Greenfields School

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Independent day and boarding school

title: "Greenfields School" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["private-schools-in-east-sussex", "wealden-district"] description: "Independent day and boarding school" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenfields_School" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Independent day and boarding school ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox school"]

Field	Value
name	Greenfields School
image	Greenfields School 3.jpg
caption	Greenfields School from above
motto	Education For Life
address	Priory Road
city	Forest Row
county	East Sussex
postcode	RH18 5JD
country	England
local_authority	East Sussex
established
type	Private day and boarding
district	East Sussex
religious_affiliation	Non-Denominational, open to all religions, creeds and cultures
head_label	Head teacher
head	Andrew Hodgson
staff	50
gender	Mixed
campus_size	29 acres
colors	Green, Purple, Blue and White
website
::

::callout[type=note] Greenfields School in East Sussex, England ::

Greenfields School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Forest Row, East Sussex, England. It has a Montessori-based Pre-school & Reception class, followed by Infant, Junior, Senior, 6th Form and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classes. The school uses the Cambridge Curriculum and is a member of the Independent Schools Council.

History

The school was founded in 1981 by Margaret Hodkin and moved to Forest Row in 1983. It is run by the Greenfields Educational Trust, a registered charity. it has about 180 pupils, of whom 30 are boarders.

Study method

Greenfields uses a study method called Study Technology which is a teaching method developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and licensed from Church of Scientology's educational arm, Applied Scholastics. The school's website states that it does not teach any religious philosophies and includes children of all nationalities, cultures and religions.

The school has English as a Foreign Language programmes for international students. Summer holiday programmes run from June to August, minimum stay 1 week. The school also runs English programmes all year around for children from 10 to 18 years old. Boarding is on-campus and the school also has many day students.

Buildings

Recent building developments have included a new four-classroom block in the Senior School, a purpose-built Sports Hall in the Lower School and a complete renovation of the Main Senior Building.

Reports

In 1994, one of the teachers from the school was jailed for five years after he admitted sexually molesting teenage pupils.

In 2006, a detailed article was published by Tes in which the teaching methods used by the school were discussed. It pointed out that these had been praised by school inspectors from the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The Financial Times had said the school had the most improved A-level results for an independent school and had ranked it at number 46th in England. At that time, 90 per cent of teachers and 80 per cent of pupils were from Scientologist backgrounds but the deputy head said that its religious philosophies were not being taught.

A 2012 newspaper report suggested that many students left the school after completing their GCSEs, without going on to the sixth form, in order to transfer to Sea Org. Another similar report calls this a "rumour" but notes that, owing to the school's proximity to Scientology's UK headquarters

During the COVID pandemic, the trust running the school was given £200,000 in UK government support.

The school was inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in March 2024. Their report noted that standards relating to the quality of education and to leadership and management were not met. Recordkeeping and promotion of wellbeing of pupils was also deficient, and required standards relating to pupil safeguarding were not met. Day pupils and especially boarders had insufficient outside activities, recreation, and free time. Boarding accommodations only met minimal standards.

Greenfields announced that as of July 31, 2024 they were no longer able to sponsor students from outside the UK because their ability to sponsor had been withdrawn by UK Visas and Immigration.

Notable alumni

Joanna Bessey, Malaysia-based actress and director
Shannon Tarbet, actress

References

(2024). "Greenfields Independent Day and Boarding School".
"Our history".
"Greenfields Educational Trust".
Kennedy, Dominic. (23 June 2007). "'Church' that yearns for respectability".
"Study Technology".
(2007). "Scientology's Education Fronts - Applied Scholastics International".
Hodgson, Andrew. (2024). "Headteacher welcome".
(21 January 1994). "Teacher is jailed for sex offences". [[The Independent]].
Shaw, Michael. (11 May 2008). "New dawn of Dianetics".
Herrmann, Joshi. (11 July 2012). "As Katie Holmes bars Suri from Sea Org... the Sussex school whose pupils vanish at 16 to join Scientology's secret elite". [[Evening Standard]].
Cavaliere, V. (11 July 2012). "Boarding school in England funnels students into Scientology's most secretive sect". [[New York Daily News]].
Murphy, Simon. (27 May 2023). "Scientology school gets £200k taxpayer handout from Covid support scheme". [[Daily Mirror]].
"Greenfields School".
Barnes-Ross, Alexander. (July 16, 2024). "Greenfields School responds to safeguarding concerns after ISI inspection".
Barnes-Ross, Alexander. (August 25, 2024). "Scientology school loses visa status after Home Office inspection".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::