Meet the Staff

Emma graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a BA Honours in Humanities and furthered her education with a PGCE Primary from Canterbury Christ Church University. Her teaching career has taken her to diverse locations including London, Australia, Japan, and El Salvador, enriching her experience and perspective in education.

In 2012, Emma became the Head of e-Learning at BSP, overseeing the implementation of iPads and the Frog learning platform. She is trained as an Internet Safety Ambassador for CEOP and a Showbie Champion. Under her leadership, the school launched a successful online safety project in 2022, earning an accreditation for its online safety provision.

Emma is also an active participant in the educational community, regularly speaking at EDUtech Europe and presenting at the English Language School Association’s teacher development day in Paris.

David Chorley joined the BSP in January 2015 as Head of Mathematics.

David studied Physics at Imperial College and initially worked in Oil Exploration and Civil Engineering, including three years on the construction of the Channel Tunnel, before re-training as a Maths teacher.

He taught in three schools in England, spending seven years as Head of Mathematics at Aldenham School before finally moving to France and The British School of Paris.

David was appointed Head of Teaching and Learning at the BSP in September 2021.

LJ first began her teaching career in Scotland. After two years teaching at an International School in the UAE, she returned to Scotland where she was involved in introducing smartboards to the schools of East Lothian.  Five years later she had met her French husband and moved to Paris in 2005. Mrs Desmeulles taught at a bilingual school until her son was born, before joining the BSP in 2008. At present she is a class teacher in Year 2 with a keen interest in sport, especially netball.

Tracy Douvry began her career in show business at two of the most famous cabaret venues in Paris, the Lido and the Moulin Rouge. This glamorous career gave her the opportunity to travel the world working in places such as Canada and India.

In her free time from the stage, Tracy also appeared on TV and did some modelling work. Tracy is married to a Frenchman and has one daughter.

She returned to work as part of the administration staff at a medical research institute when her daughter was 8 years old before joining the BSP in 2012.

Tracy joined the School as the Receptionist before moving to the Senior School Office to become PA to the Head of Senior School and Senior School Administrator.

Tracy is a fitness fanatic in her spare time and enjoys helping French children to learn English in her town.

Cécile Falfus joined the BSP in May 2014. Following graduation from the Université de Savoie where she studied History, Cécile’s career path started in London as a Curator’s assistant at Delfina Studio Trust – an art gallery and international residency (1995 – 1997).

Upon her return to France, she decided to focus on Communications (events, PR and editorial) and was appointed Head of Communication for the French national Scouts and Guides association from 2002 to 2007. But Human Resources has always been central to her professional philosophy and shaped the way she has sought to manage people.

Cécile strongly believes that human capital is the main asset of any professional organisation. Therefore in 2008 she embarked on a Master’s degree at Université Paris Descartes to refocus her career on HR operational tasks.

Cécile has been HR Manager for a video game studio based in Paris but was delighted to return to a British environment and to share her expertise with the staff at the BSP when she was appointed in 2014.

Teaching is Mrs Gagnon’s second career and she feels very fortunate to have found it! Arriving in Paris in 2015 as a military family with her two young sons and looking to take a career break, she started working in the Junior School as a Teaching Assistant. The school environment was not entirely unfamiliar to her as she had trained as a Higher-Level Teaching Assistant whilst volunteering in her local school in Northumberland teaching French to Years 3 and 4; she had had the taste and the privilege of being involved in children’s learning and personal development and she liked it…

Qualifying with a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Newcastle University in 1995 and, after a couple of years gaining experience in general practice as a dentist, Mrs Gagnon joined the Defence Medical Services as an RAF Dental Officer. In her time in uniform, she worked as a station executive, served in the Emergency Reinforcement Scheme, was personally responsible for delivering a smoking cessation programme across the MoD, completed medical services senior management training and qualified as a nuclear, biological and chemical medical specialist. After 2 years of examinations and the completion of several complex clinical cases, the Royal College of Surgeons awarded her the Membership of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners. Later in her career, she was selected for the role of Staff Officer Clinical Services in the tri-Service Headquarters; as such, Mrs Gagnon was fortunate to play an active role on the Clinical Standards Board, and the Operations and Exercise Manpower Planning Committee.  As well as several UK-based military units, she enjoyed serving time in the Falklands, Cyprus and the British Army Training Unit in Canada.

On the arrival of her sons (also at The British School of Paris), Mrs Gagnon left the Royal Air Force and continued to develop her clinical and management skillset through working in general practice as a dental associate, teaching undergraduates as an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Newcastle University Dental School and working as a Dental Officer in the Prison Medical Services.

Always relishing a challenge, she has completed the Great North Run and Tough Mudder challenges twice, experienced wing walking on a biplane and cycled from London to Paris for charitable causes.

Mrs Gagnon remains committed to wider continual professional development and has enjoyed training as a Scout Leader, further exploring her personal interests and gaining AS levels in Art and French; she also earned a Diploma in Child Psychology.  Gaining a distinction in her Post Graduate Certificate in Education with Canterbury Christchurch University, she is now on the brink of completing the 2-year pathway of Early Career Teaching.  In her own words, “It’s been a whirlwind and I wouldn’t change my route into teaching for a second: every day, I aspire to bring my life experiences into the classroom, and create a warm, exciting, nurturing and quality learning environment for the pupils in my charge”.

Kim graduated with a BA Joint Honours in French and Spanish from the University of Sheffield, has an MSc in Knowledge Based Systems from the University of Sussex and a PGCE in Modern Languages also from the University of Sussex.

After 2 years in Le Mans as a Lectrice at l’Université du Maine and a translator/interpreter at the ACO/Les 24 Heures du Mans, Kim returned to the UK to complete her Masters and PGCE.

Kim was employed by Malvern College, Worcestershire before finishing her PGCE and went on to work there for several years as a teacher of French and Spanish. Having specialised in 20th century Latin American Literature and Spanish Golden Age Theatre, as well as having attended a course at the Sorbonne, Paris on 19th century French poetry, in addition to her teaching, Kim enjoyed a role in the preparation of candidates for Oxbridge interviews in Modern Languages. Kim was also a House tutor at Ellerslie House, a girls’ boarding house.

Kim was then recruited by Wellington College, Berkshire where she went on to work as Head of Spanish and Teacher of A level French. Kim was a House Tutor at the Hill, a boys’ boarding house. Kim also took on the responsibility for organizing talks with visiting speakers in Banking, Journalism, Business and Marketing amongst other sectors often popular as future career paths.

After a move to Paris, Kim was appointed examiner for the Spanish International Baccalaureate. She also spent time at the Ecole Militaire in Paris coaching French military personnel in examination preparation to become officers.

Kim has guided her four children through secondary education and applications for Further Education and has extensive experience of the university systems in France and the UK.

Kim first joined the BSP in 2013 and was appointed Head of Sixth Form in January 2023.

Nick Hammond grew up in Norwich in the East of England and took History, Geography and Classics at A level.

While at school he was actively involved in acting and sport.  He spent a year in Minnesota as a Rotary Exchange student and then went on to study archaeology at the University of Cambridge. During his time at Cambridge he represented his college at rugby, rowing and cricket, and was Secretary of the college Wine Society.

After leaving university Nick worked as an archaeologist for a year and then decided to swap a muddy, wet trench for a rather warmer classroom. He achieved a Post Graduate Certificate in Education at the University of Oxford, where he rowed for his college. His first teaching post took him to Edinburgh, where he taught history at Daniel Stewart’s and Melville College. While there, he ran their rowing programme and coached rugby football. A brief stay at Rannoch School in the Highlands was followed by a return to Eastern England, where he was Head of History, Director of Rowing and Deputy Director of Sixth Form at The King’s School, Ely. From there he moved to Bristol Grammar School to be head of Sixth Form and a member of the school’s Senior Leadership Team. Prior to his Headship of The British School of Paris, Nick was Headmaster of Wisbech Grammar School in Cambridgeshire for six years.

Nick is a devotee of all aspects of cycle sport and has successfully cycled up the formidable Mont Ventoux, one of the most gruelling climbs in the Tour de France, no less than three times. Nick is an enthusiastic reader of modern travel writing, crime fiction and modern literary fiction. He also enjoys many aspects of the visual arts, particularly the works and careers of Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh.

Nick is married to Nathalie and their two sons attended the School.

Jenny King joined the BSP in 2012 as a member of the PE Department and has held the position of Head of Curricular PE since 2013. Alongside this, she has been a form tutor across both KS3 and 4 since joining the school.

Prior to moving to France, Jenny taught at two schools in the North of England and ran many sports teams. Moving to the BSP allowed her to develop girls’ football at the school. The senior girls were unbeaten in their 2018-2019 season.

Jenny also competes in football and cricket, playing for local club U.S Croissy and representing Thoiry C.C and the French National Team respectively.

Ronan Lindsay is from Northern Ireland and joined the BSP in August 2021 as a member of the PE Department and as Head of Extra-Curricular Activities.

Prior to moving to France, Ronan was a teacher of PE and Director of Extra-Curricular Activities at Danes Hill School, Surrey for 10 years. Before this, he taught at several senior schools in Kent, gaining both his PGCE in Secondary PE and an MA in Education Studies from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Ronan has a diverse range of coaching awards and experience. Over his teaching career he has been Head of many whole school sports including; rowing, skiing, climbing, rugby, cross country, shooting, tennis and athletics. He is a self proclaimed “Jack of all trades” when it comes to sport and has played and coached at the highest level including proudly teaching 2 GB skiers, 1 GB rower, 1 Premiership footballer, 1 European athlete and 1 national rugby championship team.

Ronan is a family man and enjoys nothing more, than spending time with his wife Marion and their three children during his free time.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Education Honours Degree from Goldsmiths’ College in London, Lisa taught at a multicultural school in Tower Hamlets for five years where she led an Early Years unit and whole school Science.

The urge to travel and explore new cultures was inspired by a six-month sabbatical backpacking around the world, so Lisa started working for Shell Education Services. She headed off to Sur, Oman where she helped to establish a new school in her role as Head of the International Stream, educating children from many different countries.

From there, Lisa continued to work for Shell Schools and moved to Port Harcourt in Nigeria for four years where she became involved with the International Primary Curriculum for Early Years.

After meeting her husband, Mark, Lisa moved to Daya Bay, China as a Key Stage One teacher with responsibility for English. Both of her children were born in Hong Kong before Lisa and her family moved back to the UK where she took a career break before returning to the Early Years at Laxton Junior School, part of the Corporation of Oundle School.

Since moving to Paris in 2017, Lisa has enjoyed working with different year groups at the Junior School and is currently the Year 1 class teacher and English subject lead for Early Years and Key Stage One. The urge to travel is still strong so Lisa and her family are enjoying exploring Europe with their dog as a happy passenger too!

Tess McCoy graduated with a BA Hons degree from the University of York, and an MA and PGCE from the University of Sussex.

She began her teaching career at a Sixth Form college in Sussex and joined the BSP in 2003. She teaches History and Politics and loves to engage with people on anything political.

As a trained Professional Development leader, Tess is passionate about student and staff development and well-being.

Her mantra is ‘there is so much history to be made’.

Linh Nguyen graduated from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry.

She also has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics, a Post-Graduate of Science degree in Biotechnology from the Institute of Biology in London, and a PGCE. She has almost 20 years of teaching experience in public high schools and in a Sixth Form College in the U.K, taught mainly Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. She received Outstanding Teaching Awards at Newham Sixth Form College in the U.K from 2004-2009.

Mrs Nguyen is a Mathematics moderator and examiner for the International Baccalaureate (IB) exam board, grading the students’ exams and project scripts worldwide and exchanging teaching experience with other teachers in different continents during the exam season in the summer.

Mrs Nguyen lived in Charlottesville, U.S.A from 2009 to 2017, where she tutored a variety of subjects, from standardized test preparation to Maths and Chemistry, from secondary school up to Advanced Placement levels, including also pre-Medical courses for the students at the University of Virginia (UVA).

Mrs Nguyen moved to Paris in June 2017 and started working at the BSP in October 2017 as a supply teacher. She was appointed as a Maths and Science teacher specialist in the Learning Support Department in July 2019.

She enjoys travelling, cooking, and swimming. She has accompanied her husband, a professor of Astronomy at UVA, to many conferences in different countries around the world.

Ludovic Plazanet, a qualified Chartered Accountant, joined the School in February 1990, firstly as assistant to the Bursar, moving to Administrative Officer and then Director of Financial and Administrative Services. His current role is General Secretary.

In this role he is responsible for the School’s finances and is instrumental in the continuing long-term development of the School.

In 2007 Ludovic was asked to become the project manager for the building of the new Junior School which opened in September 2010.

Oliver Porter was born and raised in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk although he is half Australian.

Having studied Product Design at Brunel University he then went on to do his PGCE at Homerton College, Cambridge and taught for six years in the UK before moving to Paris.

Interests include Technology (obviously!), motorbikes, snowboarding, rugby, making and fixing things and cooking.

Mark completed his Bachelor of Education degree at Liverpool John Moores University and his first teaching post was at St Mark’s RCVAP School in Ipswich.

After a fulfilling four years, his sense of adventure took over and he joined the Shell Schools’ Network to work at Rumukoroshe School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Following a very successful two years in Africa, Mark moved to China to work at The CSPC International School, Shell’s school in Daya Bay.

On his return to the UK, Mark was appointed Headmaster of Laxton Junior School, part of the Corporation of Oundle School, and was in post for nine years prior to his move to Paris. During his time in Oundle, Mark completed his Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Buckingham.

Mark is married to Lisa and their children attend The British School of Paris Senior School.

Charlotte Somes joined the Science department in September 2021. Originally from the south east of England, she was educated in both England and France and is now happy to be back living in France full-time.

Charlotte studied for GCSEs in the UK but left at the end of Year 10 to transfer to a scientific Baccalauréat in France. Next came the University of East Anglia and an undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences.

Selected to represent her university basketball team, she competed in the
British Universities and College Sports league. During this time her team won promotion to division one. Along with former pro-basketballer Mr Owen, Charlotte has started up a Year 11 and 12 basketball club which has already attracted some talented players. She looks forward to the basketball season with hopefully some winning fixtures to come!

After graduation Charlotte trained as a teacher in Brighton before continuing her education studying for a Masters in Toulouse, researching prostate cancer. During this time, she was a scientific editor working on colleagues’ articles in scientific journals such as Journal of Clinical Medicine and Trends in Cancer. To maintain her interest in current research, Miss Somes along with Miss O’Shaughnessy run the Ethics in Science and Medicine Club.

Miss Somes is thrilled to have arrived at the BSP and finds everyone here extremely welcoming and friendly. She is also always delighted to help or talk about further education or careers in Science so please encourage interested pupils to start a conversation with her. Hopefully she will inspire them and will make them love Science!

Charlotte has completed her first triathlon and is focusing on improving her swimming. Don’t be offended if you see her at the swimming pool and she doesn’t wave – it is just that she’s not wearing her glasses!

Mrs Wang completed her Bachelor Degree with an internship at a local primary school in Texas, USA. She then moved back to China to finish her Master’s Degree in Tianjin.

Prior to moving to France in 2015, Mrs Wang worked for two years in an administrative role at Eton House International School in Nanjing, China.

Mrs Wang is the Bus Coordinator and Procurement administrator at the BSP. She runs a Chinese club at school every week and is also an active member of a local charity. She is married to a Frenchman and they have two sons.

Miss Wassell has always been passionate about working with people, leading change, the creative arts and ensuring every child reaches their full potential.

After graduating from Leeds University with a first class degree in Design and Technology Management, Miss Wassell embarked on a competitive graduate scheme at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. After completion, she decided to venture down the pathway of teaching. Studying her PGCE at Newcastle University and gaining her first teaching job in Newcastle upon Tyne, Miss Wassell was involved in an Erasmus project which saw her jet off to Finland and look at their education system. This inspired her to teach abroad and in 2017 she moved to Paris. Within her teaching career, Miss Wassell has taught in both Key Stage 1 and 2. She held the position of Head of Phase Year 5 and Year 6 before embarking on the role of Assistant Head Academic for the Junior School in their Senior Leadership Team. She leads the subject leaders and the assessment process at the Junior School. Outside of the classroom, Miss Wassell loves directing the Year 6 production and providing creative arts clubs. She enjoys working in a dynamic and exciting environment. Miss Wassell truly believes that every child can achieve and should always be encouraged to flourish both academically and socially.

Miss Wassell is Assistant Head Academic for the Junior School.

Phil Watson joined the BSP in January 2016 as a teacher in Year One.

He came from a small rural state First School in the North East of England where he spent 8 years as a teacher in Key Stage One and Two. Phil used his expertise in ICT, Eco Schools and Sports to coordinate these subjects across the school for all ages.

He specialised in Early Years Education at the University of Northumbria and also spent time studying Primary Education in multi-Cultural schools in Malmo, Sweden.

Before becoming a teacher Phil travelled around the world. He loves basketball and enjoyed playing in his youth, he also coached children’s basketball teams in the UK.

He is currently the Reception class teacher at the BSP as well as Junior School Assistant Head (EYFS).

onathan has taught for seventeen years across a variety of British schools: state grammar school, independent boarding school, independent day school and now an international independent day school; covering most types of schools!

As Head of Economics and Business for seven years at Bristol Grammar School he took particular pleasure in getting students interested in the subjects whilst ensuring they got the highest grade they were capable of and this remains his aim at The British School of Paris.

Being a keen runner and climber the outdoors plays a huge part in his life and he enjoys sharing his skills and experiences with BSP students through the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award scheme and the climbing club. For him working at The British School of Paris presents a great opportunity to teach small groups of enthusiastic pupils, as well as working with a committed and passionate teaching body… all in a wonderful setting.