Our Teachers

Our faculty of excellence

Our academic faculty have been rigorously vetted and thoughtfully selected for their inspiration, engagement and proven track record of outstanding student results. Their dedication, depth and passion for teaching inspires and builds confidence in students. Plus, they all believe in the importance of online learning for the future of education.

Our fully registered teachers are based around the world, including in New Zealand, the UK, Europe, the US, and beyond. They bring over 20 years of teaching experience. They have:

Tutored National Olympiad teams
Taught students that achieved the Top in Country and/or in the World for relevant subjects
Educated students with perfect scores for the SATs, and more.

Greetings from our teachers

Slide 1 of 9

Meet our teachers

John Morris

Executive Principal

Meet John Morris, ONZM, our Executive Principal. John’s many achievements include being the Headmaster of Auckland Grammar School for nearly 20 years, running his own education consultancy, and being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. John has also represented New Zealand in football as a goalkeeper! John is an academic visionary and looks forward to helping CGA’s students thrive in a digital learning environment.

Mark Phillips

Principal

Meet our Principal, Mark Philips. Mark is deeply committed to helping students thrive, having been involved in the education sector for over 35 years. Prior to joining CGA, Mark was Deputy Principal of Macleans College with students achieving Top in NZ and Top in the World results under his leadership. Mark looks forward to continuing this leadership to allow our CGA students to reach their highest potential!

Max Thomson

Deputy Principal

Meet our Deputy Principal, Max Thomson. Max’s great involvement in education includes several Head of Department positions in Science and Biology, both in New Zealand and Middle Eastern International schools. Max has also authored and revised education resources including biology workbooks, and for several years tutored all the New Zealand International Biology Olympiad candidates. Max is excited to help CGA change our students’ lives!

Kenny Knight

Assistant Greenwich Dean Physics, Chemistry

Meet Kenneth Knight, our Physics and Chemistry Teacher. Kenneth is a seasoned teacher with experience in school leadership roles (as Deputy Principal) as well as extensive teaching experience with IGCSE and A-Level sciences across multiple countries. In addition to his teaching experience, Kenneth has 13+ years of experience working in several of the worlds largest and leading companies in the chemical industry. Kenneth has been a star teacher at Macleans College, one of New Zealand’s top schools with regard to successful admission of students to prestigious US and UK universities.

Andrew Daniel

Mathematics

Meet Dr. Andrew Daniel, our CGA Greenwich Dean and Math teacher. Andrew has taught in five different schools, in the UK and overseas, and also been involved in areas such as university preparation and extra-curricular programmes. Many of his former students are now studying at Oxford or Cambridge, or the Ivy League universities in the US. Andrew has a particular interest in technology and IT in education and leads our 3D Game Development Club. He has recently been involved in training with American universities in areas such as the mathematics of 3D computer game design, and artificial intelligence.

Sam Yates

Head of Academic Enrichment History and Law

Meet Sam Yates, our History and Law teacher and head of academic enrichment. Sam has spent the last 12 years teaching in a large and successful independent school in the North of England. He has held a variety of roles including deputy head of department, sixth form tutor, head of academic extension and Oxbridge Coordinator. He has particularly enjoyed supervising students for their Extended Project Qualifications (EPQ). Before going into teaching, Sam qualified as a solicitor and spent five years in private practice as a commercial real estate and restructuring lawyer.

Beth Haresnape

Director of Pastoral Care and Greenwich Dean Psychology

Meet Beth Haresnape, our Psychology teacher! Beth had a convoluted journey into psychology, as she studied for a Bachelors in Philosophy, a Masters in Cognitive Science and her PGCE teaching specialism was ICT. After six years of teaching both ICT and psychology, she decided to follow her passion, becoming Head of Psychology, first at an outstanding UK comprehensive and then most recently at a top tier British International School in Bangkok, Thailand. Her students have achieved "Top in the World" and "Top in Thailand" awards and many have gone on to study Psychology at leading universities around the world such as UCL and Yale.

Andrew Rugg

Academic Dean History and English

Meet Andrew Rugg, our history and English teacher based in Denmark. Andrew has been teaching for 17 years in Australia, the U.K and the U.A.E.

Angela Irwin

Assistant Academic Dean Biology

Meet Angela Irwin, our Biology teacher based in Scotland, UK. She has taught since 2004 in Scotland, Thailand and London, UK. Having completed a BSc Degree in Human Biology (Neuroscience), Angela then embarked on the PGDE in Secondary Education (Biology with Science) both from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She is also an Examiner for both Cambridge International Examinations and Edexcel. Angela's love for Biology has drawn her to further study with the Open University where she is currently studying Natural Biological Sciences.

Sheryl Husband

Science Head of Department

Meet our Head of Department for Science, Sheryl Husband. Sheryl has had over 20 years of teaching experience in both New Zealand and the United States. Having taught students all the way from Lower Secondary to Tertiary level curriculum, Sheryl is an expert at conveying the skills students need to achieve perfect scores in all curricula. Under Sheryl’s guidance, our CGA students will learn to unlock their passion for science!

Andrew Karlsberg

Social Science Head of Department

Meet Andrew Karlsberg, our Head of Department for Social Sciences. Holding a BA in History with Sociology (Combined Honours) from Bath Spa University, Andrew has had 15 years of experience teaching History, Global Perspectives, and Geography in both New Zealand and Europe. With such a love for his field, Andrew looks forward to showing our CGA students the many opportunities that the social sciences offer!

David Storey

Mathematics Head of Department

Meet David Storey, our Head of Department for Mathematics. David has more than 25 years of experience teaching in both New Zealand and the UK, including serving as the Head of Faculty for Mathematics at ACG Senior College and teaching both the A-Level and IB mathematics curriculum. David’s wealth of experience in implementing new technology in schools will allow him to help seamlessly transition our CGA students into their digital learning environment!

Barry Gough

English Head of Department

Meet Barry Gough, our CGA English teacher! Having taught for over 30 years, Barry has experience in teaching IGCSE, A-Levels, and NZ Scholarship curricula. Barry’s effectiveness is clear, having recently taught 14 students who achieved English Scholarships and one at Outstanding level in 2019, and 20 students who achieved English Scholarships in 2018, with three at the Outstanding level. With too many other achievements to mention, CGA’s students will reach their highest potential under Barry’s expert guidance.

Elise Marlow

English Head of Department

Meet Elise Marlow, our CGA English teacher based in the French Pyrenees. During her career, Elise has taught English Language, Literature and Drama in four UK schools and four international schools. She has also been involved in directing plays, volunteering and service learning and the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Scheme. Her qualifications – Bachelors degree and PGCE in English and Drama and Masters degree in Education – were studied in the UK, but she has always been interested in exploring other countries and culture. Learning foreign languages is one of Elise's hobbies; she studied her Bachelors degree in Wales, living in a Welsh-speaking Hall of Residence and having lived in Thailand, the Middle East and now France, she has had to learn the everyday basics of several languages. From this, she has developed an interest in the different sounds and structures of languages and the formation of World Englishes.

Stephen Walker

English

Timothy Smith

Biology

Meet Timothy Smith, our CGA Interim Dean and Biology teacher! Timothy has taught Biology for over 20 years in positions including the Head of Biology at Auckland Grammar School. Throughout this time, Timothy has taught the IGCSE and International A-Level curriculum, with his most recent class of 30 students all achieving an A* or A in their A-Level final exam. Timothy is dedicated to delivering the most engaging and effective lessons possible for our CGA students!

Jenny Smith

Computer Science / IT

Meet Jenny Smith, CGA’s Computer Science and IT Teacher! The success of Jenny’s students in all areas of computer science and IT reflects her teaching expertise. From Top in New Zealand and the World in the Cambridge International Exams to winning the Codeworx Challenge, Brightsparks, Code Club, and NZ Programming Contest, Jenny has guided her students to success both in the classroom and beyond. She looks forward to doing the same at CGA!

Rebecca Close *

Economics, Business

Meet Rebecca Close, our business and economics teacher! She left the traditional classroom in 2018 to build a career as a digital nomad in the education sector and design a professional life that blended economics, travelling and sustainability together. She was previously employed in a highly academic school in England, as the Head of Economics and Business before becoming the school's first Digital Learning Support. She is also an associate examiner with four different exam boards.

Amelia McKenzie

Economics, Business

Meet Amelia McKenzie, our Economics and Business teacher. Amelia studied at Otago University and gained a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Economics and minoring in Geography. She then went on to complete her Master of Teaching and Learning endorsed in secondary education, also at Otago University. Since then she has been the Teacher in Charge of Economics at a large coeducational school in Wellington and has been teaching commerce at CGA.

Dr Susan Schamp

Chemistry

Meet Susan Schamp, our chemistry teacher. She has been teaching Chemistry for 15 years in secondary schools based in the UK, Belgium and China. Susan studied at The Queen's College, Oxford University where she achieved a first-class degree and PhD in Chemistry. Her teaching qualification is in Secondary Chemistry from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne. She was Head of Chemistry at Harrow International School in Beijing and also at Dulwich College Beijing, and during this time taught international GCSE, A-level and IB Chemistry.

Brodie Thomas

Chemistry

Meet Brodie Thomas, our Chemistry teacher based in the UK. She has taught in schools in the UK and New Zealand as well as a British International School in Myanmar. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Cardiff University in 2012 and her PGCE in Secondary Science in 2014 and has been teaching since then. In her previous roles, she worked as the Head of Science and Digital Learning Coordinator. Whilst working part-time at CGA, she will be completing an MSc in Ecology and Conservation.

John Heselton

Mathematics

Meet John Heselton, our UK-trained mathematics teacher based in New Zealand. With a background in engineering, John enjoys bringing STEM based activities into his academic and extra-curricular programmes. John received his Bachelor's in Computer Engineering and spent several years in engineering. After about ten years, he retrained completing his PGCE Mathematics and Masters in Education. While he currently teaches the Pearson Edexcel syllabus, he has also taught UK, CIE and NCEA systems.

Richard Green

Physics

Meet Richard Green, our physics teacher. Richard studied Physics at Cardiff University and then on completion of his teacher training he started his career at a grammar school in the south of England. After four years he moved to Qatar to teach at Doha College, a British curriculum international school. Three years later he moved to Dubai to Repton School to become their founding Head of Physics. On returning to the UK he taught Physics at a high achieving 6th Form College.

Alpna Sood

Mathematics

Meet our mathematics teacher, Alpna Sood. She has been teaching mathematics in Auckland, New Zealand, since 2006. However, before teaching, she spent over 20 years in the Information Technology industry. Her bachelor's degree in mathematics and post-graduate qualification is from New Delhi, India. Her teaching qualification and masters in education practice are from Auckland, New Zealand.

Kate Fisher

English

Claudia Guiss

Biology

Meet Claudia Guiss, our Biology teacher, born in southern Brazil, in a city called Curitiba. After completing her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences by the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Claudia worked as an associated researcher at CEM-UFPR in the Benthos Laboratory, working mainly with Ecology of salt marshes and mangroves. During that time, she also obtained her Master's Degree in Zoology (PRPPG-UFPR). During her studies, Claudia learnt about the unique fauna and flora of New Zealand, which fascinated her and she immigrated with her family in 1996. Claudia has taught Science and Biology both in Brazil and New Zealand, in the public and private sectors.

Janet Leeke

Mathematics

Meet our mathematics teacher, Janet Leeke. She has been teaching Mathematics for 26 years in the UK in three, quite different schools. At her previous schools Janet has run the UK Maths Challenge, a country wide competition for the brightest Mathematicians. She has also been very much involved in extra curricular activities.

Jennifer Coates

Chemistry

Meet Jennifer Coates, our chemistry teacher based in the UK. She graduated from Durham University with a degree in chemistry and also completed her teacher training at Durham. Since then she has taught in several independent schools’ across the UK for the past 22 years. She has been an examiner for the IAL for the past three years.

Jamie Robinson

Biology

Meet Jamie Robinson, our Biology teacher based in Canada. Jamie is 0riginally from England, where he taught for many years. Jamie studied Natural Sciences and specialised in Zoology at Cambridge University before completing a PhD in Palaeontology in London, where he also trained as a teacher. Away from biology (at least partly!) Jamie loves canoeing, kayaking, snowshoeing and generally anything out in the wild.

Nadia Delorme

Business and Economics

Meet Nadia and Delorme, our Business and Economics teacher based in the UK. Nadia has been teaching at universities and in international schools in Finland, Egypt, Cyprus, France and in the UK. As a Sixth Form Coordinator, one of her roles covered areas such as careers and university applications. She enjoys organising cross curricular events such as escape games, enterprise days. Nadia has Masters Degrees in Business and Management and a PGCE in Business Education.

Matthew Cheng

Head of Department, Math and Computer Science Computer Science

Meet Matthew Cheng, our AP Computer Science teacher! Mr. Cheng earned a M.A. Teaching Secondary Education Mathematics from William Paterson University where he was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship and Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship. He also earned a M.S. in Digital Forensics andCybersecurity, an Advanced Certificate in Digital Forensics for Computer Science and a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Mr Cheng is also a MIT Master Trainer in Educational Computing using the MIT App Inventor platform. He was twice elected as a Trustee for the West New York Board of Education and served on the Board of Directors of the New Jersey School Boards Association. He holds Teacher of Computer Science Technology and Teacher of Mathematics certificates and is currently pursuing a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at William Paterson University.

Audrey Damon-Wynne

Social Studies Head of Department Psychology

Meet Audrey Damon-Wynne, a College Board-certified AP instructor with over 20 years of high school teaching experience. She holds both a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Social Sciences, and her honors include both a Fulbright Fellowship as well as a Fulbright Distinguished Teaching award. Her other accomplishments include being awarded a grant from the U.S. State Department to develop an international student exchange program, with the goals of promoting mutual cultural understanding and immersion. Over 5 years the program impacted more than 100 students and 25 teachers. She also launched, developed, and led a Model U.N. program which grew over 20 years to an award-winning club with 75 students participating annually in as many as 4 international level conferences.

Prahlad Panthi

Computer Science

Meet Prahlad Panthi - a Computer Engineer who has a degree in Computer Science and Engineering. He has more than two years of experience teaching college students having major in Computer Science and Information Technology. He has taught computer programming to over 200 students of a college affiliated to London Metropolitan University. Additionally, he has been giving trainings to students on android application development and backend systems development since last three years.

Vince Nguyen

Calculus

Vince Nguyen is a certified educator by College Board, International Baccalaureate Organization, and three states in the U.S. to conduct math instruction to secondary students, including AP and IB classes. Vince has over 10 years of high school teaching experience. Vince holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from UCLA and an M.B.A degree from Grand Canyon University. Throughout his teaching career, both in the U.S. and internationally, he has supported many students in reaching and achieving their goal of earning high scores on AP exams. In addition, Vince has led math competitions and AP Club sessions to aid and improve confidence of students preparing for exams and competition. Finally, Vince has made significant, positive impact on the school community through the creation and implementation of various, diverse student engagement projects. Vince’s mission in education is to lead and support students to be empowered to not only reach their short-term goals but also to realize their own long-term potential.

Nuwan Karunaratne

Head of Department, Science Physics

Nuwan Karunaratne is an experienced Physics teacher who holds a B.Sc. (1st class honors) and a Ph.D. both in Physics. Nuwan has taught Physics at university, community college and high school level for more than 15 years. He is extremely passionate about teaching Physics and an active user of online tools to provide a better learning experience for his students. He is currently teaching high school Physics and Computer Science at a reputed charter school in Texas. Furthermore, Nuwan is interested in college counselling and career guidance to help students achieve their lifelong objectives.

Kathy Meyer

Biology

Meet Kathy Meyer, from central Missouri, United States. She has served as a public and state secondary science teacher for 34 years. Kathy's major is Secondary Biology with a minor in American Sign Language. Throughout the years, she has taught most secondary science classes such as the following: AP Biology, Biology, Advanced Biology, Anatomy/Physiology, Ecology, Physical Science, Applied Biology/Chemistry, etc. The majority of the videoed farm lessons used with this course are filmed on her farm.

Sara Palmer

Psychology

Meet Sara Palmer, our Psychology teacher. She has been teaching in higher education for the past 10 years and currently teaches a variety of undergraduate psychology courses for Purdue University Global. She has extensive experience in the mental health field as a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Specialist, mediator, and clinical program manager. She holds a B.S. in Psychology, M.S. in Educational Psychology, and will graduate in August 2021 with her Ph.D. in General Psychology - emphasis in Cognition and Instruction. She is a member of the Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology. She also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching movies, and traveling to see the world.

Matthew Barnette

World History (Modern)

Meet Matthew Barnette, our World History teacher. Matthew has 15 plus years experience teaching at the college/university level. He possesses a B.A and M.A in history. His main area of expertise is military history, British Empire, and post-war decolonization of European empires. His academic background includes teaching courses in American, European and world history. In addition he has taught specialized history topics including: sports history in the US, US diplomatic history, war and society, World War II, exploration and discovery and Greek history. He has experience in hybrid/online curriculum design. He successfully developed two courses: The Age of Exploration and Discovery and the History of World War II. He presented a paper in 2005 at the Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Regional Conference Sun Valley, Idaho: Military Myths and Realities of the American War, 1775-1783. He’s a member of The Society of Military History and De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History.

Jonny Beaver

Physics

Meet our Physics teacher Jonny Beaver. Prior to joining CGA, Jonny was Academic Coordinator and Physics teacher for nine years at Wellington International School in Dubai. He has also taught at Muscat International School in Oman, the British International School in Istanbul for 2 years and a range of schools in New Zealand. As a trained Physical Education teacher he really believes in a “hands on” approach to students learning. He also believes in this data–rich world that we must use data to our advantage. In his spare time Jonny enjoys exercise of any sort. He is a keen surfer and swimmer, and also enjoys road cycling, running, touch rugby, snowboarding and hiking.

Vikki Adam

English

Meet Vikki Adam, our English teacher based in New Zealand. Vikki began her teaching career nearly twenty years ago in NZ. She taught NCEA English (Levels One to Three) and Social Studies for six years. She then moved to Brunei Darussalam where she taught AS and A Level English for twelve years up until she moved back to NZ in December 2020. Vikki has a BA with a double major in Literature and History, a Graduate Diploma of Teaching and an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language. She also has a CELTA, a DELTA and is an IELTS examiner. Recently, she was awarded the English Speaking Union Award for Teachers for 2020 from Victoria University.

Emily Fitzgerald

History

Meet Emily Fitzgerald, our history teacher from Melbourne, Australia. She completed her Bachelor of Arts - with a double major in History and Italian - and her Master of Teaching (Secondary) - with methods History, English and Italian - at The University of Melbourne. Previously she has taught at two very different schools in Melbourne.

Di Austin

Psychology

Our psychology teacher Di Austin started teaching over 30 years ago -- before the arrival of the internet -- in a small town in South Africa. Since then she has taught at schools in New Zealand and South Africa, in a variety of roles and responsibilities including head of department, year level dean and a check marker for external examinations. For the last 10 years she has taught students online from Whangerei to Dunedin.

Christi Brasher

Physics

Meet Christi Brasher, our Physics teacher with nearly 10 years’ experience in both independent (selective) and state funded (non-selective) educational settings in the UK. Prior to teaching Christi had a successful 15-year career as a Principal Hydrologist working in Flood Risk Management, as a mathematical modeller and project manager. Christi completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the College of Engineering at the University of Colorado, USA, specialising in Physics, fluid dynamics and Mathematical modelling of hydrological and hydraulic systems. She completed her teacher training at the University of Bath in the UK, where she has now lived for over 20 years. Christi has tutored students to gain places at Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities. She has also helped students prepare for the British Physics Olympiad national competition in the UK. In her free time, Christi loves sailing, running, hiking, swimming, bodyboarding, cycling and camping. She enjoys playing the piano and listening to music as well as solving puzzles. She enjoys looking after the environment and learning about various plants and animals, and growing vegetables in her allotment.

Colin Mulligan

Microeconomics

Meet Colin Mulligan, our AP Microeconomics teacher, Multimedia Curriculum Specialist, Documentarian & Writer based in Los Angeles. Colin is an educator and administrator with over sixteen years' prior experience. He was Vice-Principal & History Dept. Chair at The Smith School in Manhattan where he also taught History, Economics and Music. Colin is also a former instructor of History and Social Sciences at St. Louis Community College, a three-year tenure where his other duties included crafting college-level curricula and teaching Writing & English.

Chris Welch

Mathematics

Mandy Bramley

Economics

Clark Boswell

Chemistry

Gary Smith

Economics

Liam Brady

English

Edie Shemilt-Griffiths

Economics

Seetal Knight

Chemistry

Glas Molland

Mathematics

Jessica Jay

Psychology

Tina Kurian

Mathematics

Chris McGrath

Macroeconomics

Larry Sullivan

Chemistry

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Created By CGA

Our Teachers

Our faculty of excellence

Greetings from our teachers

Meet our teachers

John Morris

Mark Phillips

Max Thomson

Kenny Knight

Andrew Daniel

Sam Yates

Beth Haresnape

Andrew Rugg

Angela Irwin

Sheryl Husband

Andrew Karlsberg

David Storey

Barry Gough

Elise Marlow

Stephen Walker

Timothy Smith

Jenny Smith

Rebecca Close *

Amelia McKenzie

Dr Susan Schamp

Brodie Thomas

John Heselton

Richard Green

Alpna Sood

Kate Fisher

Claudia Guiss

Janet Leeke

Jennifer Coates

Jamie Robinson

Nadia Delorme

Matthew Cheng

Audrey Damon-Wynne

Prahlad Panthi

Vince Nguyen

Nuwan Karunaratne

Kathy Meyer

Sara Palmer

Matthew Barnette

Jonny Beaver

Vikki Adam

Emily Fitzgerald

Di Austin

Christi Brasher

Colin Mulligan

Chris Welch

Mandy Bramley

Clark Boswell

Gary Smith

Liam Brady

Edie Shemilt-Griffiths

Seetal Knight

Glas Molland

Jessica Jay

Tina Kurian

Chris McGrath

Larry Sullivan

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