LOCATION location location. If you were house hunting, then Bournemouth Collegiate School would definitely be at the top of your list.

And you could definitely do worse if you were looking for a school.

The senior school is housed in a historic building in beautiful grounds on Bournemouth's clifftop.

Prep school pupils enjoy a spacious and leafy setting in an affluent area of Poole.

Bournemouth Collegiate is an independent school and part of the national group of schools under the umbrella of United Learning.

The group includes both independent and state schools and shares good practice in many areas.

Russell Slatford has recently taken over as headmaster and plans to embrace all that is good about the school while making the changes he believes are necessary.

Mr Slatford, who came to Bournemouth from the exclusive Reading Blue Coat School, said: "I started on June 1 and have had a few weeks to get a sense of the school. This is a period of consolidation with a focus on the academic side."

While A level results this year were the best in the school's history, Mr Slatford described AS and GCSE results as "solid" and said he plans to examine how time is managed between academic studies and other activities.

The school has strong sport, music and performing arts departments, all of which have led to great success for students.

There is an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts and astroturf as well as a theatre for the many school productions.

One of the highlights of the summer was an outdoor theatre production of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

While equipment and teaching methods are firmly in the 21st century, Mr Slatford aims to embrace all that is traditional about the two sites.

The senior school, formerly Wentworth Milton Mount, and the prep site, formerly Uplands School, are both housed in buildings 125 years old.

The senior site at Southbourne has boarding facilities, currently occupied by 95 students who come from all over the world.

Day pupils travel from many parts of Dorset and Hampshire including Lymington, Wimborne and Poole. A fleet of minibuses brings children to school each day.

Mr Slatford stressed the school is one of the few co-educational, independent schools in the area.