Kings Bruton Foundation

The King's School, Bruton Foundation comprises of 3 schools - King's Bruton, Hazlegrove and Sunny Hill Nursery - and offers the opportunity for a continuity of outstanding education for girls and boys aged 2 to 18. 

The school are united by a common set of values and principles and bound by a shared history that stretches back to the foundation of King's in 1519. A junior school was started at King's in 1902 and was established as an IAPS Preparatory School in 1947 when it moved to Hazlegrove House, which the Foundation purchased in 1953.  Sunny Hill Nursery joined the Foundation in 2022.

King's Bruton, with a pupil body of around 360, has a reputation of being among the very best small schools in the South West.  It is co-educational and the majority of pupils are full boarders. It offers excellence in teaching and pastoral care with pupils achieving excellence in academic subjects, sports and arts, within an ethos that emphasises a sense of community, mutual value and respect.  It offers an intrinsically fulfilling educational experience as well as providing the great majority of its pupils access to their university or tertiary institution of choice. 

Hazlegrove, slightly larger than King's, is also co-educational and has a significant boarding community. It has a high reputation for academic achievement and is also very strong in sports, music and the performing arts. The school aims to make learning and exciting experience and encourages children to be aware of their environment. All pupils are engaged in different and innovative projects.

Sunny Hill Nursery is located on a wonderful site on the former Bruton School for Girls campus and provides nursery education for boys and girls whose families mainly live in and around Bruton. 

As part of a single Foundation, King's and Hazlegrove share a single Governing Body and the same Bursar. Sunny Hill Nursery is governed separately by a small board of Trustees who report to the Foundation Governing Board.   The Governor's principal committees - education, finance, estates and risk  - span both schools and there is a single annual process of budget setting and decisions on fee and pay levels.  Longer term development planning is undertaken with a view to ensuring the sustainability and growth of all three schools.

The schools share common characteristics and a common set of principles and values but they also celebrate their differences. Unusually for schools under a single ownership, it is not assumed that all Hazlegrove Year 8 leavers will go on to King's.  The preparatory school was established to provide continuity of education, enabling pupils to benefit, over the course of their education, from the significant strengths which are found in both schools.  About half of Hazlegrove leavers move on to King's whilst the others move on to a variety of senior schools, including leading national boarding schools. At the same time, King's strong and focused offering, ensures that it attracts pupils from prep schools across the South West and beyond.