Meet our staff

Vicki was born in the Welsh borders but moved to this side of the country to attend university. She joined the Abacus team in June 2013 to prepare for opening in September 2013.

Vicki was previously a Deputy Head of a large primary school in Islington and brings senior leadership experience from an Ofsted-rated outstanding school along with specialist expertise in teaching Early Years children. She even taught in mainland China for a year and continues to brush up on her Mandarin along with the children! She achieved her Bachelor of Education with Mathematics from the University of Hertfordshire in 2004 and has taught in London ever since.   

Vicki is the Associate Director of Education across six Anthem schools and is working closely with the team in finding Abacus a permanent home.
 

Tom was born in Banbury, near Oxford. He achieved a BSC in Sociology at the University of Bath and after graduating, Tom worked as a care worker looking after and supporting elderly patients. He then supported adults with special needs, offering them support in their homes.

Tom moved to London in 2012 and worked at Paddock Secondary School where he supported children with special educational needs. He then embarked on his PGCE at St Mary's University where he graduated as an outstanding teacher. Tom has been teaching for 9 years in EYFS. He loves to promote a multisensory approach to teaching and learning through real life experiences- something that fits perfectly with the reception curriculum where children learn through play!

Tom loves working at Abacus for many reasons, but mainly for the complete warmth you feel from both the staff and children. The welcoming atmosphere and caring environment ensure that everyone succeeds together. Making mistakes are welcomed at Abacus, and children have the confidence to try again if at first they don't succeed. 

Tom's favourite children's book has got to be The Hobbit- there wasn't much more he wanted to do as a child than go on an adventure, fight the forces of evil and look for treasure! He enjoys keeping fit and regularly cycles. Tom was awarded the Teacher of the Year 2019 at the London Awards. We are very proud of him!

Tom is the SEND coordinator at Abacus and continues to support learning in Reception. 

Madison has been teaching now for 8 years. She trained to be a teacher in Camden and spent three years teaching Year 1 and 2. She then decided she wanted to teach abroad and therefore spent a year in Rome teaching at an international school and eating lots of pasta (yum)! Upon her return, she worked at a school in Hackney as both an EYFS and KS1 teacher. She is delighted to be returning to EYFS at Abacus and leading Recpetion, Year 1 and Year 2.

Abacus is a truly special place to work-you can feel the excitement and happiness throughout the school and the small community makes sure everyone (staff and students) feels valued and listened to! A fun fact- Madi visited Abacus when she first became a teacher when it only had 3 classes! It’s amazing to see how much it has grown since then.

Her favourite children’s book was Mary Hoffman’s Amazing Grace. She loved it so much she named her childhood cat after the main character ‘Gracie’- her sister named the other cat Mr Blobby!

Madison is leading on Science and Music at Abacus.

Julia loves working with children and always knew she wanted to become a teacher. She completed her training in New Zealand where she was raised, then worked as an early years teacher for several years. Before moving to London, she travelled to Papua New Guinea and Cambodia where she taught in English language schools. It was in London that she decided to return to university and study for a Masters degree in Inclusion and SEND after which she moved into primary school teaching.

Outside of the classroom, Julia enjoys sports, the outdoors and reading – her favourite children’s book is The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett. Julia has discovered a family in the Abacus community. The children are excited to come to school and the staff are all passionate about what they do.

Claire joined Abacus in 2022 as a trainee teacher and we are so pleased that she has joined the team permanently. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she moved to London in 2016 and worked as a nursery practitioner for several years. It was during this time that she developed a passion for education, finding happiness in helping children achieve those 'light bulb moments' and important milestones. In addition to her nursery work, Miss Taylor also dedicated herself to helping children with SEN achieve their targets during her undergraduate years. A keen reader, she pursued a degree in Comparative Literature at Queen Mary's before starting her teacher training. Following her training, she stayed on to teach in Year 2. Her favourite children's book is The Hobbit.

Outside of school, she enjoys kickboxing and drawing. 

Tom found hisway to teaching in 2019, following a colourful career in the film industry. He feels he was blessed to find Abacus and a team that invested in him and guided him through his early teaching career. After a year teaching in the desert in Dubai, he returned home to Abacus in 2022 and is very happy to be back, settled in and serving the community that he loves.

Tom's favourite thing about Abacus is our school community. London can be a transient place, but at Abacus, we care and he feels that care himself everyday. From the leadership, to the staff team to the children and parents. We are all invested in doing the best for our children and developing resilient, well-rounded young people who feel proud to be a part of our community. 

Tom's favourite children's book is Lost Words by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. He describes himself as a film-obsessed, music-obsessed, climbing-obsessed, Watford fan.

Tom leads on Computing at Abacus. 

Toni joined the school in 2018 and is a highly qualified support teacher. She runs our morning breakfast club as well as after school provision. 

Alaya joined Abacus in 2019 and is local to Camden where she went to school and shows her creative side during her art after school sessions. Alaya says her favourite thing about Abacus is the children and being part of the school community.

Nadine is a much valued member of staff who keeps the school clean and safe!