Malahat Vatankhan - Our Team

Monal is a seasoned teacher with experience teaching young children for more than 10 years, in local and international school settings. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with second class honor as well as PGDECE from the Mumbai University. Monal has also recently obtained her certification course in Kindergarten Principal from the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Monal was raised in Mumbai, India and has called Hong Kong home for more than 15 years. Growing up in India, she has developed a long lasting love for music, dance, Bollywood movies and a respect for culture, religion and diversity.

She is passionate about shaping young minds and leaving a positive impact on children to be lifelong learners, and has always enjoyed being around younger children. It is the educator's responsibility to recognise each student's strength and weakness to help them meet their full potential, and Monal is always trying to create a classroom environment conducive for all to grow physically, socially, mentally and emotionally.

Outside the classroom, she is passionate about cooking and is aspiring to be a vegetarian cooking blogger soon. Three years ago, Monal was introduced to meditation, and today, she lives by the strength of meditation and strong positive thinking.

Ashley graduated from University of Waterloo, Canada with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and later obtained her Degree in Education at Nipissing University, Canada. She moved to Hong Kong over 7 years ago and cultivated her love for teaching young bilingual learners.

Ashley’s background in both education and psychology not only gave her knowledge in her teaching subjects and pedagogy, but also a better understanding of how others think and how their mindsets develop. Her students benefit doubly from her strengths.

Ashley is passionate about inspiring and educating young learners, particularly in foundational phonics, reading, and writing. She strongly believes in and practises hands-on learning and seamlessly integrates STEM education into her teaching. She loves to foster a nurturing and supportive classroom environment and has excellent relationships with her students and their families. Ashley’s gradual teaching approach -- from observations and basic value exploration to student engagement and real-life application -- empower her students with a positive attitude towards learning. Through differentiation and accommodation, Ashley acts as the guiding light of great flexibility and patience throughout her students’ learning journeys. This process encourages her students to seek answers on their own and eventually achieve Ashley’s goal for them to develop greater independence.

The primary attraction of being an educator to Ashley aligns fully with what Bloom also values: the curiosity, innovation, and openness of the children she is entrusted to guide in their learning journeys. Naturally, she constantly strives to better herself in teaching.

Shu Chen is an expert in several Chinese dialects. A native Mandarin speaker, she is also proficient in Shanghainese and Cantonese as well as English. Her skills and passion in language learning led her to a career in education where she can share the beauty of Chinese culture with non-Chinese as well as Chinese students.

After her Bachelor of Science degree in business at Benedictine College, Shu obtained her Post Graduate Diploma in Education and Master of Education from the Hong Kong Baptist University. She taught Mandarin for 8 years in local Hong Kong secondary and international schools, as well as Liberal Studies for secondary students. Well-trained in the IB teaching system, Shu was also a grade-level teacher who incorporated interdisciplinary learning across various subjects. She was most recently Year Level Head at the Singapore International School Hong Kong overseeing curriculum planning, designing assessments, and developing immersion programs in cultural studies.

Over her decade-long teaching career, Shu observed how a student’s l environment can impact their mental development. She believes that successful positive learning is best achieved by teaching students to be self-motivated to pursue knowledge and become inquisitive learners through asking questions. Shu’s students practice learning-by-doing to reinforce active recall of their knowledge and language in real-life situations and to acquire critical thinking skills to analyze different situations they might encounter.

Shu is currently working towards her Doctoral Degree in Education with research on the development of Chinese curriculum. She is excited to join Bloom to share her love for Chinese language, history, and rich cultural heritage.