Leadership
Rebecca Ross-Wood
Rebecca joined Ark Conway in 2012, initially as a class teacher and then leading the school since 2018. In her time at the school she has introduced initiatives such as Spark enrichment clubs for all pupils and creating the Ark Conway Well-Being team .
Rebecca completed her PGCE at the Institute of Education and has also received the National Professional Qualification for Headship. She is passionate about providing children with the chance to learn the skills and knowledge required to achieve excellence both academically and beyond the curriculum. Before teaching, Rebecca graduated from the University of Durham with a degree in Natural Sciences.
Outside of her work in Ark Conway, Rebecca enjoys dancing and spending time in the great outdoors with her family.
Hannah Bridges
Hannah has worked at Ark Conway for nine years, starting as a co-teacher. She completed her teacher training with Ark in 2016 and has taken on various leadership roles across the school and taught in almost every year group during her time here. She has a BA in Education and a PGCE from Goldsmith's University and has completed National Professional Qualifications in both Middle and Senior Leadership. Hannah has worked both as a teaching assistant and class teacher in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Before this, she worked professionally as an actor.
Louise Jinks
Tanya Binedell
Tanya Joined Ark Conway in November 2023. After 15 years as a senior civil servant, she decided to move into the education sector. She has worked in both private and state schools with ages ranging from 4 months to 18 years. Tanya is a highly dedicated professional with experience in administration, business management, staff leadership, governance and customer service. Ensuring continuous improvement in all areas of her role.
Outside of work Tanya enjoys spending time with her husband and her pets. She enjoys music, films and food.
Teachers
Adam Claessens
Adam graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2018 with a First-Class Honours BSc in Psychology. He then joined Ark Conway Primary in February 2019 as a Year 1 co-teacher. Since, he has completed the Ark Teacher Training programme and gained his Qualified Teacher Status, working across both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. He is looking forward to working in Reception this year to expand his teaching experience, as well as impacting the whole school in his role as Assistant Principal.
Adam is a lover of music and books. He is a drummer and guitarist and has enjoyed playing concerts and festivals up and down the country over the last decade. He is also an avid reader and will happily chat to anyone about the book he is currently reading, or to get any recommendations! As well as this, he has been learning German in his spare time and is beginning to become more confident in speaking and understanding the language.
Lauren Wall
Lauren graduated with a BA in Criminology and Sociology in 2016 from University West of England (Bristol), followed on by completing her PGCE in Bath Spa University in 2018. Before joining Ark Conway, Lauren was a supply teacher in a range of schools throughout Bristol and London. Since being at Ark Conway, Lauren is going into her second year as a year one class teacher.
Outside of school, Lauren loves travelling and experiencing different foods and cultures. She also likes spending time outdoors, going for long walks/ hikes across the country.
Sarah Mawson
Sarah graduated with a BA in American Studies from the University of Birmingham in 2021 and decided to move to London the same autumn to start a Masters in American History and Politics at UCL, which she graduated from in 2022. Before joining Conway Sarah was working as an educational assistant in a school in East London, largely assisting children with SEN, which convinced her of how much she loves teaching and pushed her to pursue teacher training.
Outside of school Sarah has a passion for music and film, attending concerts as often as she can. She also has a lifelong love of languages and is always endeavouring to learn new things about other languages and cultures.
Hajar Chakour
Hajar graduated in 2022 with a First-Class Honours BSc in Sociology. After graduating she then went on to complete her PGCE at UCL’s Institute of Education where she spent time at many inner London schools, curating fun and inspiring lessons to children of all ages. She has a love of teaching and working with children and is excited to be the Year 3 teacher for the 24-25 cohort.
Outside of school Hajar has a passion for film and food as well as walking and spending time with family.
Callum Junor
Tessa Markewich
Tessa graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in History & Literature and a Master’s in Education. After University, she went on to teach for one year in Denver, Colorado and two years in Boston, Massachusetts. Excited for a new adventure, she then moved to London to join Ark Conway, where she has taught Years 3, 4 and 5. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing, bike riding, reading and making homemade pasta.
Katie Williams
Katie graduated with First Class honours in Psychology from the University of Exeter in 2020. She then earned a Master’s degree in Psychology of Education from UCL, all while beginning her career at Ark Conway. After completing Ark Teacher Training, Katie became a qualified teacher and has since taken on the role of Year 6 class teacher, a position she has held since 2021. In addition to her teaching duties, Katie leads several key areas of the Conway curriculum, including Science, History, Geography, PE, and PSHE, and she also mentors and trains new teachers. Outside of work, Katie enjoys recreational sports, reading, and learning to play the piano.
Graduate Co-Teachers
Simone Noel
Sashika Mullegama
Sashika is from Sri Lanka. She worked as a qualified IT instructor for several years after accomplishing her BCS global degree and ECDL expert level in Sri Lanka. After moving to the UK, she started working as a specialist teaching assistant in a variety of schools across London. Sashika has been working as a LSA at Ark Conway since 2016. This year she will be working with the Year 3 and Year 4 teams, focusing on SEN children giving best possible education in order for them to achieve their full potential. Also, she works with mainstream children as she has successfully completed Team Teach and Ruth Muskin Phonics trainings. Children love her handwriting lessons and IT lessons as she shares her knowledge with an engaging manner.
Sashika really enjoys what she does and practices positivity and team spirit in order to model excellency in every possible way. She has conducted Arts and Crafts clubs and teaches mindful art lessons in order to practice creativity and mindfulness in the first place. During her leisure time, she loves spending time outdoors and visiting beautiful places as she loves being happy, calm and positive.
Chloe Hill
Chloe graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 2021 with a First-Class honour's degree in Journalism. After graduating she spent the following years building up her experience within primary education and SEND. She is also extremely passionate about all children realising their true potential and fosters a holistic approach to learning, which emphasises the development of the whole person—intellectually, emotionally and physically.
Chloe is a lover of reading (especially literature), travelling and exploring the great outdoors. Being from the North of England, she loves a good long walk. As well as this, she has been self-teaching Japanese for the last few months, and is beginning to become more confident in speaking and understanding the language.
Jade Wellington
Lauren Boswell
Lauren joined Ark Conway in September 2022, Lauren has a variety of experience in teaching that includes working in private nurseries, a previous primary school and her third year at Conway.
She has a passion for teaching and is very excited to be the Co-Teacher in Year 4 this academic year. Through her holistic approach to learning, she is innovating her teaching practice to include more opportunities for students to explore their interests and increase their preferences. Lauren is part of the attachment aware team ensuring each child is able to build secure and meaningful relationships with staff and peers.
Outside of school Lauren enjoys singing, dancing and spending time with family. Alongside Co-managing a football team with her husband!
Chlorise Benjamin
Maryam Sheikh
Maryam graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in Geography. After a gap year spent resting, engaging in photography, and taking on various part-time jobs—primarily in tutoring and assistant teaching—she naturally gravitated towards a teaching career. This year, Maryam will be working alongside Katie as a Year 6 teacher while completing her ATT training.
Outside of work, Maryam enjoys travelling, exploring different cultures and being in nature.
1:1 Learning Support Assistants
Tracy Walster
Tracy joined Ark Conway in 2017 working in the After School care team. In 2018 she began an additional role as a 1:1 LSA. Tracy enjoys both her roles. The after school care provides an opportunity for her to develop a personal relationship with the pupils at Conway and the 1:1 role an opportunity to be influencial in academic development of individual children. In her spare time Tracy enjoys walking, gardening, cooking and spending time with family and friends.
Operations Team
Monique Cohen-Pepper
Karis Bertin
Scott Stoll
Scott join Ark Conway in April 2024. He has completed IOSH Working safety, IOSH Managing safety and other health & safety courses. He has worked in the residential, commercial and education sector with over 4 years of experience in his field and is very passionate about making a safe & fun place for all.
Outside of work Scott enjoys and is committed to athletics, specifically 400m, hoping to compete from international level to national level in the near future.
Hans Henryk Ludwig
Hans Henryk Ludwig joined Ark Conway in May 2018 as Chef Manager. He trained as a Chef in Germany in 1986 and acquired a degree in hotel management in 1994. Henryk has been working in the UK for the last 23 years in Hotels, the German Embassy and one of the largest contract caterers, BaxterStorey. He is enjoying his new adventure within a school environment, producing exciting, nutritious school meals that pupils enjoy!
Catherine Morris
Catherine has been working at Ark Conway since 2012. She has worked in catering for over 30 years within various sectors, her favourite being education. In addition to food preparation in the kitchen, Catherine also serves food to the children at lunch time. Catherine really enjoys her role as it provides her with an opportunity to get to know each child, their likes and dislikes in terms of food and enables her to accomodate them accordingly. In her spare time Catherine enjoys cooking for friends and family. She particularly enjoys baking bread and making cakes.
Deqo Farah
Morita Braithwaite
Before joining the Ark Conway team, Morita volunteered in the Old Oak Children's Centre as a toy library assistant and worked with the children at a cook and play session once a week.
Morita is a mother of two, and both children have enjoyed their primary school years at Ark Conway. In her spare time, Morita enjoys singing and is part of a gospel choir called Singology based in Ealing. Travelling is also part of Morita's passion. She enjoys learning about different cultures and lifestyles.
Deborah Smith
Prior to joining Ark Conway Primary, Debbie worked at Ark Bentworth Primary for three and a half years. She also worked as a cash office/banking assistant but says that working within the school environment is by far the more rewarding job. She would like to train as a teaching assistant in the future. Debbie is a mother of five who enjoys walking and the quality time she spends around her family.