Rain Trees has a strong and dedicated team of local and international teaching staff to stimulate independence, discovery and social interaction among our students
Our wonderful team of Teaching Assistants are Alyssya, Yasmin, Deanna, Maryanne, Praxie and Jenny
KATIE TERRY – DIRECTOR
Teaching Experience: Katie started teaching nearly 30 years ago and her experience includes the UK (primary & early years); ESF (primary & special needs), Dover court (special needs) and SJII (supply).
Nationality: British /Singaporean PR
Background: Katie is a director of Rain Trees and is responsible for the overall management of the school. She has been in Singapore for over 25 years and spent most of her childhood and twenties in Hong Kong. Katie is married to Hugh and they have 3 children all born in Singapore.
ROHINI RAMADAS – PRINCIPAL
Teaching Experience: Rohini started teaching nearly 20 years ago, and moved to Early Years teaching about 10 years ago. She has had extensive teaching experience in Singapore including imparting the International Baccalaureate Curriculum at Eton House and taking leadership roles.
Nationality: Indian / Singaporean
Background: Rohini has lived in Singapore for 18 years and has a daughter who is living and working in New York. Her teaching philosophy includes the tenet that effective learning requires a collaboration between teachers, students and parents grounded in mutual trust and respect. She also believes strongly that the best learning happens when its fun and positive.
BAHAR AFKHAMI – DRAGONFLIES TEACHER
Teaching Experience: Bahar has 8 years of experience working in Early childhood education. She has been working with international children for the past 8 years in Singapore following the Early Years and Kindergarten curriculum. She is very excited to be part of the Rain Trees team.
Nationality: Singaporean
Background:
Bahar was born in Dubai and brought up in Singapore. She started her studies in Early Childhood education in 2015. Bahar believes that a child’s growth is developmental. Every child is unique in terms of life experiences, developmental readiness, cultural heritage and ways of learning. She believes as an early childhood educator one has to provide a safe and nurturing environment, which promotes physical, social, emotional, language and cognitive development that will ensure a positive continuation of the child’s education process, learning through play and hands on activities.
Bahar likes to spend her spare time watching movies, going to the beach and travelling when she can.
LAYLA MAGHFUR – FIREFLIES TEACHER
Teaching Experience:
Layla has over 5 years of teaching experience, and has had the joy of working with children ranging from 2 months to 6 years old.
Nationality: Indonesian/Malaysian
Background:
Layla was born and raised in Brunei. She attended the international school of Brunei from Kindy through to year 11 then pursued her studies in Psychology and Early Childhood Education in Malaysia.
Layla believes learning should be joyful, inspiring and rooted in real-life experiences and of course lots of play. Drawing from her own experiences with the amazing teachers she had as a little girl she loves incorporating storytelling, music and movement and visual arts into her lessons. Her goal is to foster a love for learning and build children’s confidence to embrace challenges.
Outside of teaching, Layla enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with her two cats. Also like many in this part of the world she has a deep passion for food.
JONG JONG SAY SUNBIRDS TEACHER
Teaching Experience: Jong has been teaching in various settings since 2008. After graduating from University in Australia with a Bachelors and Masters degree in Early Childhood Education, she worked as a teacher in a community based kindergarten.
Nationality: Singaporean
Background: Jong is an avid snowboarder and also enjoys diving and wakeboarding. You may also find her behind the potter’s wheel creating beautiful things.
Jong believes that children are autonomous beings and that they learn best through meaningful hands-on interactions with continued collaboration and communication with families.
Teaching Experience: Abigail has been teaching children for over 10 years and has worked in the UK, Morocco and Singapore. Abigail believes that play is an important and necessary journey of self discovery for children, providing an outlet for their energy and learning.
Nationality: British
Background: Abigail was born and brought up in the UK, she is married with a daughter and has lived in Singapore for the last 13 years.
Abigail likes to spend her spare time with family. She likes to get creative with paint, reads widely and enjoys exploring the region.
ANNA FACEY – BUTTERFLIES TEACHER
Teaching Experience: Anna has 15 years of experience working in Early Years, in both London for 7 years and in Singapore. She has been teaching at Rain Trees since 2019.
Nationality: British/Japanese
Background: Anna was born and brought up in Singapore. She left Singapore to Study Early Childhood Studies and Fine Art in the UK. In 2014 she moved back to Singapore and has been here ever since.
Anna believes that every child is unique in their own way. She is passionate about the development of young children and creating stimulating and enriching experiences to augment their learning.
Outside of Rain Trees Anna is busy being a mum of two young children. She likes to spend her spare time going on walks and outdoor adventures with her family, exercising and travelling.
ANGELIA THAN – LADYBIRDS TEACHER
Teaching Experience: Angelia has worked in in the Early Childhood field for 20 years, working both in local and international preschools in Singapore and also Shenzhen, China. She has also enjoyed exchange programmes in 5 preschools in Budapest, Hungary. Having led teams of teachers and worked at the management level, the most immense joy of Early Childhood Education for Angelia is still working with the little ones in the classroom.
Nationality: Singaporean
Background: Angelia has 2 beautiful children, Euan and Eudora. They enjoy exploring child-friendly places, visiting the library, and enjoying yummy food at cafes.
Angelia describes herself as an ambivert (a balanced mix of introvert and extrovert)! She enjoy running alone and reading in a quiet space, but also loves the energy of group activities and socialising over food. She enjoys designing hands-on activities and classroom environments,
GRACE CHEN – MANDARIN TEACHER
Teaching Experience: Grace has been working in Singapore as a Chinese Language Teacher since 1998. She graduated with a Masters degree in preschool education from Beijing Normal University.
Nationality: Singaporean
Background: Grace was born and raised in China and moved to Singapore in 1998. She has 2 children and enjoys reading, music and keeping fit by jogging.
Grace is keen to engage children in learning Mandarin through fun play based activities, to give them a strong foundation for future learning.
CHARLOTTE CHESSER – ADMISSIONS OFFICER
Administration Experience: Charlotte has worked in a number of finance and administration roles in both the paid and voluntary sector in Singapore over the last 12 years. She worked as an accountant in the UK before moving to Singapore.
Nationality: British
Background: Charlotte has lived in Singapore with her husband and 3 children for over 12 years. She enjoys playing tennis, painting and cooking as well as spending time with family and friends.
SHRADDHA THAKKAR – FINANCE & ADMIN OFFICER
Administration Experience: CPA from New York. Finance/Banking experience over 9 years in USA, UK, India & Singapore.
Nationality: American/PR of Singapore
Background: Married with 2 children; moved to Singapore from UK in 2008. Enjoys traveling to different places, meeting different people. Passionate about the different physical training courses – swimming, Yoga, weights training.