about

Greg McDonald
Headmaster

Greg originates from Australia where his career was initially in International Banking. After many years in banking he decided to chase his dream of working with children and in 1993 left for upstate New York. He stayed for four years where he worked alongside children and adults with mild to severe learning difficulties before moving to London.

In London Greg worked as a classroom teacher at Dr Rolfe's Montessori School before progressing to deputy and finally Headmaster in 2004. As Headmaster Greg took the school from strength to strength. The school received excellent Ofsted Reports and under Greg’s leadership the school became a highly sought after Nursery in Notting Hill. Rolfe’s Nursery (as it is now known) is part of the prestigious Alpha Plus Group of private schools.

Whilst at Rolfe’s Greg decided to always include children with special needs. He works in close partnership with parents and staff to ensure the children reach their full potential and as a result, Rolfe’s has become well known in the private sector for accepting special needs children.

Greg is actively involved with all aspects of Early Years Education. He has served on committees for Training and Development in The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea as well as heading the committee for The Children's Workforce Development Council.

Greg believes that every child deserves the right to a happy, carefree education that is play based and child centred. He strongly feels that children should be able to learn at their own pace guided by good quality teaching; that every child is an individual and that no child, no matter what their abilities, should be discriminated against.

Debbie Caines
Deputy Head and Sen Teacher

Debbie is married with two children. She has taught in schools in the UK, Germany, Indonesia and Singapore – both private and state funded.

She is highly experienced and has taught primary school children ranging from Reception to Year Eight.

Debbie’s previous posts include Director of Pastoral Care, Houseparent, Year 6 Leader, Head of Maths, Head of Learning Support and Director of Studies.

Debbie’s most recent post was Head of Learning Support at a private school in Hampshire, UK. She was responsible for establishing the Learning Support department at the school – her age focus being Kindergarten to Year 6.

Verena Sturm-Cassidy
Sen Teacher

Verena is a certified Special Needs Teacher having trained and taught in Stuttgart, Germany.

She has worked extensively with children in Special Needs Schools for over ten years and her most recent post was Head of a Pre-School at the Schnelle Schnecke School, Stuttgart (a school for children with special educational needs).

Max Jones
SEN Teacher

Max holds a PGCE in General Primary as well as a MBA in Management.

Max has many years of teaching children with special needs from mild to severe in his native homeland of Wales. He was recently involved in tailoring literacy support across a school in Wales to many pupils.

Judith Montaque
SEN Teacher

Judith holds a PGCE in Education as well as a BA of Music from the University of Ulster in Ireland.

Judith has many years experience with working with children with special needs both in England and Bahrain.

Yasmene Sabkar
Sen Teacher

Yasmene holds a Masters in Early Childhood Special Education which she received from Columbia University, New York, USA.

Before joining The Children's Academy, Yasmene worked as a Special Needs teacher in New York.

Jacquelyn Starley
Sen Teacher

Jacquelyn joins us from Cedars School, Doha where she held the post of lead teacher for the autism base (children 11 – 15). Jacquelyn was also the school SENCO at Cedars.

Jacquelyn holds a Post Graduate Qualification in Special Needs Education and has vast experience with the British National Curriculum, Key Stages 1-4.

She is currently undertaking a Post Graduate Diploma in Autism. Jacquelyn has taught in schools in Qatar, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Francesca Williams
Sen Teacher

Francesca holds a Foundation Degree in Early Years Education (Roehampton University, UK) and a BA in Elementary Education, Associate in Special Education (Belford University, USA).

Francesca previously taught at The British School, Bahrain, in the Learning Support Department. She has previously worked in learning support positions in the UK.

Jaspreet Bumbra
Speech & Language Therapist

Jaspreet holds a BA in English and a Postgraduate Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy. She has joined us from the United Kingdom where she was working as a Speech and Language Therapist.

During her time in the UK Jaspreet gained experience from Great Ormond Street Hospital and worked with the NHS Westminster on their Special Needs School Team; she has also undertaken volunteer work as a speech therapist in Cambodia and India.

Jennifer Pigeon
Speech & Language Therapist

Jennifer holds a BSc in Psychology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Speech and Language Therapy. She has experience as a speech and language therapist in a variety of settings in the UK including hospital placements and Westminster Primary Care Trust.

Jennifer has also worked in a volunteer capacity with the British Stammering Association.

Eimear Walsh
Physiotherapist

Eimear is a chartered physiotherapist who qualified with a BSc (hons) in Physiotherapy from University College Dublin, Ireland in 1999, and is a member of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists. She has worked in acute care hospitals in Ireland and prior to moving to Bahrain was the senior paediatric orthopaedic physiotherapist in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Ireland, specialising in the treatment of paediatric specific musculosketal conditions.

Eimear moved to Bahrain in late 2005, and has been working in a local hospital while also completing her MSc in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Her specific areas of interest are paediatric developmental delay and motor skills integration.