Our Small Team
Trisha Pleass - Owner
Trisha is mum to young adult twin boys and a teenage girl and is the owner of Glenalbyn Montessori Preschool. Having trained with the London Montessori Centre, 1994-1996, Trisha is qualified to teach this method to children between the ages of 2 years 6 months and 12 years. Trisha holds a First Class Honours Degree in Early Childhood Care and Education Studies - Teaching and Learning from NUIM and an MSc in Work and Organisational Psychology from DCU. Trisha has lectured in one of our leading colleges delivering the FETAC level 6, Early Childhood Care and Education with Montessori Programme.
Trisha's philosophy is to ensure that the child is a the centre of everything we do in Glenalbyn Montessori and that all children are treated equally, with respect and dignity. She believes that as an Early Years' practitioner it is her duty to provide an environment that offers rich and stimulating experiences to children that will spark curiosity and nurtures a love of learning and discovery. It is Trisha's belief that this should be achieved in a caring, home from home setting where each child feels safe and secure and can develop loving and meaningful relationships with their teachers and friends.
Maria Corrigan
Maria is mum to her grown up son and has worked as a lead teacher in Glenalbyn Montessori since 2017. She has worked in the Early Years sector for over 15 years providing an excellent level of care and education to each child she worked with. Maria supports Trisha with the day-to-day management of the school. She is a qualified Montessori teacher and holds a first-class honours degree in Early Childhood Education and Care.
Having undertaken further studies in Leadership for Inclusion, Maria is our Inclusion Leader and ensures inclusion is at the core of our practice. Maria has a warm, gentle approach with the children in her class and is committed to ensuring each child in her care receives the best possible early years’ experience.
Laura O’Reilly
Laura is a mum to two little boys and has worked in Early Years for over 15 years. She is passionate about uncovering each child’s unique interests and talents and works with the team to provide stimulating activities that further extend these interests. She is committed to giving each child in her care the best possible early years experience through child-led, mixed curriculum paly-based learning. Laura loves to provide lots of sensory and messy play opportunities for the children and is an advocate for the benefits of this type of play in young children’s development.
Laura has a QQI level 6 qualification in Early Years Education with Montessori and Special Needs Assistant.
Malgorzata (Gosia) Kazuba
Gosia is a mum to a little boy and has worked with children for over 22 years. She is from Poland where she managed an integrative Nursery school and provided music lessons for parents and toddlers. She worked as a Classroom Leader and Manager in a two busy creches in Ireland before joining our team as a Classroom Leader. She is a warm, caring teacher who provides wonderful play opportunities for our children. Gosia is incredibly creative and follows the children’s interests to ensure they are fulfilled and expanded on. Together with Laura and Rachel, Gosia develops the play aspect of our curriculum. She always goes the extra mile for the children in her care.
Gosia has studied Early Education to Masters level and is fully committed to ensuring the children she works with are nurtured, cared for and supported to the highest level.
Breffni Leeson
Breffini is a busy mum of two and a very dedicated teacher. She has a deep knowledge and love of the Montessori Method of education and provides a wonderfully rich and engaging curriculum for the children in her class.
After graduating with a degree in Social Science from UCD, Breffini received her initial Montessori training at the London Montessori Centre in Dublin. Her first teaching experience was in Chicago where she worked as a Montessori assistant teacher and obtained an additional Montessori Teaching Diploma from the American Montessori Society (A.M.S). For 12 years Breffini developed her Montessori career in the United States as a lead teacher in a variety of school settings, before moving to China where she taught for 2 years at a large International Montessori school. She has tutored with one of our leading colleges in Early Years Education with Montessori, while simultaneously running Montessori based parent-toddler classes. Breffini, together with Trish and Maria drives the Montessori Curriculum.
Rachel O’Hagan
Rachel became an Early Childhood Educator after a successful IT and Technology career. She was employed for many years as an IT Manager, Systems Engineer, Network Administrator and more recently Teaching CyberSecurity to third-level students.
While living and working in Australia, Rachel began teaching her friends’ children to swim. This experience lead to her qualifying as a Children’s Swimming Instructor in 2016. She then qualified as an Early Childhood Educator.
Rachel loves working with children and has a natural affinity for them. She believes that beeing a passionate educator who loves what they do, really enhances the learning experiences of the children in her care. Rachel is trained in “Play-based Learning” and child-led education and brings a sense of fun to the classroom which enhances the joy the children experience as they discover new things. Always encouraging, nurturing and supportive, Rachel’s passion for teaching allows the children to grow and learn in a safe, secure, fun environment where they thrive. With a strong interest in diversity and inclusion for all, Rachel supports children who are neurologically diverse by recognising their uniqueness.