Experience Unmatched Educational Leadership with Real Integrity, Passion for Schools, and a Commitment to Excellence!

As the world continues to become increasingly complex, education must be able to provide children with the opportunity to create a better future for themselves and those around them. With the rise of new technologies, it has never been more important to ensure that children have access to quality education and the necessary tools to succeed in this ever-evolving world.

The stark reality is that education can be among the most divided of human rights and opportunities. That is especially true for those who do not have access to the same educational resources and opportunities as those who are afforded them more easily.

It is in these cases that Clemmie has taken it upon herself to make a real difference and make the world a better place for generations to come. She has a mission to bridge the gap between those in need and access to quality education and to make sure that no one is left behind. She seeks to ensure that every child has access to the same educational opportunities and should be commended for her efforts.

Clemmie Stewart is a Director of Learning and Teaching at Chatsworth Schools and is leading the charge in creating incredible progress in education – providing children with the opportunity to have an outstanding future. She believes that the best way to ensure success for all children is by providing a quality education that is tailored to their individual needs, and this is at the heart of her approach.

She has worked hard to create a robust educational system that enables students to develop their knowledge and skills and to become well-rounded, confident individuals.

Clemmie Stewart is blazing a trail of educational excellence at Chatsworth Schools, providing a nurturing environment in which students can reach their highest potential. Her passion and dedication are shining examples to the Chatsworth community, leading the way for a brighter future for all. With her at the helm, Chatsworth Schools is making remarkable strides in delivering an unparalleled education and shaping brilliant minds for the years ahead.

Clemmie Stewart – A paragon of academic excellence and a true champion of the future who joined forces with the founder and CEO to develop a revolutionary learning framework, making sure that each school in the group can give children a personalized education that is tailored to their individual needs.

Let’s explore how she is providing top-tier education to children and elevating their learning experiences!

Clemmie, kindly brief us about yourself and your professional journey so far. What was your inspiration for stepping into Educational Administration Programs?

My first two years of teaching were spent at a boarding prep school, where I combined a class teaching role with being an assistant house parent and hockey coach. I then moved to the state sector, where I developed my ability to bring out the best in every child with a diet of high expectations and tailored teaching, all within a nurturing and safe environment.

Further to this, I worked for a London-based school as Director of Teaching and Learning before becoming Senior Head across two prep schools. I joined Chatsworth Schools in September 2021 as Director of Teaching and Learning after meeting Chatsworth Schools Founder and CEO Anita Gleave.

Anita has inspired me to disrupt, and that is what attracted me to the Chatsworth Schools role. It is one thing to continually question our “why,” “how,” and “what,” but it is quite another to act on it tangibly and pragmatically, and that is what I have the opportunity to do in my role at Chatsworth Schools.

Tell us about Chatsworth Schools, including its mission and vision. What is your role in group development and global outreach?

Chatsworth Schools operates fifteen schools and nurseries across the UK, and our mission is to enable outstanding futures for all our children. We focus on learning and believe that world-class schools enable our pupils to be world- and work-ready, confident, and well-rounded individuals. As a group, we share a commitment to integrity, resilience, and passion as our core values, and we endeavor to not only live our values but to encourage our school communities to do so too.

As Director of Learning and Teaching, I work closely with all our schools on an individual basis, as every school in our group is unique, although they are all non-selective. Last year, I co-authored a unique learning framework with our founder and CEO that ensures every school in the group can deliver a truly bespoke education tailored to each child’s needs. This bespoke framework is called the Chatsworth Tapestry, and it consists of six individual strands that encompass all the skills that children need to flourish in the 21st century: mindset, well-being, entrepreneurship, sustainability, global, and digital literacy. Each of our schools weaves these strands differently to adapt their learning to their children’s unique talents and needs.

Globally, I am part of the core team developing Blenheim Schools, the international school arm of Chatsworth Schools, that is re-imagining international education for investors and school owners around the world. Blenheim Schools aims to have the same international impact on children as Chatsworth Schools does for thousands of children in our UK schools and nurseries. In 2022, we finalized a partnership to open innovative, inclusive, international schools in KSA. The first school in this exciting new partnership opened in September 2022 and is called Beech Hall School Riyadh, a new British international school in Saudi Arabia powered by and guided by Chatsworth Schools.

Please enlighten us about your approach toward your work.

I am committed to research-based innovation alongside tested traditional pedagogy, with a great deal of passion for developing young people and staff alike. I completed my Master of Education last summer and am currently implementing my findings on coaching and teaching in all Chatsworth Schools. Part of this is building relationships based on trust and respect with colleagues across all of our schools, ensuring we are, as a genuine team, doing the very best we can for every child in our care.

Please highlight Chatsworth Schools and its prominent features.

For Chatsworth Schools, our criteria for success is: Enabling Outstanding Futures for all our children. This is not a tick-box exercise but a constant journey of challenge and improvement. Outlined below are just some of the ways we work to meet this criterion every day.

Outstanding Exam Results: In 2022, one of our schools, The Village Prep School in Belsize Park, announced fantastic Year 6 results, including ten scholarships (from a class of only 13 girls), at an impressive range of leading day schools. The scholarships included two major academic ones: a performing arts scholarship and a music scholarship.

Excellent Inspection Reports: In 2002, another of our schools, Highfield Prep, was found to be “Excellent” for every single element inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). The ISI found that ‘Throughout the school, pupils develop excellent knowledge in all areas of learning and acquire a high level of skill in literacy, numeracy, and ICT, which they confidently apply across the curriculum, successfully meeting the school’s aims.’

Innovative changes: Through the Chatsworth Schools Tapestry, we have designed a unique learning framework that ensures every Chatsworth School can deliver a truly bespoke education tailored to every child’s needs.

Commitment to Training and Funding: Chatsworth Schools recently secured the future of one of our London schools, Benedict House School in Sidcup, on an enlarged site, more than double the size of the existing school, and is now investing in a program of refurbishment. This work will see the creation of new subject specialist learning rooms and improve the outdoor spaces at the school with the addition of a floodlit all-year synthetic turf pitch, a forest school, and an extended play space including multi-activity areas and a jungle gym.

According to you, how do you support welfare and innovative learning for students?

We have proudly placed health and well-being at the heart of our Tapestry curriculum, recognizing and highlighting that children need to feel happy, safe, and secure to reach and unleash their potential. Last year we announced a partnership with Happy Space UK to support all pupils with their mental health and well-being, and all our schools now have mental health guidebooks, which are a core part of our approach to helping support our young people’s development, from their academics to their mental health and well-being and everything in between. For every child that benefits from this mental health partnership, a child at a state school is given the same access to resources and mental health support from Happy Space UK.

Our framework is forward-looking, taking into consideration the uncertain and ever-evolving future that our children face. We recognize that this uncertainty means our children need to learn to think critically, become solution-based problem solvers, and act with empathy and resilience. We have therefore created learning experiences that enable them to develop a toolkit that equips them to face their futures with confidence and excitement.

Tell us about the challenges you have faced and how they have shaped you as a business leader.

One of the biggest challenges of my career to date was the pandemic, and I know this was a huge challenge for so many of us.

One of my favorite quotes is that of C. S. Lewis: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” This can, of course, be applied to so much, but it seemed to ring particularly true as we navigate our way through the pandemic. The change was most certainly the case as a Head of two schools during COVID-19: change by the day, week, and, in some cases, hour. While it was a difficult time, it also provided many opportunities: to capitalize on rapidly expanding access to technology, to bring our communities together from afar, and to reconsider the purpose of education and how we deliver it.

As life started to return to some semblance of normality, I started a new role, and my new boss, Anita Gleave, founder and CEO of Chatsworth Schools and Blenheim Schools, asked me a question—a seemingly rhetorical one at the time! If you could rewrite education from scratch on a blank piece of paper, where would you start? What might have been a bonding icebreaker as I began my new role was a serious and strategic question that would ultimately lead us toward launching our own bespoke, unique, and inclusive educational framework, which is now in operation in the UK as well as in schools abroad—the Chatsworth Schools Tapestry.

Where do you envision yourself and your company’s global outreach in the upcoming years?

Looking ahead, I am excited both about our work in the UK, where we will continue to enable outstanding futures for children at all Chatsworth Schools schools and nurseries, and about our plans to grow internationally, which are an opportunity to spread best practices and enable outstanding futures for even more children.

Award

Chatsworth Schools was delighted to win Private School Operator of the Year at the 2021 and 2022 Education Investor Awards.