Leadership Group Profiles
Nathan Cole
Nathan Cole (Executive Head) studied History at Nottingham and Cambridge and worked in Essex before joining Wilson's in 2006. Whilst working in Essex he acted as a Lead Mentor for the Faculty of Education at Cambridge and regularly contributed to national development groups focusing on the teaching of History, particularly for the most able. He held positions on the Senior Leadership Team at Wilson's from 2008, before being appointed as Headmaster in 2014. He plays an active role in local education beyond Wilson's, chairing the Partnership of Sutton Secondary Schools and acting as a Governor of a large secondary school, whilst also supporting the education system nationally in a range of ways, including as a TRA panellist. His academic interests are in nineteenth and twentieth century Italian History, mid-twentieth century British politics and societal structures and social relations in 17th century England.
Tim Lissimore
Tim Lissimore (Associate Head) has been Senior Deputy Head and latterly Associate Head at Wilson’s since 2014, having joined the school in 2009. He established the current pastoral structure and has long been responsible for the development of teaching and learning across the school. He has studied at the Universities of York and Oxford and trained to teach in South London, before working for several years at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford. He joined Wilson's first as an Advanced Skills Teacher before becoming Deputy Head of Sixth Form and then Assistant Head. He specialises in teaching composition at A level and has examined for Edexcel. As a pianist, he has performed, accompanied, examined and adjudicated widely in addition to his roles in education. He is a trustee for Central YMCA, a national provider of further education, which places a particular emphasis on health and wellbeing.
Gavin Englefield
Gavin Englefield (Deputy Head) has worked at Wilson's since 2002. After completing his degree and teacher training at the University of East Anglia he worked as teacher of History and English at a school in Ashtead. In over 20 years at Wilson’s he has done just about everything, including being a Head of Year, Head of Department and even organised our Covid testing during the pandemic. His academic specialism is 19th Century British history. Since joining SLT in 2015 he has set up the school’s Assessment Only route to QTS (“Teach at Wilson’s”) and launched the Enrichment programme that includes the Elizabethan, Jabobean and Futures programmes.
Tom Coop
Tom Coop (Deputy Head) graduated in Fine Art at Exeter College of Art and Design before completing a PGCE at the University of Exeter, and a Masters in Education at Goldsmiths, University of London. After teaching in three London schools and having spent 10 years in commerce, Tom joined Wilson’s as the Head of Art in 2011. In 2014 he was appointed as Director of Sixth Form and part of the school’s leadership team, becoming Deputy Head in 2016. He spent eight years as a governor and vice chair at a local secondary comprehensive school. In both his teaching and governor roles he has gained extensive curricular and pastoral experience, and he is currently responsible for Behaviour and Attitudes, including attendance and punctuality, support for disadvantaged pupils and the school’s outreach programme.
David Alderson
David Alderson (Assistant Head) studied Economics at Clare College, Cambridge, specialising in statistics, econometrics and public economics. After training to be a Maths teacher, David joined Wilson's in 2006 as a newly qualified teacher. During his time at Wilson's he has held several positions of responsibility in the Maths department including seven years as Director of Mathematics. David joined the Senior Leadership Team as an Assistant Head in 2019.
Rachel Atwell
Rachel Atwell (Assistant Head) studied Theology at Trinity College, Cambridge and began her working life in the City of London at a leading consultancy firm, specialising in public sector contracts and IT transformation. She joined Wilson’s in 2011 and has since worked in a range of roles across the school, including as Director of Sixth Form, Head of Department, Pupil Support Manager and New Staff Co-ordinator. She joined the Senior Leadership Team as an Assistant Head in 2019. She has a particular interest in both the charitable work of the school and in safeguarding; she spoke as the education representative at the UK Safeguarding Children 2023 conference in London.
Caitlin Lowe
Caitlin Lowe (Director of Operations) has worked at Wilson’s School since 2006. Her career started in law, working as a Commercial Solicitor at London Transport (now Transport for London) where she supported and advised on major projects including cleaning contracts, a power supply PFI project and bus service operator contracts. Since joining Wilson’s she has been involved in a wide range of areas initially focussing on school governance and compliance, but since 2013 her role as Director of Operations also encompasses many other school functions including admissions, HR, data protection, health and safety and school visits.
Maryam Tavakoli
Maryam Tavakoli (Director of Finance) is a Chartered Accountant. She studied Accountancy and Finance in Edinburgh and worked at various finance roles in corporate and not-for-profit organisations before joining Wilson’s in 2020. She leads the financial operation of the school to ensure robust financial management across the board. She works closely with the Senior Leadership Team to provide the best funding strategies and to ensure resources are available to fund all the exciting projects and activities throughout the school.
Tim Edge
Tim Edge (Director of Development) is a graduate of the University of London and has been Director of Development at Wilson’s since 2018. His main responsibilities are fundraising, alumni engagement and the development of the school’s digital communications. Since 2001 Tim has raised significant funds for some of the UK’s leading schools including St Edward’s Oxford, Charterhouse and King’s College School, Wimbledon. During his career, Tim has been Chair of the Institute of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE) as well as a governor of two maintained schools. Tim’s first play, ‘Under the Black Rock’ was performed at a leading London fringe theatre in 2023 and further plays are in development. The things he appreciates most about Wilson’s are the warmth and kindness of the whole school community and the fact that everything just works – brilliantly!
Tom Gore
Tom Gore (Director of Pupil Information and SENCO) studied American Studies at the University of Nottingham (with a year abroad at Reed College in Portland, Oregon), followed by a Masters in History. After this he completed his teacher training at Canterbury Christ Church University and joined Wilson's as a History teacher in 2011. In 2014 he became the first Pupil Support Manager for the school and on completion of his National SENCO Award from the Institute of Education in 2015 he has been the SENCO of Wilson's since 2015. In 2020 he joined the Data team and shortly after became the Director of Pupil Information, with responsibilities for reporting and the school's timetable. As well as teaching History, of which his specialism is nineteenth century Britain, he has also taught Geography and Government and Politics.