Berkshire


<p>In autumn 2025, Jonathan Williams officially took the reins as head of the small all-girls’ Heathfield School in Ascot, bringing with him a wealth of educational experience including a five-year stint as Deputy Head Academic at a prestigious British Curriculum School in Kenya, and various leadership and teaching roles in schools across Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. </p>



<p>Afraid to shake things up in a major way? No, he is not. From September 2026, Heathfield will welcome boys to the Sixth Form for the first time, checks notes, EVER! It&#8217;s a monumental change in the school&#8217;s proudly female 125-year history &#8211; a sign that they are totally unafraid to evolve with the times. Between his busy job and spending time with his three daughters, we caught up with Jonathan to get the inside scoop.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams.jpg" alt="Jonathan Williams Heathfield School head teacher" class="wp-image-81866" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/09/Jonathan-Williams-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-30-second-elevator-pitch-for-your-school-sell-it">30 second elevator pitch for your school – sell it!</h3>



<p>We are crystal clear on who we are &#8211; our tagline is small school, bigger opportunities, and I&#8217;m really proud of what we offer. I&#8217;m particularly proud of the impact we have on young people&#8217;s lives and our size is intentional. No class is bigger than 16, which means every single student is known and provided for as an individual. And as a head, I know every student too. So, when we say we are a small school, we really do mean that. The vast majority, particularly for exam candidates, are in single figures, and year after year our students achieve, on average, more than a full grade higher than their target grade which is incredible. </p>



<p>While the opportunities start in the classroom, beyond that they&#8217;re extraordinary, with Heathfield School punching well above its weight when it comes to sports, the stage and music, and so many other elements, alongside outstanding success in creative arts in recent years.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-would-play-you-in-a-movie-about-your-life">Who would play you in a movie about your life?</h3>



<p>That&#8217;s always a dangerous one isn&#8217;t it! You don&#8217;t want to think of yourself too highly or undersell yourself. Actually, I&#8217;ll tell you a funny story with this one. Once, my dad was asked for autographs as he was mistaken for Liam Neeson. So, although I&#8217;m not a perfect picture of him, when I was younger, I was actually more Rick Astley, but I think I&#8217;ll go with Liam Neeson to honour my dad&#8217;s memory.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-ve-been-given-a-1m-donation-for-the-school-what-will-you-spend-it-on">You’ve been given a £1m donation for the school, what will you spend it on? </h3>



<p>Because we have such an emphasis on charities and partnerships, my mind immediately jumps there, but if it&#8217;s specifically for the school, it&#8217;s not entirely straightforward because our facilities and sports provision are so great. But if we were to add one thing to the wish list, I would add an astroturf as well.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-describe-your-own-childhood-school-days">Describe your own childhood school days</h3>



<p>Was I ever known to bend the rules? Yes, I was. But in general, I was absolutely an all-rounder, so I loved my sports and represented the school in various teams &#8211; rugby, racquet sports, and so on. But I kind of did it all. I got my grade eight on the trumpet, gold awards, Duke of Edinburgh, I was on the stage in various productions and did charitable things. So, yeah, I kind of enjoyed doing it all and occasionally squeezing in a bit of work as well.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-was-the-common-theme-of-your-school-reports">What was the common theme of your school reports?</h3>



<p>I think probably doing enough to get by, occasionally frustrated that I didn&#8217;t quite apply myself as fully as I could have, but I was generally taken to have positive relationships with people. More mischievous than outright rebellious, I think. So, I say to my students now: do what I say, not what I did, but I&#8217;ll let you work out what that looks like.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-best-and-worst-subject-at-school">Best and worst subject at school?</h3>



<p>So, my best subjects I chose as options, right up into A-level. I studied English, maths, religious studies and music, so one of those would have been my best, possibly religious studies, which I went on to study, or music. Worst, as I wish I&#8217;d given it a bit more effort, was science. I think I pigeonholed myself in terms of being more creative and humanity based when I was younger, so I didn&#8217;t give it the chance.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-best-school-trip-childhood-or-current-you-ve-ever-been-on">What’s the best school trip (childhood or current) you’ve ever been on?</h3>



<p>From childhood, it would have been one of the rugby tours I did. But more recently as a teacher, my most recent one stands out. I had the chance to help lead a trip climbing Mount Kenya about 18 months ago. That was definitely the trip of a lifetime. Just the opportunity to lead students in the preparation for that and getting them out their comfort zones. But also, in those five days where it does push you, and actually the sense of achievement you have both for them and for me as well, climbing 5,000 metres and having to battle the physical and emotional challenges that come with that &#8211; that&#8217;s definitely a standout. I&#8217;ll be proud of that for life.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-where-did-you-go-to-uni-what-did-you-study-and-the-highs-and-lows-of-student-life">Where did you go to uni, what did you study – and the highs and lows of student life</h3>



<p>My degree was in Theology from St. Andrew&#8217;s University in Scotland. I think being at university is, for most people, a once-in-a-lifetime experience where you balance having more independence than you&#8217;ve had before, but also less responsibility. So, it&#8217;s a very unusual time. I think the highs and lows would be connected to both those things where you either make the most or you don&#8217;t.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot.jpg" alt="Jonathan Williams Heathfield School head teacher" class="wp-image-86182" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2026/01/J-Williams-Heathfield-School-Ascot-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-you-weren-t-a-head-what-would-you-be">If you weren’t a head, what would you be?</h3>



<p>I know that if I were to stop being a head suddenly and have a year where I could just do something different, I&#8217;d enjoy travelling. But actually, I&#8217;ve always had a creative side to me, and I&#8217;ve got a couple of ideas for books that I&#8217;d love to have a go at. So, I&#8217;d probably try being an author. Probably wouldn&#8217;t be too successful, but I&#8217;d give it a go.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-describe-what-s-on-your-work-desk-and-what-s-in-the-top-drawer">Describe what’s on your work desk (and what’s in the top drawer)</h3>



<p>On my desk I&#8217;ve got a couple of pictures around, so a picture of my family and me on a safari that I was given for my birthday. It&#8217;s particularly helpful when it&#8217;s a bit cold and dreary because it&#8217;s a good reminder. Then I&#8217;ve got almost all work things. I&#8217;ve got a particularly big pile of paperwork on my desk at the moment and cards to write to people that I&#8217;ve been meaning to do for a while. Then the top drawer is actually where I keep my confidential folders, so those are the bits I can say are important, but I can&#8217;t tell you about!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-have-any-hobbies">Do you have any hobbies?</h3>



<p>I don&#8217;t have as much time for hobbies as I&#8217;d like to. Family comes number one and then I enjoy reading, sports, and music, and then we also go to our local church as well. I snatch those things in when I can, but it&#8217;s a particularly busy season of life for me at the moment.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tell-us-a-little-about-your-family-and-pets">Tell us a little about your family and pets&#8230;</h3>



<p>So, my wife is a primary school teacher, and we met when we were both doing our teacher training. Then we have three daughters who are ten, seven, and three, and they&#8217;re living their best lives. They would love for us to get them a pet, and we&#8217;ve held off so far, partly because I was teaching abroad from 2019 to 2024 and it didn&#8217;t really match up with that as we travelled back to the UK in summer holidays. I imagine one day, but we&#8217;ll see.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-funniest-story-from-your-teaching-career">Funniest story from your teaching career?</h3>



<p>I was a former tutor of a tutor group for four years, and it was lovely for me to get to know them well and to really be their point of contact. So, I&#8217;ve got some great stories from them. One of my funniest ones was a boy who&#8217;s particularly enthusiastic, but diligent, and he worked hard, however he was never entirely sure of how well he&#8217;d done. So, when it came to the day, I was handing out their reports, some were playing it very casual, but he was nervously opening his. He went to the back of the room by himself, and he opened it up, and it was a very positive report, and he was so pleased. He just jumped in the air, and went, &#8220;Yes!&#8221; But as he did, his trousers split wide open. That day he happened to be wearing red underwear, which the rest of the class didn&#8217;t let him forget for a long time. I actually saw him again after I left the school and as he was about to leave Sixth Form, and he was still laughing about that story years later.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-favourite-books-childhood-uni-and-now">Your favourite books – childhood, uni and now</h3>



<p>When I was younger, I was a prolific reader and over the summer holidays could get through 100 books. I would love reading Enid Blyton, <em>The Famous Five</em>. I always loved reading Lewis Tolkien, and even my sister&#8217;s books I loved, like <em>Malory Towers</em>. A more recent one that gives a different perspective and insight into life is <em>Man&#8217;s Search for Meaning</em> by Viktor Frankl, which is his experience of a holocaust camp and his reflection on that which is really insightful.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-book-tv-show-film-or-play-should-all-kids-discover">What book, TV show/film or play should all kids discover?</h3>



<p>I think C.S. Lewis&#8217; <em>The Chronicles of Narnia</em> is a series all children should read and enjoy or even watch. I like students to have a balance of more modern and traditional, so I definitely think some of the Shakespeare plays too. Students recently did a version of <em>A Midsummer Night&#8217;s Dream</em>, which I had the privilege of going to watch, and it was fantastic. So, I&#8217;d possibly pick one of Shakespeare&#8217;s or Dickens too.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-song-you-sing-at-full-volume">The song you sing at full volume? </h3>



<p>Last year when I was commuting, I had a long commute, so I&#8217;d be free to sing very loudly where no one could hear me. Now, I&#8217;m walking home because I live on site, so it&#8217;s slightly different. You can&#8217;t beat a bit of Michael Bublé.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-if-you-want-to-hide-from-the-kids-and-staff-for-half-an-hour-where-do-you-go-nbsp">If you want to hide from the kids and staff for half an hour, where do you go?&nbsp;</h3>



<p>To be honest, it hasn&#8217;t happened too much. Generally, my PA is fairly good, so if I need to carve out some time she&#8217;ll guard my office. But if I were going to take off somewhere else, I&#8217;d probably duck into a music practice room.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-advice-you-d-give-your-younger-self-and-your-current-students">Advice you’d give your younger self – and your current students?</h3>



<p>I think the big thing would be making the most of opportunities. It&#8217;s very easy to let opportunities slide by, particularly in this day and age where you can just get caught up in scrolling for an hour or two when you could be doing other stuff.</p>



<div style="height:27px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<p><strong><em>Want to hear more about Jonathan Williams&#8217; headship? Read our review of Heathfield School in Ascot <a href="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/kids/school-reviews/heathfield-school-ascot-berkshire/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</em></strong></p>


Meet the Head: Jonathan Williams, Heathfield School

You may also like