St Mary’s School welcomes new senior appointments

St Mary’s School in Cambridge has bolstered its leadership team with two key senior appointments. Dr Patrick Wallace joins St Mary’s as Deputy Head (Academic) and Faisal Babar takes up the role of Bursar.

Dr Wallace joins St Mary's from The Leys School in Cambridge, where he was Head of Mathematics and held integral roles in various whole-school strategy groups and advisory committees. He was a Sixth Form form-master and tutor in the Sixth Form girls' boarding house, as well as President of Common Room. Prior to The Leys, Dr Wallace was based at Radley College where he taught mathematics, undertook EPQ and Oxbridge supervision, and ran the Football and Athletics clubs. Between 2002 and 2010 Dr Wallace was a Lecturer at the University of Oxford where he taught undergraduate and postgraduate Economics and was a tutor at St Catherine's College and Lady Margaret Hall.

Faisal Babar joins St Mary’s from St John's College School where he was School Bursar for seven years. A language graduate (French and Spanish), Faisal began his career in 1998 as an Internal Auditor at Cadbury Schweppes PLC – before progressing to the roles of Financial Analyst and Business Process Specialist. Before joining St John’s, Faisal worked for the John Lewis Partnership for eight years. Roles included Finance & Systems Manager; Marketing Manager for Financial Services; and Branch Development Manager.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr Wallace said: 

"I am delighted to be joining St Mary’s: a dynamic, nurturing school, with an outstanding track record and an ambitious focus on High Performance Learning. It’s an exciting time at St Mary’s and I look forward to working with Charlotte Avery and her team to continue empowering, educating and inspiring our students.” 

Faisal added:

“It’s a milestone year for St Mary’s, with several capital projects either underway or in the pipeline that will transform the school’s learning facilities for future generations of students. I’m enthusiastic to get started, become a part of the St Mary’s community and help the school deliver on its growth and development ambitions.”

Charlotte Avery, Headmistress at St Mary’s School, said:

“Blessed with a strong field of applicants for both roles, we are delighted to have appointed Dr Wallace and Faisal Babar. Both are valued additions to our ambitious teaching and learning community. Their exceptional expertise and experience will enable them both to make a strong impact at pace. We look forward to welcoming both Patrick and Faisal to St Mary’s and witnessing the great things they will achieve here.”

Also joining the St Mary’s team is Susan Gardner-Craig, who takes up the role of Head of Human Resources at the school. Susan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  Susan has worked in both private and public sector organisations and most recently held a strategic management role for South Cambridgeshire Council.