Governance & Staff

CHAIRMAN

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.

CHAIR, GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

Member of:

* School Council

* Nominations Committee

* Governance Committee

Nicholas Talbot-Smith is Chair of the General Purposes Committee and is a parent of one of the first intake of Newton Prep children. He has been a member of School Council and Executive Committee since foundation of Newton Prep in 1991.  Having been Managing Director of an Insurance Brokers company based in the City of London, he now acts as a consultant. Nicholas’s wife Fiona Talbot-Smith owns and runs Puffins Nursery School in Fulham.

CHAIR, NEWTON BURSARY FUND

Member of:

* School Council

* General Purposes Committee

* Nominations Committee

Zac Barratt is a former parent at the School and was PTA Chair (2008-2010). Scientist and then lawyer at Cambridge; thereafter qualified as a solicitor with Herbert Smith in 1983. Left Herbert Smith in 1986 to join The Summit Group where he remains as joint owner and one of two executive directors. He has been the finance director since 1993. The Summit Group is an early stage venture capital business, with over 30 employees in 2 majority-owned businesses, and another 15 odd investments. Zac has been a member of Council at RADA since 2004, and is chair of its Finance and General Purposes Committee. Between December 2013 and August 2017 he was a governor of a state primary school, St Cuthbert with St Matthias Church of England primary school, in Earls Court.

Member of:

*School Council

*Education Committee

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.

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

Dr Nick Black is now Director of Admissions, Libraries and Archives, having been Head of the Middle School from 2009-20, and former head of History, all at Dulwich College.

Nick completed a PhD on the British Naval Staff in the Great War, which was published by Boydell and Brewer in 2009. It was awarded the Society for Nautical Research’s Anderson Medal for naval books that year.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He enjoys English parish churches and the historical landscape. He is married with two children.

CO-CHAIR OF THE PTA

Member (ex officio) of:

* School Council

* Newton Bursary Fund

Steffen is the current Co-Chair of the PTA. He is the father of Penelope, who joined Newton in Reception and is currently in Year 3. 

He has held previous PTA and Student Committee roles at various schools and relishes the opportunity to to help the school community.

The Goelkel Family moved to Battersea nearly 10 years ago and is hugely enjoying all that the area has to offer.

CO-CHAIR OF THE PTA

Member (ex officio) of:

* School Council

* Newton Bursary Fund

Dan is the current Co-Chair of the PTA and is father to Constance and Barnabas. As a Newton Prep parent for the last 6 years, he is keen to give back to the school in this new role.

Dan appeared on the Great British Bake Off in 2018, and is a regular contributor to school bake sales and coffee mornings.

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

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.

Member of:

* School Council

* General Purposes Committee

* Education Committee

Jill Aisher has over 30 years’ experience leadership roles across schools, two prep school headships in London and Kent, time as an ISI inspector, and many years of governance work in the charitable and school sectors.  Jill brings experience, knowledge and understanding of all aspects of school life and is adamant about the central importance of high quality ambition for every child.  As a linguist she is fascinated by all that can be learnt about others and this translates into a strong focus on how the curriculum prepares children to understand their role as global citizens, the interdependence of nations, the urgent need for environmental understanding  and the importance of building connections between people at all levels.

As a former member of staff at the school and former parent, Jill has watched with pride the growth and success of the school in its first  thirty years and is delighted to be making a further contribution to the school in her role on the council.  Beyond school she enjoys music, theatre and travel, walking, gardening, birdwatching, reading and learning new things, including the harp.

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

Sam Owen is Housemaster of Blúcher House at Wellington College, having previously been Head of Spanish. Having won scholarships to Eton and Oxford, Sam came to teaching after eight years working in missions and charities overseas.

In recent years, he has developed that interest in pastoral care into professional qualifications covering mental health, conflict resolution and character education. He is also an accomplished photographer, having had images published in The Field, Horse & Hound and the Polo Times. 

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

* Fees & Salaries Review Committee

* General Purposes Committee

* Governance Committee

Trustee:

Newton Bursary Fund

Farhaan is a former pupil at Newton Prep. Now a fully-qualified solicitor and attorney at law, Farhaan is closely involved with the running of the school, with a special focus on the legal, technological and security aspects of its operations. Farhaan is married and lives in West London.

COMPLIANCE OFFICER

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

* General Purposes Committee

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.

HEADMISTRESS

Member of:

* School Council

* Education Committee

* Fees & Salaries Review Committee

* General Purposes Committee 

* Nominations Committee

* Governance Committee

Trustee:

Newton Bursary Fund

Alison Fleming is a state educated ‘grammar school girl’. She read Theology at Nottingham University and after graduation, she worked for the National Coal Board as an Administrative Assistant. She then pursued a PGCE and taught in various maintained primary schools in Hampshire. Alison then became Director of Studies at a co-educational independent prep school, also teaching English to Years 6, 7 and 8.  She gained an NPQH at the Institute of Education in London and an MA(Ed) at Southampton University, becoming Deputy Head of Highgate Junior School, before taking up the Headship of Dulwich College Junior School.  In September 2013 she became Headmistress of Newton Prep. Alison is also an ISI inspector and a school Governor. She is married with two sons.

BURSAR

Clerk to:

* School Council

* General Purposes Committee 

* Fees & Salaries Review Committee

* Governance Committee

* Nominations Committee

* Newton Bursary Fund

Member of:

* Education Committee

Simon studied Engineering at Cambridge and then worked in banking for many years before leaving the profession in 2018. He subsequently consulted to financial services and FinTec companies and lectured on banking topics at the European University Institute. 

He joined Newton Prep in July 2022 after two years as the Bursar of Greenwich Steiner School. Away from work Simon is a keen sailor and after leaving the City he sailed across the Atlantic and cruised in the Caribbean. He enjoys music and theatre and is a very amateur beekeeper. He is married with two sons at university.