Meet The Trainers
Juriah Atan
Victoria Carlton's Jolly Phonics & Jolly Grammar Mastery Trainer since 2007
Juriah Atan has told stories professionally since 2006. She is effectively bilingual in English and Malay and has performed stories at various venues including childcare centres, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, The Arts House, The Peranakan Museum, public libraries, The Singapore Zoological Garden, The Botanical Gardens, shopping malls, community clubs and even on MRT trains.
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Juriah holds a Teachers’ Diploma from Trinity College London, Associate Diploma in Performance from London College of Music, Specialist Diploma in Arts Education from NIE and a Certificate in Working and Facilitating the Learning of Children with Special Needs in the Arts from NIE. In 2020, Juriah was also awarded the Advance Certificate in Learning and Performance from the Institute of Adult Learning.
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Juriah has been involved in the translation of several of September 21 Enterprise's publications.
Victoria Carlton
UK Accredited Jolly Phonics Trainer | Global Educator & Author
Victoria Carlton, the director of The International Centre for Excellence (ICE), extensively uses Jolly Phonics to help West Australian children improve and succeed at literacy skills.
She is a talented international educator with over 35 years of teaching experience at all levels. Victoria has a passion and talent for literacy education, teaching children who learn differently and providing challenge programs for gifted and talented children. She is an expert in the areas of learning difficulties and emotional intelligence.
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Victoria is the longest-serving officially accredited trainer for JOLLY LEARNING PROGRAMS and is internationally well-known as the program Master trainer and practitioner. She has taught, researched and provide training for this program since its inception in 1992. She is a regular presenter at the annual JOLLY LEARNING conference in London. She has attended all its annual conferences and shared her experience on stage together with the JOLLY LEARNING founding author, Sue Lloyd.
She has also developed and conducted her own programmes which are used with great success at her own centre in Australia and now in her licensed centre in Singapore.
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Victoria has co-authored several of September 21 Enterprise's publications with CEO and Director Ngo Chew Yeh. In particular, Victoria was heavily involved in the production of Prince Nila Discovers a New Kingdom, Singapore's first children's book with augmented reality (AR). The book was also a finalist for the Best Picture Book in Singapore 2019.
Khushbu Porwal
UK Accredited Jolly Phonics Trainer
Khushbu Porwal is an Early Childhood Educator, An Accredited Jolly Learning (UK) Trainer, MOE Registered Instructor (Singapore). She also specializes in Orton Gillingham approach for teaching students at risk esp. Dyslexia.
She has more than decade of experience for teaching Phonics across South Asia. For last many years she has conducted innumerable Jolly Phonics & Grammar trainings for schools, NGO’s, Special Needs centres, and trained thousands of teachers, parents and children in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia & India.
Her method of teaching is completely Hands-on & multisensory which makes her training program unique and effective. This ultimately prepares teachers and parents for the actual classroom. Every year, she represents Singapore in the Annual Jolly Learning Conference in the UK.
Dr. Lionel Pereira
Doctorate in Mathematics Education
Dr. Lionel Pereira has spent 11 years working at the National Institute of Education with a focus on primary mathematics education. Since returning to Canada he has been coming back to Singapore on a regular basis to conduct workshops. In addition to working in Singapore, he has experience in other Asian countries such as the Philippines, China & Vietnam. In particular, he was extensively involved in curriculum and planning in the Philippines.
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Dr. Lionel is currently partnering with the CEO and Director of September 21 Enterprise, Ngo Chew Yeh, to produce a Maths-based series of picture books for children. The series, titled "Maths World", is based on Singapore's curriculum for Mathematics.
Dr. Rod Campbell
Member Of The Order Of Australia
Literacy Expert
Dr. Rod Campbell AM PhD is a teacher, writer and consultant whose professional experience includes English language, literacy education, grammar instruction, curriculum theory and application, teaching practices, assessment practices in education and training, developmental psychology and classroom research. He has trained teachers for early childhood and primary classrooms and is also highly experienced in middle and senior levels of schooling. Rod holds an adjunct position at the University of Queensland as a Senior Research Fellow in the Graduate School of Education, and a similar position as Senior Teaching Fellow at the Sunshine Coast University.
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Dr. Rod has also served on the Australian Literacy Educators Asssociation (ALEA) National Council for 11 years (1984-1994) and as ALEA National President from 2001-2002.
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Dr. Rod has co-authored several of September 21 Enterprise's publications with CEO and Director Ngo Chew Yeh, including our flagship publication, Lucky Dog, and The Story of Pulau Ubin.
Mary Mountstephen
MA (SEN)
Mary Mountstephen is a UK-based learning differences consultant, with over 30 years of experience working in a range of school settings. She is a respected international expert and consultant in the field of learning differences such as Dyslexia and Dyspraxia, with a focus on early years and primary settings.
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She has developed, over many years, a particular interest in researching and developing ways of addressing learning differences that draw on the role of rhythm and motor skills in contributing to inclusive intervention programmes. This has led to her involvement as consultant to various organisations and institutions, providing insights, advice and direct staff training.
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Mary holds post-graduate qualifications and doctoral experience, and is published in academic journals, professional association and parent-focused publications.
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Mary is currently working closely with CEO and Director of September 21 Enterprise, Ngo Chew Yeh, to publish a series of picture books to address various learning difficulties.
Dr. Tan Ching Yam
Award Winning Reowned Finger Painting & Chinese Calligraphy Artist
Dr. Tan Ching Yam has been teaching Art from Primary to University levels for more than 35 years . He has also won numerous Art awards and his works have been recognised by various organisations in Japan, China, India and United States.
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Dr. Tan has held solo art exhibitions of his finger-painting with a wide range of themes. He has also participated in many group art exhibitions in Seoul, Japan, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Luoyang, Anhui, Anyang, Hangzhou, and more.
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He has a PHD in Literature from World University Roundtable.
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Dr Tan has received the Certificate of appreciation from Singapore Chinese Cultural Festival Grand Art Exhibition, as well as the Dr Tan Tsze Chor Art Award from Singapore Art Society for his contributions to the local art scene.
Mona Tan
Masters in Education
Official Numico Affiliate Trainer
Mona Tan is a Math specialist who currently serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC), where she has previously also served as a Subject Head and Project Lead.
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Mona holds a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care – Teaching and Leadership. She was awarded the Best in Academic and Leadership Book Prize and the Gold Award for being the top student in her cohort. She then went on to complete a Bachelor in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Australia with first class honours, before graduating with a Master in Education from the University of South Australia.
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Mona has served in the preschool setting in various capacities, including as the Acting Assistant Director of Curriculum and Professional Development at NTUC First Campus, and Subject Head of MSD and Early Numeracy at the SEED Institute.
Kenlin Liu
Chief Operating Officer, September 21 Enterprise Pte. Ltd.
Kenlin Liu is passionate about coaching educators and children, but in an innovative way. He has designed, developed and implemented many training lessons and programmes for various multi-national companies and also for the military in England and Singapore.
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Kenlin completed his Bachelors of Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, graduating with 1st Class Honours in Computer Aided Engineering and Design.
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Kenlin is currently the official trainer for Rosen LevelUp, an innovative online ELA programme.
Sara Wernham
Creator of Jolly Grammar
Sara Wernham is a co-developer of the internationally acclaimed Jolly Phonics learning approach. An educator by training, Sara has experience teaching primary/elementary students across all year groups at Woods Loke Primary School in Lowestoft, England.
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Sara currently provides teacher training and support to schools and teachers all over the world, most notably in Australia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Spain.
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September 21 Enterprise is honoured to have Sara Wernham as an esteemed speaker for our yearly World Education Summit (WES).
Chris Jolly
Founder of Jolly Learning
Chris Jolly is the Managing Director and owner of Jolly Learning Ltd. He founded the company in 1987, and published the first part of Jolly Phonics in 1992.
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Chris was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2014 from the University of Uyo in Nigeria, and an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Bristol in 2017. In 2019, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the IPG, a publishing trade association.
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The Jolly Dictionary is a winner of the Duke of Edinburgh ESU English Language Book Award.
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September 21 Enterprise is honoured to have Chris Jolly as an esteemed speaker for our yearly World Education Summit (WES).
Sue Lloyd
Creator of Jolly Phonics
Sue Lloyd taught for over 20 years in Woods Loke Primary School (Suffolk). Within her school, she began to use phonic methods, and developed and improved them from research, advice and the practical experience she and her colleagues gained. She has been the author of many phonics books and resources in the Jolly Phonics programme, and is viewed as an expert in her field. She travels the world giving synthetic phonics training and advising literacy policy.
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Sue was awarded the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), a prestigious recognition for significant achievement.
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September 21 Enterprise is honoured to have Sue Lloyd as an esteemed speaker for our yearly World Education Summit (WES).
Dr. Connie Lum
EdD, The University of Western Australia
Dr. Connie Lum is the Director of Mother Tongue Languages at NTUC First Campus, managing the Mother Tongue Languages curriculum for over 170 pre-schools. She works closely with principals and teachers in delivering the Chinese curriculum and programmes to children through curriculum writing, training of teachers, evaluating children’s learning environment, and conducting continuous review of curriculum tools and techniques.
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She has over 20 years of experience in the early childhood sector, and has written over 30 books on teaching Chinese. She has also shared her wisdom in numerous symposia and media interviews in Asia.
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Dr. Lum has been involved in the translation of several of September 21 Enterprise's publications, in particular Prince Nila Discovers a New Kingdom.
Dr. Rebecca Chan
NIE Lecturer & Early Childhood Practitioner
Dr. Rebecca Chan has been a full-time Lecturer with the Psychology and Child & Human development (PCHD) academic group, NIE since 2019. For about 10 years prior to this, she taught part-time at the National Institute of Education (NIE) helping to mould and train Singapore's teachers. Her time in NIE demonstrates her passion for continuing teacher- and leader-education as well as professional development with the ultimate aim of enhancing children's learning and developmental outcomes.
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Dr Chan's contributions also include serving as a consultant in the setting up of preschools in Singapore and China. Her practice-based experience in crafting early childhood curriculum and planning and inspiring a learning environment has consistently won positive reviews from children, parents, and teachers.
Dr. Chan is currently partnering with September 21 to work on a book titled How to Analyse Children's Drawings, based on her ground-breaking research in the field. She has been invited to share her findings at numerous conferences in the UK.
Gilbert Jolly
Founder, Jolly Technologies Inc.
Gilbert Jolly is a software developer and engineer who has been developing software for Jolly Phonics and Jolly Futures since 2015. He was responsible for creating the Jolly Phonics Lessons app, which is used by over a million teachers worldwide.
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Currently, Gilbert is working on creating software for social enterprises in the developing world. He has lived in Nairobi working on Pay as you go solar, and worked in Nigeria with Universal Learning Solutions.
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He has also partnered with Universal Learning Solutions to create systems to enable scalable and efficient management of teacher, school and training data, to increase the impact and reach of the organisation.
Linda Gan and Kathleen Chia
Co-Authors of "Rhyming Round Singapore" & "Rhyming Round Asia"
Linda and Kathleen lived and taught in London before marrying Singaporeans and settling here in 1979 and 1969 respectively. They both hold Master's Degrees in Child Development from the University of London and have a long involvement with education in Singapore. They share a love of writing for young children and have written curricula and language arts materials as well as a wide range of reading, story and vocabulary books.
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Rhyming Round Singapore and Rhyming Round Asia are among September 21 Enterprise's best-selling publications, Rhyming Round Asia is supported by the Lee Kwan Yew Fund for Bilingualism. Rhyming Round Singapore is currently in its 3rd edition, and has incorporated Augmented Reality (AR) to bring the book to life.
Kiran Shah
Early Childhood Educator & International Storyteller
Kiran Shah started her professional career as a social worker before moving into the field of early childhood education. She has taught in preschools in the U.S., Singapore, Japan, and Sri Lanka.
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Kiran has also obtained a MSc in Early Childhood and Child Development, and worked as a teacher trainer throughout Asia.
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In 1999, she discovered storytelling and embarked on a new career as a professional storyteller. She has performed at festivals in Australia, Indonesia and Scotland.
Neil Humphreys
Author and humour columnist
Neil Humphreys was brought up in London, England, but migrated to Singapore in 1996.
He has extensive experience as a humour columnist, having written for TODAY, The Straits Times, and The New Paper. He is also a published author, with 12 books under his belt, and has worked on numerous TV series.
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Neil is currently active as a radio host, and does frequent assembly talks in schools.
Dr. Rebecca Isbell
Early Childhood Educator & Keynote Speaker
Dr. Rebecca Isbell is a critically acclaimed Early Childhood Education Consultant, Author & Speaker with a mission to improve Early Childhood Education Environments & Centers.
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For the past twelve years, Dr. Isbell has presented as a keynote speaker, workshop leader, and featured speaker at professional teacher training and development meetings all over the world. These speaking experiences have ranged from local PreK conferences to regional ECE conferences to international educator meetings.
Dennis Kambeitz
Chief Executive Officer, EZ-Robot
Dennis Kambeitz is the founder of Robots.Education, and has been recognized as a leader in Robotics Education. His approach to teaching robotics has helped thousands of students, and he has also trained hundreds of teachers - helping them understand "best practices" for teaching robotics.
He's frequently invited to present at educational conferences, and his presentation, "Preparing Students For a Robotic Future" has been described as "Transformational" and "Something EVERY educator needs to hear".
Dennis’ innovative approach and strategies have helped educators of all levels deliver inspiring world-class robotics and programming education.
Patrick Yee
Multi-Award Winning Illustrator
Patrick Yee is a multi-award winner and one of Singapore's leading illustrators of children's books. He is actively involved in the local arts scene and teaches at educational institutions. He also conducts regular art workshops for young children.
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Patrick holds a degree in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Arts and a Master's Degree from Brighton University, U.K.
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He has also entered the Singapore Book of Records for being the 'Most Prolific Children's Book Illustrator' with 155 books illustrated and published from 1992 to 2016.
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Patrick is September 21 Enteprise's resident illustrator, and has worked on numerous publications throughout the years.
Nicola Carr-White
Director, Mastery Learning Group
Nicola Carr-White, SPELD, is a distinguished educator with over 30 years experience. She has held a variety of roles and taught in settings across Western Australia including all primary year levels, science and music specialist, ICT co-ordinator, oncology ward teacher at PMH and PEAC (gifted and talented) coordinator and teacher.
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During her years teaching junior primary, she began modifying the traditional mastery learning folder approach to make the differentiation of learning content, learning load and learning time more manageable. Nicola is currently enjoying delving into learning science theory to ensure that the strategy is aligned with evidence-informed research in spaced retrieval practice, distributed practice and interleaved learning as a part of a research MEd.
Sue McLaren
Research Coordinator, Curtin University
Sue McLaren is the Director of Animal Fun, a program designed by a team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists and psychologists from Curtin University and helps children to improve their gross motor, fine motor and social-emotional skills by engaging in fun, imaginary play as they imitate the movements and sounds of various animals.
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Sue is also regularly engaged as a speaker to share about the motor skills and social/emotional development of children.
Julie Richards
Director, Independent Education & Training Pty Ltd
Julie Richards formed Independent Education and Training Pty Ltd (IETPL) in 2018 to take over the publishing and distribution of Numero®, a game developed by her parents Frank and Joan Drysdale. Julie also handles the promotion and training of the game, as well as running the Interschool Numero® Challenge each year.
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Julie worked for many years as a Special Needs Education Assistant before returning to school and graduating with a Bachelor of Education (BEd) from Murdoch University.
Hugh Kingsley
Founder, The Brainary
Hugh Kingsley is passionate about making a meaningful difference in the world, which he goes about achieving through education and healthcare resources, technologies and publishing. Hugh is well published in both academic and non-academic journals and has served on both ministerially and non-ministerially appointed boards of management.
In 2016 past Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull presented Hugh’s team with a National Disability Award for its innovative work in the field of robotics and disabilities.
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He co-designed and produced The Human Rights Game with Andrea Chorney.
Andrea Chorney
B.S., M.S.
Andrea Chorney, having been a public-school educator, counselor and adjunct professor (Southern Connecticut State University), prides herself in having been a life-long advocate of international human rights and children. Andrea has co-authored more than thirty educational workbooks and games covering a wide range of social issues under the aegis of Franklin Learning Systems. She has sat on state advisory boards and has been selected twice as Highland School’s Teacher of the Year within the Cheshire, Connecticut, USA school district.
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She co-designed and produced The Human Rights Game with Hugh Kingsley.
Martin Quinlan
An Experienced Kinesiologist
Martin Quinlan is a member of the Australian Kinesiology Association (AKA) and the Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS).
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He holds a Diploma in Health Sciences in Holistic Kinesiology, a Graduate Diploma in Business from Curtin University and a Certificate IV in Small Business Management. He am always doing further studies in Kinesiology, Reiki and related fields, and plans to pursue a Bachelors Degree in Complementary Medicine.
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Martin also supports the work of his wife Victoria Carlton as a director of the International Centre for Excellence, a tuition centre for children of all abilities which runs PD for teachers and seminars for business.
Chris Stevens
Founder and Managing Director, Highwood Educational Consulting and Development
Chris Stevens has been involved in education for over 40 years, with an impressive portfolio that spans from teaching roles to content development and product design.
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He founded Highwood Educational Consulting and Development in 2013, offering educational consulting services to clients throughout the world.
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Chris currently serves as a global consultant for StudySync, an award winning global ELA curriculum with over 3 million users.
Jill Nash Bridge
MEd, Elementary Education and Teaching
Jill Nash Bridge is a third generation educator with over 20 years experience as a teacher and coach. She is passionate about education and providing students with the best opportunities for success. Over the past 5 years, Jill has been in the education technology field where she has worked closely with thousands of education leaders, coaches, and teachers.
As a high-energy trainer and presenter, Jill’s role is to empower educators to develop innovative and creative learning opportunities for today’s students. Using media and technology to engage and inspire students, Jill helps teachers realize the full potential of any program and design lessons to meet the rigorous demands of today’s classroom.
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Jill currently serves as a global consultant for StudySync, an award winning global ELA curriculum with over 3 million users.
Andrew Koh
Director, Awesome Sites Pte. Ltd
Andrew Koh is a Singapore based SEO consultant, online marketing expert and co-founder of Awesome Sites Pte. Ltd.
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He obtained his certification in Advance SEO from the world renowned Search Engine Academy and is currently teaching this same Advanced SEO certification course here in Singapore.
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He previously served as the Chief Trainer at Click Events, teaching their flagship Real Internet Secrets and Advanced SEO programs.
He also has experience as the former Chief Agency Officer of HSBC Insurance Singapore Pte. Ltd., as well as the Regional Director of Agencies at AIA Singapore
Thomas Tan
Former Assistant Director, Ministry of Education Singapore
Thomas Tan has a distinguished teaching career and has been with the Ministry of Education (MOE) Singapore as a Music Specialist Inspector and Curriculum Developer. He was instrumental in designing and developing the Music Curriculum for Primary and Secondary schools as well as the Syllabus for the Music Elective Programme (MEP) leading to the GCE “O” and “A” Level Music.
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Thomas was also involved with the organization of the annual Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) and the development of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO). He was also appointed a member of the Arts Advisory & Resource Panel (Music) and has worked with agencies such as the National Arts Council (NAC), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), La-Salle College of the Arts and other national and international bodies on the promotion of music and the arts.
He is currently conducting professional development courses and all grades and diplomas of the London College of Music, Trinity College of Music and ABRSM. He is also a specialist in Phonics, Speech & Drama and Music Theatre.
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Thomas Tan is also a Victoria Carlton's Mastery Trainer, specialising in Jolly Music.
Jacqueline Lim
Victoria Carlton Mastery Trainer since 2010
Jacqueline is a MOE Registered Instructor with decades of teaching and coaching experience under her belt. She graduated with a Diploma in Education (Music Education) from the National Institute of Education, and obtained a Certificate in Speech Education from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
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Jacqueline has previously taught lower secondary Mathematics, moral education and music. She believes that there are no slow learners, only unmotivated ones, which is why she always starts her lessons with interesting games and brain activities to increase participants' self-esteem and interest.
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It was her passion for education and her conviction that all children deserve a chance to succeed that led her to become a Victoria Carlton's Mastery Practitioner. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she was engaged by SEED Institute's Kidz Matters Learning Centre to conduct 'Victoria Carlton's Literacy Garden' and 'Making Maths Meaningful' online courses for children via Zoom.
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Sarah Toh
Founder, Kidz Literacy Cove
Sarah Toh began her career in the field of early childhood education at an early age, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (with honours) in Early Childhood Education.
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With strong determination and a natural flair for teaching, Sarah quickly rose to the position of a senior teacher within 2 years and undertook leadership roles where she was tasked to mentor new teachers as well as student-teachers. She later transferred to an international preschool where she maintained her position and continued to teach for several years. Outperforming her duties, Sarah was promoted to be a vice principal of the preschool.
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Sarah believes that education is about providing meaningful learning experiences for children to learn and develop at their own pace, and should never be forced on an unwilling child. She also believes that a happy child is one who learns the most and will continue to yearn for more knowledge. This love and passion for teaching subsequently led Sarah to establish Kidz Literacy Cove (KLC) in 2011, a Victoria Carlton licensed centre where she aims to further reach out and touch the hearts of the younger generation.
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Sarah Toh is also a Victoria Carlton's Mastery Trainer.
John Warren Chambers
B.ED (NZ), Victoria Carlton Mastery Trainer
John Chambers is a trained Primary School teacher with 25 years experience teaching children aged 4-15. He is passionate about learning and literacy, and in particular advocates for the use of phonics as a stepping stone to independence in reading and writing.
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He has also been a drama teacher and a performance poet, teaching drama as an after school activity, acting in and directing over 50 children's plays.
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John is an officially UK accredited Jolly Phonics trainer, as well as a Victoria Carlton Mastery trainer.
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As an Educational Consultant and Senior Trainer with September 21 Enterprise, he conducted workshops on chess, storytelling and drama.