2011/12 Teaching Staff

José Maria Alvarez-Campos, M.A. – Spanish
José grew up in Madrid and holds an honours degree in politics as well as a postgraduate teaching degree (Universidad Complutense de Madrid). He is now a postgraduate student of philosophy, with a particular interest in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Rawls and the Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. He has lived in London for several years and has taught Spanish across the age range, from kindergarten to A-level.

E: jac@hchnet.co.uk
Raúl Alves, B.Sc (Hons) M.Sc – Physics, Chemistry
Raúl taught in Portugal’s Public Education and for some years trained children and adults in IT before coming to England. A member of the Portuguese Physics Society, his interests include mathematics, cosmology, religion, philosophy and IT. He is also a numismatist and philatelist.

E: ra@hchnet.co.uk
Claire Aubry, M.A. – French
Claire spent a semester studying in Germany and another in the United States as an Erasmus student. She then taught English to French students at the Languages University in Angers, and French to international students. Along with travelling, she loves learning languages, is a keen reader, and has just started to play the guitar.

E: ca@hchnet.co.uk
Sujata Biswas, B.Sc. Ph.D PGCE (Oxon) – Chemistry, Biology
Sujata was born in India, but has spent most of her life in England. She has spent much of that time in various institutions of education, but has escaped being institutionalised. She was educated at University College London and Brunel. She studied for her Ph.D at Imperial before then gaining her teaching qualification at Oxford University. She has taught all ages of children between 0-18. She is passionate about Chemistry and the way it permeates across the curriculum, and hopes to bring her passion for science to the pupils of Hampton Court School. Sujata is an avid reader.

E: sb@hchnet.co.uk
Gerry Cirillo BA (Hons), Cert EFL, PGCE – English (from January 2012)
Gerry grew up bilingually in Italian and English. He gained his PGCE in 2000 after having taught English abroad for 11 years including postings in Italy, Greece and Egypt. He has taught students to GCSE, A Level and beyond. A firm believer in teaching language and grammar through literature and drama, Gerry is keen on the stage, cinema and television writing and the value of these in assisting all round learning. He has also taught media studies, drama and history during his career. Gerry has an avid interest in Dante, Shakespeare and art history. He is experienced in coaching pupils for public speaking and in directing pupils for Shakespeare productions. Gerry also enjoyed chatting and sharing a hubbly bubbly with the ex-President of the Sudan during his time in Cairo.

E: glc@hchnet.co.uk
Hannah Curnow, B.A. (Hons) – Sports
Hannah has been with the England Sports Group for two years. Hannah is a PTR qualified tennis coach, BG qualified gymnastics coach, FA qualified Level 1 Football Coach – and naturally she is a qualified first aider. Hannah has coached for many years with various clubs including QPR juniors, an obesity charity and the Tiger Cubs. Students look up to her not only as a coach but also as an older sibling. As well as training hard for Queen’s Park Rangers ladies, Hannah also enjoys travelling the world including trips to Dubai, Las Vegas, New Zealand and Fiji.

E: hc@hchnet.co.uk
Sarah Cox, B.A. (Hons), SpLD – Learning Support
After studying a degree in Japanese, Sarah worked for an expedition company providing outdoor education courses in leadership and teamwork skills for children. She gained the Hornsby Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties in 2005, completed the Hornsby Study Skills training course and is a qualified NLP practitioner. Sarah has been teaching literacy and study skills for 9 years as a private tutor and 5 years in several London preparatory schools. Her last 4 years have been working in the Learning Support Department at Notting Hill Preparatory School. Her job involved coordinating SEN provision for Years 4 – 8, teaching weekly individual learning programmes and providing classroom ideas for multi-sensory learning and study skills programmes.

E: sc@hchnet.co.uk
Agathe Daymand, M.A. – French, History of Art
Agathe was born in Bordeaux, France. She has always been passionate for the arts, and studied History of Art at Bordeaux University. Her MA is in l’histoire de l’art et patrimoine and her dissertation was on l’art déco. She likes to travel, and lived for a year by the Indian Ocean. Agathe is much loved by the younger children and is fascinated by child development and loves teaching. Her other loves are museums, swimming and fine cuisine.

E: ad@hchnet.co.uk
Helen Fishlock-Owens, B.A. (Hons), SpLD, PGCE – Learning Support
Helen graduated from Swansea University in 1995 with a joint honours degree in Geography and Development studies. Her dissertation subject being ‘Dyslexia in India’. She then gained a PGCE qualification in Secondary Geography teaching. After which she took up a post at Wallington Grammar School for Boys. She shortly became second in department and a year later moved the St Catherine’s School, Twickenham, as Head of Geography. Here she was able to develop her interest in special educational needs and later made her decision to leave to peruse a masters level qualification gaining an OCR Diploma in specific learning difficulties In 2004. Helen joined HCH in 2008 and became a full time member and coordinator of the Learning Support in 2011. Helen has also found time to completely renovate three homes and travel to over 40 countries.

E: hfo@hchnet.co.uk
Caroline Géhin B.A. (Hons) M.A. PGCE – French
In addition to her passion for sharing her love of French culture and language, Caroline is committed to the restoration of a wide range of secular and religious stained glass in locations across South Wales and the UK. She has extensive experience working with children, teenagers and adults in art, stained glass and French. In addition to this artistic career, she is also a professionally trained bassoonist, and is an enthusiastic amateur pianist.

E: cag@hchnet.co.uk
Clarisse Gheur, M.A. – French
Clarisse was born and educated in Belgium. She graduated with an MA degree in Romance Philology and then obtained a teaching degree in French, and in French as a foreign language. She has lived in Spain and is a fluent Spanish speaker. She has taught French in a secondary school in Brussels and also for the Alliance Française in Yucatan, Mexico. Clarisse is now teaching at the French Institute after school. She loves travelling and learning about different cultures. She plays the piano, with particuliar pleasure when the pupils sings alongside.

E: clg@hchnet.co.uk
Jon Hind, M.A. (Cantab) – Mathematics
Jon read Mathematics at Trinity College Cambridge, where he also rowed, played croquet, performed and directed for university drama and even joined the Officer Training Corps. After deciding against a military career on the advice of his rifle instructor (something to do with barn doors at 30 paces), he went directly into teaching. Four happy years at Westminster, where he took up fencing Sabre, were followed by two years as Second in the Maths Department at Rugby School, where he took up playing polo. It remains to be seen what he will take up while at Hampton Court House.

E: jhind@hchnet.co.uk
Guy Holloway, M.A. (Cantab) – Music History, Psychology
Guy is a co-founder of Hampton Court House and was Director of Studies from 2001 to 2008. He studied at King’s College School, Wimbledon, before reading English at Peterhouse, Cambridge (1986-89). Guy is a passionate educationalist and is fascinated by how children learn and by the vastly different approaches to education across the world. For several years Guy was a volunteer with Save the Children UK, working with disadvantaged children aged 6-12. He spent many years in Paris, first at the international PR firm Burson-Marsteller, and then at the Ecole Active Bilingue, where Guy was Head of English in the section britannique, teaching A-level and preparing his first students for Oxbridge, whilst simultaneously creating chaos in the section française, teaching his beloved classe de seconde. Guy was part of the 1993 founding team which opened the Harrodian School, where he was Director of Studies. Today at Hampton Court House, Guy runs a weekly seminar which, in its scope, is unique in the UK – a comprehensive history of music course for all children in Years 1 to 8; he also teaches GCSE Psychology. Guy’s interests include piano, record collecting (vinyl LPs of 1950s and 1960s), concert-going, foreign travel, languages, mathematics (statistics), chess, film directing, and theatre (directed over 30 plays).

E: gh@hchnet.co.uk
Joanna House, BA (Hons), PGCE, RSA Dip. SpLD, AMBDA
Joanna has had two careers – one in journalism and one as a teacher. She did a PGCE at the Roehampton Institute after the birth of her daughter and taught in primary schools for three years. When her daughter was found to be dyslexic, Joanna went to the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre and studied part-time for two years to obtain her RSA Dip. SpLD. She has worked for 15 years in Learning Support both in the UK and overseas. She was Head of Learning Support at Mill Hill School where she worked for five years. She is training as a counsellor and lives just across the park from HCH.

E: jhh@hchnet.co.uk
Eliana, Lady Houstoun-Boswall, I.S.I.T. (Paris) – French
Eliana is the principal founder of Hampton Court House and the former founder and Headmistress of the Harrodian. Eliana studied French and Russian Linguistics at Georgetown University and obtained a postgraduate degree at the Ecole d’Interprètes at the Sorbonne in Paris. Her first job was teaching English as a foreign language at West London College. Eliana’s entrepreneurial spirit and unwavering determination have carried her on a journey starting with property development and restoration in London, New York and France and culminating in her dream of creating a school for “children like [her] own”. Eliana’s first experience of school management was with Merlin School in Putney which she purchased with her husband. A few years later they purchased the grounds of the Harrodian Club and established the Harrodian School, where Eliana was founding Headmistress from 1993 to 1996, when she separated from her husband. During her time there the pupil numbers grew to 250. She acquired Hampton Court House in 1998 and refurbished it as a school in September 2001.

E: ehb@hchnet.co.uk
Julia Houstoun-Boswall – Early Years Tutor
Having been a pupil in both the French system at the Victor Duruy in Paris and the English system at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London, Julia is not only bilingual, but has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both systems both academically and pastorally. Her interests include playing the violin and singing (in several languages) but most of all she is fascinated by early years development and of course her own 3-year-old son, Cyrus.

E: jhb@hchnet.co.uk
Richard James, B.Sc – Chess & Reasoning
A full time chess coach and chess author, Richard co-founded Richmond Junior Chess Club, and managed the Richmond Chess Initiative. He is Webmaster of chessKIDS academy, a website for children learning chess, their parents and teachers. He has been teaching chess to children since the early 1970s. Richard has taught all levels from beginners to world champions (he helped to prepare Luke McShane for the World U10 Championship). His most recent book, Chess for Kids, was published by Right Way Books in 2010. He is also the author of Move One!, a chess course for children, and co-author of The Complete Chess Addict and The Even More Complete Chess Addict. Outside chess, Richard enjoys listening to classical and folk music, cryptic crosswords, contract bridge, reading contemporary fiction, genealogy and local history.

E: rj@hchnet.co.uk
Natalie Kavanagh, B.A. (Hons), PGCE – Art
Natalie Kavanagh gained a PGCE in secondary school art teaching from Roehampton University in 2008 and has been teaching here since. She obtained a Fine Art BA (hons) from London Guildhall and specialised in filmmaking and animation. Her Degree piece was shown in BAFTA, and she was later headhunted by the BBC as a young Filmmaker. Her short films and animations have shown on ITV 3, ITV Movies and in the US. After taking a script reading Internship in Hollywood with New Line Cinema, she went on to work in the film industry in the UK. Natalie has had the privilege to work on films such as Woody Allen’s Scoop, Basic Instinct 2 and Casino Royale. Thus she offers expertise in film, photography and ICT alongside traditional skills.

E: nck@hchnet.co.uk
Selwyn Leamy B.A.(Hons), M.A – Art
Selwyn grew up in Hampton and having won an art scholarship he went to Shrewsbury School. He went on to read mediaeval history at The University of Manchester, after which he worked as a decorative painter for Chris Boulter at Grand Union Design specialising in trompe l’oeil . Returning to London, he graduated with an MA in Fine Art at the Wimbledon School of Art in 2005. Since then Selwyn has worked as a professional artist with residencies in Italy and several successful exhibitions in London. He has had broad experience of teaching from primary age through to A-level and adults and currently tutors on painting and photography holidays abroad.

E: sl@hchnet.co.uk
Anja Lichtenau, B.Sc. PGCE – Mathematics
Anja is a qualified teacher of Mathematics and English as foreign language and holds the equivalent of a Master’s degree with Mathematics and English as main subjects and pedagogy as subsidiary subject from the University of Saarbrücken in Germany. Anja has lived in the UK for many years and has taught at King’s College for the Arts and Technology in Guildford and at Harrow School. She is experienced in teaching GCSE, A-level and the IB diploma. Anja is an avid reader and a Francophile (she is married to a Frenchman and has a young child).

E: al@hchnet.co.uk
Rebecca Maher; B.Sc, PGCE (NZ equivalent), ASB (Speech & Drama) – English
Rebecca comes from Aotearoa, New Zealand. After teaching English for two years in New Zealand, Rebecca has since taught in London. In addition to teaching English GCSE and A-level, Rebecca also teaches Speech and Drama. Rebecca is a passionate reader but also loves to explore new places through travelling, trying out new dishes in the kitchen, gardening, as well as being on stage, either acting or singing.

E: rm@hchnet.co.uk
Lourdes Moya, B.A. (Hons) – Latin, Greek
Lourdes is bilingual (English/Spanish) and was born and educated in the United States. Growing up in Los Angeles, she became involved in teaching children and promoting the arts amongst young adults through several charities. Lourdes moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 where she completed a BA at King’s College London in Classical Studies. She continued to teach children and promote the teaching of Latin and Greek in inner city schools in London through organisations such as the Iris Project. Her other interests include ancient languages, history, painting, and ballet.

E: lmm@hchnet.co.uk
Caith Olnick – Learning Support & Literacy
Caith joined Hampton Court House as an EAL teacher in September 2010. Since then, she has completed further training courses in teaching English to Younger Learners. Tuition can be delivered on a one to one or group basis, either during or after school. By maintaining close contact with parents and subject teachers, EAL tuition is tailored to the individual’s needs, encompassing general language skills and also the Common Entrance 13+ and GCSE curricula. Caith’s area of specialism is Dyspraxia, working to develop the child’s gross motor and fine motor skills through practical exercises. Touch-typing skills and Early Years literacy are also taught by Caith.

E: co@hchnet.co.uk
Morgana Osborne, B.A, PGCE – Art
Morgana completed a PGCE in Art and Design at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff last year and has a degree in Fine Art painting from Wimbledon school of Art. She also has a passion for sport and enjoyed playing for the Welsh lacrosse team as well as running the London marathon, climbing Kilimanjaro and trekking the Inca trail in Peru, in aid of charity and to satisfy a desire to explore the world and to meet its fascinating people. Morgana believes her positive energy will help to enliven a long-standing passion for Art in every pupil.

E: mo@hchnet.co.uk
Tom Robson, B.A. (Hons) – Sports
Thomas started coaching at 15 years old teaching rugby, cricket and football to juniors in North Wales. During his time at university he studied in-depth modules exploring different methods of coaching in a variety of sports. Thomas was one of the first to complete the coaching apprenticeship scheme at England Sports Group in April 2010 and continues to coach various sports full time. Thomas’ style in it’s most simplistic form could be described as ‘stop, look and listen’ – he believes children should stop and think about the skills and techniques he is teaching, look to find an inspiration in other players by watching them compete and finally listen to their own instincts and react accordingly to their own individual style of play.

E: tr@hchnet.co.uk
Anne-Françoise Ropert MA (Sorbonne) – French & CNED Manager
After her baccalauréat, Anne-Françoise took a French law degree and then her Master’s in Politics at the Sorbonne in Paris, where she later taught (political science, sociology and philosophy). When her family moved to Germany, Anne-Françoise reinvented herself as a teacher of children rather than undergraduates. Since moving to England she has turned her attention to the C.N.E.D. programme (Centre National d’Enseignement à Distance). Anne-Françoise is Deputy Head of the Lower School and responsible for teaching French and overseeing delivery of the français langue première programme within the school.

E: afr@hchnet.co.uk
Ben Ruddin, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc, PGCE – Geography
Ben was born in London and went on to study Geology at the University of Southampton. He then went onto explore Geography further in his Master’s degree. He spent two months in the Peruvian Andes surveying the effects of tourism on the ‘Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu’, reporting back to one of the agencies responsible with his findings, which formed part of the body of evidence which changed policies towards the Santuario. Ben then worked for a number of NGOs and travelled extensively which further enhanced his fascination with the subject. He then went on to do PGCE at the ‘Institute of Education’ and worked in a number of London schools before coming to Hampton Court House. Ben has an interest in pushing the boundaries of the subject and making fieldwork integral to a positive Geography curriculum. Other interests include walking, cycling, reading, art, swimming and travelling.

E: btr@hchnet.co.uk
Dominic Rhys Smith, B.A. (Oxon) – History
Dominic read History at New College Oxford, where he won the Burden Griffith Prize (2005) for his work on the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. While still at Oxford he founded his own production company (Smith Nadell Productions) and successfully directed his own play (Leviathan) at the Burton Taylor Theatre. Dominic Smith has taken leading role in no fewer then nine productions and has a keen interest in developing the already strong drama tradition of Hampton Court House.

E: drs@hchnet.co.uk
Julian Stewart Lindsay – Music Composition, Film Editing
Julian has brought his unique touch to HCH since its doors opened in 2001. Julian is primarily a composer, and studied composition and voice at Royal Academy Music, London. He has lived in Singapore, Jamaica, Paris and Los Angeles. He is an experienced director of cathedral choirs (including boys’ and girls’ choirs), performing in concerts at UK cathedrals (Salisbury, Wells etc). He is passionate too about jazz. Writer of music for films and numerous TV programmes and documentaries (Jonathan Creek, Cutting Edge for C4 etc) Former song-writer and arranger for Boy George (Culture Club), Stevie Wonder and many others. Director of music management company. Four works commissioned for the millennium concert at Durham cathedral. Julian teaches composition to selected pupils throughout the school. Julian is also a fine photographer, cinematographer and editor.

E: jsl@hchnet.co.uk
Kathryn Sumner, B.A. (Hons), M.A (Oxon), PGCE – English
Kathryn studied Oxford University, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Institute of Education. Her passion for drama and education run hand in hand. Over the past six years she has specialised in tutoring English and Maths for 11 plus and CE, and is writing a book for 10-12 year olds on creative writing. She is a strong believer in learning (and teaching) through play.

E: kmas@hchnet.co.uk
Agnesa Tothova, M.A. – Director of Music, Voice
Agnesa Tothova was born and brought up in the Slovak Republic. She began studying music at a young age (violin, piano, voice) and worked with most of the finest voice and music teachers in Europe (M.Martincek,Martin Issep, Eva Randova, Eva Blahova, Anthony Legge, Richard van Allen, Margaret Lobo,Peter Dvorsky, Roger Vignoles, Paola Molinari, Julian Smith and Peter Schreier). Agnesa won her first international voice competition while still in her teens, and went on to win most of the leading competitions in Eastern Europe. Agnesa has since established herself both as a performer and teacher. On a scholarship from the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Agnesa studied at the National Opera Studio, where she sang Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Nedda in I Pagliacci and Rusalka in Rusalka. She has sung at many leading operatic and concert venues throughout England and Europe (including Glyndebourne, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and in over 12 countries). She worked with theatre directors like John Copley, Olivia Fuchs, Peter Hall and Debra Warner. Agnesa has 20 years teaching experience and she is very highly regarded as a voice teacher, both in Britain and on the continent. She speaks several languages and she is the Founder of “Your Voice and You” singing methodology which emphasises on psychological aspects of performing and the impact of different emotions on the human voice. She is a founder of: Early Learning Music Program for children as young as 3 years old, which she runs very succsessfully. This program is available for children in HCH. Her passion also includes teaching Music to children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and mild autism. Agnesa is Director of Music in HCH since April 2006.

E: at@hchnet.co.uk
Carl Turland, B.Sc (Hons), CELTA, QTS – ICT & Computing
Carl was employed as a computer programmer for Sky Sports and Sky News before moving to Indonesia to teach English for one year (or so he thought). Whilst there Carl experienced an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a snake bite and two bouts of dengue fever, but surprisingly loved every minute of living in South East Asia. Having worked hard to obtain the role of Director of Studies of a large English language school just outside of Jakarta, Carl decided to return to the UK to obtain his QTS in teaching ICT and computing. Carl is a keen photographer, a qualified volleyball coach and an avid football fan.

E: crt@hchnet.co.uk
Dominique Vellutini, M.A. – French
Dominique has ten years’ experience teaching French and English, within the French Educational system, in secondary and vocational schools. Her special interests are teaching foreign languages as well as English and French culture more generally. She places great value on linguistic precision and awareness and has always tried to impart a love of language and linguistic curiosity to her students. Enthusiastic Francophiles are always welcome in her class!

E: dv@hchnet.co.uk
Nisar Zaker B.Sc. Mathematics and Management (Joint Hons), PG Cert HR Management, RSA CTEFLA
Nisar studied Mathematics and Management at King’s College London, where she was an active member of the Asian Society, writing articles for their quarterly magazine and participating in annual charity events. After graduating in 1995, Nisar gained her RSA CTEFLA from International House London and embarked on an unplanned career in TEFL, teaching younger learners and adults in Poland, London and Germany. After completing a post graduate certificate in HR Management at Westminster University in 2004, she returned to Hamburg in Germany to set up her own English teaching business, called “E is for English”, which specialised in providing courses for Younger Learners and Business English. Nisar moved back to England in 2010 and is currently a freelance Examiner at City & Guilds for the Functional Skills exams (Mathematics) in addition to being a flexible PGCE student at Brunel University (Secondary Mathematics). She is an avid reader, very interested in creative writing and is an aspiring novelist.

E: nz@hchnet.co.uk