Senior Management Group

As one of the most diverse and inclusive independent schools in the UK, St Clare’s, Oxford is led and managed by a team committed to creating an academically aspirational and supportive international community, and an inspiring co-curricular programme. We aim to nurture well-rounded adults ready for whatever the future may bring.

Principal – Duncan Reith MA (Oxford) MA (Open) PGCE (Roehampton) MBA (Durham)

Duncan joins St Clare’s as Principal in September 2022. He has over twenty years’ experience of education management in international, independent and state schools. Headteacher of Charterhouse in Shenzhen before joining St Clare’s, and Vice Principal of Shrewsbury in Guangzhou before that, he worked in pastoral leadership as Senior Housemaster at Durham School for seven years and in academic leadership as Head of Teaching and Learning at the British School in Muscat, as Head of English at Culford School and on the Sixth Form team at the Thomas Hardye School. He has also been actively involved on school governing bodies, including as Chair of Governors of Ixworth School in Suffolk.

Duncan read Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, and English Literature at the Open University. He took his PGCE at Roehampton and his MBA at Durham University. His first teaching experience after university was in teaching English as a Second Language, first in summer schools in Oxford and then in Greece, after which he moved to the independent sector, taking on his first boarding housemaster role at Walhampton.

Coming from a diplomatic family, he has held a long-lasting belief in the importance of working internationally to promote understanding and co-operation. Throughout his career in schools, he has always believed in holistic education, in the need for students to develop a full range of life skills and the ability to lead change if they are to enjoy the most fulfilling lives and make a difference. He was married for 23 years, and has two sons, now grown up. He enjoys travelling, reading, hill walking, sport and going to the theatre.

Vice Principal, Pastoral (IB World School) – Rebecca Allen

Becky joins St Clare’s as Vice Principal, Pastoral in September 2023. Becky has extensive experience of pastoral leadership and management, having previously held the roles of Deputy Head: Pastoral and Head of Middle School at Roedean School in Brighton, and Sixth Form Housemistress at Ardingly College in Sussex. It was at Ardingly that Becky first taught the International Baccalaureate, and she has been a huge advocate for the programme ever since. Becky believes that excellent pastoral care supports both personal development and academic progress, and she is a keen supporter of the focus placed by the IB on students developing emotional literacy and effective interpersonal and communication skills.

Becky lives at St Clare’s with her partner and two children. Becky and her family moved to Oxford from Brighton, where Becky spent much of her time sea swimming and paddle boarding. Becky also enjoys yoga, cooking and travel, and her family are all keen campers and festival attendees. Becky has taught both English Literature and Language and Drama. Her particular areas of academic focus lie in early modern drama and post-war British theatre, and she is interested in how creativity and performance support teaching and learning.

Becky has a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an MA in English, both from the University of Warwick. Becky began her career in London, enjoying a brief stint as an animation studio manager in Soho before taking up the first of several roles at the British Museum. She spent six years as a curator working on a number of museum projects, notably the 2012 exhibition Shakespeare: staging the world and the 2010 BBC radio series A History of the World in 100 Objects. Becky oversaw the transformation of this ground-breaking series into an international touring exhibition, writing the accompanying catalogue and delivering lectures at the exhibition’s opening in Abu Dhabi.

Vice Principal, Academic (IB World School) – David White

David joins St. Clare’s as Vice Principal, Academic in September 2023. After beginning his teaching career in London, he left for what he thought would be a short sojourn teaching internationally and now returns to the UK twenty four years later having worked in schools in Singapore, the UAE, and Romania. He has extensive experience working with the IBO as a teacher and examiner, and has worked in various leadership roles in this time. He finished his 17 years at United World College of South East Asia in Singapore as the IB Diploma Coordinator and Vice Principal, having previously worked as a Head of Grade, Head of Department and Boarding Houseparent. Following this, he was the IB Diploma Coordinator and Vice Principal at the American International School of Bucharest until last year when he moved online to help lead and coordinate the launch of the first ever online Diploma programme with King’s Interhigh.

Following a BA in English and Philosophy from the University of Southampton, David took his PGCE at the University of Bath and, more recently, has a Masters in Film from Staffordshire University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Glasgow. Primarily an English teacher, he has also taught Film and TOK at IB Diploma level. He has a passionate belief in the IB ethos and its holistic, aspirational mission as a context within which students can thrive, both academically and personally.

David has experience of the IB programme as a parent as well as an educator, as he and his wife have three children, two of whom have recently completed the IB Diploma. They also live with three adopted street dogs, one from Singapore and two from Romania (none of whom have yet completed the IB Diploma). In his spare time, David enjoys walking with his wife and dogs, as well as running, swimming and writing. He is the co-author of a website for IB English teachers and the solo author of a draft novel that haunts him on a daily basis.

Director of Marketing, Admissions and Development – Suzanne Mowat BA (Glamorgan) CIM

Suzanne joined St Clare’s in July 2018 and is responsible for providing strategic leadership with regards to all the core marketing activities undertaken across the college.

After graduating with a BA (Hons) in Communication, Media and Culture, Suzanne undertook several marketing qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and then became an International Marketing Manager for a publishing company based in Boston. She now has over 14 years international marketing, admissions and recruitment experience from the Higher Education sector and was until recently Head of International Student Recruitment, Marketing and Development at Oxford Brookes University. She has spent a lot of time working with international students, their families, schools and universities overseas and has visited over 50 countries.

Suzanne works closely with Kings Sutton Primary Academy and is Secretary for the Charity ‘It’s for the Kids’. In 2017 she helped raise over £16k to provide IT equipment for the benefit of the children. This year she is embarking on a project to modernise their library. Suzanne has two young children at primary school, and in her spare time, enjoys a sporting challenge – from half marathons to 100km cycle rides through the night.

Bursar and Clerk to The Governors – Justin Moore 

Justin Joined St Clare’s in June 2019 assuming responsibility for the full gamut of the College’s non-academic activities. Justin has a law degree from the Open University, an MSc in Defence Management from Cranfield University and is also a Chartered Management Accountant (CIMA). He was commissioned into the Army after training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and spent over 24 years in postings on the UK mainland and Northern Ireland, as well as various tours and operational deployments overseas, often within multinational command structures. Latterly, Justin led a team of finance professionals within the strategic apex of the Army, costing the Army’s manpower, equipment, training activity, and infrastructure. However an earlier and highly enjoyable tour at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom had sparked his interest in effective resource management in education, so when he left the Army in 2013 he took up the post of Bursar of Bishop Wordsworth’s School, in Salisbury.

Justin was drawn to St Clare’s because of its international outlook but readily acknowledges his linguistic shortcomings. When not taxi driving daughters, his interests include paragliding, hill walking, history, travel, cycling and all things outdoors. Having handed in his membership card of rugby’s Front Row Union he now enjoys time in the middle with a referee’s whistle.