Our Senior Leadership Team is made up of people with a broad range of skills, expertise and qualifications.

The Senior Leadership Team work together across all settings to ensure that the education and care we provide to children is of the highest standard, that our staff are supported and well-trained, that the children we care for are protected from harm and that our facilities and resources are of the highest standard.  All members of the Senior Leadership Team are happy to be contacted at any time.

Karen Mehta

Karen Mehta

Headteacher
Hilary Sharples

Hilary Sharples

Director of Quality
Grace Cole

Grace Cole

Director of Operations
Dr Alice Turner

Dr Alice Turner

Director of Quality of Care
Charlotte Bingham Brindle

Charlotte Bingham Brindle

Director of Compliance
Nazma Ahmed

Nazma Ahmed

Director of HR and Nursery Operations

Karen Mehta

Headteacher

Qualifications: B.Ed (Hons) NPQH

Career overview: I have been teaching for many years now and have been a Headteacher since 2006 both overseas in Brunei and, since 2014, here at Ashbridge School.

Professional interests: As a scientist I have always loved practical work, investigating and trying to solve problems and test predictions. As a teacher I particularly love teaching Maths and recently have gained new knowledge and experience of computing and other aspects of ICT.

Personal interests: I love walking and travel and, combining the two, I walked along a glacier, past the Everest Base Camp a few years ago which was an amazing experience. I like to scuba dive too, but only in tropical waters!  A keen reader and movie watcher, I enjoy both fiction and nonfiction books and any movie that involves space travel or history.

Hilary Sharples

Director of Quality

Qualifications: CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION

Career overview: My teaching career began in a village school in Lancashire where I taught early years and Infants before moving on to work as an advisory support teacher. I then began my career with the company  as an early years co-ordinator which then led on to becoming the founding Headteacher for Ashbridge school in 1995. As Ashbridge developed my position changed in 2014 when I began in my current senior leadership role as Director of Quality.

Professional interests: I have always been passionate about the importance of early years and primary education and have promoted the value of high quality experiences for young children. In all of my roles with Ashbridge I have been able to share this passion with others within our teams and am particularly interested in  developing practitioners and teachers to ensure children benefit from the very best opportunities.

Personal interests: I have two sons, my youngest who attended school himself and now two granddaughters both of whom attended the school.  Family is very important to me as is being out in the fresh air, gardening and travelling to new and exciting places.

Grace Cole

Director of Operations

Qualifications: BSc (Hons), MRICS, NVQ Level 3 ChildcareCareer overview: I have been working at Ashbridge since 2011. I have a global role, working across all four settings. I work alongside the managers at each setting and my focuses include; new enquiries and occupancy levels, parent partnerships, all aspects of personnel management and I am also one of the Designated Safeguarding Leads.Professional interests: Within my role at Ashbridge my greatest passion is employee engagement and ensuring our staff team are motivated to provide the best quality care and education to the children who are in our care.Personal interests: I am married and have three daughters, Aurora, Elva and Flora all of whom attend Ashbridge.

Dr Alice Turner

Director of Quality of Care

Qualifications: MBChB (Medicine), BSc PsychologyCareer overview: I have been part of the Ashbridge family for many years and joined the school as a pupil in its very first year! After graduating from Manchester Medical School I worked as Doctor in the NHS for 5 years before deciding to join the team at Ashbridge. My chosen clinical speciality was Psychiatry and I also completed a BSc in Psychology alongside my medical degree.Professional interests: From my experience working in clinical psychiatry and from studying for my Psychology degree I have developed a keen interest in the social, emotional and cognitive development of early childhood, as well as the theories around ‘Attachment’. I use my knowledge and experience to deliver training sessions with our nursery practitioners about the importance of quality interactions and nurturing care. I have also played a key role in developing and implementing the key person policy.Personal interests: Outside of work I enjoy going for long walks in the countryside with my husband, daughter Orla, who attends Ashbridge Nursery at Maxy Farm, and dog, Hector. I am also a black belt in Shotokan Karate and a qualified Ski Instructor!

Charlotte Bingham Brindle

Director of Compliance

Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Motorsports, PGCE Physics, QTSCareer overview: After working in retail management whilst at university I trained as a secondary teacher and taught Physics at a semi-rural secondary school for 5 years. I joined Ashbridge in 2015 as Communication and Compliance Officer and am now Director of Compliance. I have responsibility for regulatory compliance, school admissions, health and safety, recruitment processes, online safety and web development. I am also a Designated Safeguarding Lead for the company and a Compliance Team Inspector for the Independent Schools Inspectorate.Professional interests: I am a strong believer that investing in a child’s early years and primary education sets them up for a successful future and my main focus is on ensuring they have a safe and effective environment  in which to develop and grow. I am a strong believer in the benefits of outdoor education and managed risk taking and ensure our health and safety policies and procedures allow for this.Personal interests: I am married and have two young children, Felix and Penelope, both of whom started Ashbridge Nursery as babies and now attend Ashbridge School . Our free time is spent exploring local woodland, bike riding and walking our labradoodle, Duggee.  I have been a volunteer with Girlguiding in the Preston area for over 15 years; I am currently a Brownie leader but have also held a number of positions of additional responsibility including County Residential Advisor and District Commissioner in recent years.

Nazma Ahmed

Director of HR and Nursery Operations

Qualifications: BSc (Hons) Psychology, Leadership & Management (Care) Level 4, CMI Level 7 Leadership & ManagementCareer overview: I joined the Ashbridge family in June 2020 & support the people management across the organisation, working alongside managers and staff to help people realise their full potential. Prior to joining the Ashbridge family, I enjoyed various senior management roles in the Health and Social Care sector for over 15 years.Professional interests: I have always been professionally interested in working with people and staff teams to achieve their aspirations by understanding the whole person and giving them the opportunities to experience new and diverse interactions. I enjoy seeing people realising their professional potential and supporting them to attain it. I also developed a strong belief in the importance of early years attachment whilst studying Psychology at university, and have got a passion for nurturing a child's emotional and social development to support them to explore the world around them.Personal interests: I am married with 2 children - Manny and Nene both of whom have enjoyed accessing the fantastic resources and outdoor facilities at Lindle Lane. As a family we all love the outdoors and music. I have been a leader of a local Girlguiding unit for over 15 years and enjoy supporting the children there to access exciting and fun filled activities. My other biggest passion is food and cooking - I come from a long line of fantastic Bengali cooks and hope to continue the tradition with my children!

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