Simon is from the United Kingdom and has a background in mathematics and sport, gaining a BSc from Birmingham University and a PGCE from Durham University. After qualifying as a teacher, Simon initially taught at two top independent schools in the UK before moving abroad to become Head of Maths and Sport at The Banda School in Kenya. From there, his journey took him to the UAE where he was involved with the start-up of Brighton College Abu Dhabi as Deputy Head, and then Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, where he was Headmaster of the Prep School. His experience in leading teams through the early stages of school development has proved hugely advantageous at Huili School Nantong. His interests include all sports, but particularly rugby and cricket, and whilst in Abu Dhabi, he competed in several triathlons. His other main interest is travel: having visited 101 countries, Simon enjoys being out of his comfort zone, exploring new cultures and meeting new people, and plans to do more of the same in east Asia once the border situation is more relaxed.
Simon is joined by his wife Phoebe, who is an English and History teacher, and their baby daughter, Sophie.
Suisui Yu is a passionate educator with 20 years of teaching and leadership experience. Before joining Wellington College China, she served at different bilingual and public schools, gaining a wealth of experience in the Chinese National Curriculum, bilingual curriculum,IGCSE ,A-level and IB curriculum etc. Suisui was the founding member of two well-known bilingual schools, serving as Founding Secondary School Principal, Head of Year and Head of Mathematics. Prior to that, she was an inspector at Shanghai Jing’an Education College responsible for Primary mathematics teaching quality and teacher training within the district.
Suisui participated in and won a number of district and municipal mathematics teaching competitions in the public education sector. She was deeply involved in the Second Phase of Shanghai Curriculum Reform Programme and was responsible for facilitating curriculum reform across the municipality. Suisui holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a master’s degree in International Higher Education. Her most recent role was to develop and assure the quality of Chinese components of the curriculum for Wellington College China’s bilingual schools. She also plays a central role in establishing effective working relationships with the local education system.
Suisui is married with two children. she enjoys reading, baking, travelling and crocheting.
Mrs Liya Liao is of Singaporean / Chinese descent and graduated with an MBA degree from James Cook University in Australia. She also holds a qualification for secondary school teaching. She taught in secondary schools for nearly five years before joining the non-academic team and has worked in several international schools in Singapore.
Mrs Liao has extensive experience in different educational management positions including finance, human resources and facility maintenance. She is also responsible for the daily operation of the school, especially liaison between the parents, school staff and management.
In her spare time, Liya likes to travel and experience new cultures and customs. She also likes sports, with running, swimming, badminton being amongst her favourites.
Ann Frew holds a Masters Degree in Education from Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand. She has had a long and varied career in both national and international education, working as a school principal, a curriculum and leadership adviser, and a school evaluator.
Before joining Huili Nantong, Ann worked as a school leader in the UAE, Brazil, Thailand and The Philippines. Ann believes in the importance of educating the whole child and creating learning environments that are authentic, caring, positive and growth-oriented. She has worked extensively in bilingual environments and is passionate about developing and strengthening students' literacy skills.
In her spare time Ann enjoys playing tennis, walking, reading, theatre and travel.
Penny Mulholland holds a B.Ed (Hons) degree, having graduated from Westminster College in Oxford in 1987. She began her teaching career in the north of England, teaching in a variety of school settings in both urban and rural areas. It was whilst working as a primary teacher that her interest in children’s wellbeing and additional needs began. Her international teaching career started in Qatar. She was part of a successful pastoral team and was responsible for the creation and implementation of the school’s Safeguarding Policy. Later Ms. Mulholland was Head of Learning Support and Safeguarding Officer at an international school in Shanghai. In 2018, she joined Huili School Shanghai as the Head of Pastoral Care and has extensive management experience in pastoral care which is vital for a boarding setting.
What’s more, she brings her extensive pastoral management experience to Huili School Nantong and is building a warm and caring environment where the children feel safe, valued and able to flourish.
Ms May Xue received her bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Child Development Psychology from Zhejiang Normal University. She joined the Huili community in 2016 and has served in Huili Nursery Shanghai and Huili Nursery Hangzhou. She has always tried to apply pedagogical and psychological theories to her teaching. This experience has helped form her educational concept and philosophy. Together with the leadership of Huili School Nantong, she looks forward to turning our Nursery into a place that children enjoy coming to learn.
Ms Xue is an outdoor sports enthusiast with hiking and skiing being her favorite. She believes that exercise not only keeps us healthy, but also brings us closer to nature.
Jenny joins Huili School Nantong from Stamford American International School in Singapore, where she was the Director of Admissions and Marketing for 4 years. Worked closely with the Superintendent and the school’s senior leadership, she was responsible for marketing and branding of the school and recruitment, assessment & selection of all incoming students to Stamford.
Jenny graduated in Business Administration from Cardiff University, UK in 2004. She explored a career in marketing,event management, project management and business development in various industries and countries. Jenny was appointedmarketing director at IQPC China, where she was one of the pioneer members of the setup and development of the business.
After returning to Singapore from the UK, where she worked as the deputy marketing director and database strategist withWorldwide Business Research, Jenny joined London School of Business & Finance (LSBF) as Regional Marketing and BusinessDevelopment Director, beginning her journey in the education sector. During her 5 years with the school, Jenny hadexpanded the international business from less than $1M in revenue to over $8M. In 2017, Jenny established the first Beltand Road Multi-Cultural Studies Centre in Singapore at LSBF, funded by the China Cultural Heritage Foundation, supportedby the Overseas Education College of China’s Xiamen University.
Follow Jenny’s departure from LSBF, she joined Duke-NUS, the only postgraduate Medical School in Singapore as theAssociate Director of Admissions, responsible for recruitment, assessment & selection, financial aid & scholarships.
Jenny is married to Scott, a British and Canadian citizen and he is an English teacher at our school.. Together theyhave 3 children: Shannon (11), Julian (9) and Alexandria (1).
With a passion for traveling and history, Jenny worked as a tour guide during her study in Cambridge, UK. She had toured27 cities out of 69 within a year.
Jane comes from China. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Education from Xuzhou Normal University. After graduating, she worked as an English teacher in Suzhou Vocational Health College for two years. Meanwhile, she was appointed to be a homeroom teacher of a nursery class, but quickly had the urge to teach abroad.
Eventually, she obtained her Master of Arts (in Interpreting and Translation) from the University of Western Sydney in 2007, which polished her English skills on all aspects: listening, speaking, reading and writing. At that stage she decided to try her hand at something else and pursued a career in sales and customer service. For her, it was not only a challenge but also an opportunity. Thirteen years in sales and customer service gave her a wealth of experience, enabling her to communicate with others from different backgrounds effectively, gain rapport and put her feet into other people’s shoes. Additionally, it provided an opportunity to get to know the western culture and customs.
2019 was a turning point in her life. She came back to China and started working at an international school in Wuxi but, instead of academic teaching, as Head of Boarding, she was accountable for the leadership and management of human and physical resources, pastoral care of both students and staff and a high level of duty of care within the boarding house. She encouraged, developed and maintained a family like environment within the boarding house for three years before joining Huili School Nantong.
She is a person who embraces new challenges: she likes running, skiing, yoga, basketball travelling and cooking.
Shane comes from the Republic of Ireland, a small country of about five million people on the western edge of Europe. He grew up in the countryside, on a dairy and beef farm, in a large family of nine people. He holds a B.A. degree in English and Media Studies, two M.A degrees (in Philosophy & Literature and in Educational Leadership) and his teaching Higher Diploma is from Trinity College, Dublin (one of the oldest universities in the western world, founded in 1592). He began teaching in 2004 and has taught English language and literature in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and in China at Huili School Shanghai since 2019. He has also taught French, philosophy and well-being. In addition, he has worked with various universities as a research assistant and media tutor.
He loves to read, watch movies and exercise but his passion is the sport of rugby. He played for a short time and became an age-group coach with his son’s club, Abu Dhabi Harlequins. He also brought tag rugby to Huili School Nantong which has proved extremely popular.
As an English teacher and Teacher Ambassador, he help teachers to understand the Huili ethos and vision. He is passionate about pastoral care and committed to foster the amazing Huili values in our Nantong pupils, to develop young men and women who become ‘Inspired, Intellectual, Independent, Individual and Inclusive’.
Michelle was born in Nantong. She previously worked at Wellington College International Shanghai for almost 5 years. During the time, she expanded her teaching ability in English and has brought an excellent bilingual learning approach to Huili Nantong.
She loves to spend her time walking along the riverbank with her family and dog. She has always used her spare time to do interesting activities and travel around the world. She was a volunteer for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, which was an amazing experience for her to meet so many young talented athletes and it helped her appreciate everyone’s challenging work. Being a teacher enriches her life: she learns from pupils as much as she teaches them, and it makes her happy to communicate with pupils who have so many wonderful ideas.
Marta Perez was born and raised in sunny Barcelona, Spain. She graduated from the University of Barcelona with a bachelor’s degree in Library and Information Science. Soon afterwards, she pursued her master's in library science with a Digital Information and Communication endorsement from the Pompeu Fabra University, in Spain. After being a research analyst in a consultant company for four years, she moved abroad where she found her dream job: school librarianship. She then received her Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Nottingham University, in the UK.
She has taught internationally for eight years in schools in Costa Rica, Dubai (UAE), and China, as a teacher-librarian. She believes that the library is the learning hub within the school where all the pupils and teachers stay abreast of the constantly changing information world. She is passionate about encouraging the use of new technologies in the classroom while fostering a culture of reading, literacy, and research.
In her free time, she can be found enjoying a book, singing in a choir, colouring mandalas, and learning a new language (she is currently attempting to improve her Mandarin skills!).
Catherine Ding graduated from Shanghai International Studies University with a master's degree in Chinese International Education and holds the title of primary and secondary school teacher. Catherine is also a member of the Communist Party of China. She was a volunteer Chinese language teacher and sent by the Confucius Institute Headquarters to teach at an international school in Madrid, Spain.
Catherine went on to teach at different international schools and bilingual schools in China where she was the IBPYP coordinator. She is familiar with both domestic and international curricula and has been teaching for many years. Catherine hopes pupils will leave their Huili bilingual education, not in a bubble of elitism, privilege, and exclusivity, but with the moral values and social conscience to serve others and do good in life. This inclusivity includes a strong pride in coeducation, and a commitment to understanding and appreciating our place as global citizens.
Catherine likes to travel. During her working period in Europe, she used her holidays to travel around European countries and experience the local customs of each country, and when she returned to China, she also used her holidays to bring her children to enjoy the beautiful scenery of China.
Yao Liu taught Chinese abroad for seven years in Indonesia and Thailand. She had five years’ experience as a PYP homeroom teacher in an International School.
Avery is open-minded to understand, respect and accept different learning styles and cultures. Reading is one of her ways to keep calm and relax. Travelling is another way to have her eyes opened to the world. She has been delighted to work with the team at Huili School Nantong, as a professional and well-equipped school.
Wendy Yang comes from Nantong. She graduated from Yangzhou University with a major in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL). Then she taught Chinese in the USA for two years.
After that, she worked at a famous International School in Shanghai for five years. She enjoys traveling and reading and believes that Huili School Nantong is a great community that is full of harmony and vitality.
Tingting Ge holds a master’s degree from Shanghai JiaoTong University in Teaching Chinese to Foreigners as a Second Language. After graduating from university, she began her teaching journey as a primary teacher in New Zealand. She has worked in IB schools since 2013. Before joining WCC, she was a secondary Chinese teacher teaching language acquisition, language and literature at international schools in Shanghai and Bangkok, teaching children from Year 0 to Year 12.
Tingting was certified by Lynn Erickson and Lois Lanning as an Independent Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction trainer in 2022. She co-authored ‘The Inquiry Strategies in Teaching Languages (Used by IB MYP Chinese Language Acquisition & Language and Literature as an Example). She is currently writing a Concept-Based textbook for IBDP Chinese B students. Writing can be a struggle sometimes, but it also keeps her thinking all the time. Tingting is enthusiastic about Concept-Based pedagogy and would like to develop and implement a Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction in language classrooms.
During her spare time, Tingting loves experimenting and trying out new things. She likes playing golf, squash, travelling, painting, camping, and hiking. She enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities. She enjoys living in and exploring in Nantong City.
Rachel Wang holds master’s degree in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages from Nanjing Normal University. Before joining the Huili Nantong family, she worked at Shanghai United International School for five years where she was a grade 1 homeroom teacher. Rachel was also the mathematics rep for grade1. Rachel immersed herself in all school activities which includes teacher dancers, playing the ukulele for the grade 1 music concert and the teachers’ race for sports day. Prior to her teaching position at SUIS, she lived in Australia for a year where she taught Chinese at the Indooroopilly State High School in Brisbane.
In her spare time, Rachel enjoys traveling to and learning about different cultures, languages and celebrations. Rachel believes that the “classroom is the extension of the home” where teachers and students learn, grow, play and laugh together. She looks forward to living out this philosophy in her new Huili classroom.
Nade Li is from Hangzhou, China. She moved to New York City to begin her career as a high school teacher. She holds a master’s degree in TESOL and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language from New York University. During her ten years of experience at the New York City Department of Education, she explored teaching across subject areas, including participation in U.S. government and economics, Chinese and environmental science. The multicultural teaching and learning experience allowed her to swiftly adapt to the changing situations and deliver differentiated instructions to pupils with various backgrounds and educational needs.
She is excited to teach Chinese Social Studies through a well-rounded lens at Huili School Nantong. She aims to guide the pupils in exploring the marvellous Chinese history and geography and facilitate them to tell the stories of China confidently to the world.
She and her husband, Li Shi, who is also Huili School Nantong’s IT Teacher, are big fans of traveling. Their favourite destinations so far are the National Parks in Utah, as well as the historical medinas and the Sahara Desert in Morocco.
Helen Nugent is from the Wirral, England. She has been teaching in primary education for eight years and graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree and a master's degree in Creative Education from the University of Chester.
Having been a teacher for eight years, she believes a holistic education is vital for a child to succeed academically, socially and emotionally. While studying for her first degree. The educational practices she experienced, opened her eyes to the impact culture can have on a child’s education and the importance of a child’s voice within the classroom.
She has a special love for music and plays flute, piccolo and recorder. She is a keen gardener, avid reader and enjoys doing a range of crafts and is always willing to try something new, which is coming to China and exploring its rich culture and history has excited her.
Phoebe holds BA in History from Exeter University and a PGCE from the University of Buckingham. Having lived abroad as a child, Phoebe developed a love of travelling and experiencing different cultures. She hopes to bring this globally minded approach to her teaching, and it is always her aim to foster an engaging and supportive classroom environment. In her most recent position, Phoebe worked in a top International School in the UAE teaching History, Humanities and English. Outside of teaching, Phoebe loves travelling, reading and all things outdoors. In particular, she has a love of horses and hopes to find opportunities to ride in China.
Phoebe is married to Simon, and they have a one-year-old daughter, Sophie, who they are proud to raise in an international and bilingual setting.
Before joining Huili Nantong, Dominic taught in various countries around the world, as a teaching staff member in an American summer camp for 4 summers, and most recently for three years as a Homeroom (Primary) Teacher & Deputy IT Lead in an EAL charter school in Abu Dhabi. He has previously lived and worked in China as an English Language instructor in Suzhou from 2016-2017.
Dominic holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (First degree), a master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and a teaching PGCE in Early Years and Primary (with SEN specialism) from various universities in the UK. He also has an interest in educational psychology, specifically the educational benefits of video games, previously coaching and leading a team from his previous school in a multi-school positive gaming tournament – where they achieved first place.
During his spare time, Dominic enjoys team and individual sports, exercise for fitness, reading and video gaming. He is a strong advocate of life-long learning.
Lynn Higgins graduated from ARU in Cambridge with a First Class BA (Hons) Linguistics and holds a PGCE from Greenwich University. She has been teaching since 2007 and has extensive experience teaching native and second languages, having taught high school English and IELTS exams in the UK and Switzerland. She specialises in creating forward-thinking and dynamic lesson plans, implementing teaching by example and can use practical formative and summative assessment to monitor progress and ensure pupil achievement. Her English classes achieved excellent results in the 2022 GCSE examinations.
Sophie Scott is a British national who has been living and working in China for almost a decade. She has 8 years of experience teaching English as a foreign language in China, with a focus on speaking skills. She has taught a wide range of age groups and language abilities, including Primary and Early Years. She is passionate about supporting learners to express their ideas fluently in English.
She has earned an International Postgraduate Certificate in Education and a TEFL teaching certificate. Sophie also holds an degree in Textile Design with honours from Nottingham Trent University.
Sophie is interested in learner-led inquiry-based teaching approach, and encouraging a strong sense of self efficacy. She enjoys travelling, baking, watching movies and studying Chinese in her free time.
Scott joins Huili from London School of Business and Finance in Singapore, where he worked for 5 years as the Head of English School, responsible for curriculum development, timetabling, teacher recruitment, and student assessment and progression.
Scott holds a degree in Business Studies from The University of Greenwich, UK. He is also a qualified CELTA and CELTA YLX instructor, and a TESOL certified teacher.
Having worked in Indonesia, China, UK and Singapore in the past 18 years in education, Scott’s rich teaching experience had won him many awards and praises from schools, parents and most importantly, students.
In Singapore, where Scott spent most of his teaching career, before joining London School of Business and Finance, he worked for the British Council as the Cambridge First Exam and Cambridge Advanced Exam preparation specialist, as well as the Student Services Coordinator for 7 years.
During his spare time, Scott enjoys playing badminton, cooking and horticulture.
Fun fact: Scott has taught a Korean film director whose movie is currently on Netflix, a famous Japanese actress and the Chief of Police on the Indonesian island of Batam.
Tom Li was born and bred in China but graduated from the National University of Singapore, with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics. He began his teaching career in Singapore, taught students across different grades and curricula, including IBDP, A-level and IGCSE. To strengthen his subject knowledge and teaching skills, he pursued a higher degree at the National Institute of Education, NTU, Singapore, and graduated with master’s degree in Mathematics Education.
After living overseas for 13 years, he came back to China in 2018. Since then, he has been more exposed to Chinese teaching and learning in an internationalized setting. It gives him the opportunity to look at it from both sides in depth. All these experiences give him great joy and a sense of responsibility being part of this everchanging and rewarding profession, with vast potential to benefit the future.
Besides curriculum teaching and learning, he has also been actively participating in maths Olympiad coaching since the beginning of his teaching career. He used to run related CCA programmes in Singapore local schools and his previous schools in China, with good results in international maths competitions such as SASMO and AMC.
Kristen Xing received a PGCE from Durham University UK, Masters of Accounting and Finance in Latrobe University Australia and a Bachelor of Arts from Tianjin Foreign Studies University. Kristen also holds an international certificate for teaching Mandarin to foreigners, a Secondary Teacher’ Qualifications and a Homeroom teacher’s certificate.
Kristen worked in Wellington College International Tianjin for almost 10 years as a bilingual class teacher and year group lead. She had rich experience as a homeroom teacher as well as a bilingual teacher, and especially enjoys good at teaching math, IPC and ELA.
Kristen strongly encourages pupils to actively engage in independent thinking. She hopes that every pupil is special and that they will have a positive and sunny personality, the ability to think independently, and the courage to inquire.
Waris Huang majored in English at university and holds both local teacher certification and the Cambridge certificate in English Language Teaching.
Before joining Huili School Nantong, she worked in adult English education for 9 years at Wall Street English, which is a globally well-known educational institution, followed by 3 years in K12 education at Wellington College Shanghai. During her time in Wellington College Shanghai, Waris cooperated with a group of top Maths educators, and helped students with different Maths abilities. She strongly believes that Maths achievements come from one‘s deep understanding of Maths concepts, consistent exploration and the right guidance and support from their teachers. She regards it as very rewarding to see her students making progress academically and growing in confidence whilst learning Maths.
During her spare time, Waris enjoys hiking, cycling and reading. She deeply believes in life-long learning, and her motto is "活到老,学到老(Huo dao lao, xue dao lao)" which means "It's never too old to learn.” She is looking forward to living out this through her teaching atHuili.
Adam Lee comes from Plymouth in the UK. He has spent 14 years teaching overseas in Turkey, Kazakhstan and Vietnam. He enjoys working in China and discovering as much of this amazing country as possible.
As a PE teacher he loves sports. In his free time, he swims, plays tennis and football. He has longed for this magical land of China and wanted to experience and learn various traditional Chinese sports while enjoying the local customs and culture.
Jing is an experienced educator working in the field of Physical Education. She has previously worked for two famous bilingual schools in Shanghai. Jing graduated from Shanghai University of Sport with a bachelor's degree in Physical Education. Then attended Sendai University, a famous sports university in Japan, to further her Master studies in Physical Education and Lifelong Sports theory.
Jing has participated in the founding work of three internationally known K-12 schools in both Shanghai and Chengdu. Besides daily Physical Education teaching, Jing was also instrumental in organizing different sports events. In addition, she is passionate about coaching highly successful dance teams in school and has helped them to participate in many well-renowned and prestigious competitions. Alongside this, her main passion is delivering a truly international education experience to her students.
As a Physical Education teacher, Jing likes all kinds of sports, especially dancing, swimming, climbing, hiking and so on. Jing believes in guiding pupils to have a good attitude toward sport, which will in turn help to build strong self-confidence and the ability to deal with pressure. A positive attitude to sport will lead to a wholesome outlook on life and values.
Born and raised in China, Mr Shi began his career with New York City Department of Education ten years ago, where he worked as the Computer Science (CS) teacher and Technology Coordinator. As the founder of the school CS programme, he created an inclusive and engaging learning environment for all pupils to explore the CS fundamentals, block-based and text-based programming, robotics, game-design, and physical computing.
Prior to that, Mr Shi attended New York University and received his master’s degree. He is now pursuing his second master’s in educational leadership.
He and his family are full of energy and enthusiasm for traveling all over the world.
Vincent graduated with a master’s in Genetics from China Agricultural University and obtained the PGCE from University of Warwick in the UK.
Prior to Huili School Nantong, Vincent was a chemistry and biology teacher at RDFZ King’s College School and the chemistry teacher of Zhenhai High School and Nanjing Foreign Language School.
Vincent enjoys participating in international education in Nantong, a city with an excellent reputation for first-class teaching.
Vincent believes that all children are unique and have something special that they can bring to the classroom. It is his goal to create a stimulating learning environment where each child feels valued and can grow physically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially.
Francoise Issaly holds a master’s degree in fine arts and has an extensive experience as an art instructor at the primary and secondary level, as well as college level. She has taught in Canada at the College international Marie de France, and at Université de Montreal. She was one of the founding teachers at RDFZ King’s College School in Hangzhou, where she worked for 3 years where she also held the position of Head of House and pastoral leader for grade 8 students. She was involved in the two Musicals that were produced by the school. She then taught at YWIES in Shanghai as a MS Art specialist. Francoise is also a practicing artist who has exhibited in many countries including Canada, USA, France, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, and China.
Carmen Mah obtained her Master of Arts with highest honours from one of the most prestigious music education training institutions in Hungary (Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music- Kodály Institute) studying in the Kodály-concept music education. Being trained to emphasize logical and sequential planning using singing as the main musical tool incorporate with play-based teaching method and folk-song teaching material, Carmen is dedicated to 'let music belong to everyone' as quoted from Kodály. She has more than 5 years of experience teaching music to children at the age of 4-10 at a music school in Malaysia, directed a primary school band, and piano accompaniying choir performances, competitions and instrumental exams.
She enjoys reading and cooking in her free time. She also loves exploring new places and traveling to different countries trying new things and creating stories to tell.
Sean Huang is an experienced university counsellor with a graduate certificate from Harvard in math leadership. He completed his Master's in SOAS, University of London. As a member of IACAC (for College Admission Counselling), he helps students to get into universities worldwide including the US, UK, Aus, SG, JP, and other countries in Europe and North America. When serving as a teacher, Sean deliver courses mainly in Economics and TOK. He believes that a counsellor with genuine help to students should be able to support them academically as well as professionally, inside and outside of classroom. Sean is keen on the pursuit of holistic success of students. His interests include music, martial arts, and University Counsellor and education research, specifically in EFL, Calculus, and etymology. The motto for his teaching life is : Expect with respect for the prospect.
Mika Ma holds a Master's degree in Media and Communication from Macquarie University. During her time in Australia, she worked with the Junior Science Academy, which provides STEM education to primary school students. With a major in English during her undergraduate studies and a crossschool minor in Journalism at Fudan University, Mika has a solid foundation in language and communication. She also holds a Chinese primary school English teaching certificate and an advanced TESOL certificate. Prior to joining Huili, Mika gained valuable practical experience by teaching English in a foreign language school. She believes in creating new experiences with her students rather than simply imparting knowledge to them. In her free time, she enjoys indulging in her love of reading and exploring new places through travel. In her eyes, both reading and travelling offer opportunities to explore and broaden one's horizons. She believes, "Reading is like travel, allowing people to step out of their own lives for a while and return with a renewed, even inspired perspective."
Mia is from Nantong. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Prior to joining Huili Nursery Nantong, she worked as a general education teacher in four American schools and one international school in China, where she received very positive reviews. With her seven years of teaching experience in both domestic and international schools, she has an in-depth understanding and interpretation of Western and Chinese educational philosophies and multicultural teaching methods.
Mia is very excited to now be teaching in her hometown. The educational philosophy that Huili advocates has given her a place to put her accumulated knowledge and experience to use. It has always been her desire to guide pupils’ diversified development and to nurture the global citizens who are truly needed for the future development of society.
Mia loves yoga and travel. In her spare time, she likes to travel and exercise with her family and friends to experience relaxation and joy from the inside out.
Mint graduated from Liaoning Normal University, majoring in biological science. During her school days, she has practiced in Gaizhou No. 1 Senior High School, the Second Affiliated High School of Liaoning Normal University and Nord Anglia Chinese International School, serving as a biology teacher, homeroom teacher and assistant teacher.
In her spare time, she loves cooking, reading and travelling with her friends. she prefers to read historical books, so that she can appreciate the social style and cultural characteristics of different periods in words. She believes that "Reading history can be wise, knowing the past can judge the present". During the holidays, she also likes to travel with her friends and experience the local customs of different regions.
Sara Shi graduated from Sofia University in the USA with a master's degree in Psychology. she worked in Beijing for 18 years, with more than 10 years in counseling.
Sara has a special love for reading, writing, and traveling. She hopes to travel around China to explore its rich culture and history. Her motto: Be a guide in every student's life and send them light.
Ciki was born in Nantong ,but she previously worked in Learning Support in Nanjing for seven years. She is pleased to be back in her hometown. She loves cooking. She enjoys cooking for her family and friends.
She believes Huili School Nantong is a school where pupils can be better versions of themselves. That is also one of the reasons why a Learning Support teacher exists.
Before joining Huili Nantong Nursery , Jo Zhou taught Early Years children in Singapore for over 8 years, most recently as a dual language teacher at at Dulwich College.
She is excited to return to China this summer as she really enjoys working with such a warm and caring community. The more she has learned about Huili the more she knows that Huili Nantong Nursery is a great family where both the children and teachers will feel safe, valued, and able to flourish.
Outside of school, she has a keen interest in cooking and loves to experiment with new dishes.
Her passion for childhood education has driven her to consistently explore varying methodologies to heighten a child’s interest and confidence in different areas of learning. She strongly agrees that every child is a happy explorer!
Juliana Koch is from the warm and beautiful city of São Paulo in Brazil. She was inspired by her mother to participate in volunteer activities from a young age and worked with volunteer children to do sports and decided to become a teacher.
Juliana's first job was as a bilingual kindergarten teacher, while she studied English and Portuguese literature at the University of São Paulo. She learned the Montessori teaching method while working and later became a Montessori mentor certified by the Montessori Teacher Education Accreditation Commission. She had the opportunity to lead bilingual teaching projects for different age groups in Brazil and China. With her rich teaching experience, she began to guide and help other teachers in the Montessori teaching field. She found that teachers' respect for the relationship between home and school and cultural differences is crucial for children's development and also helped her to constantly enhance her communication with students' parents.
Juliana loves cats, traveling, and exploring local customs. She also loves painting, coffee, and trying new things. She has a cute cat named Pumpkin who accompanies her daily life. She has been living in Shanghai since April 2018 and loves life in China, looking forward to exploring different regions of China.
Kathryn holds a master's degree in Politics and History from the University of Glasgow, along with a Diploma in Secondary Education from the University of Aberdeen.
For the past three years, Kathryn has worked in a variety of locations and with a wide range of age groups. Before joining Huili Nantong, Kathryn worked as a primary teacher on a First Nations reservation in Canada, teaching a range of ages between 4 - 12.
During her spare time, Kathryn likes reading, running, and going on long walks with her dog. She is a big fan of new challenges and is always ready for a new adventure. A quote that Kathryn lives her life by is “There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look."
Judy graduated from Wenzhou University. Her major is Business English. This is her 8th year working as a teacher. Before Huili, Judy worked in an international nursery in Shanghai and a bilingual nursery in Hangzhou so she is familiar with the daily routine of an international school, especially the teaching work for the early years. She also understands the model of bilingual teaching and the needs of the children in a bilingual environment.
In her spare time, Judy loves traveling, watching drama, and reading. The reason why she is passionate about education is that it makes her feels cheerful when she plays with children and talks to them. From her point of view the most important skill a teacher should have been patience.
Irene holds a bachelor’s degree in preschool education. When she was in college, she went to Denmark for exchange study for about one year, wherehe received a diploma from VIA College in Denmark. In Denmark, Irene studied and practised in a local nursery for a period of time, which was a very unforgettable time for her. There, she played with local children and learned lots of foreign early childhood education concepts and methods. When she came back to China, she worked as a nursery teacher in a nursery in Nantong for 3years. During this period, she gained rich work experience and mastered the skills of communicating with children and parents.
During her spare time, Irene likes painting, handcraft, photography and watching movies. She thinks these are effective ways to relax.
Mary graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Nantong University in preschool education. She initially worked in a bilingual nursery. Before joining Huili, Mary was the head teacher in a bilingual nursery which was located in Xuhui, Shanghai. She was very happy to help children from different countries to develop age-appropriate skills.
She was delighted to do something good to help children grow up. During her spare time, Mary enjoys travelling and reading. Travelling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books are both important for her.
Yuerui Jiang graduated from Edinburgh University with a Masters in Science, specializing in Education (Early Childhood Practice and Froebel). She comes from a solid educational background with a strong interest in Early Years education and a passion towards children.
She graduated from Jiangxi Normal University with a Bachelor's degree, majoring in preschool education. Throughout her university career, she learned a lot about Early Years education and obtained her Certificate of Teacher’s Qualification for Kindergarten in 2019.
Apart from professional academic study and early years practice during those years, she thinks it is still important for a teacher to understand a pupil’s state of mind. Thus, she completed a dual degree course in Psychology in her sophomore year. Having gained further knowledge of children's psychology and relevant skills in psychological consulting, she passed the National Psychological Counselor test in January 2018.
In her spare time, she enjoys play the piano, reading, cooking and traveling. She hopes she can make a contribution to Huili Nantong Nursery.
Joy Qiao
Founder and Chairman
Joy Qiao is the Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China. She founded the group in 2009 and, under her leadership, Wellington China has become one of the most reputable international education groups in China and globally. Joy grew up in Shanghai and earned her BA in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. Prior to her devotion to education, she had extensive experience working in the IT industry in the United Kingdom, Germany and China.
Joy is married to a British husband and they have two teenage sons. Influenced by this, Joy's vision is to create the world's leading English-Chinese bilingual schools, which combine the very best attributes of both British and Chinese education. She views such blended education as being a key contributor towards deepening understanding and appreciation between China and the rest of the world. Bilingualism, cross-cultural awareness and global citizenship will all be highly valued skills in this century when East is meeting West.
Julian Jeffrey
Chief Executive Master
Julian is the Executive Master of Wellington College in Tianjin. In August 2022, he moves to Shanghai as Chief Executive Master of the Wellington College China group.
Julian has been involved in school leadership for over 20 years, and was previously in Tianjin. Before moving to China in 2014, he began his career in education as a teacher of history in a prestigious independent girls’ school in north London, followed by almost 18 years at our sister school in England, Wellington College. He is a graduate of Durham and Exeter universities.
Lydia Cheung
Governor
Huili School Hangzhou/ Huili Nursery Hangzhou
Ms Lydia Cheung has served as the Non-Executive Director of Wellington College International China Management Ltd since 2016.
Lydia graduated at Queen Mary College (University of London) with a BSc (Hon) Statistics and also holds an MBA degree from Oklahoma City University in the United States. She practiced as an auditor in London after graduation.
Primarily based in Hong Kong, Lydia has more than 20 years of financial management experience in the United Kingdom and Greater China. Her expertise includes anticipating strategic investment, optimising capital structure, budget control, implementing financial recommendations to achieve business objectives and enhancing sustainable long-term shareholder value and profitability.
Lydia is the Financial Controller of Italian luxury fashion brand INNIU. She is a visionary finance professional with extensive technical knowledge in the international luxury fashion industry, having previously worked for Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Balenciaga.
She is married with one daughter who is a graduate of the Wellington Academy in England and is currently studying her postgraduate degree in Luxury Brand Management.
Shuanglin Chen
Governor
Huili School Nantong/Huili Nursery Nantong
Ms Shuanglin Chen is a senior architect who specialises in the design and development of mixed-use projects in urban centres. She joined Lujiazui Group in 2013 and has played a key role in major projects, including the New Bund Centre office tower, the Qiantan Shangri-La Hotel, the Qiantan Taikooli shopping village, the Zhangjiang Science Gate office tower, the Zhangjiang Hilton Hotel and more. She has also participated in the development of Huili Shanghai South Building.
Ms Chen has bachelor’s degree in architecture from Tianjin University, and master’s degree in architecture from National University of Singapore.
She is married and has two sons and is passionate about education.
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