It was wonderful to welcome HMC General Secretary, Dr Simon Hyde, to Tormead this week. The Head Girl Team enjoyed touring him around the school and showing him our newest developments and exciting plans for the future.

HMC (or the Heads’ Conference) is an association of Headteachers drawn from some of the world’s best schools. Founded in 1869, it was the world’s first Heads’ association, and its name derives from the annual meeting of members at ‘Conference’.

Currently, 300 Heads in the UK and Ireland are members of HMC, including Tormead Head, David Boyd, with another 60 international members. HMC schools educate over 250,000 students in the UK (or roughly half of all independently educated pupils). A rigorous accreditation process helps to ensure and maintain quality and HMC schools are all committed to outreach and partnership work.

The association is active in developing and maintaining relations with a range of educational partners and stakeholders from government to examination boards. It works to encourage and share innovation both within and outside the independent sector as well as to promote and protect the independence of our schools.