1904 | 1 |
City of London School | 2010–11 | 1 |
Clifton College | 1875 | 1 |
Daniel Stewart's and Melville College | 1998 | 1 |
Dean Close School | 2008-9 | 1 |
Forest School | 2006 | 1 |
Guildford High School | 2019-20 | 1 |
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School | 1985 | 1 |
Highgate School | 1871 | 1 |
King's College School, Wimbledon | 1972 | 1 |
Lancing College | 1980 | 1 |
The Leys School | 1909 | 1 |
Norwich School | 2001 | 1 |
The Perse School | 2007 | 1 |
Portsmouth Grammar School | 1996 | 1 |
Reading Blue Coat School | 1913 | 1 |
Reigate Grammar School | 2018-19 | 1 |
St Albans School | 2009–10 | 1 |
Trinity School of John Whitgift | 1993 | 1 |
Wolverhampton Grammar School | 2007-8 | 1 |
Winchester College is an English public school with some provision for day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as a feeder school for New College, Oxford, and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the nine schools considered by the Clarendon Commission. The school has begun a transition to become co-educational, and has accepted male and female day pupils from September 2022, having previously been a boys' boarding school for over 600 years.
Eton College is a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. It is noted for having educated prime ministers, world leaders, Nobel laureates, Academy Award and BAFTA award-winning actors, and generations of the aristocracy, having been referred to as "the nurse of England's statesmen". The school is the largest boarding school in England ahead of Millfield and Oundle. Eton charges up to £52,749 per year. Eton was noted as being the sixth most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK in 2013–14.
Shrewsbury School is a public school in Shrewsbury.
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Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley or the College of St. Peter at Radley, is a public school near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers 800 acres including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and farmland. Before the counties of England were re-organised, the school was in Berkshire.
William Waynflete, born William Patten, was Headmaster of Winchester College (1429–1441), Provost of Eton College (1442–1447), Bishop of Winchester (1447–1486) and Lord Chancellor of England (1456–1460). He founded Magdalen College, Oxford, and three subsidiary schools, namely Magdalen College School in Oxford, Magdalen College School, Brackley in Northamptonshire and Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire.
Bradfield College is a public boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18 in Bradfield, Berkshire, England. It is noted for its open-air Greek theatre and its triennial Greek play.
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The Rugby Group is a group of 18 British public schools. The group was formed in the 1960s as an association of major boarding schools within the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. As with the Eton Group, which was formed a few years later, headmasters and heads of the academic departments meet annually in rotation to discuss matters of common interest.
During the early modern era, pupils, former pupils and teachers at English public schools developed the rules of football, eventually leading to the first written codes of football most notably the Eton College (1815) and Aldenham school (1825) football rules, and rugby football (1845). British public schools football also directly influenced the rules of association football.
David Acfield Emms OBE was an English educationalist and former rugby union player.
Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey. It is generally believed that cricket was originally a children's game as it is not until the beginning of the 17th century that reports can be found of adult participation.
A public school in England and Wales is a type of fee-charging private school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession; nor are they run for the profit of a private owner.
Timothy Roderick Hands is an English schoolmaster and writer. Previously the Master of Magdalen College School, Oxford, he was the Headmaster of Winchester College until August 2023.
The Arthur Dunn Cup is a football cup competition played between the Old Boys of public schools. It started in 1903 and is named in honour of Arthur Dunn who had proposed such a competition but died very suddenly shortly after. Dunn was a leading amateur player of his day and was in the winning Old Etonians side in the 1882 FA Cup Final. It was Dunn who passed the ball to Anderson who scored the only goal to defeat Blackburn Rovers at the Kennington Oval. The Arthur Dunn Cup is presented by Jane Sawyer, granddaughter of Arthur Dunn.
William Martin Alastair Land has been headmaster at Harrow School, since 2019, previously having been headmaster at Repton School. He has taught at Eton College and Winchester College, where he was Master in College, and was deputy headmaster at Harrow School before moving to Repton School.