Teacher Profiles
All our teachers are qualified and experienced in the age group which they are teaching.
'Little Bees', approx ages 4-5 (MS, GS or Reception, Year 1)
Suzanne Butler, with Jill Harvey (classroom assistant)
Suzanne moved to France with her husband in 2007 and they have bought a small farm, near Beaumont du Perigord, which they are restoring. Suzanne has fifteen years' state school experience in the UK, having taught the whole primary range including special needs, but specialising in the Foundation Stage. She particularly enjoys teaching very young children to read and write. Suzanne has been teaching at BEE since it first started, and is very interested in the development of bi-lingual children. She teaches English to French adults on a voluntary basis in Bergerac and runs a French/English conversation group in her village. She had two grown up daughters in the UK and is enjoying her new life in France.
Jill moved to France in June 2007 with her husband who is a builder. They are renovating their house and barn. Jill has two children aged 20 and 23 and a 1 year old grand-daughter. Jill worked as a classroom assistant/secretary, and taught swimming for seventeen years in her village primary school in Norfolk until their move to France. Her interests are horses, cooking and making a new life in France.
Key Stage 1, approx ages 6-7 (roughly CP or Year 2); Storytime
Rebecca Jones, with Lynn Ward (classroom assistant)
Rebecca has eight years' experience of teaching the English Curriculum in a Primary school in the UK with emphasis on 3-8 year olds. She has two young children of her own, so feels very strongly about the importance of maintaining and progressing in the English language and about supporting bilingual language development. Rebecca is a current member of the BEE Committee, and was involved in the creation of BEE back in 2008.
Lynn is a qualified Nursery Nurse (N.N.E.B.) with experience working as an assistant in primary schools in London as well as several years as a private children's tutor. She lives in Castillonnes.
Key Stage 2 (roughly CE1, CE2, CM1, CM2 or Years 3-6)
Stella Stilton
Stella Stilton moved to a small village near Issigeac five years ago. Stella has taught across the primary age range; firstly in Solihull then for the last twenty two years in Fowey, Cornwall. She is also TEFL qualified and teaches English to adults on a volunteer basis here in France.
Key Stage 3 and 4 (Secondary Section), Drama
Moira Stephen
Moira has taught students from reception to age 18 during her teaching career, her most recent post being as secondary Head of English in a leading public school in the UK. She has taught English and EFL in both the private and the maintained sector. As well as having tutored for the 11+ and examined for the Common Entrance, Moira has been an examiner for Edexcel at GCSE and A level English for the last seven years and, most recently, for iGCSE, and believes that this influences her teaching and the excellent results achieved by her students. Having a love of drama and a conviction that participating in drama activities increases confidence, empathy and self-esteem, she also ran film clubs in UK schools, and drama workshops in the UK and here in France.
BEE Buzz music classes - Choir - Instrumental tuition - EFL
Vicky O'Neill
A professional musician trained at the Royal Marines School of Music, and experienced music teacher in UK schools (Clarinet, Violin, Flute, Singing, Choir) Vicky has also run Kindermusik-style classes in the UK as well as choirs and recorder/handbell groups. She is in the midst of completing a level 2 TESOL course and also has experience in computing and graphic design.
EFL for children and adults, French for adults
Katie Castanet
Katie moved to France in 1987. After raising her four children, she took a TEFL course and started to give intuition to English children. With the growing demand for adult French classes, she also began giving private French lessons to English adults. Due to the success of her private lessons she started to look for a school where she could teach both English and French,to both children and adults and discovered BEE, which she joined in 2008. The success of Katie's classes is due to the relaxed atmosphere she creates, and the emphasis that is placed on communication and learning whilst having fun. Always eager to update and improve on her skills, she plans to do a FLE (Francais Langue Etrangere) course in November.
Eugenie is a UK qualified teacher of French and Spanish, and taught both languages from primary through to A Level before moving to France in 2005. She has also worked in France teaching English as a foreign language to children and adults. Eugenie has been running BEE as a volunteer since the summer of 2011. Eugenie qualified with an MA in Modern Languages from Brasenose College, Oxford, and prior to teaching worked for six years in financial public relations in the City of London. She has two young children and lives near Eymet.