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King Edward’s appoints new Housemaster

12th November 2020

Mr Josh Andrade has been appointed Housemaster of Queen Mary House from January 2021. His partner, Ms Emma Withers, will join him as a Houseparent. Living in the Lower School House Mr Andrade and Ms Withers will succeed Mr and Mrs Gardner.

Mr Andrade is currently Head of Upper Prep (Years 6, 7 and 8,) Head of Geography and teaches Science at our partner school Barrow Hills and a part of the Wakefield House team as Assistant Housemaster.

We wanted to find out about Mr Andrade and his family prior to him starting his new role. Happily, he agreed to answer our questions.

Q: When did you join King Edward’s Witley?
A: I joined the School in 2013 as a resident tutor in QMH.

Q: And Barrow Hills School?
A: At the same time asKing Edward’s  in 2013.

Q: What exactly will your role be at QMH, and what will your title be?
A: I will be Housemaster/House parent of QMH.

Q: Will you be living at QMH?
A: Yes, with my family.

Q: Can you give me an outline of your background i.e. University, what you read, where you took your PGCE, where your family home is/was, your previous jobs and schools?
A: After growing up in London we moved to Shackleford in Surrey. When I was in Year 4 I went to prep school at Aldro and even though it was literally a stone’s throw away from home, I boarded as I wanted to be fully immersed in school life. Reaching Year 9, I moved on to Cranleigh School (again as a boarder) and subsequently completed my      A-levels at Godalming College. From there I went to the University of York where I read Environmental, Economics and Ecology before completing my PGCE in Secondary Science at Oxford Brookes.

Q: Will you still be teaching at Barrow Hills School?
A: Yes, I will continue to teach some Geography and Science.

Q: You are currently Assistant Housemaster in Wakefield House. How long have you been doing this job?
A: This is my third year.

Q: Can you ‘introduce’ me to your family?
A: Emma is my partner and we have three children Juliet (7), Felicity (5) and Eloise (3). We have a gorgeous Labrador called Agatha known also as Aggie following Juliet’s mispronunciation of ‘doggy’ when she was learning to talk!

Q: And finally, what are your hobbies, interests and any unknown facts?
A: I am a keen sportsman and always up for a challenge. My main loves are hockey and rugby but I will turn my hand to anything thrown my way! We recently bought a minibus. It is a family conversion project and we’re doing everything from scratch ourselves – removing the seats and panels, fitting a new wooden ceiling, putting in electrics and so on. It has been a huge learning curve but great fun. I did gymnastics at Aldro and when I qualified for the British Youth Team, I had training sessions at Lilleshall British training camps. I have on special, and rare, occasions been known to do a backflip!
Emma and the girls are keen riders and we have two horses, a Shetland pony called Warrior and a Welsh ‘Section A’ called Tilly. Some parents may well have seen them as they  often ride to Chiddingfold, most recently for Halloween in fancy dress!

Thank you to Mr Andrade for giving us an insight into his life and family. We look forward to meeting everyone next January and maybe even witnessing a backflip  or two!

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