During the last decade of the 19^th century and the first decade of the 20^th, Luton transformed from a small market town into an industrial centre. This change began in 1889 when the Borough Council and the Chamber of Commerce established the New Industries Committee to attract firms to complement the town hat factories.

The lack of schools throughout the town concerned affluent families and the expanding business class. At this time, children from such families were usually taught the ‘Three R’s,’ French, piano and painting by a governess until they entered school at the age of 8 or 11.

Since 1885, Alice Southam had been a governess for the family of Richard Charker, an eminent local chemist. Her sisters, Mabel and Mary, also taught the Charker children, and the sisters’ popularity meant their services were widely sought. Uniquely, as home education was the norm for everyone else, the Southam sisters, backed by their father and Richard Charker, opened a kindergarten in February 1889 next door to the Charker’s home at King’s House on King Street, adjacent to the church. As its reputation spread, the Southam sisters took additional rooms within the building to cater to the growing demand.

By 1891, with the older children in the kindergarten approaching the age of 5, discussions began about the kindergarten developing into a fully-fledged school. The Elementary Education Act, passed in that same year, meant that a small grant towards elementary school fees became available to parents. To transition into a school educating children up to the age 11, qualified teachers were required. Through the King Street Church, David Southam knew the Costin family, whose daughter Elizabeth was a teacher and who, along with Miss Amy Eustace, tutored children in nearby Liverpool Road. It was agreed that Mabel Southam would run the kindergarten, Elizabeth Costin would become the school Principal, and Alice Southam and Amy Eustace  would join as teachers.

King’s House School was founded in September 1891 at 35 King Street, with the kindergarten located at number 37. The school flourished during and after World War 1. In 1926, the school moved to a large detached property on Dunstable Road called “Moorlands,” and as a result, the name of the school was changed to Moorlands.

When Miss Spencer retired in 1953, Roy Whitlock became Principal. Within five years, the school expanded and relocated. In 1958, the school purchased Leagrave Hall, formerly part of the Manor of Leagrave. The Manor had been inherited by Sir Beversham Filmer and the Filmer family owned the village of Leagrave until the death of Sir Robert Filmer in 1916. The school moved from Dunstable Road to Leagrave Hall in September 1958. In October 1960, a school hall was built, and during the following two decades, the school was further extended. Roy Whitlock retired in 1983 and was succeeded by Brian Parsons, who further developed the school and the nursery.

In 1992 Dr Andrew Cook was appointed Principal, and in 1994, the Filmer Trust acquired the school and oversaw further renovations to the main building. In 2011 the 5-11 section of the school was legally dissolved in advance of a Free School initiative the Filmer Trust were to co-sponsor. However, the Trust withdrew from the project and the school’s pre-school department reverted to its original name, King’s House School, relocating to a new building 200 yards away on High Street, Leagrave.

Due to parental demand for the contribution of fee paying education and their desire for a Luton feeder school for the independent Bedford and St Albans secondary schools, it was decided to repeat the resolution made in 1891 to develop a new school from the foundations of the flourishing Nursery.