The Olive Tree Family
We are a warm, caring team of UK government-trained teachers.
Our policies are made jointly by all staff with the child at the heart of this process.
Our Senior Teachers
Audrey Reeder
Headteacher
B.A. Hons. French & Span, Oxford Univ.; PGCE French, Oxford Univ.
Audrey founded The Olive Tree School in 2010 and still teaches in secondary school.
Audrey loves art, history and being in nature.
Joshua Rutledge
Head of Secondary, Head of Saplings
Special Education Lead, Secondary & Saplings
Designated Safeguarding Lead
BA Hons in Geography, Northumbria Univ.; PGCE, Sunderland Univ.
Josh loves cooking and enjoys football and running.
Anna Johnson
Head of Primary
Special Education Lead, Primary
BA Hons in Drama, York Univ.; PGCE Primary Education, York Univ.
Anna loves musical theatre, singing and playing the piano.
Kevin Eastwood
Assistant Headteacher in Secondary
Special Education Lead, Primary
MA in Education,St Mary’s University.
PGCE for Secondary Education, Worcester University.
BA (Hons) in Performance for Live and Recorded Media, Teeside Univ.
Kevin loves literature and enjoys travel.
Our Saplings Teachers (Ages 3 – 5)
Nelia Fourie
Class Teacher Saplings
BEd Primary, Educational Psychology with SEND and Counselling, North-West Univ., South Africa
Nelia loves traveling, cooking and art.
Montse Ausin
Teaching Assistant in Saplings
BSc in Administration.
Montse loves art and crafts, photography, reading and getting lost in nature.
Emily Begg
Teaching Assistant in Saplings
TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate
COBIS – Diploma International Teaching Assistant EarlyYears (DITAEY)
Emily enjoys walking, yoga, swimming, and travelling with her family.
Karen Holmes
Teaching Assistant in Saplings
Alliance-registered Yoga Instructor; Diploma in Art Therapy ; Children in Permaculture
Karen loves nature and travel.
Our Primary Teachers (Ages 5 – 11)
Marie Fowler
Class Teacher Year 1
BA English Language and Literature, Liverpool Univ. PGCE Primary, Liverpool Hope Univ.
Marie enjoys traveling, walking, swimming, art and singing.
Rebecca Rohde
Teaching Assistant Year 1
B.A. in English Philology, Pedagogy and History, Münster Univ.; Certified Educadora Infantil, IfP Barcelona.
PGCE Primary
Rebecca likes running with her dogs and doing triathlons.
Zoë Simmons
Class Teacher Year 2
BA English Literature, Cardiff University; MSt in English Literature, Oxford Univ; PGCE Primary, Oxford Brookes Univ.
Zoë loves swimming in the sea and baking cakes.
Clare Balayla Hird
Teaching Assistant Year 2
TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language
Clare has a background teaching English as a foreign language for the past 20 years, especially Young Learners.
She enjoys cooking, reading and walking in the countryside with her dog.
Maz Newton
Class Teacher Year 3
BSc in Psychology with Drama, Manchester Metropolitan University, CELTA English Teacher and PGCE in Primary Teaching, Leeds Beckett University; CELTA
Maz is interested in psychology, mental health and wellbeing and also loves fitness, snowboarding and acting!
Saskia van der Kleij
Teaching Assistant Year 3
BA Social Work, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Level 5 TEFL course, The TEFL academy UK
Saskia loves spending time with her family and friends, and enjoys hiking and traveling.
Sharon Rose
Class Teacher Year 4
B.A. Hons Managing Cultural and Major Events
PGCE Lancaster University
NNEB Diploma
Sharon is very artistic with food and fabric! She loves baking celebration cakes and sewing anything she can get her hands on.
Isabella Tsim
Class Teacher Year 5
BA Environmental Studies, Univ. of Oregon, USA; MEd in Sustainability, Creativity, and Innovation. PGCE Primary Ed, Univ. of Warwick, UK.
Isabella likes cooking, reading, hiking and DIY.
Helen McKetty
Teaching Assistant in Year 5; SEN teacher; speech therapist.
BA Hons, German, Nottingham Univ.; PG Dip, Speech and Language Therapy, London City Univ.
Helen enjoys reading, cooking, swimming in the sea and walking in the countryside.
Will Smith
Class Teacher Year 6
BA Primary Education with QTS, Edge Hill University.
Will plays for a local football team and enjoys playing the guitar.
Lizzie Langdon-Davies
Teaching Assistant Year 6
Diploma Therapeutic Counselling, London South East Colleges; Cert Higher Education in Contemporary Dance, Univ. of Kent
Lizzie loves dancing, swimming in the sea.
Shama Arif Azmi
Primary Special Education Teacher
DBA – Psychology, English & Journalism, Bangalore Univ.; M.Sc Psychology, Bangalore Univ.; Diploma in Autism Spectrum Disorders; Diploma in Reading & Writing Difficulties.
Shama loves writing poetry and enjoys travelling and listening to old Hindi songs.
Lulu Melotte
Primary Drama Teacher. Teaching Assitant, Primary; Choir Teacher.
NCFE Cache Level 3 Cert. in Supporting Learning & Teaching.
Lulu directs the Senior Musical Theatre Club and loves singing jazz.
Aina Bosch Codina
Spanish and Catalan teacher
BA in Early Childhood Education and Primary School Teaching, majoring in English (Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya).
Aina loves travelling, and writing and enjoys getting out into the countryside.
Ayesha Mendham
Music and Choir Teacher
BA (Hons) Social Psychology Univ. of Sussex; BKA Cert of Professional Practice in the Kodàly Education; RSL Level 4 Professional Diploma in Teaching Performing Arts; Choral Leadership, Assoc. of British Choral Directors,
Ayesha loves travelling, yoga, ceramics, and dance.
Sally Marks
Teaching Assistant Year 5
PGCE Secondary Art; MA Art Therapy.
Sally loves painting, running adult and children’s art clubs, and exhibiting her work in galleries.
Our Secondary Teachers (Ages 12-16)
Brooke Cairns
History & Geography Teacher
Diversity & Cultural Inclusion Lead
BA Geography (Univ. of Newcastle); PGCE Secondary Humanities (Univ. of Sunderland)
Brooke loves reading and hiking.
Lindsay Corr
English Teacher
BA Hons in English Language and Literature, Plymouth University.
PGCE in Secondary Education with Enhanced SEN training, Truro College partnered with the University of Exeter.
Lindsay loves the outdoors and spends her time taking road trips along the coast in her campervan with her dog, Summer.
Annette Pollard
Chemistry, Biology and Physics Teacher
BSc Physics Exeter University
PGCE Secondary Science, Bristol University
Annette loves swimming, surfing and hiking
Paula Hetherington
Mathematics & Science Teacher; Mentor
B.Ed Mathematics, Univ. of Canberra; Dip. Teaching Mathematics & Science, Univ. of Technology, Queensland; Qualified Teacher Status, De Montfort Univ.
Paula loves cooking, baking and walking her dog.
Jara Sanchez-Ocaña
Primary & Secondary Spanish Teacher & Secondary Spanish Humanities
CELTA certificate (Spanish as a foreign language teaching certificate)
QTS and taught MFL in London for 7 years
CAP ( Equivalente to PGCE), Universidad de Oviedo
Bachelor degree in Philosophy, Universidad de Oviedo
Jara loves basketball and trekking.
Joan Bonastre
Spanish Teacher
B.A. Humanities
M.A. Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language
M.A. Creative Writing
M.A. Literary Research: Spanish and Latin American Literature
Joan loves languages and teaching them, as they enable us to live and travel the world. He also enjoys hiking and basketball.
Aileen Hamilton
Art & Design Teacher
BA Fine Art (National College of Art & Design, Dublin); Higher Diploma in Art & Design Education (National College of Art & Design, Dublin)
Aileen is a painter and loves making art.
Beatriz Chumassy
Art & Design
BA Communication (Universidad Ibearoamericana, Mexico); Master in Art Therapy (Universidad Pompeu Fabra / Escuela Metafora, Barcelona)
Beatriz teaches art projects to pupils Y7, Y8 and Y9.
Beatriz loves yoga, dance and walking in nature.
Tamara Naval Pesqué
PE Teacher
Diversity & Cultural Inclusion Lead
Sports Science Graduate , The National Institute of Physical Education (INEFC), Lleida
Pedagogical Aptitude Cert. from the Univ. of Lleida
Master in Sports Management, The National Institute of Phys Educ (INEFC), Leida
Tamara love transmitting the values of physical activity and sport to the pupils at The Olive Tree School.
Francisca de Teves Costa
Teaching Assistant in Secondary & Exams Officer.
BA, English Literature, London Univ.
Francisca loves reading, travel and film.
Ricardo Sanchez
ICT and Music teacher
Master in Education Technology with La Salle Campus, Madrid
Ricardo loves composing music, and is a keen tennis player.
Our Administration Team
Saray Gallego
Front of House & First Aid
Red Cross First Aid (Asistencia Sanitaria Immediata, Level II); lifeguard training.
Saray loves reading and traveling.
James Hoyle
Finance Director
MA History, Oxford Univ.
James loves cooking, gardening, mountain biking and walking.
Jessica Bruzeau
Admissions Manager
BA Psychology, University of Nice.
BA Education Science University of Lyon.
French as a foreign language Degree, Alliance Française, Paris.
Jessica loves to read, dance & travel.
Magda Kaczkan
Finance & HR Administration
MA in HR Management, Liverpool Univ ;BA in English Philology, University of Szczecin, PL. Magda loves travel and the outdoors and enjoys hiking or mountain biking.
