#SchoolStories
See our latest stories and follow us on social media
(4-11)
(11-16)
(16-18)
Our Senior Management & Leadership Team can be found here.
For more information please contact us.
At WHS we have a committed governing body:
Rebecca McKinlay
Rebecca McKinlay is our Chair of Governors. A strategic and creative business leader, Becky was recently appointed managing director of Alpha Grid, part of the Financial Times Group, a content production studio that helps brands to win trust and grow their business by telling stories that inspire, intrigue and influence. Previously, Becky worked for The Economist Group where she was head of client strategy, creative and media for Economist Impact. Prior to that, she held senior global roles at WPP on BP and P&G businesses, founded and ran her own creative agency, Ambition Communications, over a 12-year period, and has held client-side roles in technology, publishing and the travel industry. A graduate from the University of Hull, Becky is a Wimbledon resident and her daughter used to attend WHS.
Esther Bell
Esther Bell is a Professor of Bioscience Education at King's College London. Esther did a degree in Biology, followed by a PhD in Developmental Biology at UCL. She then did a postdoc in Developmental Neurobiology at Guy's Hospital in London, before moving to Rockefeller University in New York for her second postdoc. Esther then returned to London to set up her own research group at King's College London investigating the molecular mechanisms of ectodermal specification, in particular how the nervous system is induced. She currently runs the Biomedical Science BSc, the largest undergraduate programme in the School of Bioscience Education, at King's.
Iain Boot
Iain Boot is the Head of Corporate Banking client business for Santander in the UK. His career has spanned 40 years in banking and finance, across Investment Banking and Commercial/Retail Banking, first with Nat West and now Santander, based in London and Madrid. Iain has undertaken most roles in Banking, from cashier to trading in the global markets and more recently with executive responsibility for leading Divisions and teams focused on helping businesses to grow and trade internationally, through structured finance and acquisition. He is passionate about the client and people agenda - recently working closely with the Government and Banking Regulators to steer clients and staff safely through the pandemic. He is the executive lead on Inclusivity and Diversity and active in Climate, Risk and Digital transformations with a strong focus on people development and teams. Iain lives in Wimbledon and is married to Margherita with three children educated locally.
Chris Hutchinson
Chris Hutchinson is Headmaster of Royal Russell. He took up the Headship in 2011, having previously been Head of Newcastle School for boys. Prior to that, Chris was Assistant Director of Studies and Head of Science at Wellington College, so he has a wealth of expertise in education. Chris enjoys singing, gardening and taking part in a wide range of outdoor activities. Chris is married to Alex, who was Director of Sixth Form at Wimbledon High before moving to become Head at Woldingham School.
Sally Lawrence
Sally Lawrence taught English as an Additional language in Japan, before returning to London to complete her PGCE and taught there, in the maintained sector, for several years. She then moved into the independent sector, to Willington Preparatory School, and became Deputy Head of the Junior School before developing her pastoral role in the Senior School - introducing mindfulness and devising a student mentorship programme. Sally cares deeply about supporting both the academic and emotional needs of children to help them reach their potential. She is a trained Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner and applies her knowledge and teaching experience to empower the students with the skills to flourish.
Carmen Palmer
Carmen is a change management consultant at SHM Productions, a boutique consulting firm that uses deep insights into human motivation to help organisations solve complex, human-centred problems. After graduating from the LSE with a distinction in Strategic Communications (MSc), Carmen joined the strategic communications division at Teneo, the CEO advisory firm. Whilst at Teneo, she has worked on a variety of projects across FTSE 100 clients ranging from narrative development to sustainability strategies. Prior to attending LSE, Carmen read History at the University of Warwick for her undergraduate degree, where she was Head of External Relations for Warwick Africa Summit. Carmen is a WHS alumna (2008-2015) and former Head Girl.
Lisa Waters
Lisa Waters founded her own specialist energy consultancy nearly 20 years ago. She is an economist who provides commercial and regulatory support to a wide variety of companies in the GB energy market. Describing her role to others she tends to say, “I work with a lot of smart people to keep the lights on.” Her first job was at the CBI heading up business’ response to the first international agreement on climate change and she maintains a keen interest in climate policy sitting on the Advisory Board of Carbon Connect, an independent policy research forum that seeks to inform the transition to a low carbon economy. Lisa is also a member of the Government’s Panel of Technical Experts and sits on the electricity industry’s governing body the Balancing and Settlement Code Panel. Lisa lives in Wimbledon and has two children.
Vicky Brown
Vicky Brown is General Counsel Commercial and Chief Privacy Officer at the global creative transformation company, WPP. She has practised law for 22 years and originally trained and worked at a city law firm where she was a partner in the litigation team. She lives in Wandsworth and has one son.