Primary Team

Barbara Gerrits-Kinds

Before Barbara started her teaching career, she worked for many years in banking and customer service related jobs, both in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom. After her father retired from being an elementary school teacher and principal, she decided to carry on the teaching tradition in her family.

Due to her love to travel, Barbara was already living in the UK at the time of her decision. Which resulted in her studying at the University of Derby where she received her BA degree in Geography with Education Studies followed by a Post Graduate Certificate in Education Primary 5-11 with French.

Barbara taught at various elementary schools in Derbyshire County in the UK before moving back to the Netherlands in 2012 to live closer to her family. She started teaching in Kindergarten at NAISR in 2013. Barbara enjoys teaching the Year 1 students who at the beginning of the school year might know some letters and numbers, but leave as readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists and explorers in June, ready to go to Year 2.

Besides being the Year 1 teacher, Barbara is also the Primary School Field Trip Coordinator and organizes field trips and various workshops for the primary students.

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Susan Graham

Sue is a motivated teacher who wants all children to be successful learners. She works to create a classroom atmosphere that is stimulating, encouraging, and adaptive to the varied needs of her students. Sue has been a member of the NAISR community, as the grade 1 teacher, for the past 17 years.

Prior to joining the international education path in Rotterdam, Sue taught in inner city schools for 14 years. As a member of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Sue taught at various grade levels and was a mentor and interim between student teachers and the Pitt University.

Sue enjoys spending time with her family and friends in the coziness of the Dutch culture.
 

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Aleksandra Golder

Aleksandra has more than twenty years of experience working with children - she worked as a classroom teacher, Russian and English teacher, drama teacher, translator and interpreter. She also worked at several different international theater festivals for children and young people.

Aleksandra enjoys studying philosophical foundations of different cultures, exploring differences between eastern and western civilizations. She is a strong believer in the power of healthy communication, and she is therefore driven to help people use good communication skills to solve personal and global issues.

Aleksandra is focusing on acquiring and applying progressive methods that help students learn to reflect, learn to identify the strengths they can use to cope with challenges and failures, and through this process gain more awareness, confidence, and become empathetic, resilient and thoughtful individuals.

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Kelly McErlean

Kelly is originally from South Africa. She graduated from the University of Johannesburg with an Honours Degree in Visual Arts and began her career working in public relations at an art gallery. She discovered her passion for teaching when she completed a children's yoga teacher training programme and began teaching art and mindfulness to children. Kelly went on to complete a Diploma via Montessori Teacher Training and later received a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. 

Kelly joined the NAISR team in 2017 as the Pre-K1 (F1) teacher. She loves teaching the students at NAISR and guiding them as they develop and grow. Kelly is particularly interested in facilitating learning through a holistic approach to learning and development. 

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Denisse Gonzalez

Denisse is a Technology Integration Specialist at Nord Anglia International School of Rotterdam, where she collaborates with classroom teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum. She holds a Masters degree in International Teaching from Framingham State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Linguistics.

Before teaching in Rotterdam, Denisse spent 11 years teaching in different International Schools in Mexico and has been part of Nord Anglia Education since 2014. In her role, she has participated in an exclusive program with the opportunity to learn directly from lecturers and students at one of the world’s leading STEAM institutions the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In addition to being passionate about technology, she enjoys yoga and rainy days. She currently resides in Rotterdam with her husband and daughter.

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Sara Hinojosa

Sara Hinojosa is an enthusiastic teacher that comes from Monterrey, Mexico. She has over fourteen years of experience as a teacher and has taught in several international schools in Mexico. Sara has been a part of the Nord Anglia Education team since 2014, and joined NAISR in 2019.

Sara studied her Bachelor's in Education, holds a Master's Degree in Child Gestalt Psychotherapy from the Fritz Pearls Institute, and is on her way to earn a Master's Degree in International Teaching from Framingham State University. She is also very passionate about work-life balance, and the study of Mindfulness and its applications to tackle the problems that kids face, such as stress and anxiety.

Sara enjoys the everyday challenges of adapting her lesson plans to match the current and expected challenges that students face, both now and in and future job market, as well as to help prepare them to tackle the problems to be solved in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.

She enjoys traveling, basking in the evening sun with a good book, and walking with her husband along the Lage Bergse Bos in Rotterdam.

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Kristina Blin

Kristina, better known as Nina, is from Portland, Oregon in the United States. As a child she traveled frequently with her family, and from a young age had decided to try living internationally.

After earning a Bachelor's degree, as well as a teaching certificate, Nina taught in the US Virgin Islands and Sacramento, California. She moved internationally to teach 6th grade in Portugal before returning to the US to earn a Master's of Arts in Teaching and Teacher Education.

Since then, Nina has taught in several international schools around the world. She has taught in China (where she met her non-teaching, French husband), Egypt, the country of Georgia (where her son was born), Colombia, and now the Netherlands. She has taught students in Kindergarten, and 2nd grade, 5th grade, and 6th - 9th grades.

Nina and her family enjoy living in Rotterdam, where the bikes and climate remind her of her hometown. When Nina is not at school she spends time with her family traveling, cooking, and reading.

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Stuart Brown

Having originally travelled from the UK to the Netherlands in 2001 to work as a professional football trainer with Sparta Rotterdam, Stuart returned to the UK to become a Technique trainer with Tottenham Hotspurs in London.

Stuart once again returned to the Netherlands in 2009 and joined the NAISR science department alongside his role as technique trainer at AZ Alkmaar football club. After moving across to the PE department, Stuart made his teaching role his main focus and coached at professional football teams alongside his role at the school.

Stuart became Athletic Director in 2017-18 and continues to advise professional football clubs and associations around Europe.

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