Staff Profiles
Specialist Staff
At St Christopher’s, our dedicated and well-qualified team of staff put your children at the heart of everything we do.
Specialist Staff
K. Ravintheran
Bahasa
Ravi is from Penang, Malaysia and joined SCIPS in 1994. Prior to this, he was attached to local schools when he started his teaching in 1983. He obtained his teaching credential from Ipoh Teachers Training College, Perak. He has vast experience teaching children from the age 6 to 12.
He specialised in teaching Bahasa Malaysia before taking on the responsibility to teach Maths for Year 2 and 3 in 2004. Currently he teaches Bahasa Malaysia from Year 1 to 6 and supports Maths for Year 5 and 4.
Nur Syazwany
Bahasa
Nur Syazwany graduated as a teacher in 2012 from Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) with a Bachelor Degree in Education (Hons). She has been teaching for more than 6 years in the government and private school, as well as lecturing in one of the well-known colleges in Penang. Currently she teaches Bahasa from Year 1 to year 6 and supports Math for Year 3. During her spare time, she enjoys walking while listening to the music, spending time with her family and relaxing with a good book. She strongly believes that good bonding between a teacher and students are important to create a comfortable classroom environment and also education is the key to success.
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Janet Ng
Mandarin
Janet is from Malaysia and holds a Master degree in Music Pedagogy and Performance. She first completed a Bachelor degree in Music Education from University Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2009. Upon completion of her studies, she taught Music and Mandarin in Penang. She has been teaching in the local school as well as tutoring for Mandarin in Penang. Janet has taught Mandarin classes at different levels prior to joining the SCIPS family. Janet started teaching at St. Christopher’s in September 2015 as a Mandarin teacher. Currently, she teaches Mandarin from Reception to Year 6 and supports Maths for different year groups. Janet enjoys playing the piano, swimming and baking.
Catherine Lee
Juniors ESL
Catherine is Malaysian and always knew she wanted to have a career in teaching. Her interest in teaching has enabled her to work with a wide range of age groups. Obtaining a diploma in TESOL from the London Teacher Training College meant that she was able to work more closely with non-English speakers in teaching them English as an additional language. It is this aspect that she now enjoys. Catherine has been teaching for twenty-two years and is also a classically-trained pianist. She is still actively involved in making music, whether with friends or other professional musicians. She is a holder of the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music, London and a Fellow of the Trinity College of Music, London.
Catherine has been an EAL teacher in St. Christopher’s since 2008.
Sittra Letchumanan
Infants ESL
Sittra was born, raised and educated in Penang. She has been teaching English, Maths and Malay Language to children ages 6 to 9 years old in private schools for the past 20 years. In her early years she took a two year course to get her teaching certificate and later received her Primary Combination teaching diploma from London Montessori. She has also completed her TESOL to enhance her skills as she loves educating and nurturing young talents. She has attended many workshops on education to further improve her teaching skills.
Sittra was appointed as EAL teacher for KS1 and has served for 5 years in St. Christopher’s International Primary School, Penang.
Astya S E Rajah
Learning Support Teacher
Astya has been committed to her passion for teaching children for over ten years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education and has worked across EYFS, KS1 and KS2, in International British Schools in Penang and Johor Bharu. In 2016, Astya had the privilege of gaining her first experience teaching internationally when she relocated to Laos with her family. She believes that all of these diverse experiences have been immensely enriching and rewarding, both personally and professionally. Astya joined SCIPS as a Learning Support teacher in 2019 with a focus on supporting and nurturing students with additional needs in an inclusive classroom.
Her passion outside of teaching include art, as well as movies, nature walks, travelling and spending time with friends and family. Astya is married to Kumar and together they have a son, Rishaant. Astya looks forward to another exciting year and being part of the SCIPS family.
Sabine Bruggemann
German Language
Sabine is from Germany. After finishing university with a Master’s degree, she taught in German primary schools for many years. She is a passionate teacher and she enjoys teaching children from all over the world in her 4th year at St. Christopher’s International Primary School. Together with her little family, Sabine is happy to live in Penang with its cultural variety, great food, and awesome nature. She speaks 4 languages and visited and explored more than 20 different countries until now. ‘Learning (a language) is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.’ – Chinese proverb
Jonathan Abel
Head of PE
Jonathan is from the United Kingdom and has a Bachelors degree in English Literature/Language and Theology from The University of Birmingham. After a year spent travelling in Canada, America and Mexico, Jonathan started working in a special needs secondary school as a teaching assistant. 2 years later, Jonathan completed his Post Graduate Certificate in Education specialising in Literacy. Following that, Jonathan worked in Surrey as a teacher of a Year 5/6 mixed class for 2 years, where he was also the school sports coordinator. After 2 years working as a Year 6 teacher in Dubai, where he met the future Mrs Abel, Jonathan settled in Penang.
Jonathan is married to Kirsty, who is a former teacher at SCIPS, and they have three daughters, named Tamara, Kerenza and Morwenna.
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Jonathan Cannon
Juniors Music
Jonathan is originally from Chester in the UK and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Nottingham University as well as a PGCE from St Martin’s College, Ambleside. He enjoyed being a class teacher for many years, teaching Years 1 to 6 in Suffolk, UK and then at The British School, Kathmandu in Nepal where he met his wife Bina. Whilst in Kathmandu, Jonathan was able to become what he had always wanted to be, a music teacher, and has enjoyed sharing his passion for music with children of all ages, first during his 9 years in Nepal then for the last 3 years at the British International School, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. He loves being involved with concerts, productions and music festivals and enjoys opportunities to perform himself – either playing flute or singing in a choir.
Soong Yi Yiing
Infants Music
Yi Yiing is from Penang, Malaysia. She started piano lessons at the age of five and ever since then music has always been her passion! She graduated with honours and holds a Master in Early Childhood Education from University Science Malaysia, and a Bachelor degree in Music Performance from University Putra Malaysia. Yi Yiing has worked at SCIPS since 2008. She loves interacting with young children and has a passion for teaching. She has contributed in many different ways to school life in and outside of the classroom with particularly noteworthy contributions being the leading of music in productions and music clubs, developing children’s musical abilities and confidence in performances. Besides music, she loves spending time with her husband Phang Seng and children, Chloe, Joie and Kenzie.