The Board

Chris's 24 years in education have been spent in preparatory and international schools.  He taught at the British International School, Moscow, where he was Assistant Head and latterly Deputy Head. A return to the UK came in 2012 as Deputy Head at Edenhurst Preparatory School, Staffordshire, before a further spell overseas as Milepost 3 Leader at Crescendo-HELP International School, Johor Bahru, Malaysia. At present he is teaching Year 6 at Altrincham Preparatory School, Cheshire. Chris is an English and Humanities specialist with a passion for outdoor and residential experiences. He is the SATIPS Senior Management Broadsheet editor in addition to his Council role. Outside of school, Chris has a lifelong involvement with Scouting. He is a Deputy Group Scout Leader and a Training Advisor with British Scouting Overseas.  His interests include travel, reading fantasy and spy fiction novels, and hillwalking.

Formerly Director of Studies and Head of Mathematics at a Co-Ed Prep School in Buckinghamshire, Grant recently retired after teaching for over 30 years in Prep schools, including five years as a Housemaster in two Boarding Schools. He is currently Head of Content at an educational gaming company, IAPS Consultant for Maths and ICT, editor of the SATIPS Maths Broadsheet and a member of the SATIPS Council. He is also communications officer for Maths Week England.

During the last twenty (or so!) years following graduating with education honours degree and masters from Cambridge university, Samantha has taught primary age pupils including EYFS across state and independent schools. She has been a member of the SLT in several settings including the Deputy Headteacher at three, has qualified to inspect ISI schools (and is part of an inspection most terms to keep up to date) and has been Headteacher at Heathcote Preparatory School and Nursery in the beautiful leafy village of Danbury, Essex since January 2020. Samantha is a member of the ISA and is the Chair of the ISA Eastern region alongside being a member of the ISA Educational Committee. Her main joy has been to ensure that pupils receive the very best in their education, excellence for academic and creative provision and progress. She absolutely relishes watching pupils develop along their own individualised learning journey towards confidence in their abilities and position in the world, she says being a small part of this always feels such a privilege.

Luke, with nearly two decades of experience as a science teacher, has worked in various preparatory, public, and state secondary schools. Since 2010, he has held the position of Head of Science at Ludgrove. In 2018, he achieved Chartered Science Teacher status, and his background includes staff training and research.

Outside of school hours, Luke finds enjoyment in playing music and doing DIY, although he confesses to have little skill or talent in either field.

Having worked for an enjoyable decade in marketing and advertising, Mark eventually took the plunge into education, completing the one year, graduate teacher programme. His first role was as an ICT teacher (which morphed into a Class Teacher role) at the Grosvenor Preparatory School, Nottingham. After a short stint at Plumtree School, he became a Class Teacher at The Elms (where he still resides), the junior school to Trent College; where his duties include leading Computing and as a Class Teacher in Year 6. Next year, he will celebrate 20 years in education.

Mark has worked in UK prep and boarding schools for over 20 years, including senior leadership roles with responsibility for assessment, academic development and senior school progression. He is currently an assessment writer for ISEB and a Team Inspector with the Independent Schools Inspectorate. He previously served as a Deputy Headmaster and earlier roles included Head of Departments in Moscow, alongside teaching posts in the UK and Australia

Christian is Head of Outdoor Learning at Manor Lodge School in Hertfordshire. He started his teaching career in Barking & Dagenham in 2013 as a classroom teacher, he then moved to Brentwood School in Essex where he was head of history in the prep school and ran the Duke of Edinburgh programme in the senior school before moving to Manor Lodge. He writes about outdoor learning in schools for a number of publications alongside his teaching commitments. In his spare time, Christian is active in his local community as a scout leader, parish councillor and school governor. He lives in Essex with his wife and two children and loves being active in the outdoors with them.

Cecilia Bidie is Deputy Head Pastoral of St. Philip's School, London. A Religious Studies subject specialist, she continues to work with several organisations and initiatives to raise awareness of the subject's importance on the curriculum.

Geography Writer, Editor & Education Consultant

Marc would describe himself as a very passionate English teacher. He loves the subject and he loves being in the classroom. Having worked at a range of prep schools, some selective and others very much non-selective, he feels he has a strong understanding of the academic spread and the different demands and challenges faced by English teachers. Being an exam setter for the last six years has offered hugely valuable experience in terms of understanding the standard we wish our pupils to meet and putting together interesting, engaging papers. It has also allowed him the privilege of working closely with other teachers in different schools and sharing good practice. It is a fascinating time to be an English teacher. Technology is moving forwards at a rate we have previously not witnessed and the digital future has become the present. AI has been a huge discussion point in recent times and there is still a long way to go in terms of understanding how it will affect the future and how we might respond to its presence. Marc is very keen to explore how we might embrace it and harness its obvious potential, and how our pupils can use it in a proactive and intelligent manner. That said, at the heart of our pupils’ needs is also the ability to tackle the fundamentals. Fostering a love of words, of reading, of writing, and teaching essential grammar points is still hugely important, and somehow we, as teachers, have to adapt to all these elements. It’s a challenge – and an exciting one, too.

Margo is a sustainability education consultant and experienced school geography lead, with 23 years of teaching and leadership in both prep and secondary schools. She created the ISI-recognised, award-winning Global Citizenship Pathway (gcpathway.com), embedding sustainability across school life through her Learn → Do → Become approach. Margo has presented on the panel for Climate Courage Schools and contributed to Teach the Future’s redraft of the Primary National Curriculum for a Changing Climate. She helps schools, teachers and pupils turn knowledge into meaningful action, using geography as a starting point for whole-school culture change. Her approach connects experiential learning, real-world projects and pupil-led initiatives to lasting behaviour change, leadership and character development. Living on the edge of the New Forest, Margo enjoys decompressing outdoors with her spaniel, reflecting the same love of nature and connection she fosters in her work with young people.

David holds a First Class Honours degree in French Language and Linguistics and began his professional career with LEGO as a Product Specialist within the European Contact Centre, where he developed strong communication and intercultural skills. He subsequently worked as a Production Editor for academic journals, before completing a CELTA qualification and training as an ESL teacher. Following this, David undertook teacher training in French with a primary specialism, including a term teaching in Strasbourg, and spent two years teaching in the primary sector before specialising fully in French. Since 2015, he has been teaching at Pilgrims’, where he continues to cultivate a dynamic and engaging approach to language learning. David is deeply committed to fostering a love of languages in his students, underpinned by both academic rigour and creativity. Music plays a central role in his teaching: he regularly incorporate the ukulele and original songs into his curriculum to support language acquisition and grammatical understanding and retention. A sense of humour is also integral to David's practice, creating a classroom environment in which pupils feel confident to experiment with language and develop memorable, often inventive ways of mastering vocabulary and grammatical structures. Through this approach, his aim to inspire curiosity, confidence, and a lasting enthusiasm for language learning.