Month: February 2019

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David Gwilt

Teacher of English

David comes originally from Wolverhampton, and attended Wolverhampton Grammar School before graduating from the University of Leeds with a joint honours degree in French and Russian. He obtained his PGCE in Modern Languages and English from the University of East Anglia. His studies opened the doors to France and to several Central and Eastern European countries, including communist Czechoslovakia, Russia and Bulgaria. He taught in Bulgaria, London, Norfolk and Jersey, before moving with his wife and family to Prague.

Apart from a break between 2015 and early 2017, he has been teaching at the English College since 2001. He has been IB Coordinator and Director of Studies, and from 2005 to 2015, was Deputy Head. He has taught a number of subjects, including Modern Languages and English. His interests include football, Czech ice-hockey, gardening and the Moravian countryside.

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Ann Daly

Head of Geography, Extended Essay Co-ordinator

Ann is from County Cork, Ireland. She graduated from University College Cork (National University of Ireland) with a BA in History and Geography and a Higher Diploma in Education. She has over 30 years teaching experience which spans 3 continents. She undertook two years voluntary service teaching in a remote high school for girls in Zambia and after a brief period in Ireland, she taught in an IB international school in Tokyo, Japan.

Ann moved to the Czech Republic in 1996 and has worked at the ECP since then. Her posts have included Head of Humanities, IB History and Geography teacher. She is currently Head of Geography and IB Extended Essay Coordinator. In her free time, Ann enjoys hiking around the Czech countryside and is an active supporter of the school’s Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award programme. She also enjoys cross country skiing and Czech Philharmonic concerts.

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Dr. Diana Young

Teacher of History & TOK

Dr Young was born in Dunfermline in the kingdom of Fife and was educated at the universities of Manchester, Lancaster, London, holding a PhD in Politics from the University of Durham. After qualifying as a teacher Dr Young taught in inner London for six years and has since taught in secondary, further and higher education in Egypt, the Czech Republic, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, serving in middle leadership positions in four secondary schools.

Forays into post-secondary instruction include History and Politics courses at Palacký and Masaryk universities in the Czech Republic. In addition to some political journalism, Dr Young is a prolific reader and writer and has published in academic journals such as Politics and Historical Research. Dr Young was involved at an early stage with the development of the IB Global Politics course and is currently Senior Examiner for the HL Extension component.

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Katalin Biró

Teacher of Biology & Chemistry

Teacher of Biology and Chemistry; Teacher i/c the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Team Katalin has lived and taught in five different countries. After graduating from Lorand Eotvos University, Budapest, with a Master’s degree in Biology and Chemistry and her teaching certificate, she worked in an independent high school in Budapest for six years, which had the aim of educating neglected young people with challenging behaviour. In 1997, Katalin was granted a fellowship by the George Soros Foundation Hungary to teach Science in the USA. Arriving back in Hungary in 1999, new challenges awaited her.

Teaching KS3 Science was her first experience of working with middle school students and becoming familiar with the British National Curriculum. After ten years of teaching in international schools in Budapest, Katalin decided to continue her career internationally. She worked for four years in an international school in Brunei Darussalam. After four fantastic years teaching in South East Asia, she decided to move back to Europe and joined the English College in Prague. Katalin has a passion for travel and outdoor activities. She enjoys cycling, hiking and camping.

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Mark Paterson

Teacher of Environmental Systems and Societies & Geography

Teacher of Environmental Systems and Society and Geography; CAS Coordinator

Mark is originally from Hahei Beach in New Zealand. He gained his BSc and Secondary Teaching Diploma from the University of Auckland. In his 20 years of teaching, he has taught a wide variety of subjects including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, PE, History, Social Studies, Geography and Environmental Science. Growing up near several marine reserves in New Zealand developed his strong interest in conservation and ecology. He has a passion for the marine environment and travels to coastal areas as often as possible to participate in water activities and observe the flora and fauna. He has played and coached rugby for over three decades and follows rugby league and union closely.

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Dr. Harprit Athwal

Head of Science; Chemistry, Science

Harprit is from central England and has always had a passion for science. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Chemistry in 2006 and went on to complete a PhD in Supramolecular Chemistry in 2011. During his time as a postgraduate he was involved in a wide variety of teaching and science outreach activities and decided to pursue a full time career in teaching. He completed his teaching qualification in 2014 and taught Chemistry at Manchester High School for Girls before moving to Prague. In his spare time, Harprit enjoys travelling and playing sports, having spent over a decade regularly playing Ultimate Frisbee.

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Samuel Bale

Head of Physics

Originally from Essex in the UK, Sam completed his Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. After spending time working as a Manufacturing Engineer in Oxford he moved into teaching and completed his PGCE in partnership with Teach First and Birmingham City University. However, after three years teaching in Birmingham he became reminiscent of his time hitchhiking around Europe during University for charity, and so decided to move to Central Europe. Outside of his work Sam enjoys running, swimming, and exploring more of Central and Eastern Europe.

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PhDr. Milena Brůhová

Examinations Administrator

Milena graduated with a degree in Informatics and was awarded the academic title PhDr from the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague. Her career started at the Water Research Institute and she continued her studies in Information Science at the University of Economics, then becoming Head of the Branch Information Centre of the Czech Water Management organisation. After marrying a teacher from the USA, she organised English courses and a language school for international companies.

Her return to her original profession began with the Institute of Computer Science of the Czech Academy of Sciences and then at the Czech National Library. She went on to work for the Centre of Information and Library Services at the University of Economics. Because she wanted her daughters to speak equally well in both their native languages, she gave them the opportunity to study at the English College in Prague and followed them there, working in the library for five years and since 2013, her work has concentrated on the preparation of all ECP’s examinations and school reports.

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Monika Kopová

Accounts Coordinator

Monika acquired her Master´s degree in Economics and Management at The Private University College of Economics Studies. Monika joined the English College in Prague as a receptionist in September 2008 and at the start of 2017 she joined the Bursary team as an Accounts Coordinator. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her children, as well as running, volleyball, reading.

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Eva Smith

PA to Deputy Heads, Tutor & Czech Universities (Student Support)

After graduating from the Zlín gymnázium, Eva spent two and a half years in Kent learning English. She came back with the Cambridge Proficiency in English certificate and during the following nine years, worked for Reuters, Vodafone, the Via Foundation and Mondelez International in administrative positions. While on maternity leave she completed a Bachelor’s degree in the History and Literature of English speaking countries.

In 2016 she completed her Master’s degree in the same subjects as well as her teaching qualification. In 2015 she joined the English College in Prague as an assistant to the Deputy Heads. During the summer, she works as an English teacher to young children at a summer camp in the Krkonoše. In her spare time she enjoys reading and jogging.