Staff & Governors

Bernard practised as a solicitor in Birmingham for 37 years and was a Partner with the firm Lee Crowder specialising in commercial litigation. His three sons attended the School between the years 1988 and 1997.

Bernard joined the governing board in April 2013. As well as his role as Chair of Governors, Bernard also chairs the Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Committee.

Martin is Managing Director of Tyndallwoods Solicitors, Trustee of the OHMI Trust and the Limoges Charitable Trust & formerly a governor of a state primary school (10 years in post). His three children are former pupils and wife Judy was a previous Chair of the Association of Friends.

Martin is Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Awards Committee. He joined the governing board in 1999.

Emma graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1992, and worked as a solicitor in a large commercial law firm specialising in employment law until 2001. She was formerly Chair of Governors at a local Special Needs State school for 11 years.  Emma has three children, her son Will and daugther Lily are former BCS pupils.

Emma is Chair of the Governance & Human Resources Committee.

Prior to her retirement, Karan spent 44 years working in Health and Social Care. She spent 26 years as a Nurse, Health Visitor, Health Service Manager and then as the Designated Nurse for Child Protection. This was followed by 18 years with Children’s Social Care chairing Child Protection Conferences. Karan has extensive knowledge and experience in safeguarding practice and procedure and the roles of all the statutory agencies. She is the Link Governor for Safeguarding and Special Education Needs, and also the Governors’ representative on the Association of Friends’ Committee. Karan’s four children are former Blue Coat pupils.

Karan is Chair of the Safeguarding, Health and Safety Committee and joined the governing board in June 2004.

Guy is a graduate of Cambridge University and Trinity Theological College, Bristol. He is Vice-Chairman of Birmingham City Council’s Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education and a Governor of Broadway Academy, Aston. Guy’s daughters, Victoria and Alice, are former pupils of The Blue Coat School.

Frances is an international  arbitrator and mediator.  She also sits as a justice of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.  Previously, Frances sat for about eleven years as a judge based in Birmingham, and before that was in practice as a solicitor.   Frances joined the Board of Governors in March 2021.

Michèle has had a long association with Blue Coat as she herself attended the School from 1983 to 1986. She is a former Deputy Head and previous editor of Prep School Magazine. Currently Michèle is School Chaplain at a Prep School in Glastonbury.

Parth works at the University of Birmingham and is a Consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. He and his colleagues specialise in providing care to people with diabetes and also in researching causes and new treatments for diabetes. He is a graduate of King’s College, London and worked in London, Manchester, Bristol and Melbourne before finally moving with his family to Birmingham in 2005. Both his children Arjun and Alisha attended Blue Coat School and have now moved on to local secondary schools.

Steve is currently a Birmingham based partner in the accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

During his 30 years in the accounting sector he has gained significant experience in tax, accounting, legal and of a broad range of businesses operating in numerous sectors of the economy.

Both of Steve’s daughters, Melanie and Natasha, attended the School, with Natasha due to graduate from the school in the summer of 2019.

Steve is a member of the Finance and Estates Committee.

Anita has a marketing background, and worked for several Advertising and Marketing agencies before moving to the position of Brand Manager at MG Rover. As a former parent at the School, Anita was heavily involved in school life and was previously Chair and Vice-Chair of the Association of Friends (PTA). Her two sons were pupils at the School between 2005 – 2017. Anita is the Link Governor for The Blue Coat School Old Scholars’ Association.

Stephen is a retired partner from the accountancy firm, Deloitte. He has gained significant experience on the financial operations of the education sector as well as charities during his career. A former trustee of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens (an educational charity) for 15 years, Stephen currently assists other not for profit organisations.  Stephen’s two grandchildren currently attend the School.

Stephen is  Chair of the Finance and Estates Committee.

Adrian is a Chartered Surveyor and Director of Pennycuick Collins Limited, based at Five Ways, Edgbaston. He has been in private practice in Birmingham since the late 1980’s and was previously a Partner with James & Lister Lea, undertaking a wide range of consultancy work from pre-acquisition surveys through to the project management of refurbishment and new build projects.

Adrian became a Governor in January 2020 and is a member of the Finance & Estates Committee.

Currently Dean of Birmingham, The Very Reverend Matt Thompson has extensive experience as a school governor in a variety of schools, primary and secondary; church and community; maintained, voluntary aided, academy trusts and now the independent sector.

Nick is Vicar of the local parish church and sits on the boards of a number of other charities. Before coming to Birmingham, he was a Foundation Governor of a Church of England School in London. Nick is married with three children who are former and current pupils of the School.

A dancer from an early age, Jessica has toured the UK and USA with the Laban Centre’s resident company Transitions. Through this she developed a love of teaching and working with young people.

She became Principal of Elmhurst in autumn 2010. In her role as Principal, Jessica is actively involved with the Music and Dance Scheme School’s National Head teachers group and a number of other networks to support the development of Elmhurst. Jessica is a Team Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

She has run workshops for trainee head teachers with the National College of School Leadership and has created a number of television programmes for Teachers TV. Jessica has been a Senior Leader in three London Secondary Schools, and prior to joining Elmhurst Jessica held senior appointments for Edison Learning, an International School Improvement Company, deployed at Turin Grove Secondary School in Enfield. Ofsted has described her as a ‘highly effective leader’.

Noel joined The Blue Coat School in September 2016. He is currently on his third Headship, spanning over 12 years in both the Independent and state sector. He is a member of the National College of School Leaders, and an advocate of ‘learning without limits’. Noel moved up from his former school St. Peter’s Prep School, Lympstone, Devon, with his wife Jules and two children Bea and Jasper who currently attend the School. Outside of School, Noel, himself a keen sportsman, relaxes by supporting his rugby team – The Exeter Chiefs!

Helen first joined Blue Coat as a part-time teacher in Reception before progressing to become a full-time Year 1 teacher and subsequently Head of Pre-Prep.  Helen leads the Pre-Prep Department and oversees the Nursery keeping a watchful eye on the pastoral and academic development of all the children from age 3 to 7.

As a member of the EMT, Helen has whole school responsibilities for strategic developments giving input into decisions to ensure that as a School, we continue to provide the very best for our pupils. She is the Main Designated Safeguarding Lead, ensuring that all safeguarding practices are fully implemented; responsibilities also include preparing documentation for the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI) and supporting the Governing Body with policy preparation and review.

Following a career in the Royal Navy as a Logistics Officer, Gareth joined The Blue Coat School having been the Bursar at King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys for the past 3 years.

Robbie grew up just a stone’s throw away from the Blue Coat campus and has always had a strong understanding of the School’s history and reputation. He worked at Wells Cathedral Senior School for his first 8 years in teaching, enjoying a number of roles that included Master in charge of Cricket and Academic Head of Sixth Form.

As Head of Boarding and Director of Co-Curricular at St Peter’s Prep School in Devon, Robbie found expanding the extra-curricular programme especially rewarding.  Since joining Blue Coat, he has been keen to extend the opportunities for pupils and to widen their horizons through additional clubs and activities. This is an on-going process but already the extensive programme he has put in place will encourage the children to develop into well-rounded individuals who are able to take advantage of everything that life has to offer them, both at senior school and beyond. From September 2018, Robbie will take on additional responsibility for pastoral care.

Robbie is married to Clare who teaches Modern Foreign Languages at the School and has two daughters who are currently in Pre-Prep.

Helen has spent the majority of her teaching career working in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One, gaining an excellent understanding of these fundamental years. As part of the Senior Leadership Team, she is responsible for tracking pupil progress and extending and enriching the curriculum.

She is extremely passionate about raising standards, guiding and inspiring colleagues in order to maintain a high level of skill and motivation, so pupils are continually stimulated and strive to achieve.  Helen is married with a daughter who currently attends the School.

Throughout her teaching career, Clare has worked in the EYFS and each subsequent year group (from Year 1 to Year 6); gaining a sound understanding of the teaching and learning expectations for each key stage. She is committed to raising standards in teaching and learning: ensuring that the pupils at BCS have access to an exciting, engaging and challenging curriculum. Clare supports the teaching team as a coach and mentor. She strongly believes that all children should have access to a well-rounded education that nurtures the whole child. 

After starting her career in international trade, Jenny moved into marketing. For the last 20+ years, she has been working as a marketing professional in the education sector working in Sixth form, Adult Learning, Further and Higher Education, and more recently, for Independent Preparatory schools.

As the link for the Old Scholars’ Association and as a Staff representative on The Association of Friends, Jenny has joined-up communications for the BCS community as a whole, bringing together former, current and prospective families, staff, governors and supporters of the School under one external relations umbrella.