From the 1st August 2011 Mrs Edith Suter will take over the position of Head of School at ISVA. Mrs Suter joined the school in September 2010 and in the short time she has been with us as Deputy Head with responsibility for the Primary School has, through her professionalism and confident leadership, won wide acceptance and respect not only of her colleagues, but also of our children and parents. Mrs Suter commands German and English at native speaker level and is familiar with both the UK and Berlin curricula. She brings with her extensive experience in the teaching profession, both as a practitioner and as a manager. Her most recent experience prior to joining ISVA was as Deputy Head of Lodge School in Surrey, England. Mrs Suter looks forward to finding an early opportunity to meet those parents who have not yet met her and to answering any questions that they may have. We are delighted to have secured a committed and professional Head Teacher for our school.
Mrs Barbara Greenham, already well known to large numbers of our parents and pupils through her many years of service as a German teacher and latterly Head of Secondary at our school, will take over the post of Deputy Head from 1st August, thereby providing strong and effective support to Mrs Suter. Mrs Greenham enjoys our full confidence and respect; over the many years of working together with us, she has demonstrated her outstanding interpersonal and organisational qualities.
We have the greatest faith in both ladies and in the staff of ISVA and we wish the school every success. We are confident that this new team will take our school to a further stage of its development.
Svetlana and Peter Zühlsdorff
Short biographies of Mrs Suter and Mrs Greenham:
Mrs Edith Suter
Born in Ludwigshafen, Mrs Suter spent her formative years in Germany before moving with her family to the UK when she was a teenager. After completing a bachelor’s degree in economics from the renowned London School of Economics, a teaching qualification from Kingston University and an MBA from the Open University, Mrs Suter began her career teaching German to seven year-olds at Danes Hill Preparatory School, an independent school in Surrey.
Her varied and extensive teaching career includes senior appointments at successful state and independent high schools in greater and suburban London. These include Head of Sixth Form and Head of Economics at The Tiffin Girls’ School, a state grammar school consistently achieving a top five placing in the UK Government’s teaching league tables, as well as Head of Economics at Croydon High School. Before joining ISVA, Mrs Suter’s most recent appointments were as Deputy Head of Lodge School, Surrey, an independent school close to London and as Governor at The Hawthorns, one of the largest Preparatory schools in England. In addition to her mainstream UK teaching and managerial experience, Mrs Suter was also Director of Studies with the pioneering online subsidiary of Southbank International School, the first school in the UK to be authorised to offer all three IB programmes.
Mrs Suter’s daughters perfectly reflect her passion for education by having achieved degrees at Oxford University and London’s prestigious Slade School of Fine Art.
Mrs Barbara Greenham
Mrs. Greenham grew up in Berlin where she attended the Pedagogic Faculty of the Free University Berlin. She completed her studies, passing both the First and Second State Exams, qualifying as a fully trained teacher. After working for a number of years in Berlin teaching History and German, she moved to the UK with her British husband, where she completed the Cambridge Institute of Linguists Diploma “English for International Communications”.
While living in the UK, Mrs Greenham taught German up to A-level at several secondary schools including King’s School Peterborough, the renowned Cathedral School.
Moving to different countries with her husband, she taught German and History at various international schools including the International School Düsseldorf and the International School Moscow. She also worked at different language institutes teaching German as a foreign language preparing international students for the Goethe Institute examinations.
Mrs Greenham’s lasting commitment to teaching and her wide experience both in German and international educational fields make her ideally suited to ISVA’s requirements. Her knowledge of ISVA over the last 7 years, in particular its pupils and parents, serve to ensure continuity in the curriculum and responsiveness to the individual needs of our pupils, ensuring continuing close cooperation between parents and all members of the teaching staff.