Newton Prep Governance
Newton Prep Ltd is the proprietor and responsible for the governance of the School through its Chairman, Dr Farouk Walji. Over the last 30 years, the School has benefited enormously from the Chairman's vision and the proprietor's generous investment in the facilities and operation of the school.
Since inception, Dr Walji and the proprietor have been advised by the School Council, currently a body of about fifteen individuals, all of whom have some connection with the School or with the world of education. The Council is a powerful resource for the governance of the school. We are privileged to have a team of impressive individuals in a variety of fields, giving us a breadth and depth of educational, political and community experience with which to realise our aims and objectives. The collective expertise, knowledge and wisdom of the Council is a source of great inspiration for the management of the school, which is delegated to the Headmistress, who in turn is well supported by her Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The School Council meets once a term when the Head and Bursar submit their reports.
Proprietor | Newton Prep Ltd |
| Chairman | Dr Farouk Walji [email protected] |
| 213 Kensington High Street, London, W8 6BD | |
| Tel. 020 7937 6304 |
The School Council has four sub-committees: Education, General Purposes, Nomination and Fees & Salaries Review. The Education Committee and General Purposes Committee, each of which consist of nominated Council members and the SLT, meet once a term. The Nomination and the Fees & Salaries Review committees meet once a year. The School Council and the SLT have an annual ‘Away Day’ to discuss the strategic development of the School.
The School’s Finance Committee, which includes the Headmistress and the Bursar, meets weekly. Inherent to our style and setting is the strong and healthy interface between governance and management. It is this close and dynamic collaboration that is central to the successful delivery of the Vision & Mission at Newton.
School Council
.jpg)
Founder of Newton Prep, Chairman of its School Council and a former parent at the school. Born and educated in Nairobi, Kenya at HH The Aga Khan School in Nairobi and at University of London, Dr Walji obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from King’s College, University of London. In 1974 he was made Superintendent Pharmacist for The Pestle & Mortar group of four West London pharmacies. Since 1981, Farouk has been heavily involved with education and the Ismaili Community and, since 2012, he has been a member of HH The Aga Khan’s Shia Imami Ismaili National Council for the United Kingdom. In September 1991, he established Newton Prep with 70 children and 7 members of staff: the school now has over 630 children and 110 staff. Farouk is married to Dr Shahenaz Walji and has two children, Farhaan and Naheema both of whom are now involved with the life of Newton Prep.
Deborah has been a secondary school Science teacher specialising in Biology since leaving Durham University in 1984. She has held management roles in 3 different schools over the last 25 years and has recently stepped down from the post of Senior Deputy Head of James Allen’s Girls’ School (a post she held from 2004 – 2017). Other posts have included Head of Science, Induction Tutor and Senior Teacher and have involved both pastoral and curricular responsibility. Having played hockey and squash for many years she maintains a keen in interest in all sports and enjoys encouraging and supporting pupils to develop their sporting skills.
The first half of Jeremy’s career was devoted to teaching English in secondary schools and he was appointed Deputy Head of Emanuel School in 1995. After moving into the Prep School world he has been Headmaster of two leading London schools: Westminster Under School (2000 – 2010) and Eaton House the Manor Prep (2010 – 2016). He is now an Educational Consultant and a trained Mentor for newly-appointed IAPS Heads. As the father of three adult children, two girls and a boy, he understands the educational system from the perspective of a parent, as well as a Headmaster. Jeremy loves music, theatre and sport and he was a British international oarsman and rowing coach back in the 1980s.
Naheema qualified as a solicitor in England in 2007 and was called to the bar in Ontario and Alberta in Canada after having worked at two practices there. She now practises in-house and works part-time as the School’s Compliance Officer. She collects degrees LLB (LSE, 2003), LLM (UCL, 2005), MBA (INSEAD, 2016) and M.Ed in Private School Leadership (Columbia, 2017) - as well as stamps. She has lived in London, Bangkok, Calgary, New York, Fontainebleau and Singapore. She has had exposure to working in Saturday schools, independent and charter schools, and has mentored children of different ages and backgrounds. In her spare time, Naheema is engaged in volunteer work and every now and then likes to go on fund- and fun- raising charity hikes. She also loves art.The School's Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
.jpg) | Alison Fleming Head |
 | Peter Archdale - Deputy Head Pastoral Years 3, 4 and 5 Responsible for the day-to-day running of Years 3-5 including management of pastoral care and pupil behaviour. He is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for all of Upper School (Years 3-8). |
 | Simon Broxham - Bursar Oversees all financial/ budgetary, site and operational matters. |
 | Sarah Hales - Deputy Head Pastoral Years 6, 7&8) Responsible for the day-to-day running of Years 6-8 including management of pastoral care and pupil behaviour. |
 | Wendy Smith - Deputy Head Lower School Responsible for the Lower School, from the Apple Nursery up to Year Two. She is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for the Lower School. |
 | Natalie Stark - Director of Communications Responsible for all matters related to the promotion of the school, including events, publications and pupil roll. |
 | Nicola Stone - Deputy Head Teaching & Learning Responsible for the management of academic and curriculum, standards of teaching and learning, data handling and analysis for the School as a whole. |
Newton Prep is a successful and dynamic school with high standards and expectations for all our boys and girls, from the moment they arrive, from the age of three, to the moment they leave, as late as 13 years old.
We have a large and dedicated staff for both teaching and administration. In the Lower School, each class has a class teacher and a Teaching Assistant, with extra playground assistance provided by our playground supervisors. The children spend most of each day with their teacher and TA, while enjoying specialist teaching in music, PE and in their own library.
In the Upper School, Years 3 and 4 also have a dedicated class teacher, with one TA shared between the four classes, while participating in more specialist teaching outside their classroom, including in the Science labs, in the Art room, in the main library and out on the AWP or in the gyms for PE. From Year 5 onwards, the children are fully on the move, travelling beyond their classroom for all their subjects with subject specialist teachers.
We are interested in education in the fullest sense and seek to provide a proper balance of academic excellence, enjoyment and activity. We want children to be themselves rather than try to shoehorn them into a predetermined mould. The teaching staff are wholly committed to giving the children an outstanding educational experience. We value the quality of our relationships with parents and children, which are grounded in respect, trust and honesty.
Heads of Year (HoYs) and Heads of Department (HoDs) represent middle management at Newton, liaising closely with the SLT and the Admin team to deliver best practice on planning and delivery on curriculum and extra-curricular activities.
In the Admin team we have:
- Head of Admissions
- Bursar and a Bursary team
- Data and MIS Manager
- Communications Team
- HR Manager
- Head's PA
- Facilities Manager
- Music and Drama Administrator
- Secretaries to Deputy Heads (Clubs & Activities)
- Personal Assistants to SLT.
