POWIIS Primary New Teaching Staff for 2020/2021
1 July 2020
Orla Redmond
Orla hails from Ireland and holds a B.Ed (Hons) from Trinity College, Dublin and an M.A. (Ed.) from the University of Nottingham. An extremely experienced teacher, Orla will be leading our learning support team. She has taught in public and private schools in Ireland, the UK and the Cayman Islands. She has also worked as a SENCo and as a School Inclusion Specialist, running a specialist centre for pupils unable to access mainstream education. Orla is passionate about ensuring all children fulfil their potential and looks forward to using her expertise to support the children of POWIIS Primary. Outside of school, Orla enjoys good food, exploring new places and reading. She has called Penang home since September 2019 and loves the warmth and welcome this special island has to offer. Orla is actively involved in the community through her role on the Penang Irish Association Committee and looks forward to further strengthening her community connections as a member of the POWIIS team.
Roz O’Shea
Roz is a Cornish Kiwi who has been teaching at The British International School Shanghai, Puxi. She began her teaching career in London before moving to the Alice Smith School in KL, then onto Bangkok Patana where she combined her PE responsibilities with being Assistant Head of Year 8 and 9. Roz then moved to New Zealand where she taught and met her Canadian husband Chris. Roz graduated with a BA (Honours) degree in Human Movement from Leeds Polytechnic before completing her PGCE in PE and Drama at St Lukes, University of Exeter (1992-1993). Roz has always had a passion for Health Education (sport and wellbeing) and this was her focus as she ran departments in various high schools which led her up a pastoral path working with disengaged teenage girls and with children battling serious illness and trauma. Roz loves the outdoors, is a CrossFit fanatic and is extremely excited to be joining the PE team at POWIIS Primary along with her husband Chris and her two children.
Amy Dennis
Amy joins POWIIS from her home in rural Dorset in the UK. She graduated from University College Chichester with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Childhood Studies in 2003. She then went to gain a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Primary Years) from Oxford Brookes University in 2005. From there she has taught in a successful Prep school, teaching in both Key Stage One and Key Stage Two for the last 15 years. She has also been subject lead in a variety of areas including Maths, PSHE and ICT. In her spare time, she loves to apply her craft skills and spending time with her young family. She is very excited about teaching at POWIIS and moving to Penang.
Andy Dennis
Andy is excited to join the POWIIS Primary team from his current location in Dorset, England. He graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media and Cultural Studies. He then moved to Oxford Brookes University where he gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Primary Education. He has taught across the primary age range in a variety of Dorset schools, both state and private. Currently he is a teacher in Year 5 and has coordinated Maths, PSHE and ICT. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his wife and young son as well as walking his dogs, cycling, swimming, listening to music and reading.
Ange Goding
Ange is an Australian trained Primary school teacher who graduated from Charles Sturt University with a Bachelor of Primary Education. She is currently teaching Year 3 in Nanjing, China. Ange and her husband Dean have been teaching internationally for the past ten years. Prior to China, Ange taught Year 2 and Early Years in Vietnam and Early Years in Bangladesh where she was a teacher trainer. Ange has lead teaching workshops in Lesotho, Africa and Early Years workshops in Vietnam. Ange is an educator who believes in developing an inclusive learning environment that promotes a growth mindset. She believes that emotional engagement is the key to all powerful learning which is why she brings love, laughter, passion, and authentic experiences to the learning environment. Ange enjoys keeping fit through yoga, swimming and hiking.
Dean Goding
Dean has a Bachelor of Education from Curtin University in Australia and is currently teaching Year 2 in Nanjing, China. Dean and his wife Ange are from Australia and have been teaching internationally for 10 years. They have an adult daughter, Tamara and a cheeky cat named “Lady Grey”. Dean has taught in Bangladesh, Vietnam and China and is very excited to start with POWIIS in Penang. Prior to starting his teaching career, Dean was a successful travel industry executive and professional football (Rugby League) player. Dean loves to travel, spend time outdoors, playing sport and going to the beach. Dean and his wife have travelled extensively throughout the world and bring a wealth of real-life experiences to POWIIS.
Josie Urwin
Josie is currently teaching in England at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. The school is 2 form entry and Josie is part of the Year 3 team. After graduating, she began her teaching career at a multicultural school in South London before taking on the role of reception class teacher in her current school. She graduated from the University of East London with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Early Childhood Studies and then went on to complete her Postgraduate Certificate in Primary Education at Sussex University. Outside of school, Josie has a variety of interests including musical theatre, travelling, going on walks and baking. Josie is looking forward to her move to Penang, experiencing the new opportunities Malaysia has to offer and joining the POWIIS Primary team.
Dee Patterson
Dee will be teaching Year 4 for the 2020-21 academic year. She is currently teaching at the Haileybury Almaty School in Kazakhstan where she has taught Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children. At present she is teaching Year 5. Dee graduated from the University of Wolverhampton, England with a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in English & Women’s Studies in 1996 and completed her Post-Graduate Certificate of Education with St. Martin’s College, Lancaster (2001). She has spent several years training teachers and has worked with children throughout the Primary year groups and Early Years. She has a passion for developing children’s independence and metacognition, learning about how they learn best! Dee has previously taught in Kuwait, Eritrea and England. Outside of the classroom, she has a love of performance and singing opera, as well as cycling, Zumba, swimming and yoga. She is excited to be moving to Penang with her son and can’t wait to be a part of the POWIIS Primary Team.
Doreen Cheah
Doreen will be joining our Art and Design team for the 2020-21 academic year. She is currently teaching in the Special Education field and has gained much experience from the challenges teaching these students entail. Doreen completed her Diploma of Interior Design (2013). She has worked as an interior designer across a range of projects. Travel inspires her tremendously in her work. She is always looking for ways to incorporate what she sees around the world into the spaces she is designing. Recently, she furthered her study, graduating from College of Allied Educators (CAE Singapore), with a professional certificate in Special Education, Advanced Diploma of Special Education in 2019. Beyond the classroom Doreen has a wide range of interests including art and craft, travelling, running, swimming and reading. Having taught in Penang, Malaysia, she is looking forward to joining the POWIIS Primary team.
Thomas Warman
From September 2020, POWIIS Primary will welcome Tom into the lower KS2 team. Hailing from Grimsby in the UK, he has taught for 6 years at an innovative junior school holding roles as Leader of P.E and Reading. He believes that great teaching and learning is based on positive relationships that are rooted in mutual respect and trust. Moreover, he believes that, at its best, learning in school is linked to the world around us through real experiences. Graduating from The University of Sheffield with a degree in Human Geography, Tom embarked on a journey to find a career that would fulfill his desire to help others. After working as a Teaching Assistant and subsequently gaining his PGCE from Bishop Grosseteste University, he became a teacher and never looked back. Beyond the four walls of the classroom, he is passionate about football, (and sport in general), music, and children’s literature. He simply cannot wait to get started with learning at POWIIS Primary and life in Penang.
Jessica Marsh
Jessica graduated from the University of Bath, England, in 2014 with a degree in Natural Sciences, majoring in Biology. She is endlessly curious about our complex planet and has a deeply held passion for cultivating curiosity in others. She completed her PGCE at the University of Brighton in 2017 and has been teaching in London for the last 4 years. She currently teaches a Year 5 class and is the Leader of Learning for Reading and Oracy. She will be joining POWIIS Primary’s Year 4 team. Jessica loves being outdoors and is incredibly excited to explore the natural beauties that Penang has to offer. Performing has always been a large part of Jessica’s life and she is a keen dancer.
Hong Sheuezei
Hong Sheuezei is a music instructor at Cempaka Cheras in Selangor, under Cempaka Group of Schools. She has been teaching early years and lower primary school children for over a decade and will be joining POWIIS Primary in 2020/2021 academic year. Miss Hong graduated from University Putra Malaysia with Bachelor of Music, majoring in Music Education and minor in Preschool Education. She gains great satisfaction from teaching; she describes the smile of children after her music lessons as being priceless. Miss Hong actively participates in various music education workshops, courses and conferences, both locally and internationally. She strives to constantly learn new and different ways to teach music effectively. In 2014, she obtained her Diploma in Kodaly Pedagogy from Kodaly Pedagogical Institute of the Liszt Academy of Music in Hungary. She enjoys interacting with other music teachers, sharing her ideas about music classroom teaching with teachers’ support groups and to her juniors at her alma mater as an invited guest lecturer. Miss Hong hopes to contribute in the promotion of music education and nurture the love of music in children. She enjoys walking in nature, reading, practicing yoga, attending concerts, as well as indulging in fashion and makeup.
Zheng Wan
Zheng Wan will be joining our Mandarin department team for the 2020 -21 academic year. She is currently teaching Mandarin at British International School Kuala Lumpur where she has been for 8 years. She graduated from Xi’an, China with a Bachelor of Journalism and Creative writing in Mandarin and she completed her master’s degree with the Southern Cross University, Australia. During her time in the British International school, she completed her Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at the University of Nottingham, UK. Zhengwan’s teaching philosophy is happy, purposeful learning and the children will never feel bored in her classroom. Outside of work, she enjoys travelling and experiencing different cultures. She also likes to exercise and read in her spare time. She is looking forward to her move to Penang and joining the POWIIS Primary team.
Coral-Anne Osborn
Coral is currently teaching in Penang at GEMS International School in Simpang Ampat as a Year 2 Teacher. Prior to this, she taught English as an additional language in countries around the world, including four of these years with the British Council here in Penang. She graduated from the University of Coventry with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and TEFL (Hons) and then went on to complete her CELTA, CELTYL and Postgraduate Certificate of Education International via Nottingham University. Still keen to learn, she will be starting her MA in TESOL in September 2020. Coral brings additional expertise in Storytelling and Drama to our teaching team; having been a storyteller at the Penang International Storytelling Festival in 2017 and 2018. Coral enjoys reading, cycling and hiking. She is looking forward to becoming part of the POWIIS Primary family.