Our people

Founder

Mark Malley

CEO

Mark founded Bellevue Education nearly 20 years ago and is passionate about education. In 2003, he took over a troubled London preparatory school; it had failed two school inspections and was on the verge of closing. Within a year, Mark had turned the school around, achieving an Outstanding inspection report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The school was graded Outstanding again in its next inspection and by the time Mark left the school in 2011 it was oversubscribed and sharing best practice with other schools.

With a vision to bring schools together, allowing them to share best practice and provide expertise and resources, Mark has since expanded the portfolio of schools under the Bellevue name, and is the CEO of our family of schools.

Education team

Steven Wade

Group Education Director

As Group Education Director and Chairman of our Education Committee, Steve supports our headteachers and their staff with all manner of management and strategic matters, allowing them more time to focus on actual learning and development outcomes and instilling in every child a lasting love of learning. Steve has lived and breathed teaching from an early age having come from a family of teachers, and with over 20 years’ experience in the sector brings a wealth of knowledge to the Bellevue group. He served a successful Assistant Headship at Thamesmead School in Shepperton from 2003, where his responsibilities included IT strategy, learning and enrichment and community development. In 2005 he went on to became Head at Gateway School, having completed an MA in Leadership and Management. After eight years at Gateway Steve took up his role at Bellevue, and has been instrumental in building the education support function within the group.

Sam Selby

Education Director

Sam drives innovative education development initiatives across the Bellevue group. She focuses particularly on teachers’ pedagogy and classroom practice – from video coaching and self-reflection strategies for teachers, to more effective use of assessment and data. She is passionate about pupils taking ownership of their learning, and runs enrichment days to bring talented students together to collaborate on innovative projects. Sam’s experience in education spans 25 years, working in both independent and state primary schools. Early in her career she taught at a struggling primary in South Yorkshire where she developed a real passion for equipping teachers to impact pupils’ lives regardless of background. Joining Norfolk House School in 2006, Sam quickly pioneered initiatives such as an 11+ curriculum programme, rigorous teacher assessment practices, and pupil ownership of their learning through technology. In 2011, Sam became Head, expanding the school to two sites, gaining a nursery, and introducing Latin and rugby teaching. Having joined the Bellevue central team as Education Director in 2016, Sam now spends most of her time on the ground in our schools, helping headteachers and their staff develop and embed projects, and share excellent practice across the group.

David Williams

Education Director

David joined Bellevue as Education Director in January 2020. David believes passionately in the holistic nature of independent schools and that every child has the potential to succeed. Having begun his career in the state sector, he then became Director of Sixth Form and Head of Modern Foreign Languages at Blue Coat School, before moving to Wellingborough School as the Senior Deputy Head. Gaining a Headship at Tettenhall College, Wolverhampton, David increased pupil numbers by 30% and oversaw substantial improvement in school infrastructure and educational outcomes. Currently serving as an ISI Inspector with an MSc in Managing School Improvement, David also enjoys teaching French and Spanish, coaching cricket and football, and extra-curricular interests including share investment and gardening.

Adam Atkinson

Head of Digital Development

Adam is Head of Digital Development, helping our schools make strategic IT decisions, purchase the right equipment and train their teachers to use it. Passionate about using technology to enhance and motivate children’s learning, Adam enjoys being on the ground in the classroom developing the digital literacy of both teachers and pupils. Adam has taught in six countries using three different curriculums at both primary and secondary level. He is Australian by birth and started off teaching in a tiny rural school in Australia, before moving to the UK to an inner London primary school where he gravitated towards ICT and transformed the school’s technology provision. Following this Adam took the role of Head of ICT at an international school in Japan, then taught in Hong Kong, Brunei and Singapore. Back in the UK he joined Gateway School where he became Assistant Head (Pastoral) and pioneered impressive ICT provision. Under his watch, Gateway was the first Prep School in the UK to be granted Google Reference School accreditation.