Our Teachers

Francesca Christie

English

Position: English Teacher

Qualifications: MA, BA, Dip Ed

Background: Francesca has taught at secondary level and lectured at university level. She has worked in alternative dispute resolution, marketing and communication, and magazine publishing. She works as a freelance editor and writer.

Experience: Francesca has extensive experience teaching junior and senior English and ESL at secondary level and has lectured in the Faculties of Education and Law at the University of NSW, and the Australian Graduate School of Management

Awards: UNSW Postgraduate Scholarship

Why I love to teach @ Matrix: It is inspiring to teach such committed and engaged students. It is also a joy to work with teaching staff whose experience and quality mean that Matrix students receive the best support and education.

Murad Tayebjee

Physics

Position: Physics Teacher

Qualifications: B.Sc. (Advanced) (Physics and Chemistry, Sydney)

Background: Murad completed his undergraduate degree in 2007 and is currently undertaking Honours in physics studying prospective materials for use in third generation photovoltaic devices by way of ultrafast laser spectroscopy. In 2006 he conducted research into thermoelectrics during a one year internship at ANSTO.

Experience: Murad has been teaching at Matrix since the beginning of 2008 and currently tutors undergraduate physics at the University of Sydney.

Most recent awards: Murad received the University of Sydney Honours Scholarship in 2008 as well as the Science Foundation Scholarship No. 3 for his results in senior physics.

Why I love teaching at Matrix: Matrix allows him to teach intelligent students who truly want to learn. Each of their achievements is something he takes pride in, and there is good reason to be proud of the students at Matrix!

Vicki Land

English

Position: English Teacher 

Qualifications: BArts Usyd - History and Medieval Studies

Background: Vicki studied at Sydney College of the Arts in the early eighties and had a twenty year career as a designer, art director and illustrator in the publishing and textile industries.

Experience: She lectured in design and design history at the University of Technology from 1998 to 2006. She has also taugh design at East Sydney College of TAFE and the College of Fine Arts at the University of NSW.
She has been an English tutor since 2002 at several private colleges. She is also employed by the Education branch of the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority conducting history, geography, archaeology and cultural history field trips for primary and high school students.
She is currently translating and illustrating a collection of medieval tales with a group of lecturers and students from the English Department of the University of Sydney.

Mark Thackray

English

Position: English Teacher

Qualifications: BA (Mass Comm) from Macquarie University, BEd (Secondary Education) from University of Queensland. MA (Writing for the Media) Macquarie University.

Background: Mark has taught in numberous countries including Japan, Fiji, and England ranging from kindergarten to University level. Most recently Mark taught Media Studies at Saint George's Church of England High School in Kent, England.

Experience: Mark has been teaching for six years, both in Australia and overseas. He has also worked as a journalist, sub-editor and is a published author.

Awards: Awarded the Dean's Award for High Achievement for his studies at the University of Queensland (UQ).

Why I love to teach @ Matrix: "I enjoy assisting students reach their full potential and Matix provides the opportunity for this. It's not just the carefully planned, high quality study material, but also the atmosphere as well as the shared goal of success that makes Matrix so unique and successful".

Vita Christie

English

Position: English Teacher

Qualifications: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA), Level 4 Advanced Diploma of Nutrition

Background: Vita has extensive ESL English teaching classroom experience, and an in-depth knowledge of both the junior and senior NSW ESL English syllabus requirements. She has worked with both adults and children in professional organizations and in overseas postings. Vita has a long standing interest in English literary studies, having achieved the top HSC English mark in her school year.

Experience: Vita currently teaches at Matrix education and at the Oxford Language Centre in Surry Hills, working with newly arrived immigrants, and preparing them for HSC study and examinations. She is a valuable contributor to the development of Matrix ESL English resources, as she brings to the programs a wide breadth of knowledge accumulated from her overseas and local experience. Vita has taught English language studies internationally, including London and Northern Argentina.

Why I love to teach @ Matrix: It is so refreshing to be working for an institution that has so much integrity and intelligence in the way they treat students and teachers. The facilities and support are of the highest quality which enables teachers to bring out the full potential of the material they are teaching and the ability of the students to grasp it.