SLT

Before joining Pitsford School as Headmaster, Dr Walker was Deputy Headmaster at Loughborough Grammar School. At Pitsford he also teaches History to all of Year 7. A graduate of the universities of Glasgow and Oxford, Dr Walker has held senior leadership posts responsible for pastoral care, academic management, as well as running a Sixth Form of over three hundred students. A career-long focus for Dr Walker has been to develop a love of literature and reading within students and he has published on this, as well as addressing a number of conferences on the topic (including once sharing a platform with the former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion). In addition, Dr Walker has worked on a number of projects developing well-being and community within schools and in recognition of this he was made a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and Farmington Institute Fellow in 2013.

As Deputy Head, Mrs Kirk is responsible for the pastoral care of pupils at Pitsford School. She is a graduate of Sheffield and Exeter Universities and currently teaches Geography, English and the Extended Project Qualification. Mrs Kirk is passionate about providing pupils with a holistic education that allows them to develop their talents within and beyond the classroom. With twenty years in Public Schools, she brings a variety of experience to Pitsford as a Boarding Housemistress, a Captain in the CCF, EPQ coordinator and theatrical director and drama teacher. Mrs Kirk grew up in Zambia and Malawi and has lived and worked in Japan. Her aim is to share the best of that experience with our pupils and to foster in them a love of life-long learning, a sense of independence, a curiosity for the world in which they live and an understanding of what can be achieved with hard work and a positive attitude.

A graduate of Surrey University, Mrs Heard has taught full time for twenty-five years. She began her career in a Northampton lower school and since then has taught in schools in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, across all primary age groups and the Early Years Foundation Stage. Her senior leadership roles have included Deputy Head and Headteacher in two primary schools.

Mrs Heard has a passion for promoting the science curriculum and providing pupils with opportunities to ask questions, investigate and work scientifically. She has participated in the Primary Science Quality Mark programme and is committed to developing positive attitudes towards science throughout the school.

She is also an enthusiastic pianist and church organist who has led the primary music curriculum in a number of schools and enjoys accompanying the pupils in assemblies and performances. Mrs Heard leads the choir in events and competitions, encouraging all to have fun whilst singing.

Her aim is to provide all pupils in the Junior School with a fully rounded education and personalised learning journey, thus enabling all pupils to achieve their best.