Our Team

Liz Holloway

My name is Liz Holloway, currently the Foundation Stage 1 & 2 leader which means I oversee everything Early Years. I have been teaching now for 21 years (being a mature graduate - previous to that I spent 10 years in the Women’s Royal Air Force). I have taught on the international platform for the past 13 years and the past 7 at DESS. My passion is for Early Years teaching and being around the youngest members of our school community, it’s a true privilege to start children on their journey into education. I have two grown up sons who live in the UK. My other hobbies and singing – I am an active member of the Doha Singers. My place to go and relax. I also enjoying travelling and have used my time in Doha to travel extensively in Asia and Europe. I am a keen swimmer, an amateur cook and when time permits (generally holidays), an avid reader.

Colette Forrest-John

Kathy Rangeley

Kathy enjoyed working in the UK and New Zealand for 19 years before moving to DESS in April 2012. During this time, Kathy became a highly respected and experienced teacher of children in Key Stage 2 and was appointed to several different year groups and subject lead positions, such as Science, English, Maths, Art and Computing throughout this time. In 2002, wishing to continue develop her leadership and management skills, Kathy was pleased to be appointed as Deputy Head at Kelson School, a sought after community school, alongside a dedicated, innovative and creative teaching team. Highlights during this time included working alongside local cluster schools on ‘schooling improvement’ initiatives and participating in the ‘Aspiring Principal’s Professional Development Programme’. At DESS, Kathy likes working alongside highly experienced colleagues and being a member of a whole school team who constantly review practice and drive forward new initiatives to improve teaching and learning programmes. She has participated in PENTA training to become an accredited inspector of BSME schools. Kathy is a passionate educator. She works diligently to promote a love of learning and provide classroom opportunities which aim to allow children to experience the joy that achievement and success, both personally and academically, bring. Outside of school Kathy enjoys gardening, as well as travelling to experience the different cultures, beliefs and traditions from around the world.

Catherine Francis

Catherine has been a staff member at DESS since 2004. For the last 4 years, she has been the Phase Leader for Phase 4 (Years 5 and 6). Her previous roles at DESS include Year Group Leader (Year 6) and Science Coordinator. Prior to teaching at DESS, Catherine taught in The British School in the Netherlands for seven years, where she was a Year 5 and 6 teacher and science coordinator. When she began teaching in the UK, Catherine taught in KS3 and KS4, holding the position of Science coordinator and latterly as Year Group leader in Year 7 and 8. Catherine leads a team of eight teachers and five teaching assistants, where high priority is given to children having fun while learning. She is the mother of three children, one of whom is a KS2 teacher.

Naveed Mir

Naveed grew up in the UK and has over ten years experience teaching in schools in the in both Key Stages 1 and 2. Her previous roles include Year Group Leader, History Coordinator and Modern Foreign Languages Coordinator.

She also spent some time in Egypt studying Modern Standard Arabic. During her role as the MFL Coordinator she was part of an initiative introducing Arabic as part of the MFL Curriculum to Non Arabic Speaking children.

She  currently lives in Doha with her husband and two children.

Simon Berry

Simon joined the team at DESS as the specialist computing teacher in September 2018. He has over 18 years of experience teaching in the north east of England as both a class teacher and computing specialist. He has over 18 years of experience teaching in the north east of England as both a class teacher and computing specialist. Before traing to be a teacher at Durham University, Simon studied for a degree in Information Technology at Teesside University. He is also a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. In his spare time he likes to read, support Middlesbrough FC, watch science fiction movies, listen to loud music and build robots out of Lego!

Holly Williams

Holly moved to Doha from the UK in 2010, where she was previously a class and specialist French teacher at a prep school in Durham. She has taught across the school at DESS, and acted as Head of Computing for a number of years, until switching to Head of French in 2018. Holly grew up in the UK, France and Germany, then later studied French with Linguistics at the University of St Andrews, followed by a PGCE at Newcastle University. She is passionate about the teaching and learning of modern foreign languages, and hopes to instil this in our enthusiastic pupils here at DESS.

Salwa Abusalih

Salwa joined Doha English Speaking School in September 2013. She has been instrumental in using the material provided from the Supreme Education Council in Qatar, and adapting this to a deliverable syllabus for the Native Arabic groups of students at DESS. She also designs the syllabus for the Intermediate Group of students using the Modern Foreign Languages syllabus as a guide. Previously, Salwa was the Head of Arabic & Islamic Studies for 13 years at Ras Al Khaimah English Speaking School (RAKESS) in the UAE. During this time, she established the program of ‘Arabic as a foreign language’ for the first time at the school, allowing non-Arabic speakers to learn the basics of the language and excel at the GCSE and IB examinations. In addition to teaching Arabic, Salwa is also responsible for the Islamic Studies program at DESS, planning and delivering the learning objectives of the subject to our students. She is a mother of three; a doctor, a dentist, and a Finance professional.

Elaine Wills

Elaine has worked at DESS for 27 years. Initially she worked in Year Six for 7 years, during which time she held the post of Literacy coordinator, before joining the Curriculum Management Team where she was responsible for Record Keeping and Assessment. In 2000 she created the International Centre for Music in response to demands for music, dance and drama tuition at DESS. During the six years of running the centre she also taught on a part time basis, working from Reception to Year Six. In 2006 Elaine returned to DESS on a full time basis. She now runs the Learning Support unit as the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)."

Julie Chapman

Neal Gough