Meet The Team
Key Personnel
Chris Moore
Director of Cactus Language Training
Chris graduated from Cambridge in Social and Political Sciences, before spending 16 years teaching and teacher training in Spain, Nepal, Pakistan, and the UK. He has both CELTA and DELTA teaching qualifications. He was Director of Studies in English schools from 1994 to 2006, and was Head of a small school in Brighton for 5 years. He has designed, written and implemented a wide variety of language courses, including general, business, exam and academic language, in addition to teacher-training programmes & seminars.
Since joining Cactus in November 2006, Chris has implemented and led a range of teacher development programmes, written both general and industry-specific syllabi, and worked with teachers, the Cactus team, and a wide range of organisations and individuals to make sure the courses delivered by Cactus are of a consistently high quality.
Peter Rodway
Head of Tailor-made Training
Peter is an experienced teacher, teacher-trainer and course manager. In 3 years in Japan, he taught general, business, exam and academic English at all levels to a wide range of students. He was responsible for course quality & development, and was a key part of the teacher development programme, delivering seminars and workshops to over 80 teachers. He created learning plans and syllabi, and managed organisation-wide operations across 32 schools. He has a degree in humanities from Sussex University and the CELTA teaching qualification.
At Cactus, Peter is responsible for managing a wide range of training accounts, ranging from private individuals to corporate-wide. He looks closely at key course set-up factors such training needs, existing language levels, and previous language experience, and then works with clients and the relevant Cactus personnel (logistics, academic) to create appropriate training programmes. He maintains a close liaison with clients and manages ongoing training programmes to ensure their effective delivery.
Shirley Finlayter
Academic Director, Europe
Shirley graduated from Kings College London, in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching. She has both a CELTA and Trinity Diploma Licentiate professional teaching qualifications. She is also a qualified CELTA teacher trainer and has a keen interest in materials development, integrating digital technology into the classroom and teacher development.
At Cactus, Shirley manages teaching personnel and is responsible for teacher recruitment and development. She also handles course writing and development, academic project management, online learning and corporate/public tenders. On London Buses courses, Shirley would be working on course content and delivery.
Augusta Nicol
Academic Director, North America
Augusta has devoted her working life to languages, doing a BA in Modern Language Studies and an MA in Applied Language at Westminster University. She has both a Cambridge CELTA and DELTA teaching qualification, and has been involved in teacher training extensively for the past 6 years in a variety of countries including the USA, Mexico and Russia. She is very interested in the advancement of technology in class, and developing language and culture classes.
At Cactus, Augusta is responsible for teacher recruitment and on-going training. We have schools in 6 cities across Canada and the USA, and Augusta is in charge of class scheduling, course content, teacher induction and ongoing training for all locations. She works closely with the UK office on materials production and development for evening and Tailor made courses, and she is currently working on integrating the virtual classroom with the existing courses available. In addition she is building a "Teachers' Zone" website with information and materials for all the foreign languages that we work with, which our teachers will have access to for tips on teaching, podcasts, seminars etc.
Rose Chadwick
Operations Manager
Rose graduated from the University of Queensland, Australia, with a degree in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. During her coursework, she paid particular attention to the links between language, culture, education and empowerment. Rose went on to complete a Graduate Diploma in Education (Middle Years) and has worked in education for almost 10 years. She has also completed a CELTA, and has taught English in Australia, China, Spain and the UK, teaching a range of levels to children and adults, in both 1:1 contexts and to large groups.
Rose became Operations Manager for Cactus Language Training in 2008. She is responsible for assigning teachers to courses, sourcing materials, and managing the course logistics. She has worked and is working with a wide range of current language training contracts, ranging from private individuals to multinational and company-wide programmes.
Joshua Gabriel
Account Manager, Tailor-made Training UK
Joshua graduated from Keele University, with a degree in American Studies and Anthropology. On completing his degree Joshua taught English in Japan for two years, teaching a range of levels to adults and children, in both individual and group contexts. On returning to the U.K Joshua went on to complete an MSc in East Asian Business at The University Sheffield specializing in Japanese Business.
Joshua became the Tailor Made Account Manager for Cactus Language Training in 2008. He is responsible for managing key accounts for Cactus Language Training and developing new business. He is currently providing tailor made courses for a large range of clients, ranging from private individuals to large multinationals.
Tracy Stein
Account Manager, Tailor-made Training North America
Tracy graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts in French, with a year of integrated studies at the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. With nearly 15 years of industry experience, Tracy has worked with a variety of language learners from high school students to high-level business executives, and has coordinated international internship placements across the US for non-native speakers of English.
At Cactus, Tracy works with our Academic Director to create tailor-made language training programs, designed around the individual needs of each of our clients in North America. She is also responsible for coordinating the part-time evening language courses in the US and Canada.