Mrs Železinger was born in Slovenia, but grew up in the UK. She gained a BSc in Psychology and Social Anthropology from Brunel University and trained as a TEFL teacher before joining the International School of London. She later moved to Spain, as School Psychologist and SEN Coordinator at the International College of Marbella and other schools in the area.
After returning to Slovenia, Mrs Železinger joined BISL in its opening year as a Music and Art Teacher, working with both Primary and Secondary students, and as SEN Coordinator and Administrator. In the years since, she has also been a Primary Class Teacher, has taken on the role of Child Protection Officer and has been the Head of Primary since 2014.
With her musical background and her experience in performing arts and training young people, Mrs Železinger has been a keen member of BIMS, as both a teacher and student, and is currently working hard to master the saxophone.
Ms Drofenik graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Maribor with a degree in Slovenian language and literature. During her studies, she started teaching Slovene language for volunteers from different countries who were working on projects at the Magdalene’s Network institute in Maribor. After graduating in 2012, she took part in a voluntary teaching practice at the Slovenske Konjice High School. A year later she also gave Slovene language lessons for foreigners at the Secondary Vocational and Technical School in Zreče. In the last five years, she has also worked in sales and marketing and before joining BISL, she was working as a proofreader.
Living in Slovenske Konjice, Ms Drofenik likes to relax in nature, often goes hiking, enjoys playing badminton, and adores travelling and reading. Whenever she has a spark of inspiration, she writes poetry as well.
Mr Eve has been living in Slovenia for the past 18 years where he has spent a lot of time running his own English language school, writing music and lyrics for his own band or a number of local pop stars, representing Slovenia in the national cricket team as well as all the other things that make life in Slovenia so fascinating.
Originally from Portsmouth, England, Mr MacNeill obtained his Biochemistry degree from the University of Newcastle, before completing his PGCE teacher training at Leeds University. He remained in Leeds, working in state schools, and for the last three years he has been teaching Science in a comprehensive secondary school rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.
BISL will be Mr MacNeill’s first international teaching post, and he is very much looking forward to broadening his experience as part of our team.
In his free time, he enjoys travelling, baking, cooking, reading and is an avid runner.
Ms Jakop has recently completed her Master Studies of Primary Education, focusing on Mathematics, but is passionate about other topics as well. Working with children has always been very fulfilling to her. She cares about supporting young minds, helping them grow and develop their potentials. She believes that every student is capable of achievement, given the right guidance and encouragement.
In her free time, Ms Jakop loves to travel, sample traditional cuisines, meet new people and learn new languages.
Mr Hulse studied performing arts from a young age. More specifically, he developed a love of music and the saxophone, studying at Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) where he achieved ‘The Beatles Story Award’. Throughout his music career he has travelled the globe, more recently he completed a contract for an international production show on Asia’s biggest cruise liner and spent six months working for the biggest music venues in Dubai. In his free time, Mr Hulse is a passionate Liverpool supporter and will very rarely miss a match. His hobbies also include, ballroom & latin dancing and filmmaking. Having recently skied for the first time on his first visit to Slovenia, he has developed a passion for the sport, and is very much looking forward to going back on the slopes after joining BISL.
Ms Begić is driven by exploring new places and opportunities. A week after graduating in Special and Rehabilitation Pedagogy from the University of Ljubljana, for instance, she travelled to Gambia to work with the youngest students and assist with curricular planning in a school there.
Following a period working within the Slovene school system, Ms Begić joined the SEN team at BISL in 2012.
As well as exploring new places and situations, Ms Begić enjoys spending time with her new daughter, her family and friends; hiking and rollerblading; and she loves walking through the city centre in the early morning, as the first rays of the sun break through the darkness.
Joining us from the Tenby group of international schools in Malaysia, Mr Bradley has a BSc in Archaeology, an MA in Palaeolithic Archaeology and a PGCE in Geography. His teaching philosophy has been hugely influenced by his own experiences as a student at an international school in Zürich, being exposed to an internationally-minded and friendly learning environment where positive student-teacher relationships were highly regarded. Mr Bradley likes to keep up to date on current affairs and world news as these can often be directly incorporated into lessons.
Outside of teaching and learning, he loves to travel and in particular enjoys walking or hiking, especially in Scotland, his home country.
Mr Chuter has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and a CIM postgraduate diploma in Marketing (Chartered Institute of Marketing). Mr Chuter joins us with a wealth of commercial, training and teaching experience, enabling him to teach academic concepts alongside real-life business applications.
His pragmatic teaching approach has been hugely influenced by his own experiences of working in teaching/training, personal development, business consultancy and research. Graeme particularly enjoys the positive and friendly teaching environment that BISL provides for staff and students alike.
Outside of school, Graeme is keen to keep abreast of current affairs in the wider political, social, and economic environment. He is a keen traveller, and particularly enjoys exploring the highlights and hidden gems of Slovenia and its neighbouring countries. His other interests include sport, music, and discovering local food and wine specialities.
Gdč. Appleyard prihaja iz Leedsa v Združenem kraljestvu in to bo njena prva izkušnja z delom na mednarodni šoli. Še posebej uživa v delu v vrtčevski stopnji ter KS1 in podpira otroke pri razvoju socialnih veščin, samozavesti in neodvisnosti v prvih letih šolanja.
Ko je zaključila kvalifikacijo TEFL in preživela 6 mesecev kot pomočnica v šolah na Japonskem, je gospodična Appleyard spoznala, da je delo z otroki v vrtcu nekaj, v čemer uživa in si želi nadaljevati. Potem ko je eno leto delala kot asistentka za jezikovno podporo, je zaključila PGCE in zadnjih 8 let poučuje v Angliji.
Izven učilnice, gdč. Appleyard uživa v hobijih, kot so zračni obroč, anime, smučanje in potovanja. Navdušena je, da bo raziskala več Evrope in na poti spoznala nove prijatelje. Po izobrazbi iz umetnosti in oblikovanja ima rada vse, kar je ustvarjalno, in se zelo veseli vseh novih izkušenj, ki jih ponuja Slovenija.
Na Nizozemskem, kjer se je rodila in odraščala, je opravila dvojni dodiplomski študij iz mednarodnega in nizozemskega izobraževanja učiteljev. Med študijem je opravljala prakso v šolah na Nizozemskem, v Španiji, Indiji in Maleziji ter pridobila izkušnje z različnimi mednarodnimi in nacionalnimi učnimi načrti. Letos bo poučevala 2. razred na BISL in začela magistrski študij mednarodnega izobraževanja učiteljev.
Gospodična te Velde je strastna bralka, rada kuha, obiskuje muzeje in potuje. Najraje se ukvarja s kolesarjenjem, drsanjem, jogo in dolgimi sprehodi. Je zelo navdušena, da se bo pridružila BISL in raziskala vse, kar ponuja Slovenija.
Mr Batson gained his BSc in Psychology from Kingston University, in London, before undertaking a PGCE in Mathematics at Brunel. Whilst working in England as a Mathematics and Psychology teacher, he added a TEFL qualification to his repertoire and decided to explore more parts of Europe, teaching in Toulouse, Vienna and Barcelona.
Mr Batson joined BISL in August 2010 as a part-time teacher of Psychology and ESL and soon became a full-time member of staff, also teaching Maths. He has been the Mathematics Coordinator since 2012, whilst continuing to teach Psychology, took on the role of Examinations Officer in 2015 and became Head of Sixth Form in 2019.
Mr Batson divides his free time between long distance running and running after his two beautiful twin daughters.
Ms Miklavec has completed her Masters degree in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, has completed her teaching course in Slovenia and is now working towards a further educational qualification.
Ms Miklavec first joined the BISL team in 2014, as the afternoon receptionist and later assisting in Student Services and organising school trips and has since been an assistant teacher across the Primary school. She is excited to join the Early Years teaching team this academic year.
Outside of school, Ms Miklavec is a passionate scout leader and organises training courses for young leaders on behalf of the National Scout Organisation of Slovenia. She is also an advocate of Forest Kindergartens and is organising workshops to promote the idea in Slovenia. She also enjoys travelling, sports and jazz dance.
After gaining a BA(Hons) at Wrexham, Ms Blundell worked in a Pre-School in the UK, initially leading arts and crafts activities. During this time, she also trained as a TEFL teacher.
Leaving the UK, Ms Blundell traveled and worked in Europe before arriving in Slovenia in 2012, where she became actively involved in a number of social-care arts projects with disabled adults and children charities around Ljubljana, as well as teaching in Language schools. She spent a year working in a Slovenian Primary school, offering cross-curricular lessons with English, before joining BISL back in 2014.
Ms Blundell has successfully completed her iPGCE recently, an internationally recognised course with The University of Derby which offers a global perspective of education and challenge, and has dedicated some of her study towards inclusion and understanding learning differences.
In her spare time, Ms Blundell enjoys cycling, road trips abroad, cooking, creating artwork and gardening.
Ms Hobson comes from the home of the world’s oldest football club – Sheffield, in England. She is a strongly motivated and passionate Psychology teacher, who also loves to travel, which has influenced her move to Slovenia. Ms Hobson absolutely loves to teach, and is a very animated individual when in a classroom, sharing her love for the brain and human behaviour.
Back in Sheffield, Ms Hobson loved going for long walks with her dog Juno, who she is leaving in the care of a trusted friend while she swaps her walks in the Derbyshire Dales for the beautiful landscapes of Slovenia. In her free time, she enjoys exploring, trying new things and catching up with friends and family.
