Our Team

Gabriela Engel, Head of Secondary School

Gabriela Engel has been Head of Secondary School at the Phorms Campus Hamburg since August 2021. She has many years of international experience and was most recently a teacher at the German school abroad Beata Imelda in Lima (Peru). There, she was responsible for teaching German-language history in the mixed-language International Baccalaureate. In addition to her qualifications to teach German and history at secondary level I and II, Gabriela Engel also has additional qualifications in the areas of digitalisation, classroom counselling and teacher training. At the German school abroad Beata Imelda, she was also the representative for pedagogical quality management for many years and in this function was also a member of the extended school management.

Damir Dzafic, Head of Primary School

Damir Dzafic joined us as Head of Primary School at Phorms Campus Hamburg in August 2022. Mr Dzafic began his career as a passionate teacher and has gained a wide range of experiences in recent years as a coordinator and head of primary school at various international schools in the USA and Germany. His knowledge of bilingual concepts and the application of the immersion method can be ideally introduced and advanced here with us. He can now combine his skills in handling and implementing IB programmes and the Cambridge curriculum with the German school system. In addition to his studies in International Studies and German Language and a Master's degree in Education and Conflict Resolution, Mr Dzafic also brings a wealth of experience in peaceful conflict resolution and mediation.

Christine Arruda, Deputy Head of Primary School

Christine Arruda finished her teacher training for primary and secondary schools in 2008. From 2009 to 2016 she lived in the USA and worked with children from 0 to 6 years old.
At the beginning of 2016, she began her career with Phorms as a primary school teacher for German, Topic and Mathematics. Individualisation of learning within the classroom environment is important to her.
In 2017, Ms. Arruda became a member of the school management as coordinator of the primary school. As part of a parental leave, Ms. Arruda has been acting head of the primary school from Feburary 2019 to January 2021. She has been the deputy head of the primary school since February 2021.

Benjamin Haack, Business Manager

Benjamin Haack studied International Business and Management Studies in the Netherlands and Germany as well as Business Administration with a focus on Controlling and Corporate Management. He used his experience as a former founder and CEO of a start-up for his work as a finance mentor, helping other start-ups to get off to a successful start. After this position, Benjamin Haack moved to the private/public education sector, where he worked at GISMA Business School in Hanover, among others. As Head of Business Operations and Director Operations, he built up the Berlin, Hamburg and London locations. After further management activities, most recently as Head of Finance and Controlling at the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre, he took over the Business Management of Phorms Campus Hamburg in February 2022.

Susann Borchert, Deputy Head of Nursery

Originally from Mecklenburg, she studied childhood education and has been with the PhorMinis since they started in 2012. She worked as a pedagogical assistant in the groups in both the elementary school and the crèche area until July 2019. Since August 2019 she has been a member of the management team next to Mrs Brandt.
 

Katharina Schönert & Anneke Rambau, Admissions Officers

Katharina Schönert spent a year as an au-pair in the US after graduating from high school, and studied English/American Studies at the University of Hamburg. Afterwards, she worked for a student exchange organization for several years before she became part of the Admissions Team at Phorms Hamburg in February 2019. She is primarily responsible for admissions in the areas of Kita and pre-school.

Anneke Rambau joined PHORMS Hamburg in 2018 as part of the Admissions team. After a high school year in the USA and studying American Studies at the University of Hamburg, she already worked in the education sector at private and public universities and schools in her home town Hamburg as well as in New Zealand for several years. At PHORMS, she is primarily responsible for the admission of students to primary and secondary school.

Annika Watson & David Rosenzweig, Management Team Hort

Annika Watson started working as a Teaching Assistant at the Phorms Campus Hamburg in 2018. In March 2020, she took over the Deputy Extracurricular Coordinator position as a maternity leave cover. Mrs. Watson has worked and studied in the United States for five years before she started at Phorms. She is happy to be back in her home country and is looking forward to creating an exciting holiday care and Hort program for the kids, along with Mr. Rosenzweig. ​​​​​​

David Rosenzweig has been at the Phorms Campus Hamburg since 2012. He is an Australian-born social worker who started at the Campus as a Teaching Assistant and took over as head of the extracurricular progamme in summer 2018. Mr Rosenzweig likes living in Hamburg, his adopted home, and he enjoys working with Ms Watson to create interesting and varied offers for the children in the holiday care and after-school programmes.