Former parent here. What follows is simply my own perspective.
What happened at Horris Hill was not the result of a single failure. It was, in my view, death by a thousand cuts — a series of decisions and missed opportunities over several years from which the school was ultimately unable to recover.
Bringing in Forfar was a fundamental mistake. They lacked a proper understanding of the school, its community, and its market. A more measured transition might have led to a different outcome. That said, there were already signs by around 2020 that momentum was beginning to slow.
What followed was a steady erosion of confidence. Families left, numbers fell, and experienced teachers departed. There was an overreliance (By Forfar, they seemingly said all the right things but didn’t in reality actually listen or act on it) on historic reputation at the expense of active recruitment — while other schools, Elstree being the obvious example, adapted more quickly and grew. As numbers declined, admissions became less selective, and fee subsidies were increasingly used to fill places. Neither was sustainable, and both served to accelerate the decline.
The decision to withdraw our son from a much-loved school, and from his friends before the end of his prep years, was not an easy one. It was somewhat alleviated by the fact that a significant portion of his cohort had already left. He subsequently completed his prep education elsewhere and is now very happy and well settled at senior school, remaining close friends with many of the boys from his Horris Hill days.
Horris Hill remains a place of very fond memories. Its closure is a genuine loss — and, sadly, an entirely foreseeable outcome.
(I am aware of the historical allegations and subsequent legal proceedings. They pre-date our time at the school and fall outside the scope of my comments above.)