Mr Rob Milne
In early 2017, Mr Rob Milne turned up at his interview for the Emanuel Headship clutching what looked like a bundle of paper tablecloths under his arm. Having completed introductions, Rob proceeded to unfurl his papers carefully over the boardroom desk, behind which sat an expectant panel of governors. Upon closer examination, it became clear that the designs on each sheet were, in fact, plus-sized Excel spreadsheets detailing his three-year vision for the school. As governors exchanged raised eyebrows, the words "big", "bold" and "brave" sprang to mind. Such words do not normally land within the comfort zone of a governing body.
On the other hand, this was clearly not a one-size-fits-all job application; Rob had obviously taken great care to understand what Emanuel was all about. He knew exactly where the school's strengths lay, and more important, where Emanuel was missing a trick. During the course of his interview, with Rob's (now familiar) affable and engaging manner making it feel more like a good-humoured chat, he managed to persuade us that these ambitious goals really did lie within our reach. As a result, and even though Rob was not yet an experienced headteacher, governors offered him the role at Emanuel wondering if, under his stewardship, the school would undergo an evolution or a revolution.
True to Rob's word, over the next couple of years, Emanuel pupils made enormous progress in public examinations, thanks in part to the innovation of putting pastoral care front and centre of school life, supported by an astute appointment of the excellent Mr Ravi Kothakota as Deputy Head: Pupils. Rob also introduced systems promoting academic consistency over sporadic brilliance, and thereby fostered confidence in the teachers' common room which spilled out into the classroom. These initiatives built on the tremendous long-term work of Ms Jane Peters, then Deputy Head: Academic. In recent years, the provision of pastoral care has continued to evolve, with the introduction of Pupil Voice surveys and, more recently, Digital Wellbeing and smartphone-free policies.
Encouraged by results vindicating his fresh approach, Rob once again approached the governing body with a sheaf of papers laying out a new vision. This time, his goal was to reshape the school's infrastructure, and the ideas were much bigger, bolder and braver than anything the governors had contemplated since the school moved to its present site in 1883. The scale of Rob's aspiration was breathtaking, but for the first time ever, Emanuel would have a thoughtful joined-up plan for a campus.
Over subsequent years, the school planted trees and flowers, brightened buildings, modernised classrooms, rebuilt the Dacre building, extended the Sixth-Form building, created new Design & Technology facilities, turned an under-utilised lawn into a popular multi-use games area and built a gym on-site. Furthermore, at Blagdon's, the off-site playing fields, the school laid an all-weather pitch, built netball and tennis courts, and installed new cricket squares and nets. At long last, too, soccer was offered as a complement to rugby, hockey and cricket. Moreover, the school’s boathouse at Barnes Bridge benefited from new rowing equipment and gym facilities.
This year, work has finally begun on the much anticipated science and refectory building. That's not strictly true, of course. A lot has already gone into: its design, consultation with stakeholders, seeking funds and securing planning permission. Over several years, Rob
has patiently and painstakingly been advocating the new building’s critical necessity to staff, governors, trustees, parents, lenders, donors, local residents and politicians. And thanks to his gentle persistence, Rob ultimately gained their support and is now turning a vision into bricks and mortar.
Allen Saunders wrote: “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” Well, Covid seemed to arrest life and put all plans on hold. With very little warning, the government ordered us to stay at home, and since there was no precedent in living memory, we all had to re-invent what was meant by “school”. At Emanuel, we were very fortunate indeed to have such an unflappable Head at the helm during those challenging years, and our school evolved into a civic anchor. Emanuel teachers provided pupils with online curricular and co-curricular stimulation, while our catering staff provided meals to local families in need, aided by an army of staff and parent volunteers.
In fact, there is scarcely an aspect of life at Emanuel which has not been touched by Rob’s modernising zeal. For example, somewhere along the way, a smart new school uniform was introduced, with an eye-catching contemporary twist. Elsewhere, the profile and goals of the school’s fundraising programme (re-branded to Giant Strides) were raised, and it now provides more opportunities than ever before to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to receive a transformative education at Emanuel.
Rob has always been passionate about making Emanuel a vehicle for social mobility, and his Primary Ambitions initiative now extends to seventeen local primary schools: up to three hundred young children a week come to Emanuel on Friday afternoons to receive lessons from our lower sixth-form students. As a result, aspirations are awakened in the youngest children, while the older pupils develop self-confidence, resilience, leadership skills and the satisfaction of making an invaluable contribution to society. Furthermore, on Saturday mornings, the Ascent programme brings around thirty pupils from ten partner schools to Emanuel, where our teaching staff provide either additional learning support, or “stretch and challenge”.
Meanwhile, for Emanuel pupils, the recent introduction of a Digital Strategy means that students (and teachers) are guided on the effective and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence to support learning: the former school of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, adopting an imaginative and forward-looking approach to AI in order to drive an improvement in digital literacy and thereby better prepare our young people for the challenges of the future.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that Emanuel’s reputation has begun to extend well beyond our immediate community, with the school gaining national recognition and receiving accolades in the form of the Independent School of the Year Awards: for Outreach Work in 2021, and the Performing Arts in 2022. This was followed in 2024 by Emanuel receiving the Talk Education Award for Innovation in Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, and becoming a finalist for London School of the Year in the Independent School Awards
Yet in spite of all this, Emanuel still feels like the same school it was before Rob arrived. Emanuel remains a palpably happy, friendly place, where young people can take advantage of a superlative range of co-curricular opportunities, which help shape them into aspiring yet kind individuals. Excellent teaching across the curriculum means Emanuel still prides itself on an impressively broad range of exciting outcomes for leavers, whether academic or not, in this country or abroad, in further education or not. Rob’s remarkable achievement lies in completely upgrading the pupil experience at Emanuel while keeping
the school’s core values and ethos exactly the same. He’s managed to effect a revolutionary evolution, if you like.
The school which Rob hands over to his deserving successor, Ravi, is not only much improved compared to eight years ago, it is also vastly more popular, with the pupil population up by roughly half since 2017. To manage this while simultaneously enhancing pupils' outcomes is no mean feat, and the 2025 Sunday Times Parent Power survey ranks Emanuel tenth in the country among fully co-educational independent day-schools. Undoubtedly, Rob would be quick to add that none of this would have been possible without an incredibly dedicated team of like-minded, diligent and talented colleagues.
Therefore, on behalf of the Emanuel governing body and our broader community, I express the sincerest thanks to Rob for his outstanding contribution to the school, and wish him continued success as he develops his career elsewhere. Furthermore, the governors warmly congratulate him on being awarded the Freedom of the City of London for his services to education and Emanuel in particular.
Markus Jaigirder
Emanuel School Governing Body Chair