Teaching Staff
clare brunet - headteacher
Clare loves finding out about new things; from her time as a research scientist to being a parent and then a teacher, she has always enjoyed lifelong learning. With the privilege of leading HTPD, she is delighted to belong to such a vibrant and exciting learning community. The school's values are a constant inspiration to her, as they embody the good news of God's love for all people and truly help all of us to ‘Learn to Live'.
Helen Pronger - deputy head
Helen is based at the junior school but leads assessment across both schools in her role as Deputy Head. Ever since university, Helen has enjoyed back-packing her way around the world and brings her experience of developing International links to HTPD.
Debbie chadwick - deputy head & senco
Debbie looks after special needs of all sorts at HTPD and coordinates our provision of support throughout the school. She works at both sites in her role as Deputy Head and enjoys working with children from reception to year six. Debbie is the longest serving teacher having joined the staff in 1992 and has had the privilege of teaching more than one generation of some of the families in our community!
tom everard - Assistant Head & Year 6 Teacher
Tom is based at Holy Trinity and spends most of his week teaching Year 6. He is also head of Nightingale house and leads maths and assessment across the school. Tom is a deputy DSL. When not in his classroom, he is usually hitting the trails on his mountain bike.
lilja helgadottir - Assistant Head & Year 2 Teacher
Lilja teaches across both schools and is a deputy DSL. She is based in Year 2 and is mostly found at the infants. She leads English across the school and loves reading. In her spare time, Lilja enjoys sport and any opportunity to be outdoors as well as playing the clarinet and being surrounded by music.
Frances clixby - PPA teacher
Frances loves teaching young children and is delighted to be teaching each class at Pewley at some point each week. She has a tendency to invent a song for everything, from lining up, to remembering book bags and water bottles! Frances enjoys running, walking her dog, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.
Catherine Finniear - Reception Teacher
Catherine is the EYFS lead at HTPD. She is also HTPD's RE leader. She has just finished studying for her Master's degree which focused on Early Years maths. Catherine loves being outdoors - anything 'eco' is her thing! When she's not at school, she'll most likely be reading a good book, spending time with her chickens at the allotment, or exploring RHS Wisley with her husband!
Beccy Lee - Year R Teacher
Beccy moves to Reception from Year 2. Prior to teaching I spent a year travelling around South East Asia and living in Malaysia. I worked as a Higher Level TA before qualifying as a teacher this year. I love travelling and exploring new places. In my spare time I enjoy swimming, fitness classes and spending quality time with friends and family.
Hayley Esselen - Year 1 Teacher
Hayley has always worked with young children. She was part of the Special Needs team before moving to a class teacher in Reception and currently Year 1. Hayley loves reading, pottering in her garden and walking in the Surrey Hills with her friends, family and little dog Max.
Sarah Mackenzie - Year 1 Teacher
Sarah loves young children and is our eco-warrior. She is responsible for the infant eco team and her team work very hard to help take care of the school environment. Sarah is Science co-ordinator at the infants. She loves teaching and often helps to train and mentor our students at Pewley. Sarah likes yoga, hiking, gardening and socialising with friends.
Georgie Furlonger - Year 2 Teacher
Before Georgie’s training to become a teacher she worked in settings for children and adults with autism and other special needs. She enjoys getting involved in anything to do with science and testing theories! Georgie loves being outdoors for long walks, picnics and gardening. You'll also often find her in the cinema or hunting for a good music gig.
Jo Pillay - Year 2 Teacher
Jo loves to spend her free time running (very slowly!) around the beautiful Surrey Hills. She also loves all things crafty, and always has a creative project or two on the go. With a background in Geography, she enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for the subject with the children. She is looking forward to immersing herself into life at Pewley Down.
Claire Cruddas - Year 3 Teacher
Claire returns to Year 3 having previously taught in Year R and Year 1. She loves the great outdoors and spends much of her summers camping in Scotland. She also loves to get her hands dirty and, when she isn't baking or creating pottery, she is clearing out her small flock of ducks in the garden. Claire loves to learn new things and sets herself a challenge each year. This year she is excited to be learning the cello!
Sheena Preston - Year 3 Teacher
Sheena has taught in years R, 1 and 2 and has now moved to Year 3. Sheena lived in Texas for 6 years. In her spare time she likes to walk her dog and watch cookery shows. Sheena is a deputy DSL.
Alison Tester - Year 3 Teacher
Alison Tester is one of our longest serving staff members, having previously taught in Years 1 and 2 at our Infants site. Alison is the curriculum lead for Science across both sites, and organises the Eco Team with the help of the children. Alison has a love of the outdoors and can often be seen walking her dog, Bertie, on Pewley Downs.
Clare Giles - Year 3 Teacher
Julia Grocott - Year 3 Teacher
Nick Walker - Year 4 Teacher
Nick is Head of Sport and Head of House. He loves getting involved in all aspects of school life can normally be found outside with his class or one of HTPD's many sports teams.
Abigail Allen - Year 4 Teacher
Abigail moved from Bristol where she particularly enjoyed working with younger children. She spends her weekends swimming, dancing, cooking, cake decorating, sewing and strolling in the Surrey countryside. Abigail is the Nightingale house leader and is looking forward to the house competitions.
Emily Russell - Year 4 Teacher
Emily currently teaches in Year 4 and considers herself very lucky to have been able to teach at both the infants and the juniors over the years. She organises house events at the juniors with the help of the fabulous house captains. Emily loves being outside - gardening, walking, running and swimming at the lido (when it's not too cold!).
Laura Hanley - Year 4 Teacher
Laura has previously taught in Year 5&6. Having specialised in Art at university, Laura particularly loves teaching this subject and she gets to spend lots of time doing so during Art PPA with Years 3-6. She enjoys being creative and reading a good book, especially during story time at school.
Kayleigh Ashraf - Year 5 Teacher
Kayleigh joins us on the teaching staff having previously worked as a TA in Year 4.
JJ Walker - Year 5 Teacher
JJ has specialised in Science at university and particularly likes teaching science through investigation and hands on experience. She is passionate about sport and has been involved in organising and coaching sport after school for some time.
Toby Strutt - Year 5 Teacher
Toby has previously taught in Year 3. He spends his spare time out on his mountain bike, playing the drums or planning my next trip to the mountains or the beach.
Danni Weston - Year 6 Teacher
Danni trained at HTPD in Year 1&5. She enjoys cooking and experimenting with different recipes, chocolate cake being a favourite. She likes to be creative by drawing, painting and sometimes writing. She has travelled here and there and enjoys learning about different cultures. Her travelling highlight of last year was walking along The Great Wall of China. She also loves a good animation movie, Madagascar being top!
Helen Campbell - Year 6 Teacher
Helen is a year 6 and PPA teacher specialising in Drama. When not looking after her 2 children and performing in assemblies, Helen enjoys nothing more than creating dances for shows and for fun. She also loves reading books out to the class and following Reading FC in the championship.
Sarah Jackson - Year 6 Teacher
Sarah is a Year 6 teacher and leads History. Her drama background means she is never happier than when dressing-up, either as an historical figure, an assembly character or for reading stories. She also has the fun of directing the Christmas play! Sarah loves to immerse herself in the world of sci-fi and fantasy and can usually be found practising her lightsaber skills, whipping up a potion or day-dreaming about Middle-earth.
Tracey Jerrome - SPecial Needs Teacher
Tracey heads up the Junior Year 3 and 4 special needs team and works with individuals and small groups of children with a variety of literacy skills.
Geraldine Tame - Librarian
Geraldine is our wonderful librarian who is a wealth of information about all things literary and so much more! Her enthusiasm spills over to us all. She goes beyond the realms of librarian offering us some great opportunies and clubs.