NEW FACES, BOLD VISION A FRESH CHAPTER AT ST EDMUND’ S
EDUCATION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
NEW FACES, BOLD VISION A FRESH CHAPTER AT ST EDMUND’ S
MEL CLEWLOW ANDREW WOODS DAN STANLEY
Having finished term on a real high following an outstanding arts festival full of wonderful performance opportunities for our pupils, St Edmund’ s is looking forward to the new academic year with great excitement. It was the culmination of a great year that has seen unprecedented success in international academic competitions like the Mathematics and Science Olympiads, remarkable sporting performances and some extraordinary musical achievements that have resulted in pupils winning prestigious awards and earning places at leading conservatoires.
In these challenging times, independent schools have to constantly evolve and develop their offering. At St Edmund’ s, we are investing in our people. We are especially excited to be welcoming some outstanding new faces to our team- individuals bringing fresh ideas, specialist knowledge and new energy to our teaching, sporting and creative provision.
Mel Clewlow joins as our new director of sport, bringing a wealth of high-level experience and a vision for inclusive, ambitious sport. Over a distinguished hockey career, she earned 239 international caps for England and Great Britain, competing at both the Sydney and Beijing Olympic Games. A well-known figure in Kent’ s sporting community, Mel captained Canterbury Hockey Club in the Premier Division and has become a respected voice in broadcasting through her work with BBC Sport. Her appointment reflects our commitment to placing sport at the heart of a well-rounded education, ensuring all pupils are supported to thrive.
Andrew Woods joins as director of teaching and learning, following a remarkable career that began through Teach First and has spanned more than a decade in schools across Bristol and Kent. He excels in assessment and curriculum development, with a focus on meaningful, sustained progress in every classroom.
In the performing arts, we’ re delighted to welcome Dan Stanley as our director of drama. Dan comes from Dane Court Grammar School and brings with him a clear and creative vision. His approach to drama is built on participation, collaboration and ambitious performance work, giving pupils the space to express themselves and grow in confidence.
Ahead of the new academic year, we caught up with Dan to hear more about his vision for drama at St Edmund’ s and what pupils and parents can expect in the year ahead.
Dan, what’ s your vision for how drama will develop at St Ed’ s? Drama offers students a plethora of different ways to articulate and express themselves, whether that’ s as actors, technicians or stage crew. I think it’ s also important to recognise that we’ re not just teaching acting- we’ re learning through drama. It’ s a means to allow young people to express themselves in the most valuable ways imaginable, and a tool that gives students many skills, not just acting.
My vision is to continue the strong practice already in place, but also to look at pushing the reputation of St Ed’ s beyond the Kent area- creating some international awareness such as taking a piece of theatre
on tour to take the experience beyond the classroom and school productions, which are, of course, of equal importance. I’ d like to give the students opportunities to do things like the Scarborough or Edinburgh Festival.
What’ s the first production we can look forward to? We’ re doing Arthur Miller’ s The Crucible as our first senior production in November. I decided on a straight piece of theatre. Something hard-edged that still raises contemporary questions about accusatory aspects of society, particularly perhaps in certain countries around the world right now. I’ ve already got ideas about how we will be able to expand it and make quite a dark, brooding piece.
What advice would you give to a young performer? Keep your head in the clouds, but your feet on the ground. Be ambitious, but realistic. And just try things- you never know what part of theatre you might fall in love with.
Together, these new appointments signal a confident step forward for St Edmund’ s, grounded in the school’ s core values and focused on the future. If you’ re curious to learn more, contact our admissions team.
Alternatively, our Open Morning on Saturday 20 September is the perfect opportunity to visit the school, meet the team, staff and pupils, explore the site and find out more about what sets St Edmund’ s apart.
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