Elizabeth Evans

A mother of two, a primary teacher with a specialism in the early years, and over 15 years experience in the field of teaching.

Firstly, working voluntarily as a teaching assistant in a village school near Scarborough in 2003, I discovered my passion for primary education, and in particular the very important and special phase of children’s development we have come to know as “the early years.“

I studied a Post Graduate Certificate in Education graded at masters level with Hull University, and completed my QTS year and two further years of teaching experience at Bourne Primary School, Greater London. A fascinating area to work in, which presented me with a huge variety of cultures and languages: the spark for my future and to our big move to another country.

So, a relocation was on the cards... Zurich just seemed to fit... for my partner and I, it sounded right.  Looking to expand my educational views further, and to experience the working with children in a more dramatically mixed language setting, whyever not! Switzerland has four home languages alone! And that doesn't include the commonly accepted bridge language frequently used, English.

And so came my start with Tandem IMS: They became more than just my work and career... they became my family. There, I worked for three years as a co-teacher in the Early years, bouncing English and German around as though the languages were truly interchangeable and indistinguishable. Translanguage development in the early years is simply fascinating!

After 3 years as co-teacher with one of my most beautiful friends, Bibi (a beloved German colleague), I applied for school management, and subsequently worked as Early Years School Manager in Zollikon. With families and staff from all around the world entering the setting each year, and three languages (minimum) operating at all times, it was NEVER a dull place to work. It will always hold a fond place in my heart, and some of my closest friendships were formed there, even if now I don't see those people quite as frequently as I would hope.

Then came my children, so cliche, but really... the most wonderful people in my life (husband included 😉). And my whole life focus was switched to them. One day I hope they can truly understand just how much they mean to me.

Well... here I am... Elizabeth Evans (AKA: Carole Elizabeth Tomaszewicz) - we all have our stories, and we've read a few too. And now for me, with children of my own, I have two more story tellers / creators / listeners by my side... sharing stories, jokes, imaginary, or real, it’s all an important part of development, and is one of our strongest methods of communication known. We tell stories every day, even if it’s as simple as what we had for breakfast.

Why Spiders? is out now, published in December 2020. And hopefully many more will follow...

to be continued...