About Us

About Us

We are a developing group of strong, successful schools that together will become a leading voice and model for excellence in the sector.   

St Albans Education Group schools come together from a position of individual strength and the knowledge that together we are more than just the sum of our parts. Each school has demonstrably strong, capable and prudent leadership and governors who recognise the opportunities afforded by joining a group of like-minded, high-achieving schools to the benefit of all involved.  

Every STAEG school shares a common ethos of educational and pastoral excellence that instils in each pupil the values, knowledge, and skills to lead lives of consequence. We achieve this through a school’s own vision, values and aims, maintaining their individual characters and identity.   

As a charity, every surplus penny is reinvested in our schools and the outcomes of our pupils.  

OUR MISSION

To develop young people who flourish and make a positive impact on others through leading happy, healthy, intentional lives of consequence. 

OUR VISION

To be a sector-leading group of schools delivering innovative and impactful education. Our pupils benefit from excellence in academics, personal development, leadership and service, in environments designed to nurture creativity, individuality, innovation and enjoyment of learning. 

OUR VALUES
  • Excellence: We pursue the highest standards in every aspect of our educational programmes. 
  • Integrity: We conduct ourselves with honesty, kindness, and respect. 
  • Diversity: We explicitly value others so everyone feels included and appreciated for their unique perspectives and talents. 
  • Innovation: We encourage imaginative and critical thinking to solve problems creatively. 
  • Leadership: We challenge and inspire pupils to make informed and courageous decisions that affect others.
  • Joy: We value joy in education and ensure that pupils develop a life-long love of learning, exploring ideas and engagement in a wide range of academic, creative, cultural and healthy pursuits.

member schools  

STAEG currently has three member schools: STAHS Senior, STAHS Prep and Stormont School.

St Albans High School for Girls (STAHS) is one of the UK’s top-ranked independent girls’ schools, educating around 1,150 pupils aged 4 to 18 within separate Prep and Senior schools. 

The STAHS ground-breaking Teach to 25 philosophy underpins everything the School does, ensuring pupils develop the skills and attributes to thrive and make an impact at school, university and beyond.  

STAHS Senior

The Senior School, in the historic city of St Albans, has around 820 girls aged 11 to 18. The School combines academic excellence with a forward-thinking culture of wellbeing and an exciting co-curricular programme.

STAHS Prep

The Prep School sits on 19 acres of woodland in the leafy village of Wheathampstead and has around 330 girls aged four to 11. STAHS is a true ‘through school’, with Prep School pupils enjoying automatic transition into the Senior School.

Stormont School  

Stormont is a thriving independent prep school for girls aged four to 11 with a roll of around 140 pupils. The school occupies a former Victorian villa and estate, with an adjacent 20 acres of ancient parkland providing exceptional green space for the school to use. Stormont prides itself on preparing pupils for entry into leading secondary schools, primarily in Hertfordshire and North London.  

Governanceand Leadership 

STAEG is led by a team of talented governors with extensive experience of the education sector and beyond, headed by the Chair, Alison Arnold.

Day-to-day operational running and strategic planning for schools is overseen by the STAEG Executive Team chaired by Principal Amber Waite, and includes the Heads of the schools, the Bursar, the Director of Marketing, Admissions and Development, and the Group Designated Safeguarding Lead. The Principal reports to the Chair of Governors, and all other members of the Executive Team report to the Principal.  

Ongoing professional development is central to the STAEG ethos; the Executive Team provides a forum for Heads to work collaboratively on projects and initiatives with the uninhibited sharing of information not possible in a competitive market. The annual STAEG Leadership Conference allows Heads and their Senior Leadership Teams to enjoy group strategy and leadership development sessions with time away to work as individual teams on their own school development plans.    

Teachers and support staff benefit from a framework of continuous improvement by being part of an education group, through multi-school INSETs and other collaborative ventures. 

The Executive Team

THE PRINCIPAL

AMBER WAITE 

HEAD OF STAHS PREP

MIKE BRYANT

HEAD OF STORMONT SCHOOL

LOUISE MARTIN

GROUP DESIGNATED SAFEGUARDING LEAD

KIRSTY EDDISON

ACTING HEAD OF STAHS SENIOR

DREW THOMSON-JONES

BURSAR

PAUL DALY

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING, ADMISSIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

CLAIRE SCHOFIELD

The Governors

CHAIR

ALISON ARNOLD

Balbinder Singh Tattar

After an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics Bob qualified as a Chartered Accountant and has worked as a finance professional in a number of sectors, including Telecoms, Consultancy, Property Investment & Development and lately in Cell & Gene Therapies.

Bob has served on the board of a housing association and the Luton & Dunstable Hospital, and is actively involved with his micro financing charity RojiRoti. He sits on the Finance Committee.

Bjorn Hobart

Bjorn became a governor in 2023 and is a member of the estates committee to which he brings 20 years’ experience as a chartered surveyor in commercial real estate. He is currently Chief Investment Officer of a FTSE 250 listed company specialising in Logistics investment and development.

Bjorn was educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys and studied Geography followed by a Master’s in Property Valuation and Law.

Carol Jewell - Vice Chair

Carol recently retired as Head of Old Palace of John Whitgift School Croydon after several leadership roles over a period of 22 years. After reading music at St Andrews University and completing a PGCE at Trinity College Cambridge, Carol began teaching in 1982 and taught in a variety of positions across the UK before becoming Head at Old Palace in 2011.

Carol was awarded her National Professional Qualification for Headship by the National College for School Leadership and is qualified in School Business Management. She is also an advisor to Mindful Healthcare, an organisation supporting young people with mental health conditions, and sings with Croydon Minster Choir where she is one of the Lay Clerks.

Chris Murray

Chris began his professional life in financial services marketing, and has spent the majority of his career focused on sports sponsorship, primarily within motorsport. He was Marketing Director of the Williams Formula One team before establishing his own consultancy advising brands and rights holders across the sports and entertainment sectors.

Chris has a daughter at the Prep School and became a Governor in 2020. He chairs the Strategy Committee and sits on the Estates Committee.

David Ascott - Chair of Finance Comittee

David is a Chartered Accountant and MBA with over 30 years’ City experience in Private Equity and Corporate Finance. He was a Partner at Grant Thornton for almost 20 years where he was responsible for leading corporate deals and developing the talent and performance of the team and has extensive experience as a non-executive director in senior financial and governance roles.

David is passionate about sport and particularly the benefits it can bring to the lives of young people. He is a Trustee for Access Sport and served on the boards of Skateboard GB and a charity which helps refugees.

Henrietta Hodgkiss

Henrietta is Director of Operations at a small recruitment firm specialising in the recruitment of corporate governance professionals.

A STAHS alumna, Henrietta read history at The University of Nottingham. Her career started working in corporate governance before moving into recruitment. Her current role encompasses operations, HR and finance matters and, following the company’s move to employee ownership, Henrietta is also a Trustee.

Henrietta was keen to broaden her governance experience and in 2023 she joined the board of governors at Stormont School, joining the governors of STAEG following the merger of STAHS and Stormont School.

Jo Kelly-Moore

As an ordained priest Jo was installed as Dean of St Albans Cathedral in 2021 and was elected to the Association of English Cathedrals in 2022.

Originally from New Zealand, she studied Law and French at Victoria University of Wellington and practised for seven years in Wellington and London. She returned to New Zealand to complete her theology degree and was eventually appointed Dean of Auckland and Deputy Vicar General. In 2017 she returned to England to be Archdeacon of Canterbury and Residentiary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral. After serving on the Steering Committee for the Cathedrals Measure she brings considerable governance skills to the board.

Lara Bernard

Lara is a STAHS alumna and sits on the Strategy Committee. She works as an Experience Consultant for a technology firm where she specialises in experience design and employee experience.

After reading Economics and Geography at the University of Leeds, Lara started her career as a Management Consultant at Accenture where she worked predominantly on organisational change management, people change, employee experience and organisational design. She was also a lead in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion practice, helping clients to develop and strengthen their ED&I strategies and practices. She later brought this experience to bear when taking an active role during the STAHS Curriculum Review Working Party 2020-2021, that sought to include more diverse stories into the curriculum.

Maria Carradice

Maria is a qualified accountant, tax and treasury adviser and sits on the Finance Committee. She has a first-class honours degree in Chemistry, an MA in Modern Languages, a PhD in Nanotechnology from Cambridge University and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. She is also a member of the British Venture Capital Association’s Tax and Environmental, Social and Governance Committees.

As a portfolio director at a leading private equity firm, Maria works alongside companies to improve and streamline their operations, particularly in areas such as tax and finance. Maria has also worked for both Deloitte and Arthur Andersen in their private equity and international M&A groups.

A passionate advocate for lifelong learning, she currently has a daughter STAHS Prep School.

Neil Enright

Neil is Chair of the Education and Safeguarding Committees.

After reading Geography at St John’s College, Oxford and a PGCE at London’s Institute of Education, Neil started teaching in 2000 in a mixed comprehensive in the London Borough of Brent. He moved to Queen Elizabeth’s, a selective boys’ school in Barnet and one of the country’s top state schools for A Level results, and was made Head in 2011. He gained his National Professional Qualification for Headship in 2007 and an MBA in 2010.

Neil sits on a number of other school governing boards: he is Deputy Chair of Governors at his alma mater, The John Lyon School, is a governor of Harrow School and Longfield Primary School in North Harrow and a Trustee of a local multi-academy trust. Neil also sits on the board of John Lyon’s charity, which exists to make grants to a range of organisations that seek to promote the life-chances of children and young people through education.

Sara Kironde-Strain

Sara’s husband’s sister, mother and grandmother are all STAHS alumnae. Sara sits on the Strategy Committee and worked as a researcher for European Citizens Action Service in Brussels before she gave up to bring up her disabled son. She now volunteers with charities like Earthworks, Passport to Leisure, and the Special Olympics, who support post-education disabled people with inclusion in the community.

She is a former governor of Penhurst School (Action for Children Charity) in Oxfordshire and an ambassador for Ripple Effect, an African charity based in Bath, a vice-president for the International Students House alumni in London and sits on Trestle theatre company’s All About Us committee that aims to celebrate the creative side of disabled people.

Simon Martin

Simon chairs the Governance Committee. After attending St Albans School he served as a partner in a City law firm for over 20 years, including stints as head of the Corporate Department and Managing Partner.

Simon is now busy in the charity sector and was, until recently, a trustee and Vice Chairman of ABF The Soldiers Charity, the Army’s national charity, and the Protector (a quasi-trustee role) of two charitable trusts funded by the Big Lottery Fund: the Forces in Mind Trust and the Centre for Ageing Better. Simon is also Deputy Master of a Livery Company in the City of London, having served as Master in 2021-2022.

Simon’s three daughters were all educated at STAHS. He was appointed to the board in 2016 and is a member of the Finance Committee.

Prep Senior Sixth Stahs
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