Meet our staff

Kay Goldsworthy - Head Teacher

Kay holds an MBA in Educational Leadership from Buckingham University and a BA (Hons) in Primary Education from Roehampton University. She began her teaching career in Surrey, where she taught across Key Stages 1 and 2, developing a strong foundation in high-quality classroom practice.

Kay later gained valuable international experience in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, as a member of the founding team at a large British curriculum school. During this time, she taught across Key Stage 2 and played an active role in the development of the school’s Literacy Curriculum, reflecting her longstanding passion for reading, writing, and language development.

This is Kay’s fifteenth year at St Ives School.  With both of her sons in the Pre-Prep, Kay can often be found enjoying school life from every angle — as Headteacher, parent, and chief cheerleader — with a real passion for inspiring pupils to love learning.

Nicola Smith - Deputy Head and Humanities Teacher

Nicola graduated from the University of Wales with both a first class honours BA in Geography and also obtained the award for the highest achieving final year student. She studied French to first year degree level, gaining the department’s scholarship. After university she went on to fulfil her lifelong ambition to teach by undertaking a Primary PGCE at the University of Plymouth.

Jade Vaus - Nursery Manager

We were delighted to welcome Jade to St Ives in 2024. Jade is our Nursery Manager alongside leading the nursery, she also oversees our After-School Care, ensuring children feel happy, safe, and cared for throughout their day.

Jade holds a Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education and has a wealth of experience in Early Years. She joined us from St Edmund’s Nursery and, before that, spent many years as Deputy Nursery Manager at Little Sailors Nursery at The Royal Prep School.

Passionate about giving children the very best start, Jade is particularly enthusiastic about outdoor learning. She loves providing opportunities for children to explore nature, develop confidence, and learn through play in the fresh air.

Deb Bowler - Early Years Practitioner

Deb has worked at St Ives for 14 years. She has a Level 3 Diploma in Childcare and Education and has worked in childcare for over 20 years. Deb has attended numerous training courses on various subjects and activities in Early years. Before joining St Ives, Deb worked at her village nursery for 11 years. Deb is looking forward to a new challenge working in Reception, whilst continuing her role in the nursery.

Rachel Sacre - Early Years Practitioner

Rachel is a passionate early year's practitioner with over 25 years of experience in nursery settings. Rachel is deeply committed to supporting children’s growth and development through play, exploration, and nurturing relationships. One of her greatest joys is incorporating Forest School principals into early learning and encouraging children to connect with nature, build confidence, and develop independence through outdoor experiences. She prides herself on creating safe, inclusive, and stimulating environments where every child can thrive.

Pippa Ayton - Early Years Practitioner

Pippa has been at St Ives for 10 years. During this time, she has gained valuable experience working in the Early Years and for the most part, this has been in the Nursery. Pippa has previously worked as a Teaching Assistant in St Ives Reception and is delighted to be returning to this role in September. She has also worked at Grayswood Infant School and at Haslemere Prep School where she supported in both Reception and Nursery classes.

Rachel Blewett - Early Years Practitioner

Rachel holds an NNEB Childcare Qualification and has over 30 years’ experience of working in Early Years. She has worked locally at Brook Nursery School for the past 15 years. Prior to this, Rachel worked at the Rocking Horse Nursery in Godalming and was also a private nanny. She has also brought up her two children, giving her both professional and personal experience in childcare.

Rachel enjoys teaching music and movement to children. Rachel is a valued member of the team here at St Ives and enjoys bringing the children’s learning along in a nurturing environment helping them to reach their full potential.

Angela Sahal - Early Years Practitioner

Angela joined us in 2023 from Brook Nursery where she worked for over 18 months.  Prior to her role at Brook, Angela nannied for several families in the Haslemere area, which she loved.  She is a very valuable member of the team.  

Nastasha Burrows - Early Years Practitioner

We were delighted to welcome Natasha, known as Tash, to our nursery team in September 2024.

Tash brings with her a wealth of Early Years experience, holding a Level 3 Diploma in Early Learning and Childcare. Most recently, she worked locally at Toad Hall, and before that spent many years at The Royal School Nursery.

Tash’s favourite part of her role is watching children grow in confidence and ability, and she loves supporting their learning through fun activities such as dancing and singing. She has a passion for the outdoors and enjoys bringing nature into children’s learning experiences.

She strongly believes that children learn best through play and curiosity. With her great enthusiasm, warm smile, and caring approach, Tash is a wonderful member of our nursery team.

Lucy Tapp - Reception Class Teacher, EYFS Co-ordinator and Head of Computing

Lucy graduated from Cardiff University with a BSc in Criminology, during which time she also gained experienced working in a Montessori nursery setting. This inspired a love of working with children and led Lucy to Winchester University where she completed her PGCE. Lucy worked at St Ives in 2019/20 before spending a year at Seaton House School in Sutton where she continued to develop her love of the EYFS and gained further experience supporting children with a variety of special needs.  Lucy returned to us as our dedicated Reception teacher in 2021.  

Courtney Green - Year 1 Class Teacher

Courtney has worked at St Ives for nearly five years. Beginning in the senior school, she has gained experience of teaching across the whole school in her time here. Courtney graduated from the University of Surrey with a degree in Music and also enjoyed playing in the orchestra and managing the string orchestra. Courtney joined us from Guildford High School where she worked as a TA in the pre-prep, gaining experience in Reception and Year 1 before completing her PGCE with Goldsmiths, University of London.   She is currently our Year 1 Class Teacher where her passion for teaching young children shines through.  

Rebecca Waterson - Year 1 Teaching Assistant

Rebecca joined us in April 2023 from the Royal School where she had worked for 18 months.  Prior to that, Rebecca worked in finance for a national Italian restaurant chain and studied Law, Spanish and English Language at a local college. With a passion for working with children, Rebecca is thrilled to be joining Miss Green and the Year 1 class. Rebecca lives locally with her son and enjoys running and visiting the local coffee shops! 

Jenny Duggin - Year 2 teacher, Pre-prep coordinator, and Senior PSHE teacher

Jenny has worked at St Ives for sixteen years. She has taught predominantly in Year 2 but has also taught PSHE, RE, Computing and Geography across the school. This year she will be teaching Year 2, as well as teaching RE and PSHE to the whole school. As Pre-prep Coordinator she is a member of the school management team. She is also PSHE, RSE & RE Coordinator, overseeing these subjects. Prior to working at St Ives, Jenny studied Psychology at Durham University where she graduated with First class honours. She then spent six years working in the television industry, developing and making children’s and mainstream TV programmes for a variety of companies including the BBC and ITV. Having really enjoyed her media career but seeking something more fulfilling and rewarding, she did a PGCE at Roehampton University. Since making the career change she hasn’t looked back, and absolutely loves working here at St Ives. She lives in Haslemere with her husband and two children, one of which is a former pupil of ours!   

Cheryl Cooper - Year 2 Teaching Assistant and Wellbeing Champion

Cheryl returned to St Ives nearly five years ago, after 8 years away. In that time, she worked at Beacon Hill Primary School as a teaching assistant and a 1:1, specialising in Autism. Cheryl has been a teaching assistant for 18 years. Cheryl is passionate about mental health and wellbeing and is our designtated Wellbeing Champion. Cheryl enjoys reading, cricket and listening to music. She lives in Haslemere with her husband and two boys.

Suzy Philpott - Head of Maths

Suzy joins us from Sheet Primary School where she was teaching for the last 8 years and leading Maths, along with History, Geography and PE, across the school. She is experienced with the philosophy of teaching for mastery which enables children to develop a deep and lasting understanding of maths procedures and concepts and has worked with local NCETM (National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics) hubs to develop, drive and embed the mastery approach. She is a passionate advocate for using resources and manipulatives within maths lessons for all ages to enable deeper understanding of more abstract concepts and aims to make maths learning fun and engaging for everyone. Before retraining to become a teacher and gaining her PGCE qualification, Suzy worked in London advertising agencies and international marketing roles for a number of years. 

Rachel Parker - Head of English & Prep Co-ordinator

Rachel joined us in September 2022 from Wetherby School in Notting Hill, London. Rachel has a passion for English having studied it at degree level. After an early career at Deloitte, Rachel re-trained to be a primary teacher and gained a wealth of experience teaching across various schools. She had success leading a school’s debating team to the National Debate Championships at Oxford University. She has been involved in a range of initiatives throughout her teaching career including Healthy Schools and Curriculum Development and is keen to inject her enthusiasm into St Ives.

Chloe Skirving - Year 3 Form Teacher

Chloe joins us from Conifers School where she was Form 1 teacher. Chloe has worked for many years in primary education in both the independent and state sectors at schools teaching English across key stages 1 and 2 as well as lower key stage 3. Chloe retrained as a teacher with the University of Chichester following a diverse career in which she ran her own business as a yoga teacher, worked as an interior designer and as an editor and writer for BBC magazines. 

Marieke Butterfield - Head of Science

Marieke is an experienced primary teacher of many years. She has a degree in Marine Biology from the University of Bangor and went on to gain Qualified Teacher Status through the graduate teaching program in Surrey. She has taught all primary-aged children from Reception to Year 6, and has always led Science and Outdoor learning in the schools where she has worked. She is a qualified Forest School practitioner and is passionate about inspiring in children a joy, interest, and appreciation of nature and the environment. Having taught at St Ives as Head of Science for six years previously, we were delighted when she returned to us in September 2023 to share her love of Science with the children of St Ives once again.

Kerry Phipps - Head of Modern Languages

Kerry has a BA in French and Art from Roehampton University, an MA in French from the University of Surrey and a PGCE from Southampton University.  She has lived in France and Quebec, where she became fluent in French.  Kerry is a highly experienced teacher, with 25 years experience, who has taught a range of subjects across the primary age range in British and International schools.  She was excited to return to St Ives in September 2021 where she worked as Head of French before her career break to raise her daughters.  Kerry has previously headed up Modern Languages at St Hilary's in Godalming and joined us from Frensham Heights where she had been teaching languages across the junior and senior school.  

Nicola Clutterbuck - Spanish Teacher

 After graduating from the University of Strathclyde with a BA (Hons) degree in Spanish & Latin American Studies, Nicola spent a large part of her career at a leading global insurer where she was the Learning & Development Manager for Latin America.  Following a career break to have her two children, Nicola decided to pursue a career in teaching and teaches Spanish in both maintained and independent schools in the local area.  Nicola loves all things Spanish - the language, the people, the culture, the food - and is very passionate about encouraging others to learn what is now the second most widely-spoken language in the world.  

Helen Maxwell - Head of Music

Helen has been associated with St Ives School for more than eleven years as a teacher of flute and piano, the accompanist for many of the school’s concerts and stage shows and as leader of the school orchestra. Helen is an Associate of Trinity College London (ATCL) and a Licentiate of Trinity College (LTCL). Helen has been teaching privately and in schools for over twenty years and is passionate about sharing her love of music and especially musical theatre with young people who respond readily to her infectious enthusiasm. Helen is delighted now to be joining the staff of St Ives as their Head of Music.

Hannah Taylor - Art Teacher

Hannah has a Master of Arts from Central Saint Martins specialising in Textile Design as well as over 10 years' industry experience.  Hannah believes inspiration is all around us and art is a journey.  Every child has the opportunity to express themselves with the right tools and Hannah's motto is to nurture individuality.  Hannah is married and has three children, all of whom share her passion for art. 

Camilla Argent - Head of Sport

Camilla Argent joins us as as our Head of Sport from Guildford High School. Camilla studied at St Mary's University,Twickenham for her PGCE specialising in Primary Sport. Camilla is a netball specialist, a qualified Level 2 swim teacher and Level 3 gymnastics coach. Camilla comes with extensive experience of Prep School sport having  led hockey, cricket and football in her previous roles.

Rachel Greatbatch - Forest School Leader

Rachel attended the University of St Andrews where she studied English Literature, Modern History, Classics and Latin before finally choosing to read English Literature. This degree choice was due to a lifelong love of learning, in particular reading, which Rachel is passionate about passing on to all the children she teaches. After a brief career in banking, Rachel pursued her dream and began a PGCE at the University of Leeds, specialising in the 5-7 age range. Rachel has been at St Ives for 8 years and has taught Reception and Year 1, as well as heading up the English department.  Rachel has most recently completed her Level 3 Forest School qualification and enjoys inspring our pupils in our Forest.

Helen Fox - Head of Learning Support

Helen is an experienced class teacher and intervention teacher having worked in several London schools. Helen has led small intervention groups, worked 1-1 and supported school SENCos. She has most recently been completing her Level 5 Diploma in Teaching Children with SpLD at the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre. Helen brings a wealth of experience to the team and looks forward to supporting pupils and families at St Ives.

Hayley Dibb - School Secretary and Registrar

Hayley gained her degree in European Business and Languages at Nottingham Trent University, which included a year studying and working abroad in Germany. She then pursued a career in Marketing/Advertising working for large multinationals, such as Sony TV-Europe and Coats Viyella, before working more locally for a private education company catering for overseas students in Guildford. Following a career break to raise her 3 children, during which time, Hayley worked part-time from home and also voluntarily at her children's schools, she joined St Ives in September 2015 to work as Registrar.