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.

Tristan is the Deputy Head (Co-curricular)

Rollo is the Head of Middle School

James is the Lower Master and is the Head of Year 7.

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.