Our team
The single most important factor in Westbourne’s success is the people. For us, this means a team that share not just a passion for the future of education, but display the drive and energy to consistently secure the very best outcomes for our students, tomorrow’s future leaders.
Executive Board
Mark Peters, Chairman
Mark has over three decades of experience in business strategy, management and operations, and has worked in the education sector since 2001. Prior to becoming Chairman of Westbourne in 2006, Mark founded and ran a strategy and private equity advisory business for seven years, during which time he worked with the BBC, the UK Government and the broader education sector to create a £300m programme to build and deliver digital learning resources to schools across the UK. He has led the development of Westbourne to make it one of the UK’s most successful schools. Mark holds an MBA from INSEAD, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Finance & Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (FINSIA) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours, 2:1) from the University of Sydney. He attended James Ruse Agricultural High School.
Marie de Tito Mount, Chief Executive Officer
Marie has over two decades of strategic leadership, entrepreneurship and business development experience. Prior to joining Westbourne in 2018, Marie founded, led and successfully exited a digital agency in the high-value travel sector. Previous roles include Managing Director, The Big Domain, Head of Proposition Development at Cendant Corp and commissioned military service in the British Army.
Gary Hughes, Chief Financial Officer
Gary has been a finance professional since 2008. Prior to joining Westbourne in 2012, Gary was in the top tier of his peer group at Deloitte LLP for four years. Whilst at Deloitte, Gary worked for a range of blue-chip clients including BP, Tata Steel, Santander, RBS and FlyBe. He has day-to-day responsibility for all finance, ICT and property matters at Montague Place, as well as project management responsibility for all strategic and business development initiatives. He is an ACA Chartered Accountant and holds a First Class Honours degree in Business Management from Cardiff University.
Aseet Patel, Co-founder and Director, Westbourne International School Mumbai
Aseet has worked in business strategy, management and operations across the globe for almost four decades. He has worked in marketing & sales, business strategy consulting, operations strategy consulting and in business operations. He was a managing partner in Accenture and held responsibility for strategy consulting capability development for communications and high-tech sector clients in the UK & Ireland. Aseet later acquired, ran, diversified and grew a small group of timber merchants in Queensland, Australia. Over the last few years, Aseet has been actively managing a private investment and trading portfolio. Aseet holds a B.Econ (Hons) degree from the University of Queensland and an MBA from Columbia University. He attended Brisbane Grammar School.
Executive team
Paul Forsythe, Principal, Westbourne School
As the Principal of Westbourne UK since August 2024, Paul is focused on leading the school to continued success.
Paul brings a unique blend of experience and a profound passion for education. Trained as an aeronautical engineer at Queen Mary’s University, London, he also holds an MBA in Educational Leadership. His accomplished career includes his previous role as Head of Secondary at the British School in Rio, a 1,100-student IB and British Curriculum school. He has led Thames Valley Summer Schools as Centre Director, served as an IB examiner for Physics, and been Head of Science at various schools. His senior leadership roles include positions at the British International School in Vietnam, Repton Al Barsha in the UAE, and Ashton Preparatory School in Aylesbury.
Paul’s wealth of experience offers an invaluable addition to both Westbourne School here in the UK and Westbourne’s global leadership team.
Patrick McGing, Principal, Westbourne College Sydney
Patrick McGing brings a wealth of experience with over 20 years in senior educational leadership, including 5 years as a Principal of Georges River Grammar and 7 years as a Regional Director of OneSchool Global (OSG) overseeing 12 schools and colleges in NSW with similar operating models to Westbourne.
Patrick also led Teaching and Learning for OSG supporting over 2000 teachers in 130 schools across 21 countries. Patrick’s formal qualifications include a focus on gifted education in both his Honours degree and his Masters in Education from UNSW. He has a passion for STEM and has introduced practical, hands-on STEM programmes in all schools he has led. He has long been a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools in Australia as well as a member of the Association of Independent Schools (AIS) NSW Consultative Committee.
Patrick is uniquely placed to further enhance our academic standards and embed our links with our UK and Singapore colleges – and soon to be Mumbai – and make these links deliver further value and a global perspective for all of our Westbourne International students.
Dr Vahagn Vardanyan, Principal, Westbourne College Singapore
Dr Vardanyan has a PhD in Political Geography from the National University of Singapore, an MBA, a Master of International Affairs, a First-Class Honours in Economics, and a Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers. A dedicated IB educator, he has around two decades of experience as a principal and leader in IB schools. Dr Vardanyan will spearhead our world-leading approach to assessment, further improving academic standards and a culture of high achievement.
While being immersed in the IB for 20 years, Dr Vardanyan spent the first 10 years of his career in leadership positions in the banking and finance industry. His ‘real-world’ experience is exceptional.
Gavin Clark, Regional Director, Asia Pacific
Gavin is a highly experienced educator and Head of School with experience leading Primary, Primary/ Middle schools, Secondary schools and whole school environments (K-12), and working with many different curricula including IGCSE and IBDP. He’s worked in many different countries, starting his career in his native Scotland, before moving to Qatar, followed by New Zealand, Malaysia, Ireland and now Singapore.
Edward Swanwick, Vice Principal, Westbourne School
A Cambridge alumnus from Corpus Christi College who has joined our community this term. Ed’s wealth of experience in pastoral, cocurricular and boarding care is shaped by Deputy Headships at Clifton College, Abingdon School and Toowoomba Anglican School Brisbane. Ed’s commitment to nurturing a supportive and enriching student experience aligns perfectly with Westbourne’s vision of fostering all-round excellence in our students, both in and beyond the classroom.
Joanne Chinnock, Vice Principal, Westbourne School
Joanne has taught at Westbourne School for over a decade, instrumental in developing the Prep department into one of Cardiff's leading private primary schools. Having read Geography at Bristol University, taught in the US and London, Mrs Chinnock has worked with children across the Nursery, Prep and Senior Schools. With her own son currently studying at Westbourne, she is a passionate advocate of igniting young minds and developing our leaders of the future.
Stuart Ayres, Digital Director
With a decade’s experience as a senior leader, Stuart has led both pastoral and academic achievement in state and private sector schools. Having a master’s degree in Computing, Stuart’s chief passion is harnessing technology to improve learning and he has been recognised in the Ed Tech 50 for his pioneering work in this field and spoken in numerous forums. His focus is using ed tech to underpin pedagogy, boost achievement and enhance student well-being to create a rounded approach to learning that meets the needs of the 21st century.
Gervais Yam, Global Marketing Director
With over a decade of experience across Australia, China, and Singapore, Gervais brings extensive expertise in marketing, brand management, sales, strategy, and international student recruitment. Before joining Westbourne, he spent over six years at The University of Western Australia, where he led student recruitment strategy, marketing, and business development across Southeast Asia and North Asia. Gervais holds a Master of Business Administration with High Distinction and a First Class Honours degree in Marketing.
Lea Thurman, Head of Admissions, Westbourne College Singapore
Lea brings a wealth of experience and a global perspective to our team. A graduate of California State University, Lea has a background in international admissions and student recruitment. Having worked across Singapore and Asia, her career includes leadership roles at Cognita, the Australian International School, and Stamford American School. Prior to joining Westbourne College (Singapore), Lea also ran her own dive resort in Bali. Her career began at Dell, where she held various positions in the US, Sydney, and Singapore.
Join our team
Current vacancies are advertised via our Linked In page. We are always looking for world-class talent, to register your career interest in Westbourne International please complete the form below.