
OUR TEAM

At the heart of our learning journey in Julia Gabriel is the individual. As the driver of change, and we believe that we can change the world by sparkling the minds who will influence the future. At Julia Gabriel, we have a team of experienced and qualified teachers and staff who are committed and dedicated to driving excellence in education. Many of them are not only qualified and certified Speech and Drama specialists, but also parents and performers.
Julia Gabriel Education has many skilled professionals dedicated to education and communication: teachers of voice, speech, drama, literature, early childhood educators, musicians, linguists, speech and language therapists.

Julia Gabriel
Julia was the Founder Director of Julia Gabriel Centre, Julia Gabriel Preschool (formerly Chiltern House) and the Julia Gabriel School of Education. She held Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Australia, and licentiate teaching diplomas in Speech & Drama from the both the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the London College of Music. She was an Honorary Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, having been awarded life membership of the school in 1993 for her services to the field of speech and drama, and an Honorary Member of Trinity College London. Julia also authored three books, including ‘EduDrama’- A Guide to Speech and Drama. She believed that education is for sharing and enjoyed working with parents and educators. In July 2019, Julia passed on after a decade-long battle with cancer. Her legacy which she had built with love, dedication and generous spirit of sharing and teaching, will continue to live on in all the children who have walked through our doors, inspired in their journey towards becoming confident communicators.

Wang Pau Lee
Pau Lee was a parent at Julia Gabriel Centre Singapore when she first enrolled her daughter, Kate in PlayClub as she found the programmes and learning environment truly enriching and enjoyable. When her family returned to Malaysia, Pau Lee and her husband, Surachet made the bold decision of bringing Julia Gabriel Centre over to Malaysia to enable their daughter to continue her learning, thus establishing the Bangsar flagship centre in 2006. Since then, the Kuala Lumpur centre has welcomed and nurtured many confident communicators under its roof. She now works with a young and dynamic team of more than 40 educators and staff.

Shobana Chandran
Shoby started her teaching career in Julia Gabriel Centre as Assistant Teacher in the exciting and immensely popular PlayClub programme in 2008. There was no stopping Shoby since then as she has sung, performed, danced and taught her way to leading her own PlayClub class, Bilingual PlayClub, Speech and Drama, and PlayNest. She also leads her team of specialist educators for Julia Gabriel Preschool classes and is part of the Julia Gabriel storytelling team. Since December 2019, she has served as Head of Centre, moving from CITTA Mall centre to Bangsar centre in January 2022. Currently, Shoby still actively teaches in Speech and Drama for Julia Gabriel Preschool and prepares the Kindergarten students for their Trinity College London's Young Performers Certificate in the Drama and Speech category. Through her vision and creativity in the performing arts, Julia Gabriel Preschool has been proudly recognised as Award Winners over consecutive years by Trinity College London.

Ashwini Subramaniam
Now pursuing her Master of Early Childhood Education, Ashwini is one of our longest serving staff members having first joined the Julia Gabriel family back in January 2013. She began her journey with us as an Assistant Teacher for the Julia Gabriel Centre programmes – PlayClub and Bilingual PlayClub, before transitioning to Julia Gabriel Preschool (formerly Chiltern House) in which over the course of her tenure in the preschool, she has taught as a lead teacher across the levels. Having also obtained her Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate in Speech and Drama from the Julia Gabriel School of Education, she has taught in Julia Gabriel Centre’s Speech and Drama programmes, and is at present the Readers and Writers specialist teacher. Alongside her teaching role, she currently serves as the Assistant Head of Bangsar Centre.

Davinia Joan
Davinia first embarked on her journey here at Julia Gabriel in 2016 and throughout her early childhood teaching career, she has taught in both enrichment and preschool divisions. Having first started as a Teacher-in-Training, she has risen through the ranks to become a specialist in Speech and Drama. Currently, she is both a lead preschool teacher with Julia Gabriel Preschool, and one of our Speech and Drama specialist educators on Saturdays. Davinia is also a graduate of the Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate from the Julia Gabriel School of Education and has successfully completed a comprehensive range of personal development courses with the school over the years. Her lively persona, roaring laughter and love for children are what makes her such a well-loved member of our Julia Gabriel family.

Rebecca Steven
Becca has been teaching Speech and Drama with Julia Gabriel for an extensive number of years. Having returned from a hiatus, she is currently one of our Julia Gabriel specialist educators for Speech and Drama enrichment programmes on Saturdays. Her expressive and energetic nature makes her classes lively and fun for her students as she whisks them away to Dramaland, guiding them through imaginative adventures, resolving conflicts, and fostering teamwork. Becca effectively employs skills and knowledge gained from having completed her Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate from the Julia Gabriel School of Education and remains driven to motivate her students to express their best selves and build the self-confidence they need to flourish in school and in life.

Gianna Jazmin
Gianna's loud personality and animated expressions makes her a natural fit for the early learning division with her present role as the lead English specialist educator for the Independent Bilingual PlayClub, Julia Gabriel Centre's toddler programme. She first joined the Julia Gabriel family back in 2023, after having completed her Bachelor's Degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from City University in 2022. Having started teaching since 2020 in various settings encompassing students of different ages, teaching young children has become her passion as she continues to be driven by the desire to nurture these young minds and help lay the foundations for their developmental and language growth. Gianna hopes to continue inspiring confidence and curiosity in every child she teaches, while growing alongside them as an educator. Driven by her passion to expand her skills and knowledge, she has completed the Julia Gabriel Initial Certification, and is currently pursuing the Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate from the Julia Gabriel School of Education.

Mary Alice
Alice may be one of our youngest educators in Julia Gabriel, but her passion for teaching in the early childhood shines through in her vibrant energy and warmth in class when she engages with her children and their accompanying caregivers during her Bilingual PlayClub sessions. She is, at present, the lead English specialist educator in the Julia Gabriel enrichment programme for toddlers, and has been winning hearts over since she had first joined us in 2023 as an Assistant Teacher. Committed to continuous professional development, Alice has picked up musical skills on the keyboard, completed the Julia Gabriel Initial Certification, and is currently pursuing the Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate from the Julia Gabriel School of Education.

Siaw Chu Hui
Chu Hui or Xiao Laoshi, as she's fondly known to the children, graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Education, majoring in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Special Needs from SEGi University back in 2019. With an admirable dedication towards nurturing young minds and a passion in creative art and craft, she has been educating preschool-aged children since graduation. Drawing from her previous experience teaching Mandarin in a private school, Xiao Laoshi joined the Julia Gabriel family in 2023 as a Mandarin teacher and class teacher for one of Julia Gabriel Preschool's Nursery classes. Since then, she has been instrumental in supporting the Mandarin teaching team in creating a warm, immersive Mandarin-speaking environment for her students. Known for her calm presence and gentle approach in the preschool division, Xiao Laoshi has also showcased a different facet of herself through the enrichment division’s Bilingual PlayClub programme, where she brings high energy and enthusiasm to her current role as the lead Mandarin educator.

Charmaine Yap
With an Advanced Diploma in Special Needs Education from the College of Allied Educators, combined with a background in mass communications, Charmaine - or more commonly known as Ye Laoshi - has been part of the Julia Gabriel family since the beginning of 2024 as a Mandarin teacher. Her high energy and vivacious personality, coupled with her extensive experience in teaching young children, have made her an outstanding Mandarin educator, well-loved by her students. Currently, she serves as a Mandarin teacher for Julia Gabriel Preschool and is also one of our Mandarin specialist educators for the enrichment division’s Bilingual PlayClub programme on Saturdays. Committed to her professional growth, Ye Laoshi is currently pursuing further training through the Julia Gabriel School of Education, working towards the Julia Gabriel Foundation Teaching Certificate.