Head of Foundation becomes Chair of HMC

After a year as Chair Elect, Bolton School’s Head of Foundation Philip Britton takes over as Chair of HMC from the beginning of September.

HMC is the professional organisation for heads of leading independent schools in the UK and internationally. Schools are proud to be part of HMC, as membership marks a respect for education in its widest sense.

The organisation supported the Independent Schools Council in their recent High Court challenge of VAT on school fees, which is an issue that mattered to all independent schools and their parents. HMC is also strongly focused on building strong partnerships and connections across the educational landscape. It sees independent schools as part of the solution, not a problem, for UK education, and is committed to being embedded in the local communities each school finds itself in.

Mr Britton said of his appointment:

“It is a professional honour to be elected to Chair HMC and it is a privilege to do so. It is also good for Bolton School to be present on the national stage through my involvement: it is nice for alumni to see their school mentioned, and good for colleagues that when they are out and about in their professional worlds there is some stronger sense of what Bolton School is and what we do here.”

In the year ahead, Mr Britton’s priorities as Chair of HMC are to support, nurture and develop members, as they do in turn for their school communities; to remind all those engaged in education policy that it is all about the children; to look beyond political horizons towards the long game of the HMC’s 2030 strategy; and to engage in dialogue and partnership as an essential part of creating a future educational landscape where all children in all schools can thrive.