Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

NETWORK Arabic Business Studies and Entrepreneurship Counselors Early Childhood/Early Years English English as an additional language (EAL/ELL) Geography ICT and Digital Learning Library and Digital Literacy Mathematics Modern Foreign Languages Music Technology Performing Arts Physical Education PSHCEE (Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship, Emotional Education) Science Special Education Needs Visual Arts CONTACT PERSON Maysoon Dwairi TBC Sreekala Sureshkumar Suzie Hachez Aminah Evans Chloe Hobson-Burch TBC Rashmi Dansinghani Candice Wright Tony Potts Jennifer Martin Graham Corbyn Laura Trivic Neil Bradley Matt Langridge Sonya Pearce Nicolas Walters David McKeown Dawn Mells Nick Lee (Prim) Richard McGrory (Sec) Philippa Bodien Sarah Jackson r.dansinghani_daa@gemsedu.com; c.wright_wis@gemsedu.com; t.potts_gwa@gemsedu.com; j.martin_gwa@gemsedu.com; graham.corbyn@gemseducation.com; l.trivic_jcd@gemsedu.com; n.bradley_jcd@gemsedu.com; m.langridge_gwa@gemsedu.com; s.pearce_cis@gemsedu.com; n.walters_wps@gemsedu.com; d.mckeown_wps@gemsedu.com; d.mells_jcd@gemsedu.com; n.lee_rds@gemsedu.com; r.mcgrory_wis@gemsedu.com; philippa.bodien@gemseducation.com; s.jackson_jcd@gemsedu.com; sreekala.k_mhs@gemsedu.com; suzie.h_cis@gemsedu.com; a.evans_rds@gemsedu.com; chloe.h_jps@gemsedu.com; EMAIL maysoon.dwairi@gemseducation.com;

GEMS Professional Development

Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

NETWORK CONTACT PERSON Bio
My name is Maysoon and I am a senior manager in GEMS Education solutions. I hold Masters in Education from Deakin University in Australia and Maters in Educational Studies from Higher Collages of Technology in Dubai with focus on UAE content. I have more than 25 years experience in education with extensive experience in training, mentoring and promoting a learning environment that fosters academic excellence. I taught in different public and private schools in Dubai and Jordan before moving into leadership. I worked as Deputy Head Teacher, vice principal and principal in primary and secondary schools in Dubai. I am an experienced school leader with highly developed school management, academic administration, curriculum development program, and evaluation and school review skills.

GEMS Professional Development

Arabic

Maysoon Dwairi

Business Studies and Entrepreneurship

TBC
I am the School Counsellor & Head of Student and staff welfare( overseeing SEN department) at GEMS Modern Academy. I hold a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Mumbai and have 13 years experience in school counseling along with 4 years experience in teaching Psychology at the High school level. I have been trained in Person-centered , Rational Emotive and Behaviour Management techniques besides completing courses in Life-skills for Adolescence , Transactional Analysis and Suicide Prevention. I regularly conduct workshops in school for teachers, parents and students . I have also conducted workshops at What Works workshops at KHDA and GETEX, Dubai. My name is Suzie Hachez and I come from Belgium. My main stream of study is clinical and educational psychology. I started my professional journey at Cairo American College where I was appointed as a counselor and helped out in the academic support unit. I have been with the GEMS group since the past 16 years. I am the Director of the Achievement Center and I am also running the English Additional Language (EAL) for students. Last, but not least, I support the schools parents and students as schools counselor and last year have had the pleasure of becoming a co-leader of the Counselor Network Team. I strongly believe that networking is collaborating with team members to share good practice and are resources. Looking forward to another great GEMS year!

Counselors

Sreekala Sureshkumar

Counselors

Suzie Hachez

Early Childhood/Early Years

Chloe Hobson-Burch

Chloe Hobson-Burch, Jumeirah Primary School Head of Foundation Stage 2, School Senior Leader I have 8 years teaching experience, all within the Foundation Stage. This is my 5th Year at JPS. I have delivered training sessions and supported schools throughout Dubai in developing their Early Years settings. This is my first Year leading the Early Years Network with Aminah, however I have been part of the group since it began 2 years ago.

Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

I am a passionate and dedicated Early Years Foundation Stage practitioner. I received a BA Hons degree in Childhood and the Arts and then went on to complete a PGCE specialising in Early Years. In 2011, I began my Dubai experience at GEMS Royal Dubai School as an FS2 (Reception) class teacher. In September 2012 I became the schools Early Years Leader, responsible for 14 FS classes and 40 members of staff. I am now an active member of the Senior Leadership Team. In November 2012, The Foundation Stage department received their first Outstanding grading from KHDA. I have also used my skills and experience to take part in internal GEMS school reviews.

GEMS Professional Development

Early Childhood/Early Years

Aminah Evans

I co-lead the GEMS UAE Early Childhood Network with Chloe Hobson-Burch and I am also the CACHE Coordinator for GEMS. I am currently developing the Level 3 Diploma to provide further career opportunities for all GEMS staff. I have successfully delivered bespoke EYFS training to various schools in the UAE and Egypt. To acknowledge my commitment to CPD, I was awarded the Celebration of Partnership award from Dubais HTC Womens Campus as well as the GEMS award for Outstanding CPD support to Early Childhood. I am keen to share innovat ion and best practice with others and was invited to present her recent action research project at the 2013 Learning Summit.

English

TBC
Hi, my name is Rashmi Dansinghani. This is my tenth year at Dubai American Academy, and sixth year as an elementary English Language Learner (ELL) teacher. I have had the pleasure of being the English as an Additional Language (EAL/ELL) Network Leader for the past 3 years and working with so many wonderful and knowledgeable colleagues across the GEMS network of schools. My passion and dedication to education comes from my experience teaching in diverse groups of children in New York and Dubai and learning about their cultures. I am looking forward to effectively collaborating with EAL/ELL specialists across GEMS schools. I strongly believe that the best education is a collaborative one. I look forward to another great year of cooperative learning and sharing in the EAL/ELL network.

English as an additional language (EAL/ELL)

Rashmi Dansinghani

Geography

Candice Wright

My name is Candice Wright and I am the subject leader for Geography at Wellington International School. This will be my third year at WIS and second as the network leader for Geography in Dubai. Previously I have been involved in Geography networks in the UK and found these to be invaluable. This year I hope to build up the Geography network to provide support and share best practice amongst GEMS Geographers.

Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

I am originally from the UK and after a short time teaching in London, I experienced an exciting start to international teaching with five years in an International School in the Philippines. I am now starting my sixth year with GEMS World Academy - Dubai.

GEMS Professional Development

ICT and Digital Learning

Tony Potts

I am really looking forward to continue to share my enthusiasm for digital learning and learn from staff at GWA and beyond in order to improve and celebrate student learning through the use of technology. The GEMS ICT Network is predominantly for ICT teachers and specialists. But dont worry - there will be times through the year where other digital champions & technology enthusiasts will have an opportunity to share good practice and technology in action! I am the librarian for both MYP and DP programs. While I am in my fifth year of teaching, the previous two I have been GEMS World Academy primary librarian. Prior to coming to GWA, I was a K-12 librarian in upstate New York in America, where I am originally from. I graduated with a BA in Education and minor in Business Administration 2007 from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in the USA and obtained his Master of Library Science from Clarion University in 2009. The previous ten summers, I have also worked at a public librarian fulfilling many roles from front desk manager to research librarian. I moved to Dubai in 2011 and began my first international post at GEMS World Academy, and the International Baccalaureate Program. My passion lies in the library program and the importance of Information Literacy. Students who are confident in obtaining and evaluating resources bring these skills to excel in all areas of studies. I am dedicated to working with students and staff to support learning and to help them discovering new adventures though pleasure reading. I am currently Senior Manager for Multi-Services at GEMS Corporate Office. I have over 20 years of experience of working in education. I have been fortunate to have worked as an Associate Principal in three secondary schools in the UK, as well as at government, corporate and commercial levels primarily directing national school improvement programmes. I am also a published author on school transformation. From a mathematics perspective, I have been a mathematics teacher and Head of Mathematics in varying contexts having taught across the 11-18 age and ability range. I was also invited to Fellowship of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications in recognition of my national and international contribution to mathematics education; I was the first national leader of mathematics and computing colleges with the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, UK; and designed the BTEC Mathematics Applications qualification with Edexcel.

Library and Digital Literacy

Jennifer Martin

Mathematics

Graham Corbyn

Modern Foreign Languages

Laura Trivic Neil Bradley

Awaiting Information

Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

My name is Matthew Langridge, born in Australia, but call New Zealand/London/UAE home. I'm head of Music technology and Mac technology at GWA in Dubai, and warmly welcome anyone interested in joining a music technology network. I'll be looking into/facilitating discussions surrounding all aspects of Music Technology in Education. My specific situation is MYP/IB using Macs with Garageband, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live, with a 5.1 surround multi track studio and 17 iMacs with Apogee and M Audio interfaces. I spent 7 years in London teaching GCSE and A levels/BTec's in Music Technology, so understand the B.C. I've a background in Audio Engineering and Electronic Composition. If you feel you've got something to offer, or feel you need something to learn about Music Technology/Composition/Teaching ideas/music gear/plugins/Audio Engineering, I'd love to hear from you.

GEMS Professional Development

Music Technology

Matt Langridge

Performing Arts

Sonya Pearce

Awaiting Information
Welcome to the PE Network! Im David McKeown, Head of PE at GWPS. Ill be managing the PE network this year along with Nic Walters, also from GWPS. Firstly, a little bit of background on us both. Ive been teaching for 16 years with the last 11 years as HoD PE alongside SLT responsibilities in various roles including Boarding House management, leading ICT and as a Deputy Head across a range of schools primarily in south east England. Ive been with GEMS in Dubai for the past 3 years and am currently studying for an MA in Education. I have two sons who attend GWPS, I enjoy many sports, though my ability in them is rapidly leaving me! Nic graduated from the University of Wales as a Physical Education specialist and joined our department two years ago. Prior to joining us at GWPS, NIc taught in further education before making the move to Dubai. Nic is a keen rugby player, seems to spend most of his life outside school in the gym and is our resident digital learning specialist. Though we feel we should let you know something about us, the network is not about Nic and I. It should be about sharing ideas, skills, knowledge and expertise across schools and being able to overcome obstacles to our curriculum area as a combined group. With this in mind, we will be holding a series of meetings throughout the year based around areas of need within the network. We require your feedback in order for this to work! Please let us know any areas you would like us to focus on and we will do our best to support you. In addition, we need staff with expertise in particular areas of PE i.e. digital learning, assessment or specific sports such as gymnastics, netball, football, rugby etc. to put themselves forward to run CPD sessions as part of the GEMS PD calendar. With your support, we can build a meaningful network to drive forward standards and learning within our curriculum area. A dedicated website has been set up on the GLG to provide a central point for GEMS PE teachers to communicate, collaborate and share, with the view to improving teaching, learning and provision for our learners. On the website you will find useful links and (with your help) an ever-growing bank of teaching resources, as well as a blogging space where we can discuss various topics. This is an interactive facility where everybody has a voice, so please make yourselves heard! We look forward to meeting you soon. Do feel welcome to contact us at any time if you have any questions or require support.

Physical Education

David McKeown Nicolas Walters

Professional Learning Networks 2013-14

PSHCEE (Personal, Social, Health, Citizenship, Emotional Education) Dawn Mells
Awaiting Information

GEMS Professional Development

Science

Nick Lee (Prim)

My name is Nick Lee and I am in the third year as Science coordinator at Royal Dubai School. I have been involved in the GEMS Science network for the last 2 years and am looking forward to helping it grow and develop this year.

My name is Richard McGrory and I am the Curriculum Leader for Science at GEMS Wellington International School and also a member of the Senior Secondary Team with a focus on Teaching and Learning. I have worked for GEMS since 2009, originally arriving to work at Jumeirah College but have also lived and worked in the UAE for over 10 years in total.

Science

Richard McGrory (Sec)

The Science Network aims to support network members in every aspect of their science teaching. We aim to share ideas and develop together as a team. We have put together a proposed timetable of agenda items but these are, of course, dependent on the interests and needs of the group. We will decide our priorities in the first session at Wellington International School on 21st October. Starting at 3.30pm. I am the Special Educational Needs Advisor for GEMS Education. I hold a degree in Psychology, a Certificate in Education (Primary), an RSA Certificate for Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults, a Hornsby Diploma for Teaching of Children with Dyslexia and is an Associate Member of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA). Prior to joining GEMS Education, I was Head of Inclusion at GEMS Jumeirah Primary School having started at the school in 1998 to initiate the Dyslexia Unit. Since joining the Professional Development team, GEMS Education, in September 2012 Philippas role includes delivering Professional Development to GEMS teaching staff, leading action research, supporting bespoke schools development of special needs provision and being a team member in school reviews and support for inspections. Hi, I am Sarah Jackson the Head of Art at Jumeirah College and I have been teaching for 9 years. This will be my 6th Year at Jumeirah College and will be my 2nd year as the Visual Arts leader for Gems. I am very passion about the Arts and feel extremely privileged to be leading this group. I believe this Network group should be about sharing ideas, skills, knowledge and expertise across schools and being able to overcome obstacles to our curriculum area as a combined group. With this in mind, I will be holding a series of meetings throughout the year based around areas of need within the network. I will require your feedback in order for this to work, therefore please let me know any areas you would like us to focus on and I will do my best to support you. In addition, I need staff with expertise in particular areas of the arts who will be willing to deliver specialist workshops in which we can all learn from. With your support, we can build a meaningful network to drive forward standards and learning within our curriculum area.

Special Education Needs

Philippa Bodien

Visual Arts

Sarah Jackson