Abbotsholme School
Abbotsholme School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school. The school is situated on a 140-acre campus on the banks of the River Dove in Derbyshire, England near the county border and the village of Rocester in Staffordshire. It is a member of the SHHIS (Society of Headmasters & Headmistresses of Independent Schools) and is a Round Square school. History. Abbotsholme was founded by Scottish academic and educationist Cecil Reddie as an experiment for his progressive educational philosophies and theories. The school, then known "The New School", opened to boys aged 10 to 19 in 1889 . From the very beginning, the school departed from the structure of the traditional public school in favour of a less rigid environment and more liberal education. Top hats and "Eton collars" were discarded in favour of a more comfortable and practical uniform, and English, French and German were taught in place of Classics (Latin and Greek). The fine arts were introduced as core subjects, considered unusual at that time, since music and art were mostly taught at cathedral schools or specialist art institutes. Practical skills such as animal husbandry and carpentry were integrated into the curriculum. It has been coeducational  since 1969; girls now make up over one third of overall pupil numbers. In 2017 the school was bought by Chinese company Achieve Education Ltd, proprietor Mrs Tong Zhou.