Hanford girls boarding school, Dorset

This is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, girls' boarding school in the country. Good Schools Guide 2005

Hanford Independent Prep School, Dorset Hanford is a preparatory boarding and day school for some 100 girls aged 7 - 13, set in 45 acres of rolling Dorset countryside. While the great majority of our children board, we have always welcomed day girls who live locally or who do not yet want to board full-time.

Hanford School was founded by the Reverend and Mrs Clifford Canning in 1947. Their daughter Sarah Canning took over the school from them in 1959, and owned it until 2004 when she passed it over to the charitable trust which now runs it. This rare sense of family and continuity has shaped Hanford and made it the special place it is today.

A beautiful Jacobean house, surrounded by lawns and formal gardens, lies at the heart of Hanford School. Flowers, fruit and vegetables for the school are grown in a large walled garden, and add to the feeling of living in a family house.

Sarah Canning remains very involved with Hanford School, teaching Latin, English and riding, but since September 2003 the Headmaster has been Nigel Mackay. Formerly headmaster of Ruzawi School, Zimbabwe, he moved to England with his wife Sarah and four young children in August 2003. Sarah Mackay was Director of Music at Sunningdale for thirteen years before becoming Director of Music at Ruzawi where she met Nigel.