Welcoming Dr Millan Sachania

The Governors of Halliford School have successfully appointed Dr Millan Sachania as Interim Headmaster, effective from September 2026.

Dr Sachania is a serving Governor with over 15 years’ association with Halliford School. He brings nearly 25 years’ of leadership experience in independent education. Dr Sachania served for over 12 years as Headmaster of two London HMC schools. In these roles, he improved academic outcomes at both schools, securing record levels of attainment at GCSE and A level. Alongside this, he ensured that pupils were well supported in their personal development, with a clear emphasis on helping each pupil to develop confidence, emotional resilience and a strong sense of character.

During his headships, he led significant strategic development, including the oversight of multi-million-pound capital projects to enhance teaching facilities and the wider school environment. For seven years, Dr Sachania served on the UCAS Council, a governance wing of the organisation responsible for managing university applications across the UK. In this role, he represented the interests of independent schools at national level and contributed to policy and strategic decisions affecting university admissions for hundreds of thousands of students each year.

Dr Sachania read Music at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he gained Double First-Class Honours and a doctorate in music history. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Freeman of the City of London, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He serves as a Reporting Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate and has published over 30 critical editions of works by composers such as Stravinsky and Poulenc.

Dr Sachania chaired the Governors’ Academic and Staffing Committee until the end of the 2025/2026 academic year, which allowed a smooth, seamless and steady transition for both pupils and staff. He is also a resident in the Shepperton area and is widely respected and very well known in our local community. This will ensure there is an uninterrupted and well-supported transition period for all of the Halliford community.

During this transitional period Dr Sachania will work closely with the Governing Body and the wider community to ensure continuity, stability and the continued high standards of pastoral care and academic excellence that we all expect at Halliford School.

Dr Sachania commented:

“It is with great pleasure that I have taken up the role of Headmaster of Halliford School for the duration of the Autumn Term. I inherit the superb legacy of James Davies, who is moving on to the headship of Wells Cathedral School, and look forward to serving as Headmaster before Richard Amlot begins his tenure as Head in January 2027. Richard joins Halliford from King’s College School Wimbledon, where he is currently a Deputy Head, and I know that under his leadership the school will continue to thrive.

Halliford holds a very special place in my affections. I have known the school since the 1970s and am one of very few people to have known its successive Headmasters across nearly five decades: John Riley, whom I first met in 1979, who served as the longstanding Music Director of the Walton & Oatlands Choral Society; Geoffrey Regan in the 1980s, later well known for his Guinness Book of Military Blunders; John Crook, who sadly died only a few weeks ago; my very good friends Philip Cottam and Simon Wilson; and, of course, the splendid James Davies.

It was my friend Philip Cottam who led Halliford into membership of HMC (The Heads’ Conference), shortly after I became a governor in 2008. Under James Davies, the school has continued to thrive, with record examination results this summer and a full pupil roll. As a long-standing governor, and Chairman of the Governors’ Academic and Staffing Committee, I have had the privilege of being involved in the appointment of the last two Heads and, indeed, of my own successor-to-be, Richard Amlot.

There is a particular pleasure, too, in serving as Headmaster of a school in Shepperton, Surrey — situated on the most southerly and picturesque reach of the River Thames. I grew up and was educated in the village, lived here for 34 years and remain deeply connected with, and well known in, the local community, now living only ten minutes away. Indeed, in the early 1970s I attended what was then called “play school” at Willow House, a period property only a couple of doors along from Halliford itself!

After so many years of serving Halliford as a governor, it is splendid now to swap hats and serve the school as its Headmaster for this term. I greatly look forward to working with and supporting its pupils, staff and wider community over the months ahead, keeping the school moving confidently forward — before handing over the headship to Richard Amlot and returning to the governing body in 2027.”

Dr Sachania very much looks forward to meeting parents at the Curriculum Information Evenings this week. If you would like to reach out to Dr Sachania directly, please do contact his PA, Mrs Armstrong, on 01932 223593 or by email: head.pa@hallifordschool.co.uk