Our Staff
We have a great team here at Casa Montessori who are all very passionate about what they do! Read on to find out more.
Miss Carolina
Miss Carolina Pena Gutierrez is the Principal and founder of Casa Montessori. She is native from Colombia and is trilingual (English, Spanish and French). Miss Carolina is a Montessori-certified teacher from Montessori Centre International (MCI) and has completed a BA (Hons) in MONTESSORI EARLY CHILDHOOD PRACTICE (level 6) at MCI and London Metropolitan University. Miss Carolina also holds a Level 3 accredited Forest School Training.
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Carolina is DBS-checked and a Paediatric first-aider.
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Miss Carolina is the Safeguarding Officer (SO), Health and Safety Officer and the Behaviour Coordinator
Miss Amandine
Deputy Manager
Amandine is originally from the French Alps region. She is a native French speaker. She has always been deeply connected to her cultural roots and the beautiful natural surroundings of her home region. However, in 2015, she moved to London with her family to pursue new opportunities and experiences.
Amandine is Casa Montessori's Deputy Manager. She is qualified in early childhood education (level 4) from Montessori Centre International and holds a Level 3 qualification in Special Needs and a Level 3 Safeguarding qualification.
She is highly enthusiastic about the Montessori pedagogy, which places respect, trust, and understanding of the child at the centre of everything we do in the classroom. Children are supported to reach their full potential and become confident, independent learners.
One of the things that she loves about the Montessori philosophy is that it allows children to follow their natural curiosity within a carefully thought-out environment, which gives them a lot of autonomy in their learning. She believes that this helps children develop essential skills and independence that will benefit them throughout their lives.
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Amandine is DBS-checked and a Paediatric first-aider.
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Miss Amandine is the Special Needs Coordinator (Senco) and the Deputy Safeguarding Officer.
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Miss Raffaella
(Third-in-charge)
Miss Raffaella is originally from Italy and moved to London in 2010 after graduating in History of Arts at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice.
After few years spent working in the Tourism Industry she felt the urge of dedicating her effort towards a more fulfilling career, decided to take some time off to travel South America and to support the local Charity UpClose Bolivia in their community projects.
Through her volunteer work at the Child Centre, Equine Therapy Centre and Transitory Home for Children of Mallasa, La Paz (Bolivia) she finally realized her true call of working with children and, once back in UK, decided to re-train and become a qualified Early Years Practitioner.
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She holds a Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy and is currently studying towards the Foundation Degree in Montessori Early Childhood Practice.
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She is Third-in-charge at Casa Montessori. Miss Raffaella is DBS checked and a Paediatric first-aider.
Miss Salima
Miss Salima Annab was born in the South of France from Algerian parents so both French and Arbaic were spoken at home although she is more fluent in French. She is the mother of two boys and had a passion working with children since I first babysat aged 11 for my nephew and nieces.
Mis Salima studied au Lycee Professionel des Arts et Metiers d'Uzes, in the sourth of France before moving to the United Kingdom in 1999. After several experiences as Au Pair and Nanny, she volunteered in several schools as a support for SEN children. She graduated in Support Teaching and Learning in Schools (STLS level 2).
From 2019, she started to work full time in a French Nursery as a teaching assistant in 2019 while finishing her Level 3 Early Years Educator well as studying for my level 3 early years educator.​
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Miss Salima is joining the Collaborative Montessori Training Centre to graduate as a Level 4 Educator in Montessori Education.
Miss Salima is a full-time Nursery Teacher at Casa Montessori. Miss Salima is DBS-checked and a Paediatric First-aider.
Miss Ara
Miss Ara is originally from Panama. After working in the Tourism Industry for many years both in Panama and London.
She qualified as a Montessori teacher in 2014 at Montessori International Centre (MCI). She has been teaching since then, and she is very happy to have chosen this professional path. Ara truly enjoys working with young children.
She believes that each child is unique and that an appropriate Montessori environment can really enhance their learning experience. In fact, what she enjoys the most about working with young children is seeing them engaging.
Miss Blanca
(on maternity leave)
Blanca is originally from Peru, however she moved out to Italy in her early years. Blanca studied primary and secondary school in Italy, after achieving her diploma in “ Tourist Services Technician” at the Institute Leonardo da Vinci in Italy.
Blanca moved to London where she started her journey as Nanny for a private family in Fulham for over 8 years teaching them Spanish and Italian. Blanca then decided to explore more about work in Early Years education, particularly in a Montessori Setting since 2018 when she qualified in AMI Montessori Teacher Assistant 0-3 diploma.
Currently Miss Blanca is joining the Montessori Apprentice Academy to graduate as a Level 3 Education in Montessori Teacher.
Blanca enjoys very much working in a Montessori environment, and seeing the children grow and become independent is the most rewarding aspect of her job.
Miss Gaia
Miss Gaia is originally from Italy, where she studied Cultural Events and obtained a Diploma in Live Show Planning (you’ll most likely find her sitting in a theatre in her spare time!).
She moved to London in 2017 as an au pair and from there she started her career in childcare, as a live-in nanny from 2020 and now as a Nursery Practitioner as well.
She is DBS-checked and obtained a Diploma in Paediatric First Aid.
She’s currently studying to get her Level 4 Diploma in Montessori Pedagogy - Birth to Seven (Early Years Educator).
Miss Emmanuelle
Miss Emmanuelle is originally from France.
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Emmanuelle is a part-time Senior Montessori Teacher at Casa Montessori. She is DBS-checked and a Paediatric First-aider. After working for almost 20 years in the hotel industry, principally in the South of France, she married and moved to England.
In 2004, Miss Emmanuelle had a daughter, and she decided to pursue her first passion and became a teacher. She graduated with NVQ3 and worked in a nursery setting for eight years before joining us at Casa. She completed her Montessori Teaching Assistant training at the Montessori Apprentice Academy in March 2024.
Today Miss Emmanuelle is in our French team, working with children to support their development and help them thrive.
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She takes great pleasure in singing and has created a repertoire of French songs that the children enjoy singing together. Miss Emmanuelle also loves art and supports the children in developing their abilities and creativity in the art corner, working on different craft projects.
Finally, she likes to keep learning about how things work by offering a variety of scientific experiments.
Other staff members
Casa Montessori staff also includes bilingual teacher assistants, volunteers, students and several experienced supply teachers.
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Casa Montessori also receives the support of external teachers for specific activities:
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All staff (assistants, volunteers, external or supply) is DBS-checked.