Meet
the Team

Jack is an English teacher who has taught at several international schools in England, the Czech Republic, France and Qatar. He studied at the University of Kent in Paris and in Canterbury, and completed his teacher training with UCE. He has a strong interest in learning languages and sometimes teaches History too. He enjoys spending time at museums and art galleries. He likes sports, particularly racquet sports, but loves watching football.

Robbie grew up in Guildford, Surrey. Following a series of inspirational figures in his life, he knew he wanted to be a teacher. He thinks his choice to be a teacher might have been influenced by his family with all three of his siblings also being teachers! He completed his initial degree at Durham University, studying History and Education. He even wrote essays on the educational and societal challenges manifested and presented in Harry Potter. While at university he played football for his college and coached rowing. Following this he joined Gordon's school in Surrey to work as a trainee teacher and Head of Rowing. After completing his teacher training with Gordon's and the University of Sussex, he moved to another Downsend School where he became Head of Year. After being at the school for two years he wanted a new challenge and has long held a desire to live abroad. Robbie is looking forward to living in Budapest and getting involved in the sport on offer both in school and out. At the weekends you might see him rowing on the Danube or watching his beloved Fulham FC.

Hungary being the fourth country that he has lived in, Connor is originally from the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. After originally working in law, Connor has been a Geography teacher for nearly six years after completing his PGDE in Canterbury. Having taught in secondary schools in England, Connor was most recently the Head of Geography at his most recent school. With a university background in both Law and Geography, Connor is keen to emphasise to students the relevance of Geography in a modern, ever-changing world. Outside of school, Connor has a keen interest on travel, languages, and photography.

QTS, BA HONS Theology and Education, Leeds University, England, UK

Marie is from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. She has worked in seven different schools during a twenty four year teaching career spanning four countries. Marie has a joint BA honours degree in Theology and Education from Leeds University with QTS. She is a specialist in Religious Education, Philosophy, Ethics and PSCHE and has been a HOD in these subjects in three different schools. Prior to leaving Guernsey, Marie was the lead practitioner for four schools, delivering courses in Philosophy and Ethics to students from all schools on Island. She is also a music specialist, playing the clarinet and piano to a high standard. Prior to her current role at Britannica, Marie was also a Music HOD in Guernsey. In 2016, Marie was recognized by UK Inspectors as a sector leading practitioner. During her career, Marie has alsoled Service Children’s Education Schools and the Guernsey Federation of schools in curriculum planning, behaviour management and teaching and learning development. Marie has moved to Hungary with her husband Neil (the Principal), son Preston and veteran Jack Russell (16) Ellie. Outside of her passionate interest in Education and teaching, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading and listening to classical music.

BA Music Education, Kent State University, Kent OH, USA

CELTA, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Chris has been working as a Music and English teacher for the past six years. He comes from Cincinnati OH, USA. After finishing his Music Education teacher programme in Kent, Ohio USA, he left for Vietnam to study to be an English teacher. He lived in Ho Chi Minh City, teaching English, for three years. During his time in Vietnam he worked with children from preschool through secondary school. He left Vietnam to return back home to Ohio, where he taught primary school music in Middletown. After a year of being home, he missed travelling and living abroad, so Chris moved to Czechia to teach English internationally again, teaching in Prague for one year before coming to Britannica. Chris is an avid listener to many music genres but his favourites are: techno, house, hip hop, alternative rock, indie rock, and punk. He plays the French Horn and Trumpet, and is competent at the Saxophone and Piano. He also produces music as a hobby, but is too shy to share it with anyone! Other hobbies include: running, reading, and hiking.

After qualifying at the University of Salford in Visual Arts and Culture, Ruth continued to fulfill her love for the Arts by working as a Gallery assistant and Art workshop leader at The Lowry Gallery, Salford Quays, Manchester. At the gallery she really enjoyed working with the public and different groups including visiting schools. Living in the Greater Manchester area after being a student has given her access to an incredible Art and Music scene which she has enjoyed for many years. After working at the gallery, Ruth decided to pursue her love for travel and applied to be an TEFl Teacher in Beijing, China, she really enjoyed the experiencing the culture food and even learnt a little bit of the language. Teaching in Beijing made her realise that the classroom was for her and when she returned to the UK completed her PGCE in Secondary Art Education. This lead her to working at Westhoughton High School for eight years where she loved working and supported students in becoming successful young artists. Her enthusiasm for travel and adventure inspired her to work abroad again, spending four successful years as an Art teacher in Malaysia followed by employment in Egypt. Ruth is currently enjoying life in Budapest and working alongside colleagues and delivering fun and engaging art lessons to students here at Britannica.

Ailbhe was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. She initially attended Art College, earning a degree in Fashion Design and working in the fashion industry before retraining as a Primary School Teacher. Since then she has lived and taught in Sweden, Ireland, the United States and now Hungary. She has worked in a range of roles from class teacher and specialist teacher to learning support and EAL teaching. The role of Drama and Art teacher is one that she finds very exciting as it allows her to fully explore the creative arts through her teaching and hopefully pass some of her love of the subjects on to the next generation.

MA, ELTE-BTK, Budapest, Hungary, Teacher of English Language and Literature

MA, ELTE-BTK, Budapest, Hungary, Teacher of Hungarian as a Foreign Language

MA, ELTE-BTK, Budapest, Hungary, Teacher of Hungarian Language and Literature

After graduating from ELTE, Borbála started working in private language schools teaching English and Hungarian as foreign languages. She worked for the Chinese-Hungarian Bilingual School in Budapest for four years, where she got attached to Chinese culture. After giving birth to her two children, she came back to work in 2013 to join the Britannica team as a teacher of Hungarian. She spends most of her free time with her family, and she loves everything about languages, gastronomy and cross stitch.

Kornelia was born and raised in a small town in the south of Hungary and moved to Szeged after completing her first degree to start working as a language teacher for various language schools and companies, and completed her Master's degree in both Hungarian and English. During these years, she had the chance to work with a wide range of age groups from teenagers to adults. She then worked for the Hungarian Army as a coordinator and interpreter for military exchange programmes for three years. In 2014 she moved to Berlin to further her career as a teacher and started working in an international kindergarten and nursery with children between the age of one to seven. She also completed a three-year professional training to become a certified educator before moving to Budapest. Kornelia is very happy to be a part of the team here at Britannica International School. In her free time she loves reading, translating short stories from English to Hungarian, travelling and learning languages. She is also fond of theatre, including small alternative theatres, and mindfulness.

Imola graduated form Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary as a primary school teacher. After a few years of teaching, she had the opportunity to travel to England and further improve her English. She started working in a nursery in Notting Hill, then as a teaching assistant and later on as a teacher in a Special Needs School in London. Having greatly enjoyed her time in London, she spent more than 10 years there.

After moving back to Budapest she worked as an English teacher in a language school. Imola is still keen to learn and is interested in exploring different ways of teaching, and is lucky to have found Britannica, joining the KS1 team in August 2021.

Imola enjoys travelling, getting to know new cultures and also being out in the nature, especially in the mountains. She has a great passion for teaching, and believes 'it takes a big heart to shape little minds'.

Sophie was born in Normandy, France. She studied English at Rouen University. As part of her degree, she spent time in North Wales, fell in love with it and still visits as often as she can. That time sealed her decision not to return to live in France. She completed her Master's, part of which took her to Colchester, Essex, where she stayed for the next 26 years, gaining her Teaching Qualification in 2000. Her love for travel has brought her to Budapest and she is looking forward to travelling through Eastern Europe while she lives here. Sophie enjoys cooking, spending time with friends and family and singing. She was part of a major choir in Essex, who recorded albums at the BBC Maida Vale studios in London. Sophie loves animals and has kept chickens, cats and dogs.

BA (Hons) in M.I.L.A.R.S. (Modern Iberian and Latin American Regional Studies), King’s College, University of London

PGCE in Modern Languages with QTS – Institute of Education, University of London

MSc in Neuroscience – University of Barcelona

Vanessa grew up on the island of Gran Canaria, surrounded by beautiful beaches, dramatic lava landscapes, palm groves, deep ravines and the gentle character of the softly spoken Canary islanders. She eventually moved to the UK where she studied languages and literature at King’s College London, spent a summer studying and the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and then worked as a freelance lecturer at various colleges in London and Newcastle. As well becoming a trained languages teacher and teaching in a variety of secondary education schools in the UK, Vanessa has also worked teaching GCSE Spanish in corporate settings. She is a certified and experienced life and business coach, which led her to set up her own coaching school in Spain, and work for a variety of local government as well as private enterprises, coaching CEOs and their teams, whilst at the same time bringing up her son in the same beautiful setting she had enjoyed in her youth. Vanessa is an open water swimmer who loves family life, reading, writing, improv theatre, travelling, mindfulness meditation and learning languages. She was over the moon to be offered the chance to teach at Britannica International and is loving the experience both at the school and in Budapest.

Hannah grew up on the outskirts of London, and studied Coaching with Exercise and Sports Science at Manchester Metropolitan University Cheshire, before completing her PGCE in Physical Education a few years later at the University of Greenwich. Her first teaching position was in Ashford, Kent where she stayed for many years and trained to teach Mathematics as a second subject too. Hannah has taught both PE and Mathematics to IGCSE standard, along with A Level PE. She has taught in the UK, Egypt and Kenya prior to coming to Hungary. Hannah's passion for sport started at a young age with competitive gymnastics, which also, at the age of 14, provided an opportunity to train as a coach for the younger children. Her love for anything that allowed her to be physically active and the fulfilment she got through coaching led into her career in teaching. Hannah has competed at a very high level in cheerleading and rugby union, both taken up as an adult, however her commitment is now much more recreational. She continues to enjoy being physically active and will try most sports.

After graduating from secondary school in Melbourne, Australia, Lisa studied a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor of Sport and Outdoor Recreation at Monash University. On completion of her degree, she taught at an independent school in Melbourne for 9 years as a PE, Health and Outdoor Education Teacher, together with being the Head of Sport for 9 years.

Lisa started her international school career in Guangzhou, China, followed by working in schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Riga, Latvia. These roles included teaching Physical Education, Swimming and Health to students across both primary and secondary schools, together with being Sport Coordinator and the Head of PE.

Lisa enjoys playing sports, particularly Cricket, Tennis and Australian Rules Football. Additionally, she loves being out in nature whether that be cycling, hiking or paddling. Being in Europe provides excellent opportunities to travel to different countries and experience different cultures, which Lisa is very much looking forward to doing whilst also exploring all that Budapest has to offer.

MA Physical Education, Physical Education University - Budapest, Hungary

BSc Swimming Coach, Physical Education University - Budapest, Hungary

WORLD AQUATICS International referee

MA Computer Science, Eszterhazy Karoly University - Eger, Hungary

Before Andras completed his first Master's, he moved to Australia to study and finish his diploma project. Upon returning home, he started his teaching career in a Bilingual School. Besides his regular physical education teacher tasks, he was a class tutor and swimming instructor. He spent three summers in the United States as a swimming teacher and waterfront director, and also won the Erasmus+ working experience programme twice, which he spent in England. After twelve years, Andras decided to develop his career and moved to his first British style International School in Hungary, gaining a wealth of experience in teaching the UK curriculum as a PE and swimming teacher and also got an opportunity to teach in the IB-MYP system. A couple of years later he decided to study again and completed his second Master's as a Computer Science teacher. Andras is glad to be teaching at Britannica since 2022. His passion is lifelong learning and his aim is to lead his students along this path too. He has two little girls at home, so his free time is quite limited but occasionally Andras loves to play cricket and is keen to be a pilot in a flight simulator.

Excited to join the Britannica team, Liam is a fully qualified Swim England, and IOS (Institute of Swimming) level 2 swimming teacher, specialising in teaching beginners from ages 4 years and up. He has been teaching swimming for 9 years and has taught children in England, Spain and Hungary. His lessons are always kept fun with a relaxing atmosphere, tailored towards motivating the children to fully engage in the activity.

BA, ELTE-TOK, Kindergarten teacher

Helen Doron English teacher

After finishing high school, Emese moved to London to improve her English language knowledge for a year. Upon returning to Hungary, she had the opportunity to work in English-language kindergartens. She realised that she really enjoyed combining her English with her profession, so she began working as a Helen Doron teacher. Emese joined Britannica as a librarian and is thriving in an international environment where she is able to learn more about other nationalities, cultures and different ages of the children's interests while also motivating them to foster a love of reading. Her interests include reading, sports, singing, and going to the theatre.

Lili comes from a beautiful small village in the Hungarian countryside, Jászfényszaru. She has always shown a keen interest in biology, human anatomy and all things medical related. Her other area of interest was babies and children, so she wanted to find a happy medium between becoming a doctor or a kindergarten teacher. This led her to pursue a degree in nursing at Semmelweis University, to become a District Nurse (védőnő) and she is delighted to have joined the team here at Britannica after having successfully obtained her qualification. Sport was always a big part of Lili's life, doing rhythmic gymnastics and competitive cheerleading for many years, and winning a lot of great championships and competitions with her team.