Our Team
Ugonna
Ugonna Ezeyi is a fully qualified primary school teacher with over 10 years’ experience who has a passion for the natural world, child led creativity and storytelling. She has run Waldorf inspired parent and child groups in South London, creating a haven for children and their carers to experience the beauty of gentle parenting. She has also run gardening and cookery workshops for children living in the inner city of London to delve into the healing power of nature. Ugonna practises mindfulness of breathing and loving kindness meditation and embeds them in her teaching practice. In addition to being a mother of a 4 year old, Ugonna creates ethnically diverse Waldorf dolls and puppets and is in the process of qualifying as a forest school teacher.
Serina
Serina Douglass is a qualified Forest School teacher and has been working in outdoor educational settings for the past seven years, enamoured with providing positive opportunities to connect with nature and its restorative and healing powers. She was educated in a Steiner School and brings her first-hand experiences as well as twenty years of teaching in inner city primary schools, academically rigorous prep schools and international schools. In addition to her work at The Children Sanctum, Serina facilitates a variety of groups to craft, sing and play in Kent woods, through her initiative, Nature Natives. She has a creative and dynamic approach to teaching and prides herself on learning and honouring each individual's journey.
Sofia
Sofia Conforti was born and raised in Argentina and is passionate about emotional regulation and the body. She studied Bioenergetics, a type of body therapy, before training as a Doula to support birthing women. She has worked in an Intergenerational Jewish Nursery in South London and is a trained yoga instructor for children and adults. During her travels in South America she found permaculture and lived in sustainable communities where she learnt about group dynamics and non-violent communication. When she settled in London, her daughter was born and so was her interest in gentle and nurturing child development approaches. Currently she is training to become a Somatic Therapist and Educator with the Tamalpa Institute.
Sasha
Sasha Siem is a Mother, Musician, Healer and founder of The Children Sanctum. Following an education at St Paul’s girls’ school in London, a starred double first from Cambridge and a PHD from Harvard, Sasha went on to explore philosophy and metaphysics as well as the role of Spirit and healing in many cultures across the world: including Tibetan Buddhism, Mystical Christianity, Judaic Kabbalah, Sufism, Shamanism, Ayurveda, Korean Meditation.
With the birth of her first son, Dylan, she began researching alternative approaches to education including Waldorf, Montessori, Emilio Reggio, RIE. Her search ignited a passionate desire to curate a fresh approach to education which integrates these apparently different approaches, providing inspiration and nurturing to all aspects of a child’s development - intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual, societal - while also honouring their unique gifts and trusting them to unfold according to their innate abilities.
Rebecca
Rebecca Sheikh is a certified Level 2 Aware Parenting teacher, and her passion lies in supporting parents to find the deep awareness we all possess to heal our relationships with ourselves and our children. She taught as primary school teacher for 17 years before having her first child. She is now the mother of two children, ages 7 and 4. She completed an MA in Counselling in Education at The Tavistock Institute in London. Rebecca runs Flourishing Childhood which offers support to parents using the Aware Parenting approach. She is currently training to be a Jungian Sandplay therapist. Rebecca works as pastoral in a new progressive democratic school in London. She is working together with Sasha on creating policies and procedures that reflect the aim of The Children Sanctum Activity Group and School. Rebecca also works on the executive committee of The International Attachment Network.
Kyal
Kyal Stiles is a qualified Montessori teacher from South Africa and has 8 years collective experience in training and teaching. She is passionate about holistic education which develops independence and self-actualisation, encourages compassion for others and respect for the natural world. She believes in nurturing the creative spirit of each child so they may reach their fullest potential. Kyal practices the art of Zhineng Qigong, is a certified Level 1 Theta Healing practitioner and Marie Kondo enthusiast.