Our Staff
Office Staff
Ola Mustapha (SLT)
School Manager and Bursar
Ola is an experienced administrator, with a passion for figures and school administration. She has a Masters degree in Educational Administration and has previously worked as administrator at the University of Cumbria and at HMP Prison Service Lancaster Castle. She spent her early years in the UK, before a 21 year spell in Nigeria, where she studied Chemistry with Education for her first degree.
For the past 16 years Ola has been the Treasurer and Finance Manger for her local church. She also volunteers as a Street Pastor. She absolutely loves athletics and volunteers as a UK Athletics qualified coach and official, officiating at local, regional and national competitions. It has been an honour and pleasure to her to coach the last two sets of Class 5 pupils at the school in preparation for their Steiner Olympics.
Heidi Graham
Office Assistant
Heidi holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Information Systems from Greenwich University, London. She has previously worked in IT support roles at the Royal National Institute for the Blind. She also worked at Aon Hewitt in London for 18 years in IT support, managerial and training roles. She is a qualified Massage Therapist and Aromatherapist and enjoys spending time outdoors. Heidi’s son attends Lancaster Steiner School. She loves that at the school “learning is a journey not a race”.
Deborah Parker
Caretaker
Deborah is our School Caretaker and keeps our school in tip top condition as well as coordinating our School Maintenance Days where our parents volunteer their time to help out. Deborah brings a variety of skills to the fore and helps to keep our beautiful garden and buildings in ship shape.
Teaching Staff
Elspeth Mukerji (SLT)
SENDCo & Class B1 Teacher
Elspeth was a mainstream primary teacher for 25 years and a SENDCo (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) and Senior Leader for 12 of those years. Her two children attended the Steiner Kindergarten, moving up to the Lower School. She developed an interest in Steiner Education initially through the seasonal and daily rhythms she experienced in the toddler groups and was drawn to its environmentally conscious approach. On seeing the school in action, Elspeth wanted to learn more about its holistic and active learning, which is so clearly grounded in knowledge of child development. She became a teacher at the school and undertook the two-year Steiner teacher training course. What she appreciates most about the school is that children are given the time and space to grow and learn in a loving community.
Louise Duirwyn
Sessional Teacher
Louise began her involvement with Lancaster Steiner school 17 years ago and during that time has had a variety of roles. From trustee to social media editor, fair organiser to class teacher. Her most prominent role throughout has been as a class teacher for the older classes of the school, preparing the children for transition to local high schools. She is currently teaching art, form drawing and Biography lessons with Linden Class. She has a Steiner teaching qualification and a PGCE (post 16), a degree is in Archaeology and Anthropology as well as an MA in Cultural Theory. Currently Louise also teaches handwork, form drawing, painting and crafts. She was drawn to Steiner education because it offers a nurturing environment where children are valued for more than purely their academic abilities. She appreciates the way it fosters a love of learning through its creative and experiential approach.
Katie Flasby (SLT)
Class 4/5 (Linden Class) Teacher
Katie started working at Lancaster Steiner School in 2019 as class teacher for Willow Class, this year she is the Linden class teacher. She also teaches German to both Oak and Willow Class. Katie moved to Lancaster in 2008 from Switzerland to study Social History at Lancaster University. In 2016 she graduated from the University of Cumbria with a PGCE and has since worked in a mainstream primary school for 2 years, as well as doing supply work. What she loves most about the Steiner approach is that it truly takes into account the development of the whole child and fosters a lifelong curiosity and connection with our world.
Bregje Pinkse
Sessional Teacher
Bregje is an experienced member of our Team. She started working in our Kindergarten Team and later she joined the Lower School Team while finishing her NESTT Steiner Teacher training in 2021. After attending a Steiner Primary and Secondary school in the Netherlands she gained a Masters in Science from Vrije University (VU), Amsterdam. In the Netherlands she worked for an after-school club and on moving to France with her family she became a stay-at-home, helping-hand-at-school mum. After moving to the UK she has now settled in Lancaster. Her two daughters attended Lancaster Steiner School and are now doing well at a local high school. What she loves most about the school is that everybody takes care of each other and therefore makes her and her family feel at home immediately.
Rachael Levis-Johnston
SEND Teaching Assistant
Rachael is a SEND (Special Educational Needs) teaching assistant in Linden Class. She has a Msc in Occupational Therapy and has previously worked as a social and therapeutic horticulture practitioner. In her free time she enjoys spending time in nature and learning about permaculture. Rachael loves the holistic approach to education practiced at Lancaster Steiner School; particularly how the children’s innate creativity and curiosity is nurtured and each child is made to feel truly valued for their unique contribution to the school.
Jackie Entwistle
Outdoor Learning Sessional Teacher
Born and brought up in Wales, Jackie originally trained as a Mining Geologist and worked in Venezuela and Mexico for a gold mining company, before retraining as a primary school teacher. Qualifying as a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner 4 years ago, she now runs her own Forest School Business called Swallows and Amazons Forest School. Jackie is passionate about nurturing the connection of children with the world around them. Watching children, young people and adults build community within nature, in ways that suit each individual, is not just a joy to be part of but is what the wider society needs right now. This planet needs a tribe of children and adults who are deeply re-connected to nature, ourselves and each other: we are all nature!
Sessional peripatetic music teacher – TBC