Tel: +971 4 267 9594     Fax: +971 4 267 9593     info@alsalamschool.ae

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Tel: +971 4 267 9594

Fax: +971 4 267 9593

Al Nahda 2, Al Qusais

Dubai, UAE

Senior Leadership and Governance

Sue Johnston  – Headmistress

Taher Gharib – Deputy Principal

Mini Mathew – Head of Secondary (Year 7-12)

Amanda Mae Wilding – Head of Upper Primary (Year 4-6)

Lorraine Fleming Al Nahdi – Head of Lower Primary (Year 1-3)

Aanchal Talwar – Head of Foundation Stage (FS1 & FS2)

Sanaa Mohamed Ahmed Salama – Head of Arabic & Islamic Studies

Joan D Silva – Head of Co-curricular

Ann George – Head of SEN and Counselling

Purpose and Role of the Board of Governors

The Board of Governors at Al Salam School are representative members of the community who each possess diverse knowledge, skills and experience to help provide strategic direction and support for the school. The Governors collaborate with one another to ensure the best interests of the children and the school are being met.

The representative members also form subcommittees to oversee, advise and quality assure critical aspects of the School including; Teaching and Learning, Health and Safety, Finance/HR, Child/Staff Welfare and Wellbeing

Key roles of governors:

  • To ensure clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
  • Promoting self-evaluation to sustain school improvement
  • To hold the Principal accountable for the quality and performance of the school and its students, and the performance management of staff

The Board of Governors also carry out a number of other important duties, which may include:

  • Collaborating in the development of School programs, activities and initiatives
  • Participation in Setting and monitoring School aims, policies and procedures
  • Overseeing and awareness of the appointment and dismissal of staff
  • Decision making with regards to the School curriculum
  • Making sure the School Buildings are welcoming and safe

Al Salam School: Profiles of the Board of Governors 2016-17

Susan Johnston
Mrs Sue Johnston is the Headmistress and Owner of Al Salam Private School and Nursery and has been in the field of education for over 38 years. She and her late husband established the school after humble beginnings as a Nursery in Diera. She has nurtured the growth of the school to its current state, offering quality education for over 1200 students from Nursery to Year 12. In doing so she has continued to develop and promote the beliefs of ‘a good education for all children’ and ‘every child is special’.

She has been in Dubai for over 33 years as a teacher, leader and entrepreneur and continues to be deeply involved at all levels of the school and nursery.

Taher Gharib – Vice Chair
Taher Gharib was born and grew up in the United Arab Emirates. He returned to the Emirates after obtaining his Undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and Behaviour from Canada and an MSc in Developmental Neuroscience from Kings College London. He began working at Al Salam in 2011 and continued on to pursue an M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Zayed University.

He currently serves as the Deputy Head at Al Salam Private School overseeing staff development and appraisal, coordinating School-wide self evaluation, school improvement and strategic planning processes. Under a distributed leadership model, he line manages several academic and administrative departments alongside the Headmistress Mrs Sue. He continues to enjoy teaching and training and exploring the implementation of digital learning practices in the school.

Nikhat Rehman
Prior to her 23 years working in Education, Mrs Nikhat Rehman graduated with a MSc in Chemistry and a degree in Education with a diploma in HR management. She began her career as Manager Administration and HR with a multi-national company and then made her way into Education teaching Chemistry at the Secondary level. Mrs Nikhat started her work in school administration as a Deputy Head in a British School and was then promoted to Principal at the same school where she served for 16 years. She currently is heading a British Curriculum School in the UAE.

She believes that students learn best when they feel safe, respected and appreciated for who they are. They should be taught to be resilient, adaptable, flexible and confident.

Taher Khalid
Taher Khalid is an American with more than thirty years of experience in youth development programs. He has been in the Middle East for the last twenty five years.

He has been a presenter on Sharjah T.V. for the last sixteen years. Youth Issues is one of his most popular shows. He was also a regular on Nur Dubai Radio in the year two-thousand and seven.

Living in the U.A.E. for the last twenty years; he has participated in numerous programs at institutions, colleges, universities, and businesses. Such as, American University Dubai, American University Sharjah, Sharjah University, Wollongong University, Gulf Medical College, Ajman University, Emirates Air, Shell Oil, The Executive Office Unilever Bro.

At present he is as Lecturer at Jumeira Islamic Learning Center and Presenter on Sharjah TV.

Rami Jeblawi
Rami Jeblawi was born in Syria in 1965 and holding B.S degree in horticulture engineering from Tishreen university in Lattakia, Married and father of one girl and two boys, all of them are studying in Al Salam Private school.

He started to gain practical experience in UAE since 1993 in the field of Landscaping designing and contracting. and has served as site engineer and projects manager till the year 2000 in a local company and as Landscaping division head in a Australian company till 2004 .

Since 2005 He has worked in Sahara Landscaping Co. as Managing Director and owning 50% of the company.

During the past years He has managed to execute and hand over more than 450 Projects in UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

Kausor Amin-Ali – Chair
Kausor qualified as a Mathematics teacher from the University of Cambridge in 2003.

In 2006, he was awarded a prize for outstanding achievement for pioneering e-learning by the City of Sheffield Children’s Directorate. He became the youngest Secondary School Governor at the age of 29 later that year, leading on Teaching and Learning and Health & Safety.

Whilst Acting Head of the Mathematics Department, he achieved ‘outstanding’ by England’s School Inspection Board, Ofsted, in 2008. He has been on various ‘fast track’ and accelerated leadership development courses and has been duly noted as one of the top 50 practitioners in England in 2009.

He has been in Senior Leadership for over 8 years, and had achieved ‘outstanding’ as an Assistant Principal in 2009, once again. He has since supported school improvement working in schools in challenging circumstances and new schools in challenging areas of northern England.

He is a qualified Principal, and has been a Principal of a new Primary School, Vice Principal of two Secondary Schools and also a Trainee Principal in a leading Public School in England in 2014.

He has worked extensively in Child Protection and Welfare and is an Ambassador for CEOP, the UK member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, which is currently chaired by the UAE.

He is also undertaking an MA in Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Nottingham and has his first publication is due in early 2017 for the chapter on the UAE in the series ‘Education in the Arab World’ to be published by Bloomsbury.

Margi Kulsoom Khan
Margi takes up her position on the Board of Governors of Al Salaam, with a wide range of educational and special educational experience behind her, both as a Speech and Language Therapist internationally, and as a Governor of the Walthamstow School for Girls in London for five years.

In Dubai, she provides a weekly consultancy day in Al Salaam school, in which she observes and advises on a range of pupils about whom there are concerns. Some of these children who need specific help then have therapy privately with her.

Margi has worked in Ethiopia and China for short periods. Prior to that, in Pakistan, working with a group of local people and parents, she set up two special schools in NWFP, Pakistan. She also became Special Advisor to the Pakistan Federal Government on Special Education, providing national training for professionals working with children with special needs. Children with disabilities previously hidden away and a symbol of shame, started to be accepted in Pakistan society.

In London, during more than 20 years as a Speech and Language Therapy Manager, she achieved significant improvements in four London Speech and Language Therapy services.

Margi has worked alongside Education colleagues closely throughout her career, pushing forward the philosophy of including children with special needs in mainstream schools. She believes strongly in the benefits of a joint approach to meeting the child’s needs, 24/7, to maximise the practice opportunities and to learn and train parents, teachers assistants and other professionals, especially through hands-on informal working.

Manav Someddar
Manav is a Senior Wealth Manager with Wehbe Financial Services. He is a double postgraduate with Masters in business administration from University of Liverpool, United Kingdom and Masters in Management studies from university of Mumbai, India.

Manav has over 12 years of versatile experience in the Banking & Investment domain. He is primarily responsible for designing and managing customized wealth management solutions for clients, both on an Advisory and Discretionary basis.

Having initially majored in the field of Bio-chemistry, he found his calling in Entrepreneurship and created a cosmetic brand called “B’atude”, which boasts a premium organic skin care range. He was directly involved in brand creation, product development, supply chain and global sales and marketing. The brand is currently present in 3 countries and expanding rapidly.

Manav is a proud father of two and parent at Al Salam School. He serves on the board of governors representing the financial committee.