Our Staff

Imperial Maths School specialises in the teaching of Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics at A level. Meet the members of our team below.

Teaching Staff

David Lee

Headteacher

David was appointed prior to the opening of Imperial Maths School and worked alongside colleagues at Woodhouse College to ensure the opening of the school.

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Tim Grundy

Deputy Headteacher

Claire Rebello

Head of Maths

Emily Manolopoulos

Head of Physics

Emily grew up in Oxford and studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Astrophysics for her masters. After graduating she completed her PGCE in secondary science at the University of Oxford and has been teaching science GCSE and physics A level across London state schools for 10 years.

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Emily Levere

Maths Teacher

Emily has extensive experience teaching mathematics to high achieving and ambitious students in London grammar schools.

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Alvin Leung

Physics Teacher

Alvin studied physics and mathematics at the University of Hong Kong and then completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge. After his postdoctoral research in Switzerland, Alvin started teaching physics to a diverse range of students.

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Emma Wheeler

Maths Teacher

Varuna Gooriah

Head of Outreach

Varuna has been teaching Mathematics for over twenty years at a variety of different schools, including nine years as Head of Mathematics.

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Support Staff

Christine O'Sullivan

Lead Administrator

Christine has a background in sales and marketing and has worked for various companies and professional membership bodies.

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Lucinda Shirreffs

Outreach and Admissions Coordinator

Lucinda studied her BSc in astrophysics and Latin at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand and her MSc in Science and Health Communication at the University of Manchester.

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David grew up in Leicestershire and studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. After graduating he taught in Leicester before to London and worked in 11-18 state schools in Camden where he focused on stretching and extending young people in their mathematics from KS3 to KS5. During this time he completed a Master's degree in Educational Leadership through the University of Warwick and a Master's degree in mathematics with the Open University, including a dissertation on Variational Methods applied to Eigenvalue Problems. He has also authored A level papers for OCR. David was appointed prior to the opening of Imperial Maths School and worked alongside colleagues at Woodhouse College to ensure the opening of the school. Aside from mathematics, David enjoys climbing rocks, both inside and outside, and general activities in the mountains. He follows Formula 1 closely and has supported Nottingham Forest for over 30 years, through good times and bad.

Tim graduated from the University of Manchester with 1st class honours (MPhys Physics with Theoretical Physics), before completing an MRes in Complexity Science at the University of Bristol, graduating with distinction. He entered teaching in 2015, and trained as a mathematics teacher at Wembley High Technology College, where he was one of two A level Further Mathematics teachers. In 2018, he joined London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, where he served as the Second in Charge for Mathematics, Head of Year 12 and Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral) (although not simultaneously!) Tim is passionate about the potential for mathematics, and STEM more broadly, to create opportunities from young people, particularly those from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds. Alongside this, Tim is also keen to ensure that all students at Imperial Maths School graduate as compassionate and articulate citizens of the world, who will go on to create positive change in the wider world.

Claire’s previous teaching experience includes six years at King’s College London Mathematics School, where she coordinated the statistics curriculum and led the school’s gender equality strategy, and more recently, the role of Head of Higher Education at St Albans High School for Girls. Prior to teaching, Claire studied Mathematics at Imperial College London. Alongside leading the Maths department at Imperial Maths School, Claire is looking forward to contributing to the outreach and widening participation aims of the school, having previously volunteered with charities including the UKMT and Royal Institution.

Emily grew up in Oxford and studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Astrophysics for her masters. Her dissertation project involved using near-infrared telescope data to plot luminosity profiles of galaxy clusters and compare those with differing redshifts, ultimately to explore how large-scale structure developed in the universe. After graduating she completed her PGCE in secondary science at the University of Oxford and has been teaching science GCSE and physics A level across London state schools for 10 years. She joined Imperial Maths School as one of its founding staff members in July 2023. Aside from physics, Emily enjoys going on long walks in the countryside, travelling to new places, and cooking and eating with friends and family.

Following her maths degree at Cambridge and a PGCE at Oxford, Emily spent short periods as a management consultant and education research consultant before beginning her teaching career. She has extensive experience teaching mathematics to high achieving and ambitious students in London grammar schools where she has specialised in working with sixth form students. She is a keen swimmer and enjoys baking and reading as well as spending time with her three children.

Being fascinated by the natural world from an early age, Alvin studied mathematics and physics at the University of Hong Kong before completing his PhD in nuclear magnetic resonance at the University of Cambridge. He then continued his scientific journey around the world, first as a postdoctoral fellow in Basel for three years and then as a university lecturer in Hong Kong for seven years. After a brief stint studying Japanese in Nagoya, Alvin started his teacher training in Oxfordshire and joined Imperial Maths School as a physics teacher in 2024. In his free time, Alvin enjoys learning German and Japanese and travelling around the world to explore different cultures.

Emma grew up in London, studied Mathematics with Statistics at the University of Bristol and graduated with first class honours. She later completed her PGCE at Goldsmiths and taught mathematics across the secondary curriculum with a particular focus on Key Stage 5 maths. Emma was previously the Maths Excellence Coordinator at Newstead Wood School, creating exciting opportunities for students to experience mathematics beyond the classroom. She is looking forward to bringing this enthusiasm and experience to Imperial Maths School’s extra-curricular and super-curricular programmes. Emma is always finding more mathematics to learn and is especially interested in mathematical fashion. Outside of teaching, she loves reading, cooking and collecting cool stationery!

Varuna has been teaching Mathematics for over twenty years at a variety of different schools, including nine years as Head of Mathematics. During this time she particularly encouraged pupils to enjoy and explore mathematics, developing a programme of extra-curricular opportunities at all levels . She has also worked for Underground Mathematics, an organisation who produced rich resources based around the KS5 curriculum. Currently she is studying at UCL for Masters in Mathematics Education. In her spare time, Varuna enjoys long walks, eating, and yoga (though she is not bendy at all!).

Christine has a background in sales and marketing and has worked for various companies and professional membership bodies. Whilst taking a career break to raise her family, she took on several voluntary roles including child and adult literacy support. Christine then worked in the higher education sector, before moving into an administrative role in a sixth form. She has a degree in English Literature, loves indie rock music, and being outdoors on long hikes with her little dog. Her favourite weekly class is restorative yoga as she finds ashtanga yoga far too difficult.

Lucinda studied her BSc in astrophysics and Latin at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. After graduating she worked writing educational materials for astronomy and physics students. She moved to the UK in 2022 for her MSc in Science and Health Communication at the University of Manchester. Lucinda joined Imperial Maths School at the end of 2023 after she completed her masters. In her spare time – when she's not writing about astrophysics – Lucinda can be found engrossed in the largest fantasy novel she can find, swinging a longsword around, or lurking in the ancient history section of a museum.