Safeguarding

Clare Harrison joined Merchant Taylors’ School in 2020, as Head of Upper School, and has been Deputy Head (Pastoral) and the Designated Safeguarding Lead since 2023.

Having completed her degree in Biochemistry at University College London and her PhD with Cancer Research UK, Clare embarked on a career in medical publishing, working for Springer Nature in Boston and Los Angeles. The birth of her first daughter convinced her to move back to the UK and pursue her childhood ambition of becoming a teacher. She retrained and worked in local state and private schools, including five years as a Housemaster at Haberdasher’s Boys’; School. Clare is married to James, who is Deputy Head Academic at a local girls’ school.

They have five children and in what little spare time they have, enjoy watersports, mountain climbing and wild camping. Clare is a Governor at The Royal Masonic School for Girls.

Michael Husbands is Second Master at MTS where he has worked for over 25 years.

He joined as a Classics Teacher teaching Latin and Greek, became Head of Department, then Head of Upper School, then Second Master, which initially involved overseeing all pastoral and safeguarding at the School.

Responsibilities now include deputising for the Head Master, operational management, emergency procedures, policies and inspection, and aspects of whole school routines and events. Michael is also an ISI Team Inspector.

After completing a BSc and PGCE at Bristol University, Tristan Greenaway began his teaching career at Merchant Taylors’ and has been here ever since.

A Biology teacher by training, he has held a number of roles across the school, including Head of House, 1st XV Coach, Director of PHAB, Head of Lower School, Head of Wellbeing, and now Deputy Head with responsibility for the Co-Curriculum.

He maintains a strong interest in sport and outdoor pursuits, both as a participant and an enthusiast.

Rollo Hesketh joined Merchant Taylors’ in 2022 as Head of Lower School and as a teacher in our History Department. He became Head of Middle School in 2025.

He began his career in advertising before moving into education, teaching at Wellington College, Sydney Grammar School, Australia and St Swithun’s School.

He holds an MA from the University of St Andrews, a Graduate Diploma in Education from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD from the University of Sydney.

James joined Merchant Taylors’ in 2012 after an earlier career in publishing. He grew up and still lives locally in Ruislip and remembers winter nights in the old MTS indoor cricket nets when he was in primary school in the early 90s. After his time at Cardinal Vaughan Catholic School, he took a break from Metroland to study at the University of York where he completed his MA in Romantic Literature.

He is an English teacher by trade but says that he enjoys the great variety of school life. He was Head of Mulcaster House for seven years before becoming the Head of Middle School. In 2025, he became Lower Master – the pastoral lead for the school’s new annual intake.

He has also worn various other hats, which he has enjoyed just as much as these roles such as: managing the Cross Country team; passing on poetry on the Battlefields and Lake District trips; editing the boys’ satirical newspaper ‘The Dependent’; leading London walking tours on the school’s early history; and nurdling the ball just off the square for the staff cricket team.

His would be interests are reading, writing, running and football. But he and his wife Anna have five young children – Albert, Jack, Nancy, and twins Ron and Len – so these are not always possible at the moment!

Mike Herring joined Merchant Taylors’ in 2018 as a teacher in our History Department and EPQ Coordinator; he took on the running of the Upper School in 2023.

He read History at Brasenose College, Oxford, and trained as a solicitor before seeing the light and turning to teaching. He returned to his alma mater and taught History and Politics at Bedford School where he was also tried his hand at, among other things, running tennis, Oxbridge admissions and assisting in one of the boarding houses.

He lives in London with his partner, Daisy and their extremely angry cat, Agnes. Mike’s interests, in no particular order, include hockey, ticking off Wainwrights, reading, wine, his Peloton, the poems of TS Eliot and Ogden Nash, grammar, Lancashire CCC and English cricket, and videos of cats.

As a supporter of Manchester City from ‘before’, he finds dealing with sporting success baffling.