Talking Head – News from Ashfold Prep School

School’s vision

Tradition and Innovation at Ashfold Prep School

By the time a school reaches its centenary, it has usually learned two things: how to preserve what matters and how to evolve. Ashfold, a prep school in the south Buckinghamshire countryside, is approaching that milestone in 2027 and is doing so with a new Head focused on building carefully on what already makes the school distinctive.

Mike Rickner took up the role in August 2025, arriving from Stowe where he was Deputy Head Pastoral, Designated Safeguarding Lead, ISI inspector, Houseparent and a big presence on the rugby touchline. He studied Theology at Exeter, holds a Masters in Teaching and Learning from Oxford and is currently completing a postgraduate qualification in cultural change in safeguarding. He picks up the reigns at an exciting time for Ashfold, as in 2025 the school joined Stowe, Swanbourne House and Winchester House in becoming part of The Stowe Group of schools.

“It is a real privilege to lead Ashfold,” Mike says. “Prep schools are amazing places and I am committed to developing the outstanding all-round education offered at Ashfold. It is a school that already does so many things exceptionally well in the classroom, in boarding and on the sports pitches.

I have so enjoyed the start of my time here, working with pupils, parents and staff. Looking ahead, I feel incredibly strongly that we should be preparing our pupils for the world of tomorrow, building a curriculum that combines intellectual stretch with a practical, real-world approach, closely aligned with The Stowe Group’s Change Maker philosophy. A curriculum that prepares pupils both for senior schools and for a world that does not stand still.”

That belief is now being put into action through a whole-school curriculum review, due to unfold between 2026 and 2028, an ambitious, carefully phased project built around Ashfold’s guiding idea: the traditional with the innovative. It is a phrase that captures the school rather well. There is Latin and cricket, certainly, but also robotics, wellbeing initiatives, digital literacy and an engagement with new technologies, including AI, and more to come.

“We want learning to feel joined up,” Rickner says. “That means consistency and ambition from a child’s first days in Nursery through to their final days in Year 8. We want to bring the best in school life and learning together, so all days are purposeful, engaging and joyful. And alongside the academic rigour, Ashfold will continue to value curiosity, independence, collaboration and confidence – the qualities that stay with children long after they leave school.”

For parents, this translates into something reassuringly simple: a school that knows where it is going, without losing sight of the traditions that matter.

Part of The Stowe Group of schools, Ashfold is a day and boarding prep school for boys and girls aged 3 to 13, set in the Buckinghamshire countryside close to the Oxfordshire border. Wraparound care and home-to-school transport are available, and fee remissions apply for pupils progressing from Ashfold to Stowe. To find out more, or to arrange a personal tour with Mike Rickner, please email registrar@ashfoldschool.co.uk
or call 01844 238237.

Ashfold Prep School
Dorton House, Dorton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP18 9NG.

Telephone: 01844 238237
E-mail enquiries@ashfoldschool.co.uk
www.ashfoldschool.co.uk

 

You can read more articles like this one in the latest edition of Thame Out.