1. 16 February 2015
RE: Open Testimonial for Shelley Peacock
To whom it may concern,
I am delighted to write this letter of reference for Shelley Peacock who I had the privilege of
working with for two years at the Metropolitan School of Panama (MET) from August 2012 until
June 2014. I left as the founding Head of the school in June 2014 to take over the Headship of
Northlands School in Argentina, and Shelley continued into her third year at the MET.
Shelley joined the MET when the school was only a year old. Being a teacher in such a young
school requires a very unique and special type of person. This is because joining a new school as
an educator is not the same as going to a well-established institution. Shelley was involved in
creating and consolidating many procedures at the school, such as the writing of curriculum, to
the ordering of teaching resources, furniture and materials, to suggesting the kinds of co-
curricular activities to offer. You name it, our teachers did it! And Shelley was part of this group
of exceptional professionals that helped to continue with the momentum gathered in the first year
and shape it into the world class organization that it is today.
I would like to mention some of Shelley’s strengths and accomplishments during her two years
while I was the Head. Shelley always maintained excellent relationships with her students, with
parents and with her colleagues. Her lessons were interesting, engaging and differentiated and her
classes were always well prepared. It was impressive how quickly Shelley grasped the concept
and philosophy of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. I must also
mention Shelley’s ability to have her non-native English speaking students reach very high levels
of English in speaking, reading and writing in such short periods of time. It was also remarkable
that whilst being a member of staff at an extremely demanding school, Shelley was able to
complete and graduate with the “International Teaching Certificate” from Cambridge and ECIS.
Shelley certainly went the extra mile during my two years at the MET and she would be an asset
to any educational institution willing to take advantages of the many strengths she has to offer.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas Reeves
Headmaster
Northlands School