Meet the team
Ivor GEMMELLI am the IB Economics and Business Management teacher at École des Roches. I also teach an introductory hybrid course of Business & Economics to the year prior to the IB Diploma.
My students learn the fundamentals of both the Business and Economics course in order to understand the concepts that will underpin their research and application of these topics in the context of local and global situations. To achieve the latter, I encourage my students by bringing in (or asking them to do so) real-life examples illustrating a topic in order to stimulate their curiosity.
Before working at École des Roches, I taught Business Management at the Saudi School of Madrid, where I was also part of the coordination team, and Economics in the SEK – Ciudalcampo International School. Before converting to teaching in 2013, I worked as the Head of Services and a business consultant specialised in streamlining customer relationship, business development, sales and document management procedures.
Outside school, I try to spend as much time as possible with my wife and daughters in Madrid. When this is not possible, I enjoy discovering the Normandy countryside, coast and associated history from the back of my motorbike!
IB Economics
Pre-DP Introduction to Economics & Business
Céline GUIHENEUFI am one of the IB French teachers and I’m the CAS Coordinator for the IB and Pre-DP programmes. Alongside these roles, I am also EdR’s UNESCO Coordinator and I’m responsible for the school’s sustainable development policy.
My approach to teaching and learning:
Learning a language is, above all, an immersive and enriching cultural experience. Learning a language should feel nourishing! I work with my students to ensure that their acquisition of knowledge is balanced with a sense of satisfaction and fun. As they live and experience French culture, so they become active and creative thinkers. In learning more about another society, they also acquire the value of open-mindedness.
One of my favourite things as a teacher at EdR is our close proximity to Paris which enables me to travel with my students to the French capital city on cultural excursions to museums, restaurants and other sites of interest. As leader of the CAS Programme, I encourage my students to engage in projects with their peers in order to reinforce their learning and their civic values. This experiential learning is, for me, the key to all educational success.
Past experience:
I graduated in Spanish Philology and French as a Foreign Language. I have taught in South America (Bolivia, Brazil), for ten years in Spain, and for twenty years in France, specializing in experiential learning. I have always been involved with humanitarian organizations such as ATD Fourth World and Education without Borders, and I have volunteered in city slums, including in Sao Paulo and Madrid.
I specialized in the CAS Programme in order to motivate students to be creative and to involve themselves in humanitarian causes, while developing a healthy body and mind! CAS offers wonderful opportunities to students who will get to know themselves better, to understand the world more fully and to help their neighbour in the process.
Beyond EdR:
When I am not teaching, I like to travel and to experiment with creative and sports workshops. I also care deeply about the associative and humanitarian world.
CAS Coordinator
Ed OWENSI am the IB History and Global Politics teacher at École des Roches. I also teach Global Perspectives as part of the Pre-DP year.
My students develop a deep curiosity about the world as it is now, and as it has been in the past. They learn how to interpret different types of information and how to use that information to support evidence-based arguments. I work closely with the individual learner to strengthen his or her communication and research skills through a range of activities, including IA projects that emphasize independent inquiry and self-management. School trips to sites of historic importance in France highlight significant local histories to complement the international focus of the History and Global Politics programmes. And, by exploring past and contemporary issues from multiple perspectives, my students develop an open-mindedness key to understanding the values and traditions of other societies.
Before beginning work at École des Roches, I was a lecturer at the University of Lincoln in the UK where I taught and researched modern political history. I completed my PhD at the University of Manchester in 2015 and published a book based on my research in October 2019.
Beyond EdR:
Two of the great things about living in Normandy are the countryside and local history. Since moving to France, my wife and I have had lots of fun exploring both!
IB Global Politics
Pre-DP Global Perspectives
Aoumeur SEMAOUII am the IB Diploma Programme’s Mathematics teacher for Standard and Higher level at École des Roches. I also teach the Pre-IB Mathematics group.
My approach to teaching and learning:
At EDR we are inspired by the IB mission statement which is to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.
My aim is to impart a deep interest in and understanding of Mathematics to my students. I believe it is very important to develop their abilities to think about the use of Mathematics in constructed and meaningful ways by making connections between different concepts as well as trying to relate their learning to their everyday life experiences. They also develop their curiosity by building their questioning skills through interactive questions and answers. They work in groups and discuss their findings as well as learn how to make their own observations and develop a systematic way of thinking. I offer the best possible support to individual students so that they can achieve their full potential.
Past experience:
I started my teaching career in the UK before moving abroad. I worked for a number of international schools in the Middle East and North Africa before joing École des Roches
When not teaching, I love exploring the countryside around me. I also spend my time excercising and enjoy it more when I take part in the school and my students’ activities.
IB Mathematics
Pre-DP Mathematics
Eric DEMONCHEAUXI am a science teacher at EdR. I teach all three sciences at the Middle School level and currently Biology as well as Chemistry at the High School level.
My approach to teaching and learning:
I am fortunate to teach content directly impacting our lives. It is so easy to connect everything we learn in Science to everyday activities. I try to always take the time to highlight these connections between content and real-world lives to make my courses accessible, relevant, and interesting to students.
I have taught students in primary, secondary and higher education and I find that this gives me insights into teaching and learning that help me reach students of all abilities. I take a lot of pride in creating talents for tomorrow whilst teaching them skills for today.
Past experience:
Teaching was not my first professional path. I started as a research scientist and was lucky to embark on a teaching career at Battle Abbey School (Sussex, UK) where I taught all three sciences up to Grade 12, Biology and Chemistry to undergraduate students from Canada, was Head of Science, a Day Housemaster, and lived in a boarding house with my family as Deputy Head of Boarding and my wife as Housemistress.
We fell in love with Verneuil sur Avre and have called it home since 2018. When I heard of an opening teaching Science at EdR I was immediately interested in applying. I was drawn to EdR because it offers the International Baccalaureate. Above all, I was sold on working at EdR when my wife and I came for our campus visit and saw how happy students were. My wife is continuing to provide pastoral care as one of EdR’s Housemistresses.
Beyond EdR:
When not teaching, I love spending time with my family. When I am feeling more ambitious, I go cycling and running in our countryside, as it is nice and flat. I binge watch some TV episodes late night on Netflix, like “Mars” or “Space Force”.
Pre-DP Biology
Pre-DP, IB Chemistry
Valeria LARGEI’m currently the teacher of Russian Language and Russian Literature for the IBDP. I also teach Russian Language and Civilisation and Italian Language and Civilization in the French college and Lycée programmes.
My approach to teaching and learning:
The main goal of my teaching is to give my students the necessary research tools in order to read in depth, interpret and appreciate the masterpieces of world literature. The other objective is to equip them with the theoretical and terminological arsenal to be able to correctly express the conclusions of their deep and intertextual reading.
These research skills can be easily applied in all the spheres where the texts exist. In order to achieve these goals, I favour personalized work with my students and individual projects that lead to greater independence both in research and in the organization of work in general.
Past experience:
I arrived at École des Roches in 2006. I joined the IBDP teaching team in 2016. Before I arrived at EdR I taught Russian Language at Providence School in Le Mesnil-Esnard. And for several years, I was a university professor of Italian Language and Literature as well as of Russian Language and Civilisation in Moscow State University and Moscow State Linguistic University.
I obtained my PhD in 1999 with a monographical analysis of multilingualism and discourse in the epistolary works of Pope Alexander VI.
Beyond EdR:
Outside of school, I play in an amateur theatre troupe that collaborates with the Polaris Production society to promote France’s national historic heritage. Beginning in 2020, I have also been the town councillor of my commune of Nonancourt, sitting on the cultural affairs and youth committee.
IB Russian Language
IB Russian Literature