The Senior Leadership Team at Amesbury comprises the following members of staff; the Head (Mr G.A Franklin), The Deputy Head, Curriculum (Mr J. Guest), the Deputy Head, Pastoral (Mr M. Armitage), the Bursar (Mrs S.Jones), the Head of EYFS (Mrs S. Hopwood) and the Head of Marketing & Admissions (Mrs H. Gustard).
The SLT offers short and long term planning for the school, focusing its efforts on what is best for the children. Each member of the team has responsibilities for different areas of school life and are accountable to the Head, and through that position, to the governing body.
HEAD – Gavin Franklin
Gavin joined Amesbury from Wellesley House, Kent in September 2023. He was Head at Wellesley for over six years gaining significant experience in leading an all round prep school. Prior to Wellesley House, Gavin worked at Wellington College as a Housemaster and English teacher as well as being heavily involved in the co-curricular life of the school. Prior to this Gavin was a professional playing cricketer with Warwickshire County Cricket Club.
At Amesbury Gavin is joined by his wife, Claire and family.
BURSAR – Sarah Jones
Sarah joined Amesbury in September 2022. She is a Chartered Management Accountant with a degree in Economics from University College London.
Prior to becoming Bursar at Amesbury she was Bursar for St Hilary’s School in Godalming and Moor Park in Ludlow, each for 6 years.
DEPUTY HEAD (Pastoral) – Michael Armitage
Michael Armitage has a BA Hons degree in Journalism and gained Qualified Teacher Status from Sheffield Hallam University. He started his teaching career in the Peak District before making the move to London where he worked in Hayes, Middlesex.
Before joining Amesbury in 2019, Michael worked as Head of Upper School at Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School in Hammersmith, West London. As Deputy Head (Pastoral), he believes that the secret to a child reaching their potential in ensuring that the child feels happy and secure in their learning environment.
DEPUTY HEAD (Academic) – James Guest
James qualified with a Higher Diploma in Education in South Africa prior to moving to the UK in 2002. He gained his PGCE from Durham University and is currently completing his Masters in Educational Leadership and Management at Buckingham university. James has a wealth of experience teaching in three different Prep schools prior to Amesbury. He has had a broad range of opportunities within these schools as he has been a Head of boarding, head of teaching and learning, run departments and coached many sporting teams.
Married with three children who keep him busy, James looks forward to making sure each Amesbury child achieves success in their own personal way within the classroom.
HEAD OF MARKETING & ADMISSIONS – Helen Gustard
Helen is a chartered marketer with over 20 years experience in marketing and communications. She has previously worked at Merrill Lynch, Brunswick Group and ICG plc. She has two young children and graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London with a BSc (hons) in Geography.
HEAD OF PRE-PREP – Sam Hopwood
Sam Hopwood has a BA Hons in English Language and Linguistics with Qualified Teacher Status from Roehampton University. She has worked at a wide range of different schools from Dorking to Hounslow. More recently she was at Grayshott Primary School where she was the SENCo and Reception Teacher. She has taught extensively across KS1 and has yet to find a year group she doesn’t love. She believes that happy children find learning fun, and aims to create a safe, secure, fun environment where children are encouraged to ‘have a go’, take risks and develop a love of learning. Sam has been at Amesbury for over 5 years.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM SUPPORT – Louise Turner
Louise Turner has a BA Hons in Languages for Business from Oxford Brookes University. Having studied languages at university she started her career in the travel business and travelled the world. More recently, she started working at The Royal School in the Administration Department and moved to Amesbury in 2019 to take up the role of Future Schools and Admissions Co-ordinator. In January of this year, she became PA to the Head and Future Schools Co-ordinator.
