MCS Chair of Governors thanks an “outstanding leader” as Helen Pike decides to step down as Master

Earlier today we shared the news that after eleven highly successful and transformational years, and a remarkable reputation across the sector, Helen Pike has decided to step down as Master of MCS at the end of the 2026/27 school year. She plans to apply her experience, talents and knowledge in ways that build on her thirty years as an educationalist and a leading light in the independent school world.

The first female Master at MCS, Helen’s arrival heralded a number of developments which have ensured the school remains in excellent operational and financial health, and at the forefront of educational practice. Most recently, she has guided the Board of Governors to one of the most significant decisions in the school’s history, to become fully co-educational from 2027 – setting MCS on a positive course for its next half millennium.

Along with the staff, governors and our many dedicated benefactors, Helen has helped to establish a strong culture of philanthropy at MCS and now, around one in ten Senior School pupils receives help with fees. Under her tenure, MCS has been recognised as a Top 20 Independent School and South East School of the Year by the Sunday Times and won Independent School of the Year for Social Mobility.

Thanking her in his letter to the school community, Chair of Governors, Bob Price, said:

“Helen is an outstanding leader and will go with our sincere gratitude and warm thanks for her exceptional headship. She will leave the school in excellent shape for her successor.”

You can read the Chairman’s letter in full here.

Helen Pike said:

“I love MCS, and it is a perennial privilege to lead this remarkable school. Being Master of MCS is a brilliant job, and I am declaring my intention early in order to give MCS the very best opportunity to find the right Master for September 2027. I shall continue to do all in my power to further the fortunes of this wonderful school until then.

“I look forward to a new phase in my own professional life, one that builds on all that I have enjoyed and achieved in my career during the past thirty years. Having encouraged many cohorts of pupils to take sensible risks and to do something creative and different when the time feels right, I am doing just that.”

We look forward to celebrating Helen’s achievements, and thanking her fully for all she has done for MCS, before she leaves us in August next year.