Brendan Casey is Head of the highly successful Economics and Business Studies Department. He is another long-standing member of staff, having been at Ashbourne for over ten years. Brendan is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He trained as an accountant and worked in the city before completing his PGCE at the University of Greenwich. Brendan is a lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club.

George studied Classics at the Universities of Thessaloniki, Cologne and Cambridge. He joined Ashbourne in 2003 as a teacher of Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation and has been running the Classics department since then. George is a member of the Association for Latin Teaching and Assistant Examiner for OCR and the Cambridge Pre-U.

Sheila Cosgrove worked in New York as a fashion illustrator before moving to England for post-graduate work in Fine Art at Oxford University. She spent twenty years as a freelance art and design journalist and portrait artist before taking a degree in textile design at Chelsea College of Art. She frequently lectures to interior design students on Colour Theory and Application and her textile designs for fashion and furnishings have been sold in America, Britain and across Europe.

Tim Dean holds a BA in Art from St Martin’s College. He became interested in photography during his second year of University, experimenting, in particular, with photomontage. He has been teaching for nearly thirty years and has been at Ashbourne for over ten.

Jerry Evans has a degree in Geography from the University of Aberystwyth. He worked investment banking for many years, before completing his PGCE and turning to teaching. He holds an FSI and is a Fellow of the Securities Institute. He is also a member of the advisory board for the School of Management and Business of the University of Wales. Jerry is extremely well travelled and has visited almost every country on the globe.

Gina was educated in a variety of different countries. She pursued her Foundation course in Art at the Catholic University of Santiago, Chile. Later, she completed a degree at the Beaux Arts Bruxelles (Belgium). She has taught at Ashbourne since 1992 and is Head of Department for Art and Design. She continues to be an active painter, speaks 5 languages and teaches arts and crafts to children of all ages.

Dennis Fulcher is the College’s polymath and Head of Humanities. Originally a graduate in Sociology, Dennis has also completed a Masters in Government and Political Studies, a PGCE and a Diploma in Print Journalism. He is also a teamleader for Government and Politics examiners. Dennis is a lifelong film enthusiast.

Odette Hudson is one of the founding staff of Ashbourne College, having been here since its inception. Odette took her first degree in Language teaching at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in her native France. She continued her educational studies at the University of Copenhagen before coming to the UK, where she found herself settling down. She is a keen gardener and an avid reader (on many topics and in several languages)

David Johnstone did his first degree in Artificial Intelligence at Durham University. He worked in the city, developing huge corporate IT systems, then went on to do doctoral research in real-time systems scheduling, the technology behind automotive manufacturing. He is a specialist in Java programming, holding a Sun certificate and Java blackbelt membership.

Jak Kirby has a BA in Applied Arts from the University of Silapakorn in her native Thailand. She worked in the advertising industry and as a television director before coming to Ashbourne. Jak began by teaching photography but has developed a flourishing Graphics Department in her ten years at the college. She is particularly interested in practical film making.

Alberto Lado Rey has a degree in English from the University of Santiago de Compestela, in his native Spain. After completing his teacher training, Alberto came to London where he started teaching at Ashbourne and other independent schools. He is an examiner for Edexcel. In addition, Alberto has recently completed an MA in Hispanic Studies at UCL. This has allowed him to pursue his interest in Spanish and Latino American culture, in particular Latin American documentary and Spanish cinema after Franco.

Mae Lynee McDougall has an MA in Politics from Glasgow University and an MSc in Business Information. She travelled widely then completed her PGCE and went into teaching. She has been at Ashbourne for eight years. Her interests include hockey and running. She has completed the London and Edinburgh marathons.

Eddie Morris has a BSc in Engineering and a BA and MA in Mathematics from the Open University. He has been at Ashbourne for ten years and as the tutor responsible for timetabling, magically makes it possible for any student to do any combination of subjects. He is interested in athletics and keep fit and has scaled the summit of Kilamanjaro twice.

Chella Nathan has a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from his native Sri Lanka and a B.Eng from London University. He has been teaching Mathematics and Physics for over twenty years. His research interests are number theory and the development of renewable energy sources.

Sakae Osakabe competed her degree and Teacher’s Training Certificate in her native Japan. She has taught Japanese for many years, in a wide range of schools and Colleges within London. Her hobbies include travel, drawing and flower arranging.

Michael Peat has a very broad academic background as his first degree was in Physics. Doctoral studies in Theology took him to Philadelphia where he lived for many years and he now teaches Philosophy and Theology at Ashbourne. Philosophy, though challenging, is a particularly popular subject. Michael is a keen chess player and along with Chris Todd runs the chess club.

Dr Barry Rhule has a BSc in Mathematics and Physics from CNNA and a PhD in Physics from the University of London. He is a member of the London Mathematical Society and has been teaching Maths and Physics at Ashbourne for over ten years.

Wesley took his BA and MA at UCL and is working on a PhD in cultural power in the early medieval world at Birbeck. Wesley writes a teaching blog on media studies (http://rykalskireadsthemedia.blogspot.com) and contributes to a joint research blog on Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (http://arcadespromenades.wordpress.com) and the sea-side.

Chris Todd graduated from the University of East Anglia in Chemical Sciences. He worked as a research chemist in the field of semi conductors, then in investment banking before completing his PGCE at Roehampton. He has been at Ashbourne for over eight years. His particular passion is chess; he runs a team in the London Chess League and together with Michael Peat runs the Ashbourne chess club.

Pauline is a graduate of Bristol University (Hons. Biochemistry) and from Newcastle University, where she worked in the department of Clinical Biochemistry and gained a PGCE. She has taught Biology and health-related courses at further education and sixth form colleges in Nottingham and Edinburgh together with degree level lecturing and tutoring at the University of Dundee and the Open University. Pauline joined Ashbourne staff in 2001 after moving down from Scotland.

Duncan Carmichael teaches Psychology and Biology at Ashbourne. Duncan has a BSc in Psychology from Stirling University and is currently completing a MSc in Functional Neuroimaging at Brunel University. Outside the classroom, Duncan is a keen musician and can often be found playing the blues with his trio in various locations in London.

Louise Forster is half-German and read German and Italian at Reading University. She also speaks French. She joined Ashbourne ten years ago as a German tutor and now teaches Italian and EFL in addition. She has lived in Berlin, studied at Munich and Bologna as part of her degree and often visits friends and relatives in Bavaria. She is also a member of the Goethe Institut. Louise enjoys opera, Art History and working creatively with textiles.

Fran has a B.A. from Liverpool and an M.F.A. in Drama from Ohio University in the USA. Originally from Glasgow, Fran has travelled extensively and lived and worked in America for several years. Fran began her career as a professional actress, working in theatre throughout the UK, Europe and the States, and began teaching only as a favour, covering her best friend's maternity leave. Teaching has remained her first love ever since, despite intermittent breaks in voice work, corporate training and at one of the country's leading Arts Education companies. She is now the Practical Drama teacher at Ashbourne.

Ben Pollitt has a degree in English Literature, an MA in Theatre and Development studies from the University of East Anglia and a PGCE from the University of Greenwich. Ben is a highly qualified and experienced teacher who has travelled widely, including a two-year stint teaching English and Drama in a secondary school in Rwanda. Ben is also a GCSE English coursework moderator and an examiner for GCE History of Art.

Sanjeev Kumar assists Brendan with the teaching of Accounting. Sanjeev completed his first degree in Accounting Studies from the Polytechnic of West London and followed this with an Msc in Financial Managerial Controls from the University of Southampton.

Michael Niman studied Politics with Sociology at Teeside University and later completed a MA in post-sixteen education at Southampton university, where he was awarded best postgraduate student. Michael has taught various subjects, from Sociology to training nurses and housing officers. He has a very open minded approach to teaching, and once even taught General Studies A Levels while riding on the South Downs! He enjoys anything to do with nature and his dream includes going on a safari to South Africa and witness the midnight sun.

Luca Paci studied Philosophy and Literature in Pavia and Swansea where he obtained a PhD on the Theory of History of Benedetto Croce. Among his interests are contemporary poetry and continental philosophy. He has published a collection of poems (The Fine Line) and a video-poem (London Trip-tych). He has also translated La Ragazza Carla, an experimental prose - poem written by the prominent Italian poet Elio Pagliarani. He has written on Carmelo Bene, Pagliarani and Pavese. His most recent work was Pro/testo an anthology of contemporary Italian poets.

Venkat Nallamilli graduated in Physiology from the University of Leeds and obtained his PCSE in Science from the University of Nottingham. Venkat has taught at several schools in Leeds, Derby and Nottingham, before settling in London, where he now teaches Biology at Ashbourne and P.E and Physics at other schools. He really enjoys sports and has travelled extensively. His dream, amongst many, is to become a Head Teacher.

Peter Franklyn is a graduate of the London School of Economics. He worked at Channel 4 for over 10 years, first as marketing manager and later writing and directing TV trailers. In 2002 he decided to retrain as a teacher so he could spend more time at home with his family.

Michael Wilkinson began teaching Government and Politics at Ashbourne College in September 2009. Prior to this, he worked as a researcher at the Home Office, and thus has first-hand insight into the nature of the UK political system. Since leaving the Home Office he has been involved in freelance social research work at the University of Surrey, and he also currently tutors on some of their undergraduate courses in Sociology. Mike has a degree in Politics, an MSC Politics and Sociology and a Diploma in Applied Social Research.

Raihana Akram has graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in BSc Chemistry and obtained a PGCE from Hallam University. She is a member of the The Royal Society of Chemistry. Raihana has extensive teaching experience, both nationally and internationally and has taught at The Berkeley Institute in Bermuda as well as several prestigious schools in the UK. She is currently on a sabbatical at University of London continuing with further studies in the field of Science and Education. She enjoys the arts and going to the theatre in her spare time.