Senior Leadership Team

I grew up in Hong Kong and moved to the UK at the age of ten where I attended The Cheltenham Ladies’ College as a full-time boarder. I then read Geography at King’s College London followed by the completion of my PhD by the age of 24 in urban river response to different levels of engineering intervention. I am passionate about education and in many ways, grew up knowing I wanted to teach. For me, teaching was the obvious and only choice, and I have not looked back.

After my PhD, I qualified as a teacher through the Graduate Teacher Programme and then embarked on my career as Teacher of Geography, before going to become Head of Department, Senior Tutor, and Director of Sixth Form and Outreach in three leading all girls’ independent schools. Before joining Northampton High School in July 2022, I have taught in the independent sector for over 15 years, and many years of which have been at leadership level in both academic and pastoral roles. Furthermore, I have always tried to immerse myself in all areas of school life, whether playing the drums in the staff school band or leading the Model United Nations programme.

For leisure, my husband and I enjoy travelling especially to the Caribbean, Far East, and the Indian Ocean and visiting family in Hong Kong. I also enjoy stand-up paddle boarding, running, reading biographies and gardening.

At the heart of my vision for Northampton High School is a commitment to high standards, inclusivity, and kindness. Everyone plays a pivotal role in our school community and together we share the vision to do the best we can for each and every one of our students. As Head, I believe passionately in the importance of the individual. Every child at Northampton High School is valued for their own sake, and is encouraged to develop their talents to the full in a community where there are no stereotypes and where every achievement, however small, is noticed and celebrated.

I was born in London and grew up near Stratford-upon- Avon. Following secondary school, I chose another historic English setting for my Modern Languages degree; Canterbury, and I have lived abroad in both Spain and France. As well as my BA, I also have a degree in French Language and Literature from the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon and a Master’s degree in Education. I completed my PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages in 1998.  Before joining Northampton High I held a number of roles in schools, ranging from examinations officer to pastoral leadership and finally to departmental head for Modern Languages. At my last school I also chaired the Curriculum Board which influenced the school’s overall academic direction and inspired my passion for all things pedagogical.

I joined Northampton High School as Director of Studies and became Deputy Head, Academic in 2012. The highlights of my time at the school so far have been setting up a variety of academic programmes such as the Laureate scheme in the Sixth Form and the Digacy programme, as I believe these have empowered teachers and students to bring new energy to their teaching and learning.

I currently live in South Northamptonshire with my wife, Emma, a GP, and our children. Coming from a big family, I have a good understanding of what makes children thrive and it is always a life-affirming experience to be amongst young people. I try to bring a sense of positivity with me to school and have a simple philosophy of education; students work best when they have a calm environment where their individual dreams and ambitions are cherished and supported.

I am passionate about improving equality of opportunity and I feel that working in a GDST school with such vibrant and diverse pupils offers me a real chance to encourage the next generation to strive for change in the world.

I grew up in rural Shropshire, and have always had a love of the English countryside. I wanted to be a teacher from an early age, although initially thought I would probably be an English teacher. Later on, when choosing my A Levels, a happy accident resulted in me opting to study Geography, and I haven’t looked back since. I completed my undergraduate degree in Geography, at the University of Exeter down on their Cornwall campus. Cornwall is a geographers dream and the coastal lifestyle was idyllic for the three years that I lived there. I then moved up to the main campus in the city of Exeter, which is where I completed my PGCE, but managed to secure placements in schools in two of the remotest parts of Devon, maintaining my love of rural environments. 

I returned to higher education in my mid twenties, whilst working at the High school, and completed my masters degree in Learning and Teaching with the University of Oxford. I am passionate about education, and Girls Education more specifically, having worked in three girls schools consecutively since I started teaching. I have been lucky enough to hold a variety of roles in teaching, and I now take great pleasure in the challenges that a senior role, specialising in pastoral care, will bring. 

I live in a village in Northamptonshire with my husband, also a teacher specialising in pastoral care, and our two cats! We are currently enjoying redesigning our house and garden, and although weekends tend to be dominated with trips to B&Q and we are on first name terms with the staff in Screw Fix, we are loving  making our house a home. Travel and horses fill any other pockets of spare time for me and my geography instincts keep us going when looking for our next holiday destination.

As Deputy Head Pastoral, I believe wholeheartedly in the importance of developing our students as individuals. Over the years, each student has enriched my time here in one way or another. Time and time again, I am reminded that I have just as much to learn from them as I have to teach them, and they continue to be such a rewarding part of my life. 

In September 2016 I moved to Northampton to join the High School as a Teacher of English. I was immediately impressed by the confidence of the girls and the energy with which they threw themselves into everything that school had to offer. I particularly enjoyed my role as a Sixth Form tutor and was delighted to become Deputy Director of Sixth Form in September 2018 and Director of Sixth Form in September 2021.

I was born in Germany, where I lived until I became a chorister at Westminster Cathedral in London. I still love music – especially Gregorian chant and renaissance polyphony (“very niche”, I am told) – and have recently joined the school orchestra as a violinist. After A Levels at The Oratory School in Woodcote, I did my military service in Germany, which mostly involved sweeping floors. As an undergraduate, I studied English Language & Literature at the University of Oxford, where I was particularly drawn to Anglo-Saxon literature. After a circuitous couple of years, I completed an MA in Comparative Literature at University College London. I hugely enjoy the intricacies of poetry translation and have supported a number of students at the High School to enter the Stephen Spender Poetry Translation Prize.

I spent seven years in academic journals publishing, working in London and Oxford to support some brilliant academics in the social sciences. I’ve brought my interest in publishing to school, where I coordinate the student-run magazine ‘Backchat’ and helped launch the High School’s very own online bookshop. I decided to re-train as a teacher in 2013 and completed my PGCE at Oxford, where I was awarded joint winner of the Oxford Education Society’s Professional Development Programme. Aside from placement schools in Oxford, I have also taught at d’Overbroeck’s, which has given me insights into a wide range of very different schools.

I am strongly persuaded by the benefits of a girls-only education, not least because I have seen so many of our girls develop into articulate, self-assured young women who have gone on to take leadership positions in school and beyond. There’s no doubt that our Sixth Form students are a force to be reckoned with.

Having studied languages at university, I was lucky enough to spend extended time at universities in France, Germany and Russia, learning as much as I could about the languages, places, cultures and people. My first role as a graduate was in the commercial sector – as a Trilingual Assistant with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, based in Milton Keynes. As the only native speaker of English in the department, I worked with an international team translating, project planning and supporting initiatives across central and western Europe.

One of our projects was to establish a new financial services company in South Africa, and I was seconded to Pretoria, South Africa, to assist with the South African start-up company. I was involved in the development of products, channels, marketing, training and reporting, and we built the business from a small project team to a company of over 150 employees in just 5 years. 

During my latter years in South Africa, I was appointed to the Board of Management, worked in an international role with regional businesses in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and gained rich and unique experience on the senior management team. When I returned to the UK, I led a large team of marketing, communications and training professionals as a General Manager at the UK Mercedes-Benz headquarters for a further 5 years.

Having always been interested in education and with enduring interest in teaching, I made the leap to the education sector as Director of Marketing and Communications for an independent girls’ boarding and day school. In this ‘second chapter’ of my career, I have worked as a member of senior management teams in marketing and admissions at independent schools as well as in the classroom; I have also enjoyed several years working as a finance and operations manager in local government and spending some time as a marketing and communications consultant, delivering projects in a variety of sectors.

I have worked at Northampton High since 2016, and can safely say I love it! My daughter attended the school from Year 4 and is now at university (as is my son), so my time as a parent at Northampton High exceeds that of being a member of the team. It is a special community where equality of opportunity is key; I am regularly impressed anew by our students, their capabilities, their drive and their spirit.