Alderley Edge School for Girls
Nicola Smillie took up the post of headmistress at Alderley Edge School for Girls in September, after leading Saint Martin’s School in Solihull. She is the fourth head to lead the school in its 21-year history since the amalgamation of St Hilary’s and Mount Carmel schools in 1999.
Smillie is a Hispanic studies and French graduate, and an ISI inspector. She has extensive experience in GSA schools, including Westholme School and Blackburn, and believes that girls’ schools are those in which girls excel.
Colchester High School
Karen Gracie-Langrick was appointed headteacher of Colchester High School, starting this September. Gracie-Langrick has a degree in archaeology at Reading and a master’s in archaeological heritage management.
In 1997, she joined Leighton Park School and took on the role of deputy head in 2014, where she led a number of initiatives on STEAM, ethical leadership and outdoor learning. With Gracie-Langrick driving the school’s IT strategy, Leighton Park was awarded the Education Business Award as ICT Facility of 2018.
Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College has welcomed the Reverend Stephen Graham as its new chaplain. Father Stephen read classics at Queen’s, Belfast before training as a teacher at Cambridge University. He worked at schools in Norfolk, Oxfordshire and the South Pacific before his formation for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House, Oxford.
Having served as a curate in a parish in north Norfolk, the school said Father Stephen is “delighted” to be pursuing his vocation as a priest and schoolmaster at Glenalmond. He will also teach classics.
Dukes Education
Dukes Education has announced the appointment of Professor Mark Bailey as managing director, leaving his role as high master of St Paul’s School at the end of the 2019/20 academic year. Bailey has chaired the Education Advisory Board for Dukes since 2018 and so is already well-known to the group.
In his new role, Bailey will lead the day-to-day running of the group’s family of schools in central London and Cambridge. He will also continue his role as professor of later medieval history at the University of East Anglia.
Bryanston School
Bryanston School has confirmed a number of new appointments within its senior leadership team. This includes Richard Jones, who has been appointed as second master. A teacher of business and economics with a master’s degree in educational leadership, Jones previously held housemaster and teaching positions at Canford School and St. John’s School.
Jones will work closely with the headmaster to ensure the effective and efficient day-to-day management of the school. As well as deputising for the head, he will play a key role in the school’s future strategic development.
Arnold Lodge School
Arnold Lodge School (ALS) has started the new academic year by welcoming back three of its former pupils: Sophie Davies, Evelyn Yick and Holly Patterson. Joining the school’s marketing and communications team, Davies attended ALS from 2008 to 2015, before going on to the University of Warwick to study English literature and work in the public relations industry.
Yick, who spent seven years at ALS as a pupil, has joined the teaching staff as a year 5 teacher, while Patterson, who attended ALS from 2012 to 2017, has taken up a role in the school’s reception class.
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