Our new Headmaster, Phillip Makhouli, will be joining Aberdour in April 2025. He is currently Headmaster at Skippers Hill in Mayfield, East Sussex, a very well-regarded prep school with an almost identical ethos to Aberdour.

Mr Makhouli has a degree in electrical engineering and originally worked in the nuclear power industry. Further to his own frustrations with education he wanted to empower young people to take ownership of their lives and realise their potential. Re-training as a teacher, he taught Years 5 and 6 at primary schools in Elgin and then London, before moving to Holmewood House Prep school in Tunbridge Wells. During eight years there he was promoted from Head of Maths to Director of Teaching and Learning, gaining senior leadership experience which led to his first Headship at Skippers.

We wish our previous Headmaster, Simon Collins, a very happy retirement after 18 and a half years at Aberdour. Mr Collins was instrumental in developing PAL in 2007, providing a truly individualised education with breadth and flexibility. Aberdour has supported PAL with major investments in our staff, our systems, our buildings, our IT and our resources, and the combination of a child-focused education. Genuinely innovative teaching has made a real difference to the children’s skills, achievements and enjoyment of life.

Our Vision gave us a clear view as to how we could give your children even more of the skills that will equip them to make the most of their senior schools and their adult lives. It is also a clear view of how we can continue to do things that other schools are not offering.  In short, at Aberdour creativity, aspirational development and technology have been embedded with challenge, opportunity and exciting teaching, along with nurturing care, encouragement and personalisation for each child.

We also believe that education should be exciting and fun, and that children should be encouraged to smile and laugh as well as to learn and think, to work and play.

Aberdour is a school which addresses the opportunities of the future, rather than those of the past.  If you are looking for a school which understands young children and is serious about giving them the best possible preparation for life, we very much hope you will come and visit us.