Governing Body and Leadership Team

Mrs von Malaisé has been Chief Master & Principal of King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls since September 2024, having first joined KEHS as Principal in 2020. Educated at music school, conservatoire and the University of Cambridge, where she read English, Mrs von Malaisé was a BBC Young Musician of the Year prizewinner. She began her teaching career in London state schools, before becoming Deputy Head at Putney High School. 

As Headmistress of Norwich High School, she led the school to be named ‘Independent Girls’ School of the Year’. The recipient of a transformational bursary for her own education, she is committed to ensuring that our Assisted Places scheme remains strong. Her interests include music, history, and mountain-walking. 

Mrs Leigh brings to King Edward’s School her broad expertise in school senior leadership and has a decade-long association with the school. For six years Mrs Leigh was Deputy Head (Director of Initial Teacher Training) at the nationally acclaimed King Edward’s Consortium, training 250 graduates to be secondary school teachers, a number of them at KES.

She has worked in a range of schools as an Education Consultant. She has contributed to national education policy and has been part of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Teaching Profession.

She is Chair of Governors at a large, successful 11-19 school for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In her spare time, she is a keen gardener. 

Mr Lea is the Director of KE Independent Schools Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, a role which covers both King Edward VI High School for Girls and King Edward’s School. He began his career at King Edward VI Five Ways as a Teacher of Chemistry and Information Technology.  

Before joining KEHS in 2015 as Vice Principal (Academic), he was Assistant Headteacher at Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School. 

He is committed to outdoor pursuits and often helps with Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award and has led overseas trips to Morocco and Brazil. In his spare time, you will find him walking or climbing. 

Dr Kennedy holds a joint honours degree in English and Philosophy. He completed his postgraduate work at University College Cork and earned his PGCE at the University of Warwick. He has worked across a range of schools in both the maintained and independent sectors, serving in various roles, including Teacher of English, Senior Head of House, Head of English and in several Extended Leadership positions.  

Dr Kennedy is Deputy Head (Pastoral) and Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) at King Edward’s School, where he continues to contribute his expertise in education. In addition to his work in education, he enjoys spending time with friends and family. 

Mr Bartlett is the Deputy Head (Co-curricular) at King Edward’s School. He has been at the school for many years, originally starting as an English Teacher before becoming Director of Drama, in which he oversaw a ten-fold increase in the number of students studying for GCSE and IB exams and brought such shows as “Cabaret”, “Much Ado About Nothing” and a devised “Wuthering Heights” to the Ruddock Hall in collaboration with King Edward VI High School for Girls. 

Before joining KES, he taught English at Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall, where he was also Head of Drama and Head of Year, and Whitgift School.

Mr Charlett has recently joined as the Deputy Head (Academic) at KES.

He graduated from the University of Leeds with a joint honours degree in Philosophy and Economics. Since then, he has gained a PGCE and a master’s degree in Senior Leadership in Education.

Mr Charlett has taught Religious Studies for over twenty years and has been a senior leader across three different schools over the last ten years. He has experience as a Head of Sixth Form and also as a Pastoral Deputy Head.

His hobbies include managing an allotment plot, dog-walking and holidaying in the UK with his family.

Mr Duncombe is Deputy Head (Community) across both King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls.  

He is involved in different roles across the two schools, and some across both, including various staff roles and coordinating the House systems. He has in recent years enjoyed helping re-establish the Houses at KEHS, and implemented a new approach to Service education.  

He has taught at KEHS since 2010, having begun his career ‘across the drive’ at KES in the late 1990s. His wider interests include travel, theatre visits, playing cricket and watching rugby. 

Mr Coverdale is Deputy Head across both King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls, a role which includes maintaining momentum on digital developments, as well as focusing on the broad pupil pathway from prospective pupil to departing Sixth Former, engaging with all the relevant stakeholders along the way.    

He first joined King Edward’s School in 2009 as a teacher of Economics and Business Management. He led the department’s introduction of the IB Diploma in both subjects during a seven-year tenure as Head of Department.  

During his time at KES, Mr Coverdale has coached rugby and cricket, as well as preparing nationally placed teams for Bank of England Economics competitions. He previously held Deputy Head roles at King Edward’s overseeing the Upper School and leading on digital and data strategies. 

Miss McMillan is the Director of Strategic Projects across King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls, a position she has held since September 2024. 

She has had a variety of roles during her time at KES including Deputy Chief Master, Deputy Head (Pastoral) and Head of Shells. Chemistry teaching continues to be a part of school life that she enjoys, as is going on the school ski trip. 

Mrs Whitehead is the Deputy Director of the KE Independent Schools Sixth Forms, a role which covers King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls.

She is committed to supporting Sixth Form students both in their pastoral welfare and academic studies, alongside many co-curricular and enrichment opportunities that develop their character, so they are well placed to flourish as tomorrow’s leaders. 

Mrs Robinson is Bursar (Finance and Estates) at King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls. She previously worked at King Edward Sheldon Heath Academy (KESH) as Director of Finance and Resources for 7 years and before that worked at KPMG as a Senior Manager in Risk Management, following time in audit. 

Among her career highlights have been co-ordinating the construction of a complete new build school on the KESH site which involved liaising with school staff, architects, the construction company and decant specialists, and implementing a new finance system when KESH moved from local authority control to financial independence. Mrs Robinson is a Chartered Accountant (ACA) and spends her spare time on the golf course pursuing this newly found hobby, following many years playing hockey.

Mrs Butterworth is Bursar (Operations) at King Edward VI High School for Girls and King Edward’s School. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA) who previously trained and worked with KPMG for 14 years. Her work there involved leading on a variety of local and international clients in both the areas of audit and transactional service work. 

Prior to her role across both schools, Mrs Butterworth was Assistant Bursar at KEHS, where she has been a regular point of contact for both parents and pupils alike. In her spare time, she is likely to be on a rugby sideline anywhere in the country supporting her teenage boys.

Mrs Salt is the Development Director at King Edward VI High School for Girls and King Edward’s School. A member of the Development and Alumni Relations Office since January 2022, she now oversees a team that, to date, has raised over £29 million for the two schools, principally for Assisted Places, as well as state-of-the-art facilities and learning support.

Mrs Salt is an active member of the Institute of Development Professionals in Education, and is also a Governor at a local primary school. Until recently, she was also a trustee of the British Gymnastics Foundation. She previously worked for the Warwick Independent Schools Foundation as well as having experience in higher education both in the UK and overseas. Mrs Salt read Sport & Exercises Sciences at the University of Birmingham, where she also played National League hockey for 10 seasons. Now in her spare time, Mrs Salt can be found supporting her children at various sports, as well as coaching hockey.

Mrs Bullock is Director of External Relations at King Edward VI High School for Girls, King Edward’s School and the King Edward VI Foundation. She previously worked for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents for 15 years, starting out as a Press Officer and holding the role of Executive Head of Awareness and Education (encompassing the charity’s policy and communications departments) at the time of her departure. 

Among her career highlights have been coordinating a year-long programme of activities to mark RoSPA’s centenary, and being shortlisted in the Regional Press Awards and Mind Journalist of the Year Award during her early career as a journalist at the Cambridge Evening News.

Mrs Bullock read Politics at the University of Manchester, before undertaking a Diploma in Journalism. During her spare time, she can often be found watching (and occasionally playing) cricket or on a campervanning adventure with her family.