NEW COLLEGE SCHOOL - Key Persons
Alex Hughes read Music at Canterbury Christ Church University before subsequently completing postgraduate studies at both the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Festival appearances include the Canterbury Festival, RepCo Festival, North Wales International Music Festival, Lagrasse Piano Festival and the RNCM Day of Song. He has participated in masterclasses given by Pascal Rogé, John Irving, Julius Drake, Brian Hughes, James Baillieu and David Owen Norris.
Alex is a Visiting Teacher of Piano at Warwick School, Brighton College and New College School, having previously held teaching positions at Christ's Hospital School and Repton School.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Professor of Modern French Literature, New College, Oxford
Andrew Counter is Fellow and Tutor in French at New College and Professor of Modern French Literature. He joined New College and the Sub-Faculty of French in 2015, after positions at King's College London (2012-15) and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (2009-12), and a Research Fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge (2008-09). He read French and Russian at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he went on to complete his PhD in French. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the U.S. journals Nineteenth-Century French Studies and Romanic Review.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Head Pastoral Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead Mental Health Lead Charity Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Head of English
- Head of English and History Year8 / 8S Form Tutor PSB Subject Coordinator for History
Dr Gausden is Head of English and History, and form tutor to Year 8/8S. He teaches English to boys in Years 6 to 8/8S and History to boys in Years 6 and 7. In addition to teaching, Dr Gausden assists with several lunchtime and afterschool activities, including cookery, drama, and museum tours. Dr Gausden is also an editor of The Nucleus magazine.
Dr Gausden grew up in Aylesbury before reading for his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in History and English at the University of Oxford. He is currently working on preparing his DPhil thesis, ‘A Court in Transition: The Literary Culture of the English Court, c.1590-1612', for publication. Dr Gausden has taught undergraduate students and worked in several schools - primary, secondary, and international - in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
Beyond the classroom, Dr Gausden is an avid reader and enjoys swimming. During the recent lockdowns, he has worked to improve a number of skills: especially cooking, gardening, and learning Italian. His greatest ambition is to learn how to ride a horse.
Job Titles:
- Professor
- Tutor in Chemistry Professor of Chemistry, New College
After graduating with a Diploma in Physical Chemistry from the University of Dresden, Professor Christiane Timmel came to Oxford to study under the supervision of Professor Peter Hore in the Physical and Theoretical Chemistry laboratory, first as a Visiting student and later as a DPhil student. Before joining New College in 2005, she held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and was a Fellow and Tutor in Physical Chemistry at St Hilda's College. In 2007, she founded the Centre for Advanced Electron Spin Resonance (CAESR) in Oxford. Professor Timmel is also a former NCS parent.
Job Titles:
- Bursar of New College Vice - Chair of Governors Governor in Charge of Health & Safety
David Palfreyman has been the Bursar of New College since 1988. He is the College's nominated Trustee on the Harpur Trust (aka the Bedford Charity), where he serves as the Chair of its Endowment Committee. Similarly, he is a non-executive director of OXIP (the Oxford Investment Partnership), of which New College is a part-owner. David is also the Director of the Oxford Centre for Higher Education Policy Studies (OxCHEPS), which is based at New College, and is the Honorary Treasurer of, and a Trustee of, the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE). David regularly lectures on Higher Education policy, governance, and management, as well as on legal matters relating to the running of universities.
Job Titles:
- Head
- Head 's PA & Registrar
Dylan Swanepoel joined NCS from D'Overbroeck's, where he coached sport and assisted in the boarding house, in September 2022. Dylan is a county-level specialist in hockey and cricket.
Emma Goble/Barnes has a degree from King's College London and a PGCE from the University of Cambridge. She has taught in a number of state and independent senior schools, including Godolphin and Latymer, Trinity Croydon and Cherwell. She spent twenty years at St George's School Windsor Castle where she was a Head of Department and Assistant Head Academic. Emma is a co-founder of Holyport College, a Comprehensive non-selective Free School, sponsored by Eton, for pupils aged 11-19. She is also a qualified pastry chef. Emma spends her free time either in the kitchen, reading or walking her dog alongside her husband and three children.
Job Titles:
- Dean of Divinity College and School Chaplain
Originally from Belfast, Mr Dónal McCann read music at King's College, Cambridge, where he was an academic and organ scholar. At King's he accompanied the choir in daily chapel services, as well as in recordings, broadcasts and extensive tours, including to America and Australia. Prior to this, Dónal was the Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholar at Eton College, where he achieve the FRCO with the Limpus Prize, subsequently being nominated for the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. The following year he won the inaugural Dame Gillian Weir Medal at the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition.
Dónal studied piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and organ with Professor Gerard Gillen at St Mary's Pro Cathedral. He has performed as a soloist with the Ulster Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music, and has given many recitals in the UK and abroad.
Job Titles:
- Miss Bishop Works in Th Pre - Prep and Assists Principally in Years 1 & 2 . She Took Her Degree in Sports Coaching and Education from the University of Gloucester
- Year 2 Teaching Assistant
Miss Bishop works in th Pre-Prep and assists principally in Years 1 & 2 . She took her degree in Sports Coaching and Education from the University of Gloucester.
Job Titles:
- Now Retired, Dr Walker Is a Widely - Published Former Head Master of 26 Years' Standing He Lives With His Wife in West Oxfordshire
Now retired, Dr Walker is a widely-published former Head Master of 26 years' standing; he lives with his wife in West Oxfordshire.
Job Titles:
- School Administrator
- School Administrator and Director of Marketing and Alumni Relations
Job Titles:
- Reception Class Teaching Assistant / View Profile
Mrs Ridley took her degree from the College of Ripon and St John and recently taught at Wootton C of E Primary School. She had two sons at NCS between 2004 and 2014.
Letty did her PGCE at Nottingham University after studying Geography and Environmental Studies at The University of the West of England. She has taught secondary Geography for more than fifteen years in private and state schools and ran the Duke of Edinburgh scheme in her previous school. She has a passion for travel and lived and worked in Mozambique before having a family.
Dr Matt Jenkinson has been Headmaster of NCS since 2019. Prior to this, he spent eleven years at the school, variously as Deputy Head Academic, Head of English and History, and chorister tutor. He was also form tutor to Year 8S, editor of The Newswire, director of the senior plays in Michaelmas and Trinity, professional tutor, leader of the leavers' trip to Sicily, and coordinator of the University of Oxford's ‘Insight into Teaching' student placements. Dr Jenkinson has taught at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as being foundation governor of a local school. At NCS, he enjoys teaching at both ends of the school: from the weekly Headmaster's storytime with pre-prep, to grappling with early modern history with Years 8 and 8S, as well as co-directing the annual Shakespeare play in New College chapel.
Dr Jenkinson read for his DPhil at Merton College, Oxford, having won the Thompson Prize at the University of Durham. He also holds Master's degrees in historical research and educational leadership. He has held four research fellowships at the Huntington Library in California and he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Dr Jenkinson is the author of Charles I's Killers in America and Culture and Politics at the Court of Charles II, as well as over a hundred articles, op-eds or reviews covering a wide range of educational, historical or literary topics. He is also the editor of the Hour-Long Shakespeare series and co-author of How Poems Work. Dr Jenkinson's work has been featured or reviewed in The Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, TES, BBC History, History Today, English Historical Review, The Literary Review, and mentalfloss.com, among many other publications. He has been a regular contributor to www.schoolsimprovement.net, one of the UK's leading sites for educational news and opinion.
Beyond NCS, Dr Jenkinson's interests are primarily cultural, covering a wide range of art, architecture, literature and drama. His musical interests vary from Brahms to Jackson Browne, and he can occasionally be found playing the violin when no one else is listening. Dr Jenkinson enjoys (if that's the right word) watching Spurs, and he has a particular weakness for Italian crime drama and, indeed, most things Italian. When he's not in Oxford, he likes to be in Italy or the USA.
Michael Jennings is a composer and arranger for film and television. He also works with bands and singers as an arranger, instrumentalist and songwriter and has received commissions from choirs and various ensembles. Michael began his musical education as a chorister at Westminster Abbey. Later he went on to read Music at the University of Edinburgh, studying composition with Nigel Osborne and Marina Adamia. Career highlights include scoring Harlan Coben's The Five, and collaborating with high-profile bands such as: Massive Attack, The Kooks, Nellee Hooper and Neil Davidge as an arranger, conductor and instrumentalist, and also choral commissions, including one for the Royal Maundy Thursday Service from the choir of Liverpool Cathedral and the Chapel Royal. He has collaborated with the sound artist Janek Schaefer on a number of projects including the award-winning installation Extended Play which won Janek the BBC Composer of the Year (Sonic Arts) 2008.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of Governors
- Warden
- Warden of New College and Chair of School Governing Committee
Miles Young was an undergraduate historian at New College from 1973 to 1976. His business career has been spent in advertising and marketing, most recently as Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy and Mather, a leading global communications network. More than half of that was spent outside the UK, in China, and then in North America. He retains a strong interest in the issues facing developing countries, especially in Asia.
He returned from New York in September 2016 to take up his post as Warden of New College.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Head Academic and Head
- Deputy Head Academic Head of Science I / C School Council
Miss Emma Krebs is Deputy Head Academic and Head of Science. She teaches Science to boys in Years 5 to 8/8S. Miss Krebs also chairs the School Council, running meetings for boys representing forms across the school, and is an editor of the school magazine The Newswire.
Miss Krebs read for her BSc at the University of Bristol before completing a PGCE at the University of Oxford Department of Education. Her first experience of teaching was working on marine biology with children in the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. She has acted as a research assistant at the University of Oxford and at the University of California, Davis, in the Department of Neurobiology. Since then Miss Krebs has enjoyed experiencing a number of different pastoral and curriculum-based roles, firstly when she was Head of Biology at Didcot Girls' School and then at Headington School, where she taught for eleven years.
Outside teaching Miss Krebs enjoys music, cooking and spending time with her family, including her son who attended NCS. In the school holidays she enjoys taking the opportunity to travel, particularly in the USA and Europe, looking at wildlife, culture and trying different foods.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director
- Director of Activities
- Assistant Director of Music
Assistant Director of Music; Director of Activities; Chorister Tutor; Year 7 Form Tutor
Miss Isobel Rose is the Assistant Director of Music, Director of Activities, Year 7 Form Tutor, and Chorister Tutor, looking after the academic education, and pastoral welfare of the New College choristers. She also teaches Year 6 Geography. Originally from Leeds, Isobel began teaching at Magdalen College School, Oxford. Before arriving in Oxford, she was a first study cellist performing regularly across the North of England. On starting her undergraduate degree at University College, Oxford she became immersed in the singing sphere as a scholar of University College chapel choir, a member of Schola Cantorum of Oxford and the Magdalen Consort of Voices. Since graduating she has continued her training as a solo singer, performing regularly for the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University at fund raising events, and leading projects as Artistic Director with her newly founded ensemble, The Korrigan Consort, alongside her teaching. She enjoys running and is an avid concert goer, discovering the ever-emerging talent across the breadth of the local Oxford music scene.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Organist, New College
Job Titles:
- Headmaster of Bedford School
Educated at Wellington College, Mr James Hodgson read Classics at Durham University and, after a couple of years with Ernst and Young in London, completed his Classics PGCE at Cambridge University (where he was a cricket blue). He spent six years teaching in Sydney, before returning to the UK where, at Tonbridge School as a Boarding Housemaster and Director of Admissions, he successfully strengthened admissions and boarding recruitment. Prior to his appointment to Bedford School in September 2014, he was Usher (Senior Deputy Head) at Magdalen College School in Oxford.
Head of Classics; Head of Religious Studies and Philosophy; Chorister Tutor; i/c Eco Committee
Mr Nicholas Hanson teaches Latin to Years 5-8, optional Greek to Years 7-8, and RSP (Religious Studies and Philosophy) to Years 6-8. He is also one of the Chorister Tutors and is chair of the Eco Committee. He read for his MA and MSt in Classics at St Benet's Hall, Oxford, and is in the process of completing his DPhil in Classics at Wolfson College, Oxford. Mr Hanson is particularly interested in the religious traditions of antiquity; his doctoral thesis examines mythical religious specialists in Greece. He taught at NCS during the 2015 academic year, and previously taught at Queen's College, Harley Street. Mr Hanson also assists with games and the after-school museum tours.
Mr Stephen Young attended Stellenbosch University before studying for his BEd at the University of South Africa, then teaching at Rondebosch Boys' Preparatory School in Cape Town and becoming Head of Mathematics at Milnerton School, also in Cape Town. He has several years' experience teaching across the key stages, in both the primary and secondary sectors. Mr Young is also a passionate and accomplished sportsman, especially interested in rock climbing, tennis, cricket, hockey, football, fishing and trail running.
Job Titles:
- Director of Music
- Director of Music and Year 6 Form Tutor
Mr Thomas Neal is Director of Music and Year 6 Form Tutor at New College School. He is responsible for the provision of academic and co-curricular Music throughout the school and oversees our team of fifteen Visiting Music Teachers (VMTs). In addition to teaching class music to Years 5, 6, and 8, Mr Neal also teaches piano, composition, and music theory. He directs the Music Academy programme, the NCS Orchestra, Chamber Choir, Senior Choir, and Choral Society.
Since Mr Neal's arrival at NCS in 2018, the school orchestra has performed such works as Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals, Mozart's Symphony no.25, and Schubert's Symphony no.8. The Chamber Choir and Choral Society have collaborated with professional orchestras and soloists in performances of works such as Britten's Saint Nicolas and Fauré's Requiem; with the Call Me Al quintet in Alexander L'Estrange's Wassail!; and with Oxford's baroque orchestra, the Instruments of Time and Truth, in Purcell's operas Dido and Aeneas and King Arthur, Handel's Messiah, and Vivaldi's Gloria. Most recently, in May 2022, the whole school came together to perform Britten's opera Noye's Fludde in Oxford's historic Sheldonian Theatre. Future plans include Saint-Saëns's Oratorio de Noël, Bach's St. Mark Passion and Christmas Oratorio, and Purcell's opera The Fairy Queen.
Mr Neal read Music to postgraduate level at Clare College, Cambridge where he was the John Stewart of Rannoch Scholar in Sacred Music. Since then has enjoyed a wide-ranging musical career as a musicologist, conductor, and teacher. Prior to his appointment at NCS, Mr Neal taught Music and was a Housemaster at Portsmouth Grammar School. Mr Neal is the national PSB subject coordinator for Music.
Beyond NCS, Mr Neal's interests revolve around the music, history, and culture of early modern Italy. He has researched and written widely on sacred polyphony in sixteenth-century Rome and directed many performances of this repertoire. Mr Neal is currently researching a biography of the composer Giovanni Pierluigi ‘da Palestrina' (c.1525-1594) and editing a catalogue raisonné of the composer's works.
Job Titles:
- Year 1 Class Teacher / View Profile
Mrs Caroline Hitchings is the Year 1 Form Tutor. She took her degree from Bishop Grosseteste/Hull University and has previously taught at Swanbourne House, Winchester House, King's College School (where she was a houseparent with particular responsibility for the junior choristers), and Chafyn Grove, Salisbury.
Outside of the classroom, Mrs Hitchings enjoys music, theatre, cooking and eating out, as well as being kept fit and active by her two children and black labrador, all of whom seem to have boundless energy.
Mrs Catherine Phillips is in charge of French at NCS, teaches Year 6-8 French, and Games to Years 3-8. She studied for her MA in English Literature at the University of Arras in France and gained a PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages from Canterbury. She has taught French in Oxfordshire schools for twenty years, including ten years teaching French and coaching Games at St Edward's.
In her spare time she enjoys many sports, swimming and fitness on a regular basis, and other sports as opportunities arise, her favourites being all racket sports, mountain hiking and kick-boxing. She is also a great book lover. She loves illustrated books in general, and a French illustrator especially, Gustave Doré, and hopes to write a book on him one day.
Job Titles:
- Year 2 Class Teacher / View Profile
Mrs Hannah Hopkins is the Year 2 Form Tutor and has over 20 years experience in education. She read for her BEd at Homerton College, Cambridge and has previously taught at a primary school in north London as well as Chandlings Prep School. Whilst on maternity leave she moved to Singapore with her young family where she taught at Tanglin Trust School and United World College. On her return to the UK she once again took a position at Chandlings Prep before moving to New College School.
Outside of the classroom she loves walking the Oxfordshire countryside with her extremely energetic dog, listening to music and cooking. When possible, she loves travelling with her family, with a particular fondness for countries in South East Asia.
Job Titles:
- Safeguarding Governor
- Safeguarding Governor Head of Oxford High School ( Junior ) View Profile
Mrs Jessica Williams is the NCS Safeguarding Governor. She is Head of the prep division of Oxford High School and she has a wealth of experience, having formerly been Deputy Head of Ashfold School and Head of Boarding at Lucton School. She can be contacted via email on prephead@oxf.gdst.net or by phone on 01865 515647.
In the event of Mrs Williams's absence, the Safeguarding Governor becomes Mrs Caroline Jordan. She can be contacted on carolinejordan@headington.org or by phone on 01865 759111.
Job Titles:
- Director of Educational Partnerships Year 5 Form Tutor
Mrs Louise Brown read for her BSc at De Montfort, PGCE in Oxford and MEd at Buckingham University. She joined the teaching profession after a successful career as a Chartered Surveyor in London and Oxford. She is Year 5 Form Tutor and Director of Educational Partnerships. She has an active outdoor lifestyle which includes playing tennis and running.
Job Titles:
- Head of Pre - Prep
- Head of Pre - Prep Reception Class Teacher Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs Rosemary Cox is Head of Pre-Prep and she teaches the Reception class. She studied for her Master's degree in Education at Melbourne University and taught in prep schools in Australia before arriving in Oxford in 2003, and beginning at New College School in 2004. She took up her position as Head of Pre-Prep in 2007. She is also the school's Designated Safeguarding Lead. Mrs Cox has enjoyed a close relationship with New College Choir, as a teacher and mother of two choristers. In addition to her other roles, she enjoys the challenge of writing and producing plays for the Pre-Prep.
Mrs Victoria Hayter is the class teacher for Year 3. She read for her BA at Oxford Brookes, then worked in London as a PR Consultant for food and drink clients. After bringing up her four children, she decided to return to Brookes and do a PGCE. Before teaching at NCS, Victoria was at Headington Prep where she taught Year 1 and Year 2. In any spare time, she plays tennis, runs with her two dogs, and enjoys cooking and reading.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Year 1 Teaching Assistant Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Rep / View Profile
Ms Kate Lam is the Year 1 Teaching Assistant in Pre-Prep and the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Representative for NCS. She has previously worked as a Reception teacher in an overseas British international school before joining NCS in 2019. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Education (Childhood and Youth Studies) at Oxford Brookes University. Her academic interests are in language development, cultural diversity and educational achievement.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Metalwork and Jewellery Design and two teaching qualifications specialising in Early Childhood Education (PGDE) and Teaching English as a Second Language (CELTA). Her degree in art and design compliments children's creative and imaginative learning, and she enjoys running the afterschool Origami Club and Mandarin Club in Pre-Prep.
Ms Lam is on maternity leave during 2024. Please direct any questions or concerns regarding EDI issues to yvonne.appleby@new.ox.ac.uk.
Job Titles:
- Teacher of Coding and Computing
Job Titles:
- Organist, Choirmaster, Fellow and Tutor in Music, New College Associate Professor, Music Faculty
Job Titles:
- Years 3 Teaching Assistant / View Profile
Sarah Hainsworth's PGCE is from Exeter University and she also has qualifications in physiotherapy. She has been a teacher at Okehampton Primary School, Colnbrook Primary School, The Falcons in Chiswick, and at the Walnuts School in Milton Keynes. She has also been Teaching Assistant at the British School of Brussels, and has especial experience teaching pupils with dyslexia and autism.
Susie has an advanced diploma in psychotherapeutic counselling, a CPCAB certificate in counselling children, and is finishing up her postgraduate diploma in child, adolescent and family mental health and wellbeing. She also has a background in teaching art to ASD children. Susie has been a school counsellor at both the primary and secondary level; she is currently also a counsellor at Marlborough College. You can find out more about Susie via her webpage at the National Counselling Society: https://nationalcounsellingsociety.org/counsellors/ncs16-03029
Job Titles:
- Year 4 Class Teacher Inclusion / View Profile