John qualified as a teacher (B.Ed. Hons) in 1989 at Lancaster University, Charlotte Mason College. After four years of teaching in Oldham, UK, he went to work in his first international school in Kuwait. He then moved to work in Shell Schools in Malaysia, Syria and Oman, being promoted to Deputy Head and then to Head of School. John joined PBS in September 2006 as Head of Primary Schools and is also a qualified ISI inspector. John met his wife, Aimee while teaching in Malaysia. John has three children, all at PBS, who keep him and his wife very busy.

Paul qualified from Oxford University in 1999. He taught in a primary school in Oxford for four years before moving to Prague in 2003. Initially Paul worked as a Y2 teacher in Modrany, then Deputy Head at Kamyk and is now in his second year as Head Teacher. Paul enjoys playing a range of sports in an attempt to keep fit and is part of a local expatriate football team, and can still fly down the wing despite his advanced years.

Mark was born in England but grew up in Wales and New Zealand. After several years working for an engineering company, travelling between the two hemispheres and voluntary work, he settled in New Zealand to complete a degree in Ecology at Lincoln University. Following this he returned to England to study for a PGCE, taught for six years at a small school in North Yorkshire and then moved to Prague in 2006. Mark is blissfully married and has three sons. Any time left over from his family is divided between kayaking, cycling and his passion for woodwork.

Chris Hanlon
Year 6 teacher

Chris was born in England and after studying languages at school he graduated in politics from Loughborough University. In 2002, after working in the Civil Service in Birmingham for several years, he decided to move into teaching and gained his PGCE qualification from Northampton College. Chris then enjoyed teaching for four years in a large primary school in the small English town of Buckingham before seeking a new challenge and moving to Prague in 2006. Now in his third year, Chris is happily settled in his favourite city in the world.

Oliver qualified as a teacher in 2001 at Brighton University in England.  After four years of teaching in Portsmouth, UK, he moved to Prague to work at an International school. Oliver joined PBS in October 2007 as a Year 5 teacher and he has recently become the Mathematics coordinator for the school. Oliver plays tennis on a regular basis and it keeps him healthy.

Katie Haigh
Year 4 teacher
Assessment Co-ordinator

Katie studied Physics and Philosophy (BSc Hons) at the University of St Andrews before qualifying as a teacher (PGCE(primary)) at the University of Dundee.  After teaching in Edinburgh for 2 years, she decided it was time for a change and started at PBS in September 2008.  In her spare time Katie enjoys dancing.  She has taken part in, and coached teams for, festivals and competitions across Europe.  She is currently completing her teaching qualification in Scottish Country dancing and regularly teaches a display team in Prague. 

Paul was born in Newport, South Wales and graduated from The University of Wolverhampton before gaining a Post Graduate Diploma at The University of Birmingham. After teaching English language for four years in Barcelona, Frankfurt and Istanbul he joined PBS in early 2004 as an EAL teacher at the Bubenec site. He is now in his fourth year as a classroom teacher, teaching Year 4 at Kamyk after three years as a Year 2 teacher.

Kirsty graduated from Warwick University in 2000 with a degree in Ancient History and Archaeology.  She then completed her PGCE and TESOL certificates at Roehampton, London.  Kirsty taught in London before moving to work at an International School in Valencia, Spain.  Later she relocated to Thailand where she spent 4 years teaching in Bangkok and exploring the culture of South East Asia.  She also took up painting, cycling and scuba diving.  Kirsty moved to Prague in 2008 to teach Year 3 at PBS.  She has become a member of the International Choir of Prague and looks forward to travelling around Europe and playing in the snow this winter!

Emma Hewitt qualified as a primary school teacher at the University of Greenwich in 2007. She has been living in the Czech Republic since January 2008 and before joining PBS she taught intensive English in a Czech Primary school. Emma has a background in theatre and sings in a jazz band. She greatly enjoys reading and creative writing and hopes to pass on her love of literature to her students.

Sarah is a farmer’s daughter from Cumbria, England. She received a BSc Hons in Environmental Management at Lancaster University before studying for her PGCE in Primary Education at St Martins, Cumbria. After teaching for three years in Edinburgh she moved to Singapore and taught in an eight-form entry British School. She taught Year 1 for two years and gained a promotion to Assistant Head of Year. Sarah came to PBS in August 2009 and teaches Year 2 at Kamyk. She enjoys pottery and looks forward to discovering the Czech Republic and surrounding countries.

Goldie comes from Canada where she studied and received her degrees in BA and B.Ed. at the University of Windsor.  Goldie has taught in Canada, Greece and is in her sixth year of teaching in Prague.  She feels her personality is made up of fractions of cultures of these three countries. Among Goldie’s hobbies, apart from teaching, are travelling, gardening, spending time with her family, whether here or overseas, and curling up with a good book.

Karen comes from Scotland where she worked in Nursing homes, which was was a job she enjoyed tremendously. Karen moved to Prague in December 2008 and initially worked in a communication centre in Prague before moving to PBS in April 2009. Karen is really enjoying her time working and living in the Czech Republic. Karen tries to go back home to Scotland on her holidays to visit her family and friends.

Lara is originally from south-east England where she worked in a school  supporting children with learning difficulties.  After moving to the Czech Republic and gaining her TESOL certificate she taught English  to children and young adults for three years and spent a further three years as a Preschool teacher at an English language kindergarten. She joined the EAL department at PBS in 2006 and this year has taken on the role of Primary EAL co-ordinator.

Petra received an Arts Degree majoring in Liberal Education. Later she earned a certificate in Teaching English to Young Learners. She completed her studies in the U.S.A. Living in an English speaking country as a non-native speaker for 4 years helped Petra to understand the challenges of learning an additional language. This is Petra’s fifth year at PBS. Petra enjoys teaching EAL because she feels she can use her experience to ease the children’s transition into an international environment. Petra loves to learn new languages; her goal is to learn three sentences from each language which the children in our school speak at home. So, if you meet her in the hallway you can try to test her on how she is achieving her goal!

Nick has been teaching sport to children for 12 years. After gaining his sports qualifications in his home town of Liverpool, he accepted an offer to work in California for 3 years. He then moved on to positions in Australia, Egypt, Finland and finally the Czech Republic. Nick joined PBS in September 2007 and works with all the children throughout the 3 sites. Nick has set up and runs his own Saturday football school, is the player/manager of an expat football team here in Prague and is currently training for the Prague Marathon in May 2009.

Lindsey graduated from the University of Minnesota, receiving her qualification in music-education. She has earned multiple opportunities in music ranging from guest conducting the Duluth Symphony Orchestra, touring with her University Symphony in Turkey, and performing for musical productions, such as La Boheme and Carmen. Lindsey joined the PBS teaching community in January 2008. She is delighted to teach music at PBS and apart from teaching enjoys singing and songwriting.

Helena Vurmova
SEN Teacher
Czech Programme

Helena was born in Prague and, after completing her Masters degree at Charles University in Prague, Helena taught in two primary schools for children with special needs.  She joined PBS in October 2005 as SEN and Czech Teacher after returning from Boston, MA where she worked for 18 months as a manager in a program for developing mentally challenged children. Helena has two sons and loves travelling and playing squash.

Monika Ambrozova
French Teacher/EAL

Monika is a native Czech from Prague. She has a Masters degree in teaching English and French. Monika is passionate about languages and travelling. As part of her studies she spent one term in Finland studying English and French. After graduating from Charles University in Prague she worked in France in a primary school as an English teacher and a language assistant. She has now been working at PBS for three years, teaching French and EAL.

Born in South Bohemia. Veronika lived in England for two years before settling in Prague in 2001. During the eight years that she has been working for the school, she has worked in various positions in both Primary and Secondary. Veronika qualified as a Drama teacher (BcA) at the Drama Faculty in Prague (DAMU) in 2007 and is now in the process of doing her Masters in Drama in Education. Veronika enjoys singing in the International Choir of Prague; she also loves to attend theatre performances and can be spotted dancing to any music at any time.