Leadership Team

Miles Chester grew up in Richmond – he was educated at Grey Court School and Richmond College. He graduated from Edinburgh University with an Honours degree in Biological Sciences and completed his PGCE at Roehampton Institute, specialising in Primary Education.

Miles taught for nine years in a number of inner-London primary schools, before being appointed as a Deputy Head in 2004. Miles was appointed as Head of New King’s Primary School in Parsons Green in 2008; he led the school to become an academy in partnership with Thomas’s London Day Schools.

He continued to lead the school as Head of Thomas’s Academy from 2015, later moving into an Executive Head role working across the group of schools as Director of Community Outreach. Miles was awarded an MBA in Educational Leadership from the London Institute of Education in 2013.

Miles is married to Shabana, a London GP. They have three boys who are at various stages of secondary and tertiary education.

Colette grew up in London and was educated locally, in Rickmansworth. After leaving school she worked at Harrow School in the sports department, where her interest in teaching began.

Looking to widen her experiences before committing to teaching, she then worked in London and America for various businesses to broaden her skill set before graduating with an Honours degree in Primary Education, specialising in computing and geography, from St Mary’s University College, Twickenham.

Colette started her teaching career working in London schools, beginning in Early Years and progressing to Assistant and Deputy Head roles. Her interests lie in progression in literacy and phonics across all ages to create lifelong readers, born from her passion for high quality texts, stories, and literature.

Colette has served on senior leadership teams for over ten years and has completed her National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) at the Institute of Education at University College London. Colette is the Senior Deputy Head and is the School’s Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Educated at Notting Hill and Ealing High School (GDST), Sara holds an Honours degree in Theology and Education from Canterbury Christ Church University and a PGCE from Roehampton University. She gained her National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) in 2026.

Beginning her teaching career in 1993, Sara built extensive expertise in Primary Education, specialising in Early Years and Key Stage 1. Her deep grounding in early childhood development informs her whole-school pastoral strategy, providing transferable principles of emotional security, self-regulation, and nurture that empower pupils of all ages to flourish.

Rooted in relational leadership and restorative practice, her approach focuses on mutual respect and constructive resolution and repair. Certified as a Circle of Security facilitator in 2020, she embeds secure attachment theory into school life, partnering closely with parents.

Having served in primary senior leadership for many years, Sara was appointed Assistant Head (Pastoral & Wellbeing) in 2024 at Little Chalfont Primary School. During a four-month period assuming interim leadership of the school, she successfully guided the community through inspection to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgment in 2025. Sara is married with two adult sons and finds inspiration in her personal faith, service, and local community.

Gemma studied Psychology at the University of Southampton before completing her PGCE at the University of Cambridge. She began her teaching career in Reception and has since gained extensive experience across a number of West London primary schools, working across Nursery and Reception.

More recently, Gemma completed a Master’s in Early Years Education at UCL and is currently completing her NPQ in Early Years Leadership, continuing to deepen her knowledge of Early Years practice. She is passionate about giving every child the very best start to their education and particularly enjoys using the school’s ‘Learning Friends’ to help children build strong foundations for future learning.

Gemma joined the Prep as Head of Nursery in 2012 and was later appointed Deputy Head of Pre-Prep in 2022 before becoming Assistant Head (Early Years) in 2025.

Nick grew up near Bath, where he attended Prior Park College as a dual Music and Academic Scholar. He went on to study at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he achieved a first-class BMus (Hons) and an MMus with Distinction with the support of a scholarship from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust.

He began his career as a composer; his work has been performed internationally and won numerous awards, including the 2014 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize.

A career in teaching subsequently beckoned and, since achieving his PGCE, Nick has taught across both the maintained and independent sectors in a variety of roles, including as both a Key Stage 2 Class Teacher and a subject-specialist Music teacher from Early Years to A Level. He joined Merchant Taylors’ Prep as Director of Music in 2021, before being appointed Assistant Head (Operations and Development) in 2026.

Nick is especially passionate about the co-curriculum, providing pupils with access to the broadest possible range of opportunities while supporting them to achieve excellence wherever their interests take them. He is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the School, as well as being the School’s Attendance Champion and a DDSL (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead).

Nick lives in Hertfordshire and is married to Akvilė, with whom he has twin daughters of nursery-school age.

Colleen joined in 2018, supporting our Administration and Site Team. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in English in 2008.

Throughout her career, she has worked in various business roles including: retail management, operations management and customer service.

In her capacity as SBM, she now leads HR, procurement and all site operations functioning at the school.

In 2019 she completed a diploma in HR and completed the diploma in School Business Manager (via ISBL) in 2021.