EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST
EDUCATION CORNER PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD
Mrs. Nina Kingsmill Moore FROM WETHERBY PREPARATORY SCHOOL, LONDON In this episode of Education Corner Podcast, Mrs. Nina Kingsmill Moore spoke to us about her new Headship at Wetherby Preparatory School.
Mrs. Nina Kingsmill Moore joined Wetherby Preparatory school in August 2024 with a wealth of experience, including previous roles as Headmistress at Glendower Preparatory School and Deputy Head at Lambrook School. Nina told us: “Education has been something that I have been passionate about now for many, many years.” Nina also described her unique first headship at Glendower: “I joined and then in the first term we were inspected and then straight after that we went into lockdown,” she reflected. “I learnt such invaluable lessons in that time there [...] the ability to take a school through moments of crisis [...] those skills were absolutely fine-tuned, tested to their limits.” Indeed, Nina’s first senior leadership role was at Wetherby Notting Hill, so returning to Wetherby Preparatory School feels familiar. “There’s a little place in my heart for Wetherby, always has been. So when I heard about the opportunity, I had to explore it further [...] the more I found out, the more I was excited about coming back.” she explained. Nina also told us of the exciting energy and passion at Wetherby Prep: “[...] there’s a real sense of buzz, productivity and real purpose in the building. [...] These are boys who are throwing themselves into learning.” Wetherby Preparatory
School has six core values: teamwork, inclusivity, kindness, perseverance, respect and honesty, which Nina feels strongly inspire and represent the school community, with weekly assemblies on one of the values. Nina has also introduced a “random acts of kindness box” to continue to promote and celebrate the boys’ embodiment of the school’s values: “The boys can spot somebody within the school being brilliant and kind and helpful. They write them down, they nominate them and then each week in assembly I will open the box and randomly select three or four of those to read out to the full school assembly, including parents, who come to watch the assemblies as well. Then we can really celebrate these values in action.” As many families prepare to navigate the admissions process, Nina reminded them: “We sometimes try to apply other people’s stories to our own child [...] we sometimes forget that each child is unique and individual.” At Wetherby, Nina meets with parents one-on-one to advise and support them as they navigate the sometimes complex and stressful admissions process. She told us of this process: “The advice I give to one group of parents, 20 minutes later, I will be giving completely different advice to the next set of parents. Now, if they were to go out and compare notes, they would think ‘Mrs. Kingsmore has gone mad. She’s saying different things’ but the reason is because I’m applying EDUCATION CHOICES MAGAZINE | AUT UM N 2024 | 19
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