Senior Leadership Team
The school's ethos, aims and whole school objectives are led by the Senior Leadership Team. Each member of the team has specific responsibilities outlined briefly below.
Find out more about each of the senior team by clicking on the image below
Senior Leadership Team (ID 2285)
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Sheba GeorgeHeadteacher
Sheba George
Prior to taking up post as Headteacher, Sheba worked as a Deputy Headteacher at Challney High School for Girls, having previously worked as an Assistant Headteacher in Hertfordshire. Sheba has led on Teaching & Learning, Curriculum and Oracy at Challney High School for Girls and in previous roles, has led on Continuous Professional Development, Literacy and worked as a professional tutor for trainee teachers. She has also supported other schools within her role as a Specialist Leader in Education.
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Nic PonsonbyDeputy Headteacher
Nic Ponsonby
Nic started her teaching career in our school as a newly qualified teacher. She has been in our school for 23 years. Her roles have included many pastoral remits, from an Assistant Head of Year to Head of Year and Assistant Headteacher, Designated Safeguarding Lead and now Deputy Headteacher. Nic teaches Science and is a qualified PE teacher, but has also taught History and Design Technology in her time with us. She was a silver winner in the Pearson Teaching Awards in 2020 for ‘Teacher of the Year’.
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Lisa DolanAssistant Headteacher
Lisa Dolan
Lisa Dolan has been a teacher at Challney High School for Girls for 17 years and has been a teacher for 23 years teaching Physical Education across KS3 and up to KS5, Expressive Arts and Performing Arts at KS4 and Geography at KS3. Lisa has been a Head of Department, Head of Key Stage 4, Head of Year and is now an Assistant Headteacher. Lisa’s specialities are in establishing and integrating assessment systems into the curriculum, the analysis of all available data and supporting staff with their own understanding and development of data, to provide the students with the best possible chance of securing the highest outcomes.
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Umar FarukAssistant Headteacher
Umar Faruk
Proudly born and raised in Luton, Umar has always been keen to give back to the community he serves. He has been teaching in Luton for over the past ten years in a range of settings, from FE to Secondary. Umar began teaching at Luton Sixth Form College and then joined the Chiltern Learning Trust in 2017. During this time, he has specialised in whole school outcomes, building and developing departments, personal development and behaviour management. Since joining Challney Girls in 2022, Umar leads on community engagement, enrichment days, sustainability, extracurricular, quality assurance for vocational qualifications and he is also our designated safeguarding lead. Umar's subject specialism is Business Studies and he has taught this across KS3 to KS5. In his spare time he volunteers for a number of charitable based organisations and he is also Chair of Governors at a local primary school.
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Sam FisherAssistant Headteacher
Sam Fisher
Sam joined Challney High School for Girls as the Department Leader of Mathematics in 2019. He started his career at an upper school in Bedfordshire and held various positions throughout his tenure there. As an Assistant Headteacher, Sam thoroughly enjoyed his role in the summer school in the summer of 2021 and is the lead for curriculum planning, including timetabling and, more recently, pupil premium.
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Oliver SmithAssistant Headteacher
Oliver Smith
Beginning his teaching career in Hertfordshire, Oliver joined Challney High School for Girls as Head of English in 2021, and became an Assistant Headteacher in 2023. He has overseen the Duke of Edinburgh Award in multiple schools in the local area, ensuring students get a chance to push themselves out of their comfort zones and learn valuable life skills. Currently, Oliver leads on Whole School Literacy and Reading within the school; provision for More Able students working alongside NACE, and has worked for Challenge Partners, reviewing practices in other schools.
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Emma WhitehallAssistant Headteacher
Emma Whitehall
After starting her career at another local school and holding roles of Deputy Head of House and Health Coordinator Emma joined Challney High School For Girls in 2001 as Head of PE. She is an experienced Assistant Headteacher having specialised in Data and Assessment, Teaching and Learning and Staff Development, as well as being the school’s Professional Tutor for a number of years. Emma has a passion for Edtech and led the project when the school was appointed by the DFE as an EdTech demonstrator school, supporting schools nationally throughout the pandemic and beyond. Emma now leads on Technology for Learning as well as the House System and ECT Induction and currently teaches Science at KS3 and 4.
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Jennifer WrightAssistant Headteacher
Jennifer Wright
Jennifer Wright started her career as a history NQT at Challney High School for Boys, before gaining experience as a Head of history, Head of Humanities, Professional Tutor and a Teaching and Learning SLE. She has worked at Challney High School for Girls since 2017, specialising in Teaching and Learning and the Continual Professional Development of our staff. As part of her CPD role she has led conferences for Women and Middle Leaders, as well as organising a regular programme of weekly CPD for all staff, to ensure an ambitious delivery of the curriculum for our students.
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Usman AliAssociate Assistant Headteacher
Usman Ali
Usman joined Challney High School for Girls in September 2022 as a Specialist Leader in Education(SLE) for Computing. Since then ,he has taken on the role of Curriculum Leader and joined the leadership team as an Associate Assistant Headteacher in September 2024. Prior to this, Usman spent several years working as a Head of Year and House as well as being a Head of Faculty. Outside of the school setting, Usman is a safeguarding governor for a local academy and is a member of the leadership board at an education and youth centre.
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Kate ThomasAssociate Assistant Headteacher
Kate Thomas
Kate joined Challney High School for Girls in 2019 as a Science teacher after working in Bedfordshire schools for 8 years. She became a Head of Year in September 2021 and was appointed as an Associate Assistant Headteacher in September 2024. Kate is also the Duke of Edinburgh Manager at CHSG after setting up the award in 2023 when our school became a licensed centre. Kate started her teaching career as a qualified P.E. teacher. She has previously been a Head of Department, alongside leading many overseas trips for students to create lifelong memories.