James Elliott
Centre Director
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Hi! I'm James, the Centre Director at Oxford Learning Victoria. I am a Lakehead University alumnus with Bachelor's Degrees in both Business Administration and Education.
When I joined Oxford Learning in 2013, I discovered my passion for teaching and immediately fell in love with the Oxford Learning program. Since then, I've become the owner of three locations across British Columbia and Saskatchewan and continue to work with students of all ages to improve their academic skills.
It is our job as educators to help students discover that learning can be enjoyable! Without the element of fun, a student will cease to connect with the materials and become disengaged. If a student enjoys developing new skills, they will be motivated to take responsibility for their own learning experiences in all areas of life. Working in tandem with the Oxford Learning Interactive Coaching philosophy, my goal is to run centres that leave students feeling excited for their next lesson with us.
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Amy Brassington
Education Director; Teacher K-12 English
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Amy has been working within the public and private education sector for over 14 years. After graduating with her teaching degree, Amy was catapulted into a full-time lecturing position within a further education college in the UK. Within a year, Amy was managing and teaching across 7 Performing Arts programs. As an avid and passionate lifelong learner, Amy then completed her Master's in Education before uprooting to South Korea as an English teacher for Busan International High School. Amy's last position was Academic Director for Education First, and now she is very excited to be a part of the Oxford Learning Family.
As a teacher, Amy brings creativity and fun into a classroom, facilitating an enjoyable learning experience for all students. Amy's main goals are to support students in finding their own passions for learning, growing in confidence, and becoming well-rounded, independent, and creative students of life.
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Neesa Mandel
Teacher K-12 French, K-8 English, K-5 Math
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Neesa graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications. After spending a semester studying abroad in Paris, Neesa discovered a passion for travelling and spent three years exploring Asia and Australia. Her background is mainly in food and customer service, however, through a part-time job as a swimming instructor, she discovered an interest in teaching that led her to pursue a career in education with Oxford Learning.
Neesa brings spontaneity into the classroom and enjoys turning anything into a teaching opportunity in a fun and engaging way. She believes that academic success does not define or measure intelligence, and hopes to help build students’ confidence in their own abilities.
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Vanessa Wittstruck
Teacher K-12 English, K-5 Math
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Vanessa has a long history of teaching and tutoring a variety of students, as a guitar and ukulele teacher and as a substitute teacher in SD57. She graduated from the University of Northern BC in 2019 with a BA in English & History and a MA in English in 2021, before moving to Victoria to pursue a BEd in Secondary English teaching at UVic.
Vanessa is an empathetic and patient teacher. She believes that student success starts with confidence and efficacy, and is dedicated to supporting her students in their learning.
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Riley Campbell
K-12 English, K-8 Math
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Riley is currently on his way to completing a Bachelor's in English with a minor in Education from the University of Victoria. After a rigorous firefighting training academy in Texas, he decided teaching was his passion and moved from Vancouver to the island. While Riley's background is mainly in service, his passion for teaching originated in years spent as a personal trainer. Oxford Learning has provided Riley with the opportunity to foster his skills in education.
Riley brings enthusiasm to the classroom and provides the chance for students to discover creative outlets in their writing. He facilitates an environment safe for students to question where their work will take them while encouraging confidence-building among peers.
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Bjorn de Nooijer
K-12 English, K-8 Math
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Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Psychology
Bjorn is from the Netherlands. He fell in love with Victoria after visiting relatives and moved here shortly after.
Bjorn has worked as a volunteer at a transitional school in the Netherlands, teaching Dutch to foreign children who were enrolling in the Dutch education system.
This opportunity allowed him to explore his passion for teaching and trying to bring out the best in his students.
Bjorn values taking the time needed to teach the transferable cognitive skills required to be able to “self-actualize”, i.e., to be able to get the best out of oneself in a personalized way.
By emphasizing students' strengths, celebrating their achievements, and creating a friendly space, Bjorn strives to help students recognise in themselves what they are capable of.
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Ella Clark
K-12 French
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Hello, / Bonjour. My name is Ella Alexandra Clark and I am a fifth-year student at the University of Victoria currently studying French linguistics. As an aspiring secondary school teacher, I will be pursuing further studies in a professional development program following the completion of my bachelor’s degree. Here at Oxford, I teach French, which is suiting considering my studies and my previous French immersion education. I have two years of experience working with children; first I worked at a Cantonese daycare teaching basic English and most recently I was employed at an outdoor preschool as an assistant instructor. Furthermore, I have experience working with children who have special needs. As a teacher I am understanding and patient; I am aware that all children have different needs and learning styles and believe that programs should be modified to exploit their strengths in order to ensure success. My goal at Oxford is to help students find their intrinsic motivation and find purpose in everything they do. As a personal goal, I hope to learn from the students and explore what teaching methods work best with an older age group. Thanks for taking the time to get to know me.
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Kayci Lesosky
Substitute Teacher K-12 French, K-8 Math and English
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Kayci has just completed her Bachelor of Science in Geography at UVIC. She is now working towards getting into the Post-Degree Education program at UVIC, with hopes of becoming a French Immersion High School teacher. Kayci has spent time working with youth at summer camps where she has learned to maintain a balance between learning and having fun!
Kayci strives to create a learning environment that is both encouraging and enjoyable. She works to build connections with students, heighten their self-esteem and to help them thrive throughout their personal learning processes.
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