The Governors and the Head of The King’s School Canterbury are delighted to announce the appointment of Andrew Murfin as the next Head of Junior King’s, commencing in post in September 2026.

Andrew brings an impressive blend of experience, character and educational vision. Currently Senior Deputy Head at Danes Hill School in Surrey (one of the country’s leading and largest prep schools), he also served as Interim Head last year. He has previously held senior positions in two leading boarding schools, as Director of Sport at Shrewsbury School and later Deputy Head, Co-Curricular at Bryanston. His career spans contrasting yet complementary settings; Shrewsbury with its 400-year heritage navigating modern change, and Bryanston with its long-standing progressive ethos – giving him a rare depth of perspective. At Bryanston he played a central role in integrating the newly acquired prep school into the wider community, ensuring that pupils of all ages experienced a coherent and connected educational journey.

Andrew’s professional interests have consistently centred on expanding the horizons of young people. This focus is rooted in his own background as a sportsman: he played professional football while still in the sixth form and again at university, represented Great Britain at two World Student Games, and has competed in triathlons for two decades. He holds a Masters in Education and the NPQH. Drawing on this experience, he has led ambitious outreach initiatives, strengthened high-performance programmes and developed a wide range of opportunities that enable pupils of all abilities to discover and grow their talents. His understanding of schools extends beyond day-to-day leadership too; he is a serving ISI inspector and a governor, and has previously been an A-level examiner and moderator.

Andrew will be visiting King’s frequently in the next two terms, getting to know pupils, staff and families, and gaining first-hand familiarity with the rhythms and priorities of our community. We are confident this early involvement will allow him to shape his leadership with genuine insight into what makes Junior King’s distinctive.

Andrew will be moving to Canterbury with his wife, Lizy, a Geography teacher, and their two children, Maxie and Magnus, who will join The King’s School and Junior King’s respectively. They are very much looking forward to making Canterbury their new home and becoming part of the community.

“I am delighted to be joining Junior King’s – such an inspiring environment – and very much look forward to being part of the life of the School, alongside pupils, staff and parents. From my first visit, I was struck by the warmth of the community and the sense of purpose that runs through the School. My family and I are excited to be joining the King’s community, and I look forward to building on the impressive foundations already in place.”

As we look ahead to Andrew’s arrival, we are deeply grateful to Rob Stonier, who will serve as Acting Head during the next two terms of transition. Rob knows and understands Junior King’s exceptionally well, and his steady leadership, deep care for the school and strong relationships across the community will ensure continuity and clarity throughout the coming year. We are fortunate to have such a steady hand at a tiller to help the school to navigate this period of transition successfully.

Above all, Andrew shares our vision of a school that is forward facing in its academic and co-curricular ambition, committed to nurturing a rich tapestry of talents, where every pupil is known, every member of staff is encouraged to innovate, and the whole community feels proud of its identity and values. We greatly look forward to working with him as he leads Junior King’s through the evolving landscape of 21st-century education.

Find out more about Junior King's here.