Elaine Robinson
Principal
Elaine was born and educated in the UK, and has been in the teaching profession for over 20 years in London, Israel and Hong Kong. She gained her undergraduate degree in Theology, from Birmingham University, UK, and her MA is in Philosophy of Education, from the Institute of Education, London. Elaine attained her NPQH (National Professional Qualification in Headship) in November 2017.
Elaine served as Deputy Headteacher of the Jewish Community Secondary School a large Jewish Secondary School in London for 8 years. It was during her role there that she was awarded the National PAJES Jewish School Awards for Deputy Headteachers, which she won for her role in setting up the school. She started her formal teaching career at Immanuel College London, where she was responsible for creating the Social Action programme in the school and launching the Yoni Jesner Award Scheme – a programme encouraging children around the country to volunteer.
She is committed to child centred education and is inspired by the work of Carol Dweck: and her theories of the Growth Mindset. Elaine was an active member of the Senior Faith Leadership Programme run through Cambridge University, and is committed to Interfaith work. Elaine is in Singapore with her husband and two children, who are happy to be studying at SMMIS.
Elaine Robinson
Principal
Simcha Abergel
Vice Principal: Head of Jewish Education
Simcha has been in the education profession for over 20 years. It is through her undeniable passion for Jewish Education that she founded and established the Ganenu Learning center, the first Jewish preschool in Singapore and served as its principal from 1996 for over 10 years when it then became the Sir Manasseh Meyer International school in 2008. Simcha has also served as the principal of the Sunday Hebrew School for many years and is involved in all aspects of the Jewish community.
Simcha holds a DEC in education from Marie Victorin, a Diploma of teacher training from Chaya Mushka Seminary both in Montreal Canada, and an Advance Career Award Diploma in Business Management from The Singapore institute of Commerce and the Cambridge local syndicate.
Simcha and her husband Rabbi Mordechai Abergel have been serving as the Chabad Shluchim and Rabbi and Rebbetzin of the Jewish Singapore community for the past 24 years, they have 6 children, 1 of whom is a current student at SMMIS while the others each had the chance to experience SMMIS before moving on to various international schools around the globe.
Simcha Abergel
Vice Principal: Head of Jewish Education
Alexandra Cipriano
Vice Principal: Head of Secondary School / English Teacher
Ali was born and educated in the UK. She has been in the teaching profession for over 10 years in London, and prior to that has experience teaching in both Thailand and South Korea. She gained her undergraduate degree in English Studies from the University of Southampton, UK, and her Post Graduate Certificate of Education in English, Secondary Education, from Middlesex University, London.
Her last position, at JCoSS – a large Jewish secondary school – was as Head of English where under her leadership, the faculty achieved results placing them in the top 10% of schools nationally for student progress. She was also an English Subject Adviser for a large cluster of North London Secondary schools, advising other leaders of English on best practice
Ali is in Singapore with her husband, who is also a teacher, and two children, the youngest of whom is happy to be learning at SMMIS.
Alexandra Cipriano
Vice Principal: Head of Secondary School / English Teacher
Greg Wilde
Vice Principal: Head of Primary School
Greg Wilde brings over 20 years of educational experience to his role as Head of Primary, including more than nine years in international education. He has held senior leadership roles in the UK, the Philippines, Vietnam and China. He is passionate about creating learning environments that are both nurturing and challenging, where all students feel confident to contribute and curious enough to explore. His approach is grounded in constructivist pedagogy, believing that children learn best when they can connect their experiences to meaningful, real-world understanding. Having led curriculum innovation, staff development, and whole-school learning culture initiatives, Greg is a strong advocate for distributed leadership, student voice, and preparing learners to navigate an ever-changing world with confidence, empathy, and critical thinking. Outside of school, he remains an enthusiastic lifelong learner himself—whether exploring educational research, refining his tennis skills (with varying degrees of success), traveling to varying countries/cultures or hunting down the best local coffee spots. He believes that primary education lays the foundation not just for future academic success, but for growing globally minded, reflective, and kind young people.
Greg Wilde
Vice Principal: Head of Primary School
Janine Lewinton
Head of Inclusion, English Teacher
Janine was born in the UK, and educated there and in the USA. She has been teaching for over twenty years and before that she worked for a global banking group in the City of London. She gained her Honours Degree from the Open University, whilst working full time, and is a firm believer in Life-Long Learning.
Janine began her teaching career at a selective boys’ Grammar School in the UK, where she gained Qualified Teacher Status as an English Teacher and was the school’s SENDCo. She comes to us having spent a short while as Head of English and SENDCo at an International School in Malaysia, and before that she was Assistant Head at an Independent Jewish Day School in North West London, where she was SENDCo and a Designated Safeguarding Lead as well as an English teacher.
She is married to the Principal of an International School in Malaysia and has three grown up children, one of whom is a School teacher, like her mother and grandmother before her!
Janine Lewinton
Head of Inclusion, English Teacher
Valentina Wijaya
Finance Manager
Valentina studied Accounting and Finance at Curtin University of Technology and is a member of CPA Australia.
She worked at another international school in Singapore prior to joining SMMIS. Previously a senior auditor in one of the professional accounting firms in Singapore, Valentina has been in the accounting and audit industry for over 9 years.
Valentina Wijaya
Finance Manager
Joy Sie
HR Manager
Joy has extensive experience in HR across a variety of industries. She studied HR Management at SHRI Academy, completed a Certificate in Employment Intermediaries (Basic) CEI at NTUC and is a Certified Human Resource Manager.