Meet Our Staff

I am originally from England but have lived in Sweden for 10 years. Previously I have worked within Internationella Engelska Skolan where I have taught science as well as working in middle management with academic and finally pastoral roles.

I am originally from England where I was a music and drama teacher, I moved to Sweden in 2003 where I worked in IES Gävle. I moved to Stockholm in 2016 to be part of the IES Älvsjö team.

Hi my name is Mrs Purcell- Houghton. I am Head of the Aesthetics department and I teach Textiles. I have been a teacher for 20 years and taught a range of creative subjects. My favourite aspects of teaching is sharing my love and passion for my subject and seeing the sparks of creativity fly in the room when students design and make their own products.

Originally from France I have lived in Sweden for over 26 years. I work with the school administration and help parents, teachers and students with different projects.What I enjoy about working in a school is to be able to help students be prepared for their adult life in any way I can.When I am not at school, I like to walk in the woods, watch good movies and spend time with my family and friends.

Hello and welcome to IES Älvsjö. I am Mr. Jeeves and I am the Facilities Manager. My role is to ensure a safe and secure working environment for all those in our school; this includes our students and staff. I am originally from the UK but have lived in Sweden for many years.

My name is Ms Björkqvist. I come from sweden. I work with the Student Care Resource team. The best thing about working here is all the students. In my free time I spend alot of time with my family and our little dog Harry.

I'm a happy soul who loves developing children and teenagers. Born and raised in Sweden but my mother is from Sri Lanka. I really enjoy helping out in the classroom in both Swedish and Science. In the afternoons, I'm often found in Junior Club and like to encourage students in various activities.

I was born in 1995 and I have roots from South America, Peru. My job at the school is mainly my responsibility in the Junior Club. I started at IES in February 2017 and since then I have learned a lot about the students. In my free time I play football and this makes me want to keep going all the time, both at work and other times. Looking forward to the time with the students at the Junior Club!

Hej, I am originally from Johannesburg, South Africa and have been living in Sweden since 2019. My professional career started off in the financial industry as a Tax Accountant, while working as a 'Juniors Rugby Coach'. I joined IES Älvsjö team as a Student Care Resource and work closely with all students supporting them and ensuring they are happy.

I was born and raised in Stockholm, but have also lived in France and in Switzerland. After graduating high school, I was traveling around the world and then I was studying psychology for 5 years at Uppsala Universitet. When I was your age, my favorite lesson was PE and Swedish, because I loved to do sports and to write stories! I am looking forward to meeting you all!

I am a pediatric nurse and have worked at IES Älvsjö the past four years. Before that I worked with hospitalized newborn/premature babies and at a BVC for many years. I love the personal meetings and the opportunity I get to boost the students in the right direction. Children are our future and helping them find and maintain good health is my main priority. I grew up in Norrköping, Sweden but have lived my whole adult life in Stockholm. When I'm not at work I love spending time with my own kids, do yoga and be outside.

Phone: 070-874-2913 

Hi my name is Mrs Purcell- Houghton. I am Head of the Aesthetics department and I teach Textiles. I have been a teacher for 20 years and taught a range of creative subjects. My favourite aspects of teaching is sharing my love and passion for my subject and seeing the sparks of creativity fly in the room when students design and make their own products.

I have a Master of Education in Art. I have worked both as a Home Economics teacher and Art teacher. In my spare time I like to be in nature and paint pictures. I'm looking forward to meeting and working with all students.

I am from Scotland. I have been living in Sweden for 8 years now. I am a Year 4 mentor, and teaching English to Year 4 and Year 5. I have been playing the flute for 12 years and I enjoy painting.

I was born in Sweden but have spent most of my life abroad, in Switzerland and the UK. I am passionate about education and believe each child should have the opportunity to be the very best version of themselves and finding the key to unlock their potential. 

I am originally from India, holding degrees of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Bachelor of Education. I had worked as a Mathematics teacher in India for about six years before moving to Sweden. I have worked as a substitute teacher earlier at IES Älvsjö, currently working as a learning support teacher and teaching both Mathematics and Science from grade 4 to grade 9. My hobbies include listening to music, cooking, and travelling.

I have been a Year 4/5 Maths teacher here at IES Älvsjo since we opened the school in 2016. I studied Education in university and began my teaching career in Canada 11 years ago. In between teaching in Canada and Sweden, I was a Year 4 teacher at the Canadian International School of Beijing. I am passionate about best educational practices in an international and multilingual environment. I look forward to working with students and guardians this academic year!

My name is Christian Sorte and I love solving problems. I have a background as a civil engineer in Solid Mechanics and always took the opportunity to teach mathematics on the side. I finally figured out that teaching was my true calling, where I get the opportunity to help others solve problems. Football has always been a great interest and so has singing.

I am from Scotland. I moved to Sweden in 2014 and have worked at 2 other IES schools prior to joining IES Älvsjö. I enjoy being in the forest, swimming in lakes and spending time with family.

I came from Chile for 36 years ago. I worked 19 years in Swedish school. I love music, dance and teaching. During my spare time I use to read, meet my friends and enjoy life.
"Happiness is a choice"

I am very pleased about returning to IES Älvsjö for another year to teach year 7 and 8 Spanish. Originally from Minnesota, I have taught Spanish in the US and the UK, and taught English in Spain.

Bonjour!

My name is Ms Gex-collet and I come from France. I am currently teaching French from Year 6 to Year 9 at IES Älvsjö. I studied cinema, French literature and occidental medieval history Master degrees, in Lyon, before moving to Sweden 5 years ago. I play violin ; I am passionate about Jean-Jacques Rousseau literature, cinema and hiking.

I'm the son of two PE teachers, strongly influenced by Physical Education in Japan. I deeply believe in the need for structure and order to achieve consistent and meaningful learning in students, from which I demand their maximum in the academic, social, and above all the human quality: to educate is to build better human beings. With the greatest enthusiasm, everyone is welcome to experience Physical Education in our School.

I am from Birmingham in the UK and have been working at IES for over ten years teaching Science and for the majority of that time working as a Head of Department. My main area of expertise is physics and enjoy sharing my knowledge of Science both inside and outside of the school environment.

Hello! My name is Mr. Mahmoud and I am from Khartoum, Sudan. I was born and raised in Dubai, U.A.E. I attended and graduated from GMU with a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine, and I have lived in Sweden since 2021.

I have had the pleasure of working in schools in Dubai, Shanghai, and I was also a private tutor in Ireland. This year I joined the Science Department as a Science teacher. I am passionate about teaching science and creating an environment that is fun for learning. I enjoy playing football, swimming, and reading.

I am a teacher from India and have been working for the past 12 years. As part of my profession, I enjoy to interact with students and connect with them. To make Science engaging and hands-on is my goal. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, reading and cooking.

I am originally from Egypt. I hold an MSc degree in Education from Stockholm University and a 2 years diploma in STEAM education, alongside other pedagogical-focused studies. I worked for the school community as well as research academia in education with a sharp focus on differentiation through digitization.

I come from a long service at our school in Täby where I have worked since 2006 and I joined IES Älvsjö in 2016. I am a qualified teacher in social studies: Geography, Religion, History and Civics, and I have worked within the school system since 2001. I enjoy lots of different activities and my interests range across a wide variety such as computer games, cheerleading, food and unicorns, and probably lots of other things that I would really like but I don't know about them yet. I live with my family and we have three children, and several pet rodents.

I was born and raised in Stockholm but have also lived in both the US and Brazil for a couple of years, so in addition to Swedish and English, I also speak fluent Portuguese. I am a certified high school and gymnasium teacher in SO & English and this year I will teach years 6 & 7 in SO. It feels very fun to be back at IES where I had my first teaching job 11 years ago (at IES Nacka). In my free time I coach my one daughter's basketball team and I spend a lot of time sewing (mostly children's clothes) and reading.

My name is Eva Isaksson and I have been working in different schools for many years. Mostly as a teacher. I have seen a lot of students come and go. I am also a teacher in Swedish and in SVA, Swedish as a second language, but here at IES Älvsjö my main sunjects are History, Teligion, Civics and Geography. I still, after all thes years, find this work exellent and fulfilling.

Reading and above all reading comprehension is something I am passionate about and enjoy teaching a lot. My interests are reading, cooking and spending time with family and friends. My family also includes a cat and a dog. I love animals! I look forward to working with you, all fantastic children this school year!

I was born and raised in Västerås and have lived in Sundsvall, Gothenburg and Uppsala. I teach Swedish in grades 5 and 6 and belong to the Swedish department. In my free time I like to play football, hang out with friends and play music - both to listen to and play by myself.

Hej! Jag heter Patrick Cunningham. Ursprungligen från den djupaste av värmländska skogar. Numera bosatt i Stockholm sedan sex år tillbaka med min katt (Cosmo). Till vardags är jag en engagerad språklärare som driver en schackklubb. På kvällstid volonterar jag som trädgårdsdräng vid Tantolundens kolonilotter. På min fritid finner jag sinnesro längs löpspåret, på klätterväggen eller med en bra bok.

I am from Värmland, more specifically Hammarö outside Karlstad, but moved to Stockholm about 20 years ago. My subject is Swedish and I teach all classes in grade nine and one grade eight. What I think is fun about being a teacher is all the meetings in the classroom and taking part in the students' thoughts and ideas. When I'm not working, I enjoy music, movies, reading books, playing video games and cross-country skiing (if there is a lot of snow).

My name is Jonatan Hansson and I'm from Sweden. I teach Swedish currently for year 7 and 9 and my favorite parts of the subject are literature and grammar. Outside of school I enjoy music and especially playing guitar. 

My name is Ilona Barhanko and I'm new to IES Älvsjö. I am from Norrköping, so I am new to Stockholm. I am so excited to be a part of IES älvsjö and to meet all of you in the school.