Leadership Team
- Leadership Team - Senior School
- Leadership Team - Prep School
- Welcoming our new Head - September 2025
Leadership Team - Senior School
Click on the images below to learn more about the St Catherine's Leadership Team and their journey into education.
Mrs Alice Phillips
Headmistress
MA Cantab
Mrs Claire Wyllie
Director of Staff
MA Dunelm, PGCE
Dr Elodie Nevin
Director of Studies
MA Oxon, PhD, QTS
Mrs Kate Hawtin
Head of Sixth Form
BA Dunelm, PGCE
Mrs Sheila Kelsall
BSC, MA Open, PGCE
Mrs Chloe Stoneham
Chief Operating Officer
BA Middlesex
Mrs Helen Harkness
Senior Boarding Housemistress
BEd Chichester
Mr Carl Gladwell
Diversity / Covid 19 Whole School Brief
BA London, PGCE
Leadership Team - Prep School
Click on the images below to learn more about the St Catherine's Leadership Team and their journey into education.
Welcoming our new Head - September 2025
After a thorough search, a strong candidate field and a rigorous selection process, I am are delighted to announce the Governors’ unanimous decision that Ms Emma Watson, the current Head of Berkhamsted Girls, will take on the Headship of St Catherine’s School, Bramley, in September 2025. Emma is an exceptional fit and will be an inspiring leader of our staff and girls.
Emma brings with her a wealth of knowledge of independent day and boarding settings, from co-educational and single sex sectors, and has worked at schools such as Stowe, Harrow and Wycombe Abbey. Her personal academic record is exemplary with a 1st Class BEng in Aerospace Engineering, and an MBA with Distinction. Promoted from Deputy Head (Pupil Wellbeing) and Deputy Head (Sixth Form) at Berkhamsted to be the Head Teacher of Berkhamsted Girls in 2022, she joins us with an impressive pedigree. Her early experiences at Sandhurst, and in the Army Air Corps as a Lynx pilot and Flight Commander, further enhance her leadership credentials and her belief in the widest possible career opportunities for women. She has been chosen for her inspiring vision for the future, her commitment to build on the strong foundations already in place, and her strong alignment to St Catherine’s values.
Commenting on her appointment, Emma said “I am thrilled to have been appointed as the next Head of St. Catherine’s School from September 2025. With a passion for all-girls education, I am inspired by the supportive and ambitious culture that nurtures and develops each individual’s talent, confidence and potential – both within the classroom and through the exceptional breadth of opportunities beyond it. With significant external challenges facing our sector, I feel privileged to have been chosen to lead and develop the rounded and future-focused education your daughter receives at St Catherine’s, and in doing so, to shape confident, creative and compassionate young women who will be the leaders of the future.”
Those within the School community and those considering the School for their daughter, will of course be interested to meet Emma, who sees getting to know members of the St Catherine’s community – parents, girls, staff, and alumnae – as a priority. We will announce these opportunities in due course.
We are hugely grateful for everything that Alice Phillips has done for St Catherine’s over the last 24 years, and look forward to celebrating her outstanding educational legacy over the coming 12 months. She will ensure a thorough handover to Emma, whom we are confident will be a worthy successor.
Mr Matthew Lowe
Chair of Governors