St Albans Education Group Appoints Mike Lewis MBE, as Chief Operating Officer

Posted: 24th January 2025

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mike Lewis MBE, as Chief Operating Officer of St Albans Education Group (STAEG). STAEG was established in 2024 following the merger of Stormont School with St Albans High School for Girls, one of the UK’s leading independent schools. Mike becomes the Group’s first COO, joining the Executive Team led by Principal Amber Waite.

Mike’s appointment follows an extensive recruitment process led by the independent school specialists Odgers Berndtson.

 

After reading Aeronautics & Astronautics at Southampton, Mike went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, commissioning into the Royal Engineers. He served for 22 years in the British Army in a variety of increasingly senior roles, in the UK and abroad. Mike then brought his experience to the education sector as Director of Operations for the Haberdashers’ Elstree Schools and more recently to NHS England. For the past seven years he has been a trustee of Watford Grammar School for Girls, where he is currently Vice-Chair.

Mike is married to Victoria, a professional classical musician, and has three grown up children. His interests include snowboarding (when ageing knee joints permit), sea kayaking around the southern coastline and along the River Thames and he is a weekend rugby first aider.

Mike said, ‘I am delighted to be joining STAEG. Being in on the ‘ground floor’ of a new, dynamic group backed by STAHS, one of the country’s educational powerhouses is a rare opportunity. I am looking forward to becoming part of the STAEG community of pupils, parents and colleagues and contributing to the development and success of the Group.’

Amber Waite, Principal of St Albans Education Group said: ‘Mike stood out from a strong field of candidates. His combination of strategic and operational experience, coupled with his commitment to enabling the best educational experience and outcomes for students will be a great asset to STAEG. Exciting times lie ahead for STAEG as we grow our group, and I am confident Mike will bring clear-sighted, warm and authoritative leadership to our operations.’


Christmas Arrives at Stormont!

Posted: 25th November 2024

Christmas has arrived at Stormont! The decorations are now up and the school is looking really festive ahead of the nativity play next week. Our Stormont Parents’ Association have worked hard to put up the trees and decorations around the school. The girls were all so happy when they came out of their classrooms on Friday to see the twinkling lights and sparkling decorations all around!

The girls have an exciting few weeks ahead with the Pre-Prep nativity play, the Prep carol service, the whole school Christmas lunch and their class Christmas parties to name just a few of the things they have to look forward to before the end of term on the 13th December. What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!


Remembrance Service

Posted: 25th November 2024

Thank you to the Royal British Legion for inviting us to take part in their third Remembrance Service on Friday 8th November. As in previous years our Year 6 girls represented Stormont at the service, and some of the girls were invited to participate in various parts of the service. It was an honour to be invited as part of Remembrance services across the country and represent Potters Bar schools at this event.

 


SPA Autumn Disco and Pumpkins

Posted: 25th November 2024

At the end of the first half of the Autumn term our Stormont Parents’ Association organised the annual Autumn party for the girls. It is a fun-packed day for the girls, with a non-uniform day allowing them to come in their party clothes all ready. There was also a pumpkin decorating competition to which there were some amazing entries, so congratulations to the winners and all those who entered.

          


Year 6 2023-24 Destination Schools and Scholarships

Posted: 14th June 2024

We are proud to announce the destination schools for our 2024 Year 6 leavers. The girls have worked very hard throughout the 11 plus process, and have all secured a school of their choice.

This year the destinations are:

Belmont Mill Hill Haileybury Presdales St Albans High School (STAHS)
Chancellors Hockerill Anglo-European College Queenswood St Margaret’s School
Dame Alice Owen’s Mount House School Sherrardswood

We are also pleased to announce the girls received the following scholarship offers:

Art Scholarship
Honorary Art Scholarship
Music Scholarship
Principal’s Award for Art
Principal’s Award for Drama

All of us here at Stormont send the biggest congratulations to all our Year 6 girls for their successes, and we wish them the best of luck for their futures. We are looking forward to sharing the last few weeks with them as Stormont Girls!

 


St Albans Education Group

Posted: 13th May 2024

We are pleased to announce that from September 2024, Stormont School will merge with St Albans High School for Girls (STAHS) to become part of a new education group. This merger is an exciting opportunity to further strengthen the already close ties between Stormont and STAHS through a more formal partnership. The St Albans Education Group will include Stormont School, STAHS Prep School, and STAHS Senior School and whilst the individuality and character of each of these schools will continue to be celebrated and developed, the merger, will provide strength, stability and opportunity for all.

We have prepared a set of FAQs, available here, to address the most common questions, and we are happy to answer any additional questions if contacted directly.

We are committed to retaining our family feel and will still recognise and reward every pupil for her efforts as well as her achievements and continue to develop happy, confident girls and we look forward to an exciting new chapter in Stormont’s history.


Happy 80th Birthday to Stormont School!

Posted: 12th January 2024

As we enter into 2024, we are excited that Stormont turns 80 years old! The house became a school in 1944, and over 50 day pupils were moved from Mymwood in Brookmans Park, which was required again for Queenswood junior boarders towards the end of the second world war.  Since opening on the current site in 1944, Stormont has had 5 Headmistresses, with the current Head Miss Martin appointed in 2020.  To read more of our history, please click here.

There will be many ways that the school will celebrate this year, so please follow our social media pages for more information. Happy 80th birthday Stormont!


End of Year Festivities

Posted: 15th December 2023

So we come to the end of another year, with the girls (and staff) all off on their Christmas holidays ready for a season of goodwill. The last few weeks of school have seen a whirlwind of activity, which started with our Pre-Prep nativity play. The girls put on amazing performances for the whole school and their parents. The Prep girls performed their carol service at Christ Church Little Heath with a mixture of singing and musical performances.

Our year 5 class had visits to Cuffley Care Home and Cooperscroft to sing Christmas carols, with many residents now looking forward to our termly visits. Everyone sang carols and enjoyed listening to the girls sing.

Towards the end of term, the girls had their end of year Christmas party, with games and music starting off their party season. The Pre-Prep girls had a visit from Father Christmas, and they couldn’t believe he was there to see them! Finally, to end the term, the whole school sat down together for the school Christmas lunch, with the obligatory Christmas jumper, took place on the 12th December, with everyone enjoying a full Christmas dinner and dessert cooked by our catering team. It was a feast for everyone! The day ended with a full school quiz, which the girls really enjoyed.

From everyone at Stormont School, we wish you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous new year! See you all in January.


Yuletide Christmas Fair

Posted: 4th December 2023

Saturday 2nd December saw Stormont School host our annual Yuletide fair, and what a great day it was! The atmosphere was buzzing with Christmas excitement and activity over the main areas of the school. With our external stallholders, our class stalls and our new elf emporium everyone had a great day doing some Christmas shopping and activities. Our sports hall had 2 bouncy castles for the children to bounce away their Christmas excitement, and they could then move on to visit to the teacher’s stall to show off some of their throwing and shoot the hoop skills.

Our elf emporium, hosted by Buddy the Elf himself, allowed the girls to make their bag of reindeer food ready for Christmas Eve. They also could decorate a gingerbread man, decorate baubles and crowns, and make their own crackers, and have an elfie selfie with Buddy! Finally, with a trip to the nail salon the girls had a fun day, going home happy and in the Christmas spirit.

All of us at Stormont wish to thank our SPA Chairs, our SPA parent reps, parents and teachers who all either worked hard to organise the event or gave up their time on the day to help run the stalls. We are very grateful to have such a supportive community to bring these extra events to enrich our school life.


Christmas Has Arrived!

Posted: 24th November 2023

Today, volunteers from our Stormont Parents’ Association came into school and transformed it into a Christmas grotto! While the girls were in lessons our parents were working hard around the school putting up trees and other decorations, which were met with delight as the girls emerged from their classrooms. Thank you to our volunteers, and we now look forward to our Pre-Prep nativity play next week!


How to find
Stormont School

The Causeway,
Potters Bar,
Herts,
EN6 5HA
01707 654037

Stormont School

Spring Open Mornings

We are delighted to invite you to our Jungle Safari Family Open Morning on Saturday 1st March 9.00am – 10.30am and our Working Open Morning on Thursday 20th March 9.00am – 11.00am.

To confirm your attendance please email admissions@stormontschool.org or click here.