Holbrook's Royal Hospital School has been named as a finalist in the prestigious Independent School of the Year Awards and the School House Magazine Education Awards.

The Independent Schools of the Year 2023 awards are brought to the public by Independent School Parent Magazine, designed to showcase independent schools' success stories and celebrate the extraordinary and compelling student experience that independent schools provide.

RHS has been nominated as finalist in Co-Educational Excellence, highlighting the school's commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse environment.

With an equal pupil body of boys and girls, from more than 30 countries, a rich tapestry of cultures within its community. Initiatives such as Peer Support Mentors, Pupil Voice and Diversity Days foster inclusivity, and the Compass Programme equips students with skills to respect diverse perspectives.  

The winners of each category, plus the overall Independent School of the Year, will be announced at the awards ceremony being held on Tuesday 10 October in London.

A full list of finalists can be found here.

The School House Magazine awards aim to highlight schools who are getting it right in terms of pastoral care, mental health support, environmental awareness, those with local partnerships, and those who have really gone beyond the standard charitable work along with the most important one of all: happiness.

With the astonishing range of eco-endeavours underway, schools entering the sustainability category must impress the judges with a really innovative plan, which puts sustainability and green concerns at the heart of the operation.

As a top three finalist, the judges were impressed with RHS' entry and enjoyed hearing about the positive work being carried out as a school.

This includes the school's carbon offsetting commitment, their paper waste recycling programme, local tree planting initiative with Deben travel, sustainability workshops and much more. The winner of each of the seven categories will be announced in the Scholarships, Bursaries and Champions edition which will be published in October 2023.

Simon Lockyer, headmaster at Royal Hospital School, said: "I am delighted that RHS has been recognised in this way, a testament to the efforts of the whole staff team who work so hard to provide our pupils with an exceptional and fully inclusive co-educational environment.

"Last year we made global sustainability one of our three key priorities. This has enabled us to improve our pupil's awareness of sustainability, and this is now embedded in our curriculum.

"We have seen some wonderful initiatives from our pupils and staff to make our campus more sustainable and we will not stop our focus in this area in the years to come."