Senior Leadership Team

The Head

Chris Skelton, joined the school in September 2019 and is the Head of Newland House. He has an excellent breadth of experience from his previous positions as the Academic Deputy Head at Newton Prep and the Pastoral Deputy Head at Dulwich College Junior School. 

Read more about his philosophy in the Head's Welcome.

Deputy Head (Academic)

Paula McIntyre is Deputy Head with academic responsibility and is committed and passionate about ensuring that the Newland House curriculum engages, motivates and challenges each and every pupil, from Nursery through to Year 8. She was previously Head of English at St George’s Junior School and has excellent experience as a Secondary School English teacher. This background has provided her with a deep understanding of the requirements of every Key Stage and the need for each to flow seamlessly into the next. 

 

Bursar

Elizabeth Bell trained as a Chartered Accountant after completing her degree at Lancaster University. For the last 22 years she has worked in schools as a Bursar including a maintained sector primary school, an all through independent girls’ school and an independent boys’ boarding school. She joined Newland House in 2019.

Deputy Head (Prep)

John Maguire graduated with a B.Ed. Hons from St. Mary’s University in secondary education,  and initially taught at Gunnersbury Catholic School for Boys for 3 years.  He joined Newland House as Head of Boy’s Games and Physical Education. Over the last few years, his responsibilities have turned more in the direction of pastoral duties, initially as the Assistant Head, responsible for pastoral care and now more recently as the Deputy Head (Prep) and Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Head of Admissions

Jane Tosetti has led our approachable and professional  admissions service and developed our marketing strategy for more than ten years. She has been at the forefront of the school's development to three-form entry and the introduction of our Nursery in September 2017. She previously worked in a development role at another local school and has extensive relationship management experience from her financial career in the City.

Deputy Head (Pre-Prep)

Originally from the Westcountry, Sophia Excell studied at The University of Bristol before moving to London to begin her teaching career. She lead the Lower school at Prospect House in Putney before joining Newland House in September 2019. Sophia has a passionate commitment to the development of young children and has many years experience teaching the younger age range Nursery-Year 3. The importance of the development of the whole child remains at the core of Sophia’s philosophy and she is dedicated to ensuring that the next generation develop into happy and confident young people.

Head of HR and Compliance

Alka Soni is the Head of HR & Compliance for the school and established our HR function when she joined in November 2015. She is responsible for HR strategy and administration, compliance checks and all matters concerned with terms and conditions of service. Alka previously worked in central government for 24 years and most recently in Ofsted. She has recently become an Associate Governor for a local state school and has started her Post Graduate Diploma which will lead into a MSc in Educational Leadership.