School Staff

Kate Imeson – Nursery

Kate was born in London, grew up in Bath and studied American Literature at Birmingham University, where she was awarded a scholarship to the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her first career was in television, where she produced award-winning programmes for Channel 4 including ‘Lonely Planet’ and ‘Location, Location, Location.’

Kate’s association with Highgate Primary began in 2006 when her first child started in Reception. Since then, Kate has been a parent volunteer and a PSA Chair before setting up a SureStart Centre with baby and toddler groups, breastfeeding support and a thriving Dads’ Club in the building that is now Nursery.

In 2012 Kate finally fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a teacher. At Highgate Primary Kate is passionate about early education and has  led both Early Years and Key Stage 1. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, Kate loves creating beautiful and inspiring learning spaces and provocations, champions outdoor learning and provides expertise on phonics and early reading.

Outside of school Kate is happiest walking, cooking and having fun with friends and family.

Luke Osbourne – Reception

Tom Bhanji – Reception

Tom joined the Highgate Primary community as a parent in 2006.  His three children and two of his nieces have all been to Highgate Primary.  Tom joined the staff as a TA working with children with SEND in 2012 and worked for many years as a class TA before completing teacher training in 2019.  Tom has a degree in English Literature and is passionate about music, creative writing, film and languages.  He also has many years of experience working in film production.  He loves working with children and with the amazing team of adults at Highgate Primary, finding particular joy in collaborative performances and community events.  His job titles are Class Teacher and Sustainability Lead. 

Jo Bell – Reception

Julie Zhou -Year 1

Julie Zhou 

Julie joined Highgate Primary School as a Mandarin teacher and Mandarin Lead in 2022, after many years of teaching Mandarin at an international school in Southern China. Embracing a new career challenge, she undertook a teaching apprenticeship at HPS, through which she gained Qualified Teacher Status. She later joined the Early Years team as an Early Career Teacher, teaching in Nursery and Year 1. She studied Literature, Film and Visual Culture at Sussex University and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Education. As both a teacher and a parent at HPS, she feels incredibly fortunate to be part of such a warm, inclusive, and supportive community. Outside of school, she is always up for a singalong, strumming her ukulele whenever she can, and adventuring to exciting new spots with her family. 

Rosie Pike – Year 1

Rosie is a Reception teacher at Highgate Primary school. But she wasn’t always a teacher. For many years, Rosie worked as a journalist at the BBC, mainly working on Radio programmes on Radio 4 including Front Row, The Forum and In Our Time. She also worked at the BBC World Service Radio, travelling a great deal for her work, making programmes in Cuba, Tanzania, Kenya and Northern Ireland. She has been lucky enough to live in other parts of the world including Grenada and Barbados in the Caribbean. Rosie is happy to say that she found her way into education, initially as a teaching assistant at Highgate Primary over 10 years ago. Since then she has retrained as a teacher has enjoyed every moment of it. Rosie has two quite big children of her own, who still keep her pretty busy.  

Lorraine Gooday – Year 1

After doing a degree in English and Film Studies, working for Waterstones and raising two boys, Lorraine spent several years volunteering at her children’s primary school as a Better Reading Partner and swimming coach. She soon took on a more permanent role supporting children in the classroom and organising events.  Loving the school environment and daily interactions with both children and their parents, she felt that she had, at last, found her true vocation. After completing teacher training, Lorraine joined Highgate Primary in 2009. Here, she has taught classes from Nursery to Y3, led Design Technology and alongside teaching Year 1, is now a specialist cookery teacher.  Lorraine is passionate about teaching every child the life skills of cooking and educating them in healthy food choices (although knowing how to bake a crisp cookie or a fluffy cake is also important in life). Lorraine represents the National Education Union in the school and spends much of her free time walking her dogs and, you’ve guessed it, baking! 

Rob Burgess – Year 2

Rob joined Highgate Primary School in 2011. After primarily teaching older year groups, Rob has recently reinvented himself as a Year 2 teacher. Upon joining the school, he led PE and later took on the role of phase leader. More recently, Rob has added maths to his repertoire as well as overseeing school data. Alongside his teaching qualification, Rob holds a degree in International Relations. An avid traveller, he has taken two gap years to explore South America, Africa, and Asia. Rob enjoys a bit of a challenge, having run two ultra-marathons, walked extensively in the Himalaya and hiked across Iceland for a month. A big Bristol Rovers fan, Rob is a passionate follower of football and sport in general. 

India Oliver – Year 2

India is currently a Year 2 class teacher and the Citizenship Lead at Highgate Primary School. She initially joined us as a student teacher in 2020 and worked in Year 2 then as well. Having grown up locally, she had strong family connections to the school and completed a placement at Highgate Primary during the third year of her Primary Education degree. India is now in her sixth year of teaching at our school and has led Science, DT, and now Citizenship. She loves the school’s inclusive and supportive ethos, particularly its acceptance of others. As such, one of her key recent focus areas has been guiding the school to gain its ‘Rights Respecting School’ title and encouraging children to support and advocate for themselves. She is an avid reader, theatre-goer, and traveller, and before teaching, she had a prior career as a hairdresser, training with Vidal Sassoon.

Louise Joll – Year 3

Lucinda Thomas – Year 3

Lucinda’s connection with Highgate Primary School began 12 years ago at the Family Centre when she was pregnant with her daughter and attended midwife appointments.  Weekly newborn weigh in sessions progressed onto Play and Stay sessions which continued throughout the toddler years. Valuable friendships with the local and school community were formed and it seemed only natural for her daughter to attend HPS as a student from Nursery through to Year 6.  

Lucinda fell in love with the school and its ethos as a parent and as an experienced primary school teacher herself, she always dreamt of joining the team. Lucinda graduated in 2000 from the University of Cambridge with a BEd (hons) degree and has taught from Year 1 – Year 6 in various London primary schools and spent two years teaching English in Singapore. Throughout her teaching career Lucinda has held positions such as Deputy Headteacher, Assistant Headteacher, Leading Literacy Teacher and Maths leader so when in 2024 a position in Nursery became available Lucinda seized the opportunity with both hands and joined the HPS staff team. She is now very happily teaching Year 3 and every day at work brings her delight. Lucinda loves travel, baking, taking her dog on long woodland walks and is currently fine tuning her Italian! 

Jen Samson – Year 4

Kate Pennington – Year 4

Kate joined Highgate Primary School in September 2025 as a Year 4 Early Career Teacher. Before discovering her passion for teaching, she studied architecture and later worked in interior design for IKEA where she was often found up ladders at dawn, power tools in hand, gaining skills she never expected.

Reflecting on her happiest moments working at children’s summer camps, Kate realised she wanted a career filled with creativity and energy. Teaching is exactly that, and she is delighted to have ended up at Highgate Primary School where she already feels completely at home. Outside the classroom, she enjoys singing in a choir, drawing and playing the cello. Kate grew up locally but loves escaping London, especially for long walks or mountain climbs with family and friends.

Emily Harries – Year 4

Emily started volunteering at Highgate Primary School in 2020 during her teacher training. She loved the creative, inclusive and welcoming atmosphere of the school and has stayed there ever since! Before teaching, Emily studied history at university. During the school holidays, she spent 6 years working as a playworker then deputy at a playscheme for young people aged 5-21 with SEND. This is where she discovered her love for supporting neurodiverse children and soon after became a teaching assistant in a special school. Emily is now a Year 2 Class Teacher and Science Lead. Having spent her childhood in the countryside, exploring and searching for minibeasts, she loves sharing her interest in wildlife with the children at Forest School. Outside of school, she loves reading, going to see live music, gaming and visiting her family in Devon.  

Nick Lynch – Year 5

David Calvert – Year 5

Year 5 Teacher and Staff Governor

Matthew Bowmer – Year 6

Matthew was lucky enough to be placed at Highgate Primary School for his final PGCE placement in the spring of 2024. Until that point he had been unsure about whether teaching was the right profession for him, but the atmosphere and ethos of the school convinced him to apply for a role as a class teacher – a decision he is very happy with! He currently works with year 4 in the first of two years as an Early Career Teacher. 

Before teaching, he studied Geography at the University of Bristol with a year at Sciences Po, Paris. The years following graduation were spent trying many different roles, restless to experience new environments. This included working as the manager of a charity shop in Tottenham for 18 months. In his spare time, he likes long-distance walking, has a soft spot for sudoku puzzles and is an avid follower of Fulham Football Club. 

Karen Tickner – Year 6

A Haringey native, Karen went to school locally, moving to Brighton to complete a degree in Graphic Design. After graduating, she worked for a bank before realising her true calling and moving back to London to complete a PGCE in 2007, going on to work at schools in Haringey and Barnet for many years.

Covid rolled round, and now with a small child of her own under her wing, Karen decided to follow her passion for the outdoors and complete a Forest School Leader qualification. Deciding to take a break from the classroom, Karen used her new qualification to deliver Forest School sessions in Highgate Wood, Kenwood and inner-city parks, as well as supporting the training and assessment of adult learners. Alongside this, she kept her teaching skills sharp working for the National Tuition Programme, and it was through this initiative that she was introduced to Highgate Primary School.

Three years on, and missing the buzz and academic challenge of the classroom, Karen jumped at the chance when William let her know that Highgate Primary were recruiting for a new Year 6 teacher and PSHE lead. Karen loves teaching as it allows her to channel her creativity, have philosophical discussions with enthusiastic learners and every day is fresh and exciting. She feels fortunate to have found Highgate Primary, as it is such a caring, supportive and creative place to be. Outside school, Karen loves spending time in the woods, camping, relaxing with family in front of a good movie, cooking delicious food and attempting DIY in her renovation project of a house.

Michael Ingall-Clark