Karen Warner

Head of Primary Curriculum

Berlin Metropolitan School
Linien Strasse, Berlin
karen.warner@metropolitanschool.com
20th May, 2014

To whom it may concern,

I am delighted to have been asked to write a letter of recommendation for my colleague at Berlin
Metropolitan School, Claire Van Loon.
I have worked closely with Claire for the past two years in my role as Head of Primary Curriculum
and IB Primary Years Programme Coordinator. I have attended weekly collaborative planning
meetings with Claire and her grade level teaching team and have also observed her in the classroom
as part of our professional evaluation programme.
Claire is an exceptional and experienced educator, who is always professional, focused and
enthusiastic. I have been immensely impressed by her creative, innovative approaches to teaching
and learning in all areas of the curriculum.
In particular, Claire has taken the lead in our school in integrating information technologies into her
classroom. She has very successfully established electronic portfolios as a reflection and assessment
tool for her grade two students, as well as setting up class blogs. Her teaching colleagues are
constantly amazed at the way Claire can support and guide even these young students to become
independent in their use of IT within the curriculum. We have been grateful to have Claire run
training sessions for staff, when she has shared her knowledge and experience with enthusiasm and
encouragement.
Another particular strength is Claires thorough understanding of how children acquire language
skills. In our school, she has supported colleagues in developing the language programme for lower
primary, bringing her wide experience of different reading and writing approaches to the team in a
reflective and thoughtful way.
Claire brings a calm, patient and welcoming atmosphere to her classroom, and her students clearly
feel safe, happy and excited to learn with her. She is always clear in her expectations, ensuring
students understand why they are learning as well as how they will be successful. She encourages
their questions and uses these to build on their knowledge and understanding.
All Claires teaching is inquiry-based and transdisciplinary a way of planning and teaching that she
enthusiastically embraces. She effortlessly combines her knowledge of our school curriculum and
how children learn to create child-centred, active learning opportunities.

She is very organized and well-prepared for the teaching day and for weekly collaborative planning
meetings. She puts forward her ideas but always listens carefully to others. Claire is also involved in
the wider life of the school, contributing to whole staff meetings, sharing previous experiences and
offering to support school developments.
She is very well respected, liked and appreciated by colleagues, students and parents alike. She will
be a huge loss to our teaching team but I have no hesitation in recommending her to you. I wish her
every success in her application to your school. If I can provide any further information, please feel
free to contact me on the address above.
Yours sincerely,

Karen Warner