Kamyk Primary Teachers

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 Year 2 teacher in Modřany, then Deputy Head at Kamýk and in 2007 became the Head Teacher. Paul enjoys playing a range of sports in an attempt to keep fit, is part of his local village football team, and can still fly down the wing despite his advanced years. Paul has an energetic son who keeps him entertained during his free time.

Máiréad is from Ireland where she graduated with a B.Ed in 1993. She then studied in California and completed her M.A. in Education in 1994. In the 12 years which followed she taught students of all ages in Sydney, Madrid and Dublin. Máiréad joined PBS in 2006. She plans to stay in this country for as long as it takes her to master the Czech language, so it looks like she’s not in any hurry to leave.

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 football, kayaking, cycling and creating furniture in his workshop.

Kirsten qualified, in 1999, as an Early Years/ Key Stage One teacher (B.Ed Hons) from Liverpool Hope University College. She then worked as a supply teacher in the Greater Manchester area for one year before teaching for three years in a school in Bolton. Kirsten moved to Thailand in 2003 for four years, working in two international schools, teaching across the primary age range. Kirsten came to work at PBS in September 2007, working in the Foundation Stage. She is an avid cinema goer and is a Formula 1 fan.

Gemma was born in Wales and until moving to Prague, had lived there all her life. She qualified as a teacher from Trinity University College, Carmarthen, in 2009. Prior to this Gemma worked as a teaching assistant in a primary school; it was through doing this job that she decided to become a teacher. After one year of teaching in her home town of Swansea, Gemma decided to seek a new challenge and began teaching at PBS in September of 2010, teaching FS1 and FS2 at Modrany. Gemma thoroughly enjoys spending time on the beach (something she misses in a landlocked country!) but is looking forward to lots of new experiences whilst living in Prague. Gemma likes to keep fit and her hobbies include swimming and kickboxing.

Jana is a qualified English as a foreign language teacher. She graduated in 1996 from Charles University, Prague. After her studies she worked for Big Ben bookshop in Prague, gaining great experience of working within the international multicultural community. She has two children. Jana is very flexible and since joining our school she has worked as both a classroom assistant, a foundation stage teacher and an EAL teacher!

Yayoi qualified as a nurse in 1998 in Japan. She worked as a nurse for four and half years in a surgical ward at Teikyo University Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, and then two and half years in cosmetic surgery. She then moved to Sydney, Australia where she completed an Advanced Diploma in Nursing at the Australian Catholic University. While studying in Sydney, Yayoi met her partner who brought her to the Czech Republic in 2008. she started working as a classroom assistant at PBS in December 2008 and married her partner in June 2010.

Although Monika graduated as Engineer of Wildlife Management in Tropics and Subtropics, soon she found out that taking care of children is her life’s mission. By combining two of her joys – travelling and taking care of kids – Monika spent one year in London and another year in Vancouver working as an au-pair/nanny. She also worked in two different nurseries before settling in Prague British School in March 2012. Except travelling, she loves outdoors and spends most of her free time doing some kind of sport - trekking and mountain climbing being the favourite ones.

Helen qualified as a teacher in 1999 from St. Martin’s college in Lancaster. Her first teaching appointment was in London where she taught for two years before accepting a job here in Prague. After three years teaching at the former BISP school, her husband’s job took them back to England. Here, Helen was able to teach at a school in Hertfordshire before the arrival of her first child. She now has two lovely young children and as a family they have decided to settle in the Czech Republic. They returned earlier this year and Helen began teaching at PBS from September 2008.

Petra qualified as a pediatric nurse in 1993 at the Medical school in Jihlava. At the end of that year she went to the UK and worked as an au pair. Then she moved back to the Czech Republic and spent two years working in several hospitals. After that Petra got the opportunity to work in West Middlesex Hospital in the UK, where she stayed till 2007. Petra and her partner moved back to Prague and they have two children. In September of the same year she joined PBS.

She has been living in Prague since 2007, where she has been teaching at international schools and pursuing her education and experience in the field of education. She graduated with her Masters in International Education in the summer of 2010 and started working at PBS soon after, where she is currently a year 2 classroom teacher. Liza originally studied Fine Art and completed her first BA from the University of Cape Town. After her studies she decided to do something exciting and ended up teaching kindergarten in Taiwan for two years. This experience set a firm foundation for her future in education. Since then Liza has also completed a BA in Motion Picture, with her major in animation. In her free time Liza enjoys travelling, reading, cycling, hiking and being creative.

Sasha received a Psychology degree at St Petersburg University in Russia. She worked with adults as a Clinical Psychologist in Russia for six years and then worked as a Human Resources Manager in a commercial company. Sasha moved to the Czech Republic in the summer of 2008. She enjoys walks in the forest and spending the weekends at her peaceful cottage.

Jana Samcová qualified as a pediatric nurse in 1991 in Prague. After one year of working on the children’s surgical ward in Thomayer’s hospital she moved to England to work as a volunteer with disabled people. She stayed there for one and half year where she met her husband. They then moved to Prague and set up a big family of four children. Jana joined PBS in 2007.

Jo is from Halifax, in the North of England. After working for several years as a teaching assistant for children with special needs she decided to train as a primary school teacher. Whilst completeing her degree Jo continued to develop her interest in international education taking part in exchanges to Holland and Greece, as well as a volunteer teaching placement in India. After qualifying from the University of Bradford (BA Hons Primary Education) Jo taught in schools in West Yorkshire, before deciding to combine teaching and travel by moving to China. After two exciting years in an international school in Shanghai she is now very happy to be living and working in the beautiful city of Prague. In her freetime Jo enjoys the great outdoors - walking, camping and rock climbing, as well as watching football and live music.

Emma 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 in 2009, she taught intensive English in a Czech Primary school. Emma has a background in theatre and sings in a band. She enjoys reading and creative writing and hopes to pass on her love of literature to her students.

Gemma graduated from Strathclyde University in Glasgow with a PGDE in Primary Education. She also has a degree in Business and Management from Glasgow Caledonian University. Before deciding to teach in an international school Gemma taught for over two and a half years in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Outside of school Gemma enjoys keeping fit and taking part in a variety of activities, such as snowboarding, running and football.

Martin was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic. He graduated at Charles University in Prague in 2009 as a Special Educational Teacher. After his graduation he used to teach at several Special schools in Prague and also spent 6 months aboard the Cruise ship, where he took up with the children as well. In his spare time he likes doing sports (biking, swimming, beach volleyball etc.), meeting his friends and having good times wherever it´s possible.

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. He is now happily settled in his favourite city in the world.

Christopher qualified as a teacher (PGCE Mathematics) in 2007 at Canterbury Christchurch University in Kent. He also has a degree in History (B.A. Hons) from the University of Reading. Christopher spent three years teaching at Murston Junior School in Kent, before deciding to teach abroad. The Year 5 teaching position at the Prague British School is his first position overseas; a challenge he is very much enjoying. Christopher enjoys sports and is a long suffering supporter of his beloved Gillingham FC.

Angela graduated from Strathclyde University, Glasgow with a degree in Primary Education (BEd). She then taught in East Renfrewshire for two years before moving to teach in Sydney, Australia. Angela also travelled and explored the east coast of Australia, took up swimming, snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef and even tried surfing (unsuccessfully)! Angela enjoyed teaching in another country and culture so much she moved to Prague in 2008 to teach Year 1 at PBS. She has now moved to Year 3 after two years in Modrany. Angela also coaches the senior girls football club for U14 and U16. She enjoys singing, reading and looks forward to travelling around Europe and learning to ski (eventually)!

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. Having planned the ski and summer residential trips for the past three years he thinks it is time to do something different. As the mathematics coordinator for the school, he will now focus his energy in making mathematics the students' favourite subject. Oliver loves sport and plays tennis on a regular basis; this keeps him healthy.

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

After gaining his sports qualifications in his home town of Liverpool, Nick 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 at both sites. Nick's passion for sports extends out of school time as he also runs his own football coaching school and is the player/manager of an expat football team in Prague. He also enjoys playing golf when he has time.

Michelle was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She moved to Prague in August 2008 after graduating in Music from the University of Ottawa, to study Czech in Dobruška for a month. She loved the Czech Republic so much that she decided to stay. After teaching English for a year she joined PBS in September of 2009 to teach music. Michelle has many interests including music, travelling, baking and football.

Aaron is originally from Washington State, where he attended South Puget Sound Community College and the Evergreen State College. Aaron began working for PBS in January 2010 as a year 1 class assistant at our Modřany location. He is now at Kamýk teaching EAL. Aaron acquired his TEFL certificate at the Caledonian school in Prague where he taught English at local businesses before joining the PBS team. Aaron enjoys running; he ran the 2010 Prague half Marathon, and helped one of the PBS relay teams in the 2010 Prague Marathon. Aaron also enjoys learning to speak Czech and is very happy to call Prague home.

Previous to teaching, Jennifer worked with children for many years throughout Europe within the role of childcare. She has helped to teach children as young as 3 how to ski and has previously led her team to be the best at ensuring the children received the most entertaining and safest activity programs. Jennifer later travelled through Africa and worked in Orphanages and went to the Philippines where she began teaching street children in English. Upon her return Jennifer was more aware of the value of education and decided to complete her Post Graduate Certificate in Education whilst living and working in Prague through the University of Sunderland. Unsurprisingly, her favourite subjects are global education and SEAL, with Maths as a close second of course. Whilst in Prague Jennifer met her partner, who is also English, and they both live in IKEM, Prague 4 which means that she lives close enough to school to cycle to work each morning.

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 Modřany EAL teacher.

Frederic is originally from Paris, and moved to Prague in August 2007. Graduated in Education at the University of Bourgogne and French For Foreigners at the University of Montpellier, he started to teach children and adults in many language schools in Prague. Since Septembre 2011, he has been working as a French specialist for PBS in Kamyk. He enjoys to travel, to learn languages and to play music.

Eva graduated with a Master’s Degree in Nursing and Pedagogy and completed a 31/2-year-course on Psychotherapy in Prague. She started her career as a psychology and nursing teacher in a nursing college where she worked for 12 years. Eva has been working in our international school for 13 years, is experienced and mainly focused on child’s health and developmental issues, including parenting. Eva has one grown up daughter and apart from her family she likes cycling, skiing and visiting cultural events.