Dhahran British Grammar School Alumni
Staff - Where are they now?
If you worked at DBGS, why not let students know where you are now?
Bob Holden
Dear John,
Life has gone on. Hope you are having a fantastic time. Sorry to have
missed you in the UK.
"I left Dhahran British Grammar School in Sept 2003 to go to the Chinese
International School in Hong Kong. I spent three years there developing
technology for the primary school. In a bouncing mood I helped lead two
Raleigh International Expeditions (Malaysia and Ghana) after that. Since
then I have been a Director for Corporate Adventure in Hong Kong and am
now... back in Britain working in a normal Primary School until December.
What I will do after that no-one knows, especially myself.
I do miss Dhahran British Grammar School. The fantastic students, the
dedicated staff, the climbing wall, and the excellent results (which
appear to continually develop).
Yours,
Bob Holden (ex ICT Co-ordinator)"
David and Jane Mills
Greetings to Dhahran Academy (as we remember it!).
Jane and I taught there from September 1991 until June 1998 and have many, many 
fond memories of the place. We left to spend more time as a family and took up the sedate life of running a small village Post Office. We loved the slow pace of life and shared the job, worked on the house as well as taking turns to look after Arthur (who was nealy 1 when we left Dhahran).
We got to know EVERYONE'S business in the village which was very entertaining and a great way to meet the locals! Isaac was born in 2001 and then Florence came along in 2003. We really appreciated being able to spend time with the children when they were very small.
In 2004 however, we got itchy feet, sold up the business (but kept the house, which has a fantastic garden) and moved to Shanghai to teach at BISS. We were there for 2 years, fell in love with China but decided to move on (nearly returning to DBGS!). However, job opportunities arose in South Korea at Seoul Foreign School where we are currently teaching. We feel the urge to return to our 'own' home once again and will be returning this summer to Felton in the beautiful countryside of Northumberland.
Between now and the end of this academic year we have quite a few adventures lined up. The first being our trip to Cambodia next week, 3 weeks back packing!
We hope everyone we worked with and the children we taught are fit and well. Who knows, this summer we may be able to catch up with some of you as we won't be rushing back to work!
All the best,
David and Jane Mills (plus Arthur, Isaac and Florence)
Brent Mutsch
After eight wonderful years working at SAIS-DD/ISG, Brent Mutsch moved
across the fence to join Saudi Aramco Schools as superintendent.
Brent served as superintendent of Saudi Aramco Schools from 2002-2007. In
August of 2007, Brent departed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assume the
role of superintendent of Singapore American School (SAS). SAS serves a
pre-school through 12th grade expatriate student population of 3,800 in
the Republic of Singapore.
Brent can be reached at: brentmutsch@sas.edu.sg
Anthony and Margie Nottingham
When did you attend the school ... From .... To ....
Had to think about this! 2002-2005
Where are you now?
Ras Al Khaimah. A Small emirate in the Eastern part of the U.A.E. We really like living here. It has everything you need and it’s not as chaotic as Dubai. Dubai is fun to visit sometimes and is growing faster than our children!
Where are you working?
This is our third year now in Ras Al Khaimah. Margie is teaching Art at the Ras Al Khaimah English Speaking School. I (Anthony) was teaching music there for the last two years. Last summer I had a major operation which meant I could not work full time this year so at the moment I am working at home, composing, teaching and looking after the children. (You can see some of my crazy music here - http://uk.youtube.com/TheDarkVillager )
What are you hoping to do in the future?
For the next few years we plan on continuing doing the same kind of thing. Possibly in the Middle East or maybe somewhere completely different. Eventually we would like to move to a remote island off the coast of Scotland.
Anything else you would like to tell readers?
We now have three children. Jacob was born in Saudi while we were at DBGS. He is now almost 5yrs! We have had two children whilst in the UAE. Jasmine, who has just turned 2yrs and Poppy, who is almost 1yr.
Special memories of the school
Having our first son born whilst living is Saudi was quite exciting and scary too. It was good practice for the next two who were born here in the UAE. The school was a great place to work. I remember the community spirit and the close professional relationships the staff had. It had a ‘family’ feel to it. The production of Scrooge was a big thing and good fun doing the music and scenery. Margie still wears the T-Shirt!
law_margie@hotmail.com
Pete and Bunny Rhodes
When did you attend the school ... From .... To ....
Arrived in August 1992 and left in June 2006
Where are you now?
Now living in the small village of Hessay, which is just to the west of York and are always pleased to see visitors.
Where are you studying or working?
I have formed a company called ‘Oddjobs and Allsorts’, where I do exactly that for friends relatives and people in and around our village. I do general repairs in houses; decorating; garden design, construction and maintenance; decking; water features; install kitchens and bathrooms; block paving drives and paths. To help with this I spent my last year in Saudi working on a plumbing course by correspondence and then when I got back to the UK I went on a practical plumbing course and also a plastering course. I just keep getting more and more work so it helps keep me fit and active. Bunny works from home tutoring children from the village, helping them with school-work and preparation for exams.
What are you hoping to do in the future?
Bunny is working with Niki, our daughter, they are hoping to develop a web site to help parents who are educating their children at home. Besides spending so much time with our jobs here we also want to look at buying small properties, both in this country and perhaps abroad, which we can renovate and then sell. The ideal would be to have two properties, one near us here in York that we can renovate during the summer months and then one somewhere overseas, where the weather will be warmer in the winter months!! We have already bought a flat off plan at a resort on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco that we hope to sell at a profit to help fund one of these projects no quiet retirement for us!
Anything else you would like to tell readers?
We now have a German Shepherd dog called Todd, he’s 9 months old, very affectionate and very big. He needs a lot of exercise that helps to keep us fit. We are also enjoying seeing much more of our three grandsons, they are 7, 4 and 1 year old, the older two love Lego and making models out of balsa whilst the other loves nothing better than running around the garden with a football and already shows exceptional ball control for 14 months!
Special memories of the school
Our special memories are of the great times we had with our colleagues and of the personalities and characters of the pupils that we taught. Our fondest memories are of the productions that we put on, the hard work that everyone put in to make them a great spectacle for the audiences and most of all the fun we all had, both at rehearsals and backstage. When I contact past pupils now on Facebook it makes me happy to see that so many are still studying subjects that relate back to those productions and also to the work they did in Design Technology.
Sarah Mavrikakis
At DBGS 2005-2006.
After leaving DBGS in 2006 pregnant with my second child, myself and Lewis returned to the UK while Mark moved to Doha, Qatar with his company. Unbenown to us at the time we were about to spend 4 months apart while Mark got all the legal side of Visa's, etc, sorted out. It is harder to get things done here than in Saudi can you believe?? Lewis and I enjoyed our time with the grandparents and the cool UK weather and took full advantage of getting out each day. Lewis turned 1 in the October and we joined Mark in Qatar on January 10th. Abby was born on March 20th and my mum and Mark's mum came and helped out with Lewis. Life in Qatar is busy, as is life with 2 kids! Lewis just turned 2 and we ask ourselves where on earth does time go? We still miss Saudi and everyone at DBGS. Lewis misses the Nursery set up and all the girls there! He would love to be back there :-) We just met up with Kathy and Tom Swords who have been here for 3 years - so great to see some friendly faces. I am currently working part time in a Nursery so I can be a stay at home mum and work with my children. None of the schools here seem to have nursery provisions for staff so it's a decision I made for this next year or so. Lewis and Abby continue to thrive and are just 2 happy contented little people. They are amazing. Wish you could all see them. The door is open anytime for anyone who would like to come visit.
Love to all,
Sarah, Mark, Lewis and Abby Mavrikakis. November 2007.
Mary Williams
Hello from Mary Williams!
I began teaching in the Dhahran Academy in 1990. That's when we had the first Gulf War. I taught in the Junior High for two years as an English teacher before moving to the British School where I was a Year 4 class teacher for a few years more. Then, when Mr Chapman left his job as English teacher to be Deputy Head, I moved into his job. I was also a Year 6 class teacher. Then, when the school expanded and we had pupils staying until Year 11, I became the KS 4 English Language and Literature teacher. Later, I was joined by Mrs Lillystone. Since I left the Dhahran British Grammar School officially in 2003, I have done a few stints there as a supply teacher and have enjoyed it very much. However, I reckoned it could be fun to be a student myself again – just one piece of homework to write rather that 25 books to mark - so I went back to classes here in Wales and studied hard and now I've been accepted by the University of Wales to take a degree in Welsh. I'm sure that Mr Chapman's very generous reference did the trick.
Best wishes to the all the wonderful children I taught at DBGS and the good-hearted colleagues with whom I worked. I might see you in Saudi sometime as I keep popping over for holidays with my husband.
