ArtsEd appoints Brian Brodie as chair of the Board of Trustees
Currently chief executive officer of Finance Freedom, Brian Brodie has had a wide career in financial services and a deep love of dance stemming from the passion his three daughters have for the art form.
Brian was on the board of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD), and then chaired the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, steering them through their exit from the Conservatoire of Dance and Drama and setting them on the path to becoming an HEI in their own right.
Brian said: “I am delighted to be joining ArtsEd and look forward to working with the team to deliver an exceptional learning experience for all.”
ArtsEd principal Dr Julie Spencer said: “I am thrilled the board has appointed Brian as the new chair. His wealth of business experience and ambition… will ensure the continued development of ArtsEd as a provider of uniquely inclusive, contemporary and world-leading vocational training.”
New head for Eagle House School
Joining from Swanbourne House School, Mrs Jane Jones will commence her post in January 2023.
Jane was an England U18 hockey triallist, before reading law at Cambridge University, where she also played rugby union for the Women’s Blues team and rowed for her college.
Having spent the first half of her career as a successful barrister and, later, a district judge in the family courts, Jane then moved into the education sector and, for the past four years, has been head of Swanbourne House prep school in Buckinghamshire.
Here, Jane introduced the pre-senior baccalaureate to replace common entrance and was the driving force behind the creation of the Stowe Group, incorporating both Swanbourne House and Winchester House prep schools into the Stowe School charitable trust.
Jane said: “I am very much looking forward to spending more time getting to know the school and its community before taking up my post in January 2023.”
Winchester College appoints new Head
Ms Elizabeth Stone will take up her post from September 2023. She brings a wide range of experience from both co-educational and single-sex, day and boarding schools in Australia and the UK. She was vice principal of Cheltenham Ladies College from 2012–14 and, before this, spent three years at Winchester as a maths teacher and undermaster.
She was educated at Ascham School and has degrees from the University of New South Wales, where she studied maths, German and law. At Oxford University, she studied as a Rhodes Scholar and completed a master’s degree at University College. She worked at the Supreme Court of New South Wales and held an academic appointment at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law, where she specialised in commercial contract law.
Ms Stone said: “I feel deeply honoured to be invited to lead a school with such a proud history and contemporary outlook. I look forward to getting to know all the pupils, staff, parents and wider community.”
New founding principal at Beech Hall
Mr David Ardley joins Blenheim Schools as the new principal of Beech Hall, Saudi Arabia. Born in the UK, David grew up in Hong Kong and went to an international school. He went to university in the UK before beginning his teaching career, leading design and technology programmes at Taunton School, Whitgift School and Wellington College.
David then led the design faculty at a new Airbus-sponsored school in Toulouse, France.
He then worked at Stowe School and Cranleigh School as director of a new creative arts faculty before moving to Geneva for Nord Anglia, where he led the creative arts faculty and guided the secondary digital strategy.
David moves from an assistant headship role at the Lyceum Alpinum, Zuoz near Saint Moritz – an international boarding school in the Swiss Alps.
David said: “I can’t wait to get started. From the moment I heard more about Blenheim Schools’ vision for a truly reimagined international school in Saudi Arabia, I knew this was a project that I wanted to be a part of.”
Conifers welcomes new head of early years, Mrs Kirsty Henderson-Jones
Mrs Henderson-Jones joins Conifers from St John’s College Junior School, Hampshire. She will oversee early years’ education and work with the senior leadership team to develop the school’s offering for its younger pupils.
Mrs Henderson-Jones was head of pre-prep and director of studies for over 14 years at Beaudesert Park School, Gloucestershire, where she oversaw staffing, budgets, infrastructure, marketing and events, as well as academic and pastoral issues. A trained ISI inspector, she also successfully led the department through two ISI inspections and many new initiatives, including the opening of a nursery adjoining the pre-prep school.
Mrs Henderson-Jones said: “I am delighted to be joining Conifers… My aim is to put each child at the centre of their own educational development by encouraging their natural curiosity. Children need to be happy to learn which is why I am passionate that their lessons be engaging, supportive and fun.”
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