Simon is from the United Kingdom and has a background in mathematics and sport, gaining a BSc from Birmingham University and a PGCE from Durham University. After qualifying as a teacher, Simon initially taught at two top independent schools in the UK before moving abroad to become Head of Maths and Sport at The Banda School in Kenya. From there, his journey took him to the UAE where he was involved with the start-up of Brighton College Abu Dhabi as Deputy Head, and then Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, where he was Headmaster of the Prep School. His experience in leading teams through the early stages of school development will prove hugely advantageous as Hiba School Nantong begins to take root.  His interests include all sports, but particularly rugby and cricket, and whilst in Abu Dhabi, he competed in several triathlons. His other main interest is travel: having visited 101 countries, Simon enjoys being out of his comfort zone, exploring new cultures and meeting new people, and plans to do more of the same in east Asia once the boarder situation is more relaxed.

Simon will be joined in China by his wife Phoebe, who is an English and History teacher, and their baby daughter, Sophie.

Suisui Yu is a passionate educator with 20 years of teaching and leadership experience. Before joining Wellington College China, she served at different bilingual and public schools, gaining a wealth of experience in the Chinese National Curriculum, bilingual curriculum，IGCSE ，A-level and IB curriculum etc. Suisui was the founding member of two well-known bilingual schools, serving as Founding Secondary School Principal, Head of Year Groups and Head of Mathematics. Prior to that, she was an inspector at Shanghai Jing’an Education College responsible for Primary mathematics teaching quality and teacher training within the district. 

Suisui participated in and won a number of district and municipal mathematics teaching competitions in the public education sector. She was deeply involved in the Second Phase of Shanghai Curriculum Reform Programme and was responsible for facilitating curriculum reform across the municipality. Suisui holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and a master’s degree in International Higher Education. Her current role is to develop and assure the quality of Chinese components of the curriculum for Wellington College China’s bilingual schools. She also plays a central role in establishing effective working relationships with the local education system.  

Suisui is married with two children. she enjoys reading, baking, travelling and crocheting.

Mrs Liya Liao is of Singaporean / Chinese decent and graduated with an MBA degree from James Cook University in Australia. She also holds a qualification for secondary school teaching. She taught in secondary schools for nearly five years before joining the non-academic team and has worked in several international schools in Singapore.

Mrs Liao has extensive experience in different educational management positions including finance, human resources and facility maintenance. She is also responsible for the daily operation of the school, especially liaison between the parents, school staff and management.

In her spare time, Ms. Liao likes to travel and experience new cultures and customs. She also likes sports, with running, swimming, badminton being amongst her favourites.

Ann Frew holds a Masters Degree in Education from Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand. She has had a long and varied career in both national and international education, working as a school principal, a curriculum and leadership adviser, and a school evaluator. 

Before joining Hiba Nantong, Ann worked as a school leader in the UAE, Brazil, Thailand and The Philippines. Ann believes in the importance of educating the whole child and creating learning environments that are authentic, caring, positive and growth-oriented. She has worked extensively in bilingual environments and is passionate about developing and strengthening students' literacy skills.

In her spare time Ann enjoys playing tennis, walking, reading, theatre and travel.

Penny Mulholland holds a B.Ed (Hons) degree, having graduated from Westminster College in Oxford in 1987. She began her teaching career in the north of England, teaching in a variety of school settings in both urban and rural areas. It was whilst working as a primary teacher that her interest in children’s wellbeing and additional needs began. Her international teaching career started in Qatar. She was part of a successful pastoral team and was responsible for the creation and implementation of the school’s Safeguarding Policy. Later Ms. Mulholland was Head of Learning Support and Safeguarding Officer at an international school in Shanghai. In 2018, she joined Hiba Academy Shanghai as the Head of Pastoral Care since its founding and has extensive management experience in pastoral care which is vital for a boarding setting.

What’s more, she will bring her extensive pastoral management experience to Hiba Academy Nantong and work with us to build a warm and caring environment where the children will feel safe, valued and be able to flourish.

Ms May Xue received her bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Child Development Psychology from Zhejiang Normal University. She joined the Hiba community in 2016 and has served in Hiba Academy Shanghai and Hiba Academy Hangzhou. She has always tried to apply pedagogical and psychological theories to her teaching. This experience has helped form her educational concept and philosophy. Together with the leadership of Hiba Academy Nantong, she looks forward to turning our Nursery into a place that children enjoy coming to learn.

Ms Xue is an outdoor sports enthusiast with hiking and skiing being her favorite. She believes that exercise not only keeps us healthy, but also brings us closer to nature.

Lucy is delighted to be joining the founding team at Hiba Academy Nantong as Western Co-Head of Early Years. She has a BSc in Geography from Queen's University Belfast, a Business Diploma from Arcadia University, Pennsylvania and a PGCE from The University of Buckingham. As a child she lived and studied at several international schools in Asia, including Beijing, before returning to the UK for her senior education.

Before joining Hiba Nantong she has taught across Early Years in several schools in Asia, most recently as Head of Nursery at Wellington College Bangkok. She is looking forward to blending Wellington College and Hiba Nursery values in an exciting bilingual setting which will provide excellent starts for the youngest members of our school community. In her free time, she loves to bake tasty treats, swim and read a good book with a cup of  Yorkshire tea!

Kathryn holds a master's degree in Politics and History from the University of Glasgow, along with a Diploma in Secondary Education from the University of Aberdeen. 

For the past three years, Kathryn has worked in a variety of locations and with a wide range of age groups. Before joining Hiba Nantong, Kathryn worked as a primary teacher on a First Nations reservation in Canada, teaching a range of ages between 4 - 12. 

During her spare time, Kathryn likes reading, running, and going on long walks with her dog. She is a big fan of new challenges and is always ready for a new adventure. A quote that Kathryn lives her life by is “There is love enough in this world for everybody, if people will just look."

Before joining Hiba Nantong Nursery , Jo Zhou taught Early Years children in Singapore for over 8 years, most recently as a dual language teacher at at Dulwich College.

She is excited to return to China this summer as she really enjoys working with such a warm and caring community. The more she has learned about Hiba the more she knows that Hiba Nantong Nursery is a great family where both the children and teachers will feel safe, valued, and able to flourish.

Outside of school, she has a keen interest in cooking and loves to experiment with new dishes.

Her passion for childhood education has driven her to consistently explore varying methodologies to heighten a child’s interest and confidence in different areas of learning. She strongly agrees that every child is a happy explorer!

Juliana Koch is from the warm and beautiful city of São Paulo in Brazil. She was inspired by her mother to participate in volunteer activities from a young age and worked with volunteer children to do sports and decided to become a teacher.

Juliana's first job was as a bilingual kindergarten teacher, while she studied English and Portuguese literature at the University of São Paulo. She learned the Montessori teaching method while working and later became a Montessori mentor certified by the Montessori Teacher Education Accreditation Commission. She had the opportunity to lead bilingual teaching projects for different age groups in Brazil and China. With her rich teaching experience, she began to guide and help other teachers in the Montessori teaching field. She found that teachers' respect for the relationship between home and school and cultural differences is crucial for children's development and also helped her to constantly enhance her communication with students' parents.

Juliana loves cats, traveling, and exploring local customs. She also loves painting, coffee, and trying new things. She has a cute cat named Pumpkin who accompanies her daily life. She has been living in Shanghai since April 2018 and loves life in China, looking forward to exploring different regions of China.

Judy graduated from Wenzhou University. Her major is Business English. This is her 8th year working as a teacher.  Before Hiba, Judy worked in an international nursery in Shanghai and a bilingual nursery in Hangzhou so she is familiar with the daily routine of an international school, especially the teaching work for the early years. She also understands the model of bilingual teaching and the needs of the children in a bilingual environment. 

In her spare time, Judy loves traveling, watching drama, and reading. The reason why she is passionate about education is that it makes her feels cheerful when she plays with children and talks to them. From her point of view the most important skill a teacher should have been patience.

Yuerui Jiang graduated from Edinburgh University with a Masters in Science, specializing in Education (Early Childhood Practice and Froebel). She comes from a solid educational background with a strong interest in Early Years education and a passion towards children.

She graduated from Jiangxi Normal University with a Bachelor's degree, majoring in preschool education. Throughout her university career, she learned a lot about Early Years education and obtained her Certificate of Teacher’s Qualification for Kindergarten in 2019.

Apart from professional academic study and early years practice during those years, she thinks it is still important for a teacher to understand a pupil’s state of mind. Thus, she completed a dual degree course in Psychology in her sophomore year. Having gained further knowledge of children's psychology and relevant skills in psychological consulting, she passed the National Psychological Counselor test in January 2018.

In her spare time, she enjoys play the piano, reading, cooking and traveling. She hopes she can make a contribution to Hiba Nantong Nursery.

Irene holds a bachelor’s degree in preschool education. When she was in college, she went to Denmark for exchange study for about one year. And she received a diploma from VIA College in Denmark. In Denmark, Irene studied and practiced in a local nursery for a period of time, which was a very unforgettable time for her. There, she played with local children and learned lots of foreign early childhood education concepts and methods. When she came back to China, she worked as a nursery teacher in a nursery in Nantong for 3years. During this period, she gained rich work experience and mastered the skills of communicating with children and parents.

During her spare time, Irene likes painting, handcraft, photography and watching movies. She thinks these are effective ways to relax.

Mary graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Nantong University in preschool education. She has been dedicated to bilingual nursery for the past four years. Before joining Hiba, Mary was the head teacher in a bilingual nursery which was located in Xuhui, Shanghai. She was very happy to help Israeli kids in toddlers quit pacifiers and Taiwanese girls in K1 quit diapers. She was delighted to do something good to help children grow up. She established a good relationship with children’s parents in  Hiba Nursery Nantong.

During her spare time, Mary enjoys travelling and reading. Travelling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books are both important for her.

Joy Qiao

Founder and Chairman

Joy Qiao is the Founder and Chairman of Wellington College China. She founded the group in 2009 and, under her leadership, Wellington China has become one of the most reputable international education groups in China and globally. Joy grew up in Shanghai and earned her BA in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. Prior to her devotion to education, she had extensive experience working in the IT industry in the United Kingdom, Germany and China.

Joy is married to a British husband and they have two teenage sons. Influenced by this, Joy's vision is to create the world's leading English-Chinese bilingual schools, which combine the very best attributes of both British and Chinese education. She views such blended education as being a key contributor towards deepening understanding and appreciation between China and the rest of the world. Bilingualism, cross-cultural awareness and global citizenship will all be highly valued skills in this century when East is meeting West.

Julian Jeffrey

Chief Executive Master

Julian is the Executive Master of Wellington College in Tianjin. In August 2022, he moves to Shanghai as Chief Executive Master of the Wellington College China group.

Julian has been involved in school leadership for over 20 years, the last eight of which have been based in Tianjin. Before moving to China in 2014, he began his career in education as a teacher of history in a prestigious independent girls’ school in north London, followed by almost 18 years at our sister school in England, Wellington College. He is a graduate of Durham and Exeter universities.

Lydia Cheung

Governor

Hiba Academy Hangzhou/ Hiba Academy Hangzhou

Ms Lydia Cheung has served as the Non-Executive Director of Wellington College International China Management Ltd since 2016.

Lydia graduated at Queen Mary College (University of London) with a BSc (Hon) Statistics and also holds an MBA degree from Oklahoma City University in the United States. She practiced as an auditor in London after graduation.

Primarily based in Hong Kong, Lydia has more than 20 years of financial management experience in the United Kingdom and Greater China. Her expertise includes anticipating strategic investment, optimising capital structure, budget control, implementing financial recommendations to achieve business objectives and enhancing sustainable long-term shareholder value and profitability.

Lydia is the Financial Controller of Italian luxury fashion brand INNIU. She is a visionary finance professional with extensive technical knowledge in the international luxury fashion industry, having previously worked for Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Balenciaga.

She is married with one daughter who is a graduate of the Wellington Academy in England and is currently studying her postgraduate degree in Luxury Brand Management.

Shuanglin Chen

Governor

Hiba Academy Nantong/Hiba Academy Nantong

Ms Shuanglin Chen is a senior architect who specialises in the design and development of mixed-use projects in urban centres. She joined Lujiazui Group in 2013 and has played a key role in major projects, including the New Bund Centre office tower, the Qiantan Shangri-La Hotel, the Qiantan Taikooli shopping village, the Zhangjiang Science Gate office tower, the Zhangjiang Hilton Hotel and more. She has also participated in the development of Hiba Shanghai South Building.

Ms Chen has bachelor’s degree in architecture from Tianjin University, and master’s degree in architecture from National University of Singapore.

She is married and has two sons and is passionate about education.