OUR AMAZING TEAM

Wayne has over twenty five years experience as a teacher and is in his twentieth year of Headship - initially in the UK and more recently in the UAE. Wayne is proud to be coming from the only primary school ever that has been graded as outstanding in all areas by the Abu Dhabi regulatory authority.

As well as a teaching qualification, Wayne holds the UK National Professional Qualification for Headship as well as an MA in Education.

Wayne enjoys growing learning communities and working with staff to create a happy, stimulating school environment where learning is relevant and enjoyable

"I am excited and privileged to be the Founding Principal of The Aquila School and look forward to welcoming our first pupils who will experience amazing learning."

Kylie has worked in the UAE for the last 6 years, coming from the first every primary school in Abu Dhabi to be graded as outstanding in all areas.

"I am looking forward to meeting the first ever Aquila children and to see our community develop and grow. We will give children real and memorable learning experiences to enrich their future"

We are delighted to introduce Shereen Faraj as our Head of Arabic.

Principal Wayne Howsen says:

“Arabic is a very important subject in our school and so we need an inspirational teacher and leader to ensure that every child makes as much progress as possible and develops a love of this subject. Over the last six months we have interviewed scores of excellent candidates but until now we had not found anyone who ticks all of our boxes. We interviewed Shereen twice and were impressed with her approach to teaching and learning -she even produced an interactive game during the interview to help Kylie and I learn some new words.”

Shereen says:

“ I am thrilled to be the  Head of Arabic at The Aquila School.

As a leader, I strive to ensure that all students learn, progress and develop provided with the opportunities to learn based on their abilities and needs. I believe all students should

Hayley has over 7 years’ experience working with children and for the past 5 years she has worked in a large primary school in the UK. Having worked with children across the primary age range Hayley has a great understanding of how children learn and how to ensure learning is engaging, enjoyable and relevant.

As well has being a qualified teacher, Hayley holds a qualification in cognitive behaviour therapy.

Principal Wayne Howsen comments

"Kylie and I were lucky to have over 150 applicants to be the first teachers in our new school. As soon as we started to talk to Hayley we knew instantly that we wanted her to be part of our term. Her enthusiasm for ensuring that children will learn at levels that amaze them and her understanding of the community ethos we are creating made her perfect for The Aquila School"

We are delighted that Lynsey O’Brien will be one of the Founding teachers at The Aquila School. Lynsey has taught in the UK, in Al Ain and recently at an outstanding school in Abu Dhabi.

Principal Wayne Howsen says:

"I am delighted to welcome Lynsey as one of the first teachers at The Aquila school. Lynsey has worked with me for a number of years in our outstanding school and is a fantastic teacher across the primary age range. As well as making sure children develop a love of learning and make great progress in all areas, Lynsey is really skilled at setting up activities that encourage children to be independent and make choices related to their learning. She will also ensure that our netball team do amazingly too!!"

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Reanne Walker as one of the founding teachers at The Aquila School.  Reanne currently teaches in London and we have received amazing references saying how she makes learning interesting and relevant to the children while ensuring every child makes as much progress as possible.

Kylie Cleworth, Head of Primary says

“Wayne and I first interviewed Reanne in November. We both instantly said that she would be ideal for Aquila as her philosophy of education and understanding of how children learn best align completely with or vision for The Aquila School.  We know that in her part time Reanne writes articles about music and fashion so we look forward to her inspiring Aquila children to be amazing writers’

Andy has been a primary teacher for many years, and even had a career in industry before coming into teaching (he is older then he looks!!). He has taught in the UK and most recently in a successful school in the UAE.

Principal Wayne Howsen says:

"I am delighted that Andy will be one of the Founding Teachers at The Aquila School. Andy and I have worked together for several years in an outstanding school in the UAE. Everyone wants to be in his classes as he makes learning engaging and relevant – challenging children to be the best they can in all subjects – but especially in maths. Andy will also help to ensure that our football team is amazing too"

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Aisha as one of the founding class teachers at Aquila. Aisha joins us from a school in London where as well as being a class teacher she has been responsible for leading the School Council and fostering a sense of community and citizenship amongst pupils and staff – key to the Aquila School’s promise of a shared sense of purpose.

As well as a teaching qualification, Aisha has a background in International Relations and is excited by the opportunity to join a new school that has a creative curriculum that encourages independence, critical thinking and real world problem solving.

"I am looking forward to delivering an engaging and purposeful curriculum that focuses on the development of the whole child as an individual; in turn contributing positively to the whole community."

Julie Churm joins us from a very varied teaching career both in the UK and most recently at a successful school in the UAE.

Principal Wayne Howsen says:

"I am delighted that Julie Churm will be one of the Founding Teachers in The Aquila School. Although Julie is experienced in teaching across the primary range, her expertise is in Early Years Education. Julie has worked with us for a number of years in our outstanding school and is an expert at helping children to settle into school, develop a love of learning and to become independent, creative, resilient and thoughtful members of the school community. In fact community is a significant word here as The Aquila will be a family affair for Julie. Not only is her husband Andy joining the team – their children Jack and Izzy will be some of our very first pupils."

The Aquila School is proud to announce the appointment of Rebecca Octave as our music teacher.

Rebecca is currently employed as a music teacher and Head of Events for Aldar Academies in Abu Dhabi.

Rebecca has worked in education for 12 years and has taught music in both primary and secondary schools in the UK and UAE.

As well as teaching music across the school and promising to get us all singing – especially on what will become known as ‘Tuneful Tuesdays’ – Rebecca will also teach individual and group instrumental lessons

Mrs Warda joins The Aquila school with substantial experience of teaching for more over 10 years in the Middle East and in Dubai since 2011 in an outstanding school as an Arabic teacher for non natives. Her philosophy of teaching is based on a belief that learning needs to be child centered. She truly believes in active learning because knowledge gained through active participation stays with an individual for a lifetime.

Principal Wayne Howsen says:

"We know that Arabic is an important subject – we need teachers with an excellent command of the language and an understanding of how children learn and how to make lessons engaging and relevant. We have interviewed over eighty teachers for these roles. As part of the interview process we watched Mrs Warda teach and were impressed with the way she engaged the children, ensuring every child made progress within the lesson."

We are pleased to introduce our PE and swimming teacher Miss Amy Eaton who is joining us from a school in Dubai.

“I am very excited to teach PE and swimming to the children at The Aquila School. I completed my PGCE at Durham University, I then taught PE in the UK and have been teaching in Dubai for the last 2 years. I aim for pupils to experience holistic PE lessons and to get involved in extra curricular sport; to encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle. It is a fantastic opportunity to continue my career in a brand new school in Dubai, and I look forward to working collaboratively with children, staff and parents”

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Bana Diab our school librarian.

Kylie says:

“We want Aquila children to develop a love of reading and as soon as we met Bana she knew she was right for our school. Having five children of her own, Bana really understands the importance of reading and will be able to motivate all our children. We have bought some beautiful books to inspire and motivate the children.”

Bana says:

“I am delighted to join The Aquila School team. As a mother of five, I understand the importance of creating the best possible environment for children to read, but to love reading and to always ask for new books and new things to learn about. Reading is one of the most fundamental skills a child needs to learn to succeed in life. Developing good reading habits starts from school and is vital to children’s future not just academically,