Mrs. Simone Phillips

How did you become a teacher and find your way to Nations?

I started on a part-time basis with Nations, teaching the Cambridge Professional Diploma in Business and then took on full-time employment as a Business Teacher

What about education excites you?

As an educator, being able to make a difference in students’ learning is what excites me. I have students whom I taught and who are successful in their careers, and the emails and letters they have shared with me about my impact on their lives are heart-warming.

What makes Nations a unique experience?

Based on my international teaching experiences, I think Nations exemplifies a lot of what happens in international schools in terms of teaching and learning and the cultural diversity that exists in our student population.

What is something you are excited about in your department this year at Nations?

In the High School section, I am excited about seeing an improvement in our Cambridge International exams this year, after being online for two years and our students struggling to deal with the challenges of online learning.

What do you love most about your job?

I enjoy working with older students, and being able to see them grow and mature into adults and pre-adults is what I love the most about my job.

What is one of your best Nations memories?

Meeting the children of my students whom I taught during 2003 – 2006, now attending Nations.

What kind of qualities do you hope to instill in kids while they attend Nations?

Respect, honesty, and commitment to their studies.

If you had to describe Nations to someone who didn’t know anything about the School, what would you say? 

Nations is one of the premier educational institutions in Guyana, which offers students the opportunity to become lifelong learners and to be exposed to an international education.

What does leadership mean to you?

For me, leadership is a process of growth and development of one’s ability to effectively lead team members to achieving set goals/targets. A leader should be able to emulate the qualities of empathy, flexibility, decisiveness, as well as being a good communicator and a mentor.

If you could interview anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?

Denzel Washington. I think what Denzel has done to help underprivileged children to become better citizens of society and being grounded and true to his belief system, are admirable.