Meet The Team
Dr Sarah Rogers
CEO
Sarah is the CEO and founder of EYES and Quest. With over 25 years experience of working within the education sector at senior level in the UK and overseas, Sarah set up EYES and later Quest in order to support and promote the quality of education in both the early years and primary sectors.
As well as carrying out the important day to day tasks of running a company, Sarah is very much a hands-on, proactive CEO. She regularly guest speaks at important educational events and conferences around the region, she also delivers a number of CPD courses.
Michelle Blackwood
General Manager
Michelle started her work with children in the early years delivering physical development programmes with her local council in Scotland. During this time she spent a lot of time in nursery settings and became interested in classroom practice and the way in which children learn and develop so decided to retrain to become an Early Years Practitioner. During the 15 years in which Michelle has worked in the early years environment she has held senior teaching positions as well as management roles in nursery settings in both Thailand and the UAE.
As General Manager, Michelle is responsible for the day to day running of Quest/EYES office and also teaches and assesses the Level 5 Diploma for Leadership for Children and Young People’s Services (Management Pathway).
Emma Jayne Morgan
Educational Consultant
Emma has been involved in the Early Years here in the UAE since 2003. After completing her degree, she trained to become an Early Years teacher working with a variety of age groups and later moving into management. This has given her an excellent knowledge of all the different areas and levels of an Early Years setting. Emma is passionate about providing all children with excellent Early Years care as she believes that this is the most important stage of a child’s development.
Emma is currently teaching our Level 3 Early Years Practitioner and Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Service.
Sophie Booth
Educational Consultant
Sophie has had experience of working in Playwork environments for a number of years. In the UK, she worked for a company that ran breakfast clubs, holiday clubs and after school clubs where her position was deputy manager. She moved to Dubai just over two years ago and began working as a class teacher in a nursery. She has recently completed her CACHE Level 5 in Leadership and Management.
Sophie currently teaches our Level 1 Childcare courses, Level 2 Award in Playwork and Level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce, along with a range of CPDs.
Pavla Gariboli
Educational Consultant
Pavla has been involved in the Early Years here in the UAE since 2008 in a variety of roles including management.
After completing her degree in Early childhood and Special Education, she has channeled her passion towards early years special educational provision to create effective inclusive practice. Pavla is an enthusiastic, committed educator with innate ability to understand and motivate every learner.
Pamela Okauchi
Administrator
Pamela completed her Bachelor of Science major in Hospitality Management in the Philippines.
She joined Quest/EYES in 2016 in the position of Administrator and is the first point of contact for our learners. Pamela’s main duty is to co-ordinate with CACHE in regards to learner registrations and certificates.
Alison Hunter
HR/Administration Manager
Alison moved from Scotland to Dubai in 1993. She worked in banking for many years before joining QuEST/EYES in 2013 in the role of PA to Sarah Rogers. As the company grew her role evolved and she is now HR/Administration Manager.
Karen Soehnle
Makaton Tutor
Norfolk Makaton Tuition
Karen has been using Makaton for many years in her role as a Course Director and lecturer in a local further education college in the UK, where she has been teaching for nearly 20 years.
She teaches young people with learning difficulties and has seen the positive impact of using Makaton with her students; it increases their communication skills, improves their confidence and helps to develop their independent living skills.
Karen is passionate about using Makaton and this passion drove her to become a regional Makaton tutor, so she can share this unique language programme with people and change their lives for the better.
She is a licensed and trained UK Makaton trainer and runs certified courses L1 – L4 that are suitable for early years practitioners to support the communication and language skills of all young learners. These courses really make a difference to our youngest children and are used extensively in UK nurseries to support a language rich environment.
Walaa Saleh
Educational Consultant
Walaa has been involved in the Early Years in UAE and Egypt since 2009. After completing her degree, ranked excellent with honours, and worked as a lecturer, she trained to become a bilingual Early Years Educator working with various age groups.
Her main strengths as an educator are her ability to create a warm and well-balanced relationship with the students and the use of a variety of innovative and differentiated teaching methods to motivate students.
Royce de Guzman
Royce de Guzman graduated from Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the Philippines with a Bachelor of Science major in Accounting. Royce is dedicated, detailed-oriented and has strong accounting and tax experience. He has been managing the Quest/EYES accounting needs since 2020.
Clair Watson
Associate trainer and educational consultant
Clair is an experienced international educator, advisor and trainer who is passionate about inspiring practitioners, driving change, and making a difference to the lives of young children through quality education.
Clair has over 20 years of experience and originally worked for EYES leading the training and teaching in Abu Dhabi. She was a vital part of the early EYES team before leaving to go to the Seychelles with her family, using the opportunity to finish her MA. On returning to the UAE she has worked for the Ministry of Education and with a wide range of schools and nurseries in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia. She has successfully raised the standards of teaching and learning, embed good practice and implemented sustainable systems. Clair has written and developed teaching materials that have been implemented nationally. Clair also delivers inspiring ongoing professional development that has had a positive impact on many early years practitioners.