Reg. Charity 1163206

Our Team in Oxford

Our management, French teachers and trustees.

The Management Team

Florence Rossignol LLM

director@af-oxford.org

Florence co-founded the new Alliance Française d’Oxford in 2015 and has managed it ever since. She previously set up a school for French-speaking children in Oxford, the Petit Club français d’Oxfordshire. She has a Masters in International Law (LLM) and a BA in Political Science. During her first career, as a journalist, she covered the United Nations in New York and American news, including the attacks of September 11th 2001.  She has never lost her early love of music, visual arts and French literature and you will sometimes find her sneeking into the Alliance’s book club for pleasure.  

✔ Masters in International Law (LLM Oxford, George Washington, DC)
✔ BA in International Relations (Université de Montréal)
✔ Certificate in Financial Management for Charities (Oxford)

Louise Richard

courses@af-oxford.org

Louise comes from Burgundy-Franche-Comté, a region in the East of France. She graduated from the University of La Sorbonne with a “Master’s in Teaching French as a Foreign Language”, “Master 2 FLE”, with a Major in interculturality. She lived in Australia and in the US for a few years. We were lucky enough to have her as a teacher from 2017 to 2020 at the Alliance française d’Oxford.

✔ Masters in Teaching French as a Foreign Language
(Paris La Sorbonne)
✔ Expertise in teaching bilingual children
✔ DELF and DALF examiner
✔ Specialist in phonetics and TICE (Information and Communication in Technologies)

Our French Teachers

Julie Ruffieux

Julie comes from Besançon and the Franche-Comté region, especially known for its great variety of cheeses and for its famous comté or cancoillotte. Passionate about languages and the way it brings people, Julie always knew she wanted to share her own language and her own culture with people abroad. Apart from teaching, she loves to go on hikes and to discover hidden places, but she usually spends her spare time reading her latest favorite book at a local café. She also loves to cook in the evening while listening to acoustic music.

✔ MA in Teaching French as a Foreign Language (Toulouse)
✔ BA in Foreign Languages, Literature and Civilisations (Besançon)
✔ DELF examinator and corrector certificate

Priscillia Mollard-Cadix

Priscillia comes from Combs-la-Ville, a suburban town in the south of Paris mostly surrounded by endless fields but only a half hour train ride from the centre of the beloved French capital. She has travelled extensively (USA, Canada, Egypt, Kenya…) and has worked as a French teacher both in Russia and in China. She knew early on in life that teaching is her calling, and particularly enjoys teaching her mother tongue while having the opportunity to share the vast and fascinating culture of her own country. Apart from teaching, she is fond of literature and music, spending most of her free time having her nose in a book or practicing her musical instruments.   

✔ MA in Teaching French as a Foreign Language (Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle) 
✔ BA in English, minor Teaching French as a Foreign Language (Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle) 
✔ DELF examinator and corrector certificate, accredited from the Alliance Française de Shanghai 
✔ Taught internationally

Noémie Maps

Noémie comes from Bordeaux, a city near the wild Atlantic coast and its surfers, and the vast pines’ forest of Les Landes. She studied literature and linguistics at Toulouse University. Naturally making friends with people from different countries, she has always felt happy in international environments. That’s why she decided to do a Master’s degree to become a French teacher for foreigners. She lived in Finland, Ireland, and now in England. Apart from teaching, she is passionate about South American cultures and Spanish language, she practised many types of dances, and she loves to discover new music bands on stage. In the weekend, she never misses a chance to make some « crêpes »!

✔ Master in teaching French as a Foreign Language (Toulouse)

✔ Significant experience in teaching French to children from bilingual and multicultural families

✔ Makes sure students gain confidence, motivation, and have a good time during their French lessons


Marcelle Delvaux-Abbott

Teaching French has always been more than a job for Marcelle – it is a passion. As far as she can remember, she always wanted to be a French teacher. Marcelle says she has been extremely lucky to be able to work in many different countries where she taught to many diplomats. Marcelle and her husband have raised two bilingual children who are now adults and between all of them, they speak five languages.

✔ Marcelle has been working as a French teacher in several private schools around the world.
✔ She worked at St Helen and St Katharine school in Abingdon for many years and has extensive experience teaching GCSE and A Level French (all board)
✔ She has been also a certified examiner for IGCSE for Cambridge for 7 years and GCSE Edexcel for more than 10 years.
✔ She is also a DELF and DALF examiner, accredited from the Institut Français in London

Zoé Pontida

Zoé comes from Strasbourg. She is a keen traveller (Europe, Asia and Latin America) and loves meeting people from all over the world. She is also passionate about how learning a new language opens doors on so many different cultures, and this is what she wants to share with her students. Her taste for cheese, fashion and art might stem from her mixed French and Italian roots. The wonders of nature fascinate her, this is why she volunteers to protect it. She is also a bookworm as well as a ballet adept and a (very experimental!) vegetarian cook.

✔ BA in Modern Languages and MA in multilingualism and interculturality (Strasbourg)
✔ Managed and created a learning method for children (Monterrey, Mexico)
✔ DELF diploma examiner and corrector
✔ Taught art classes in French and DELF preparation classes
✔ Loves working with children because that often means learning French through games and manual activities (the more glitter it involves, the better!)

Charles Gabaude

Charles comes from the South-West of France. He has worked as a private French tutor in Oxford for seven years. He is fond of rugby and science fiction. In 2010, he published a collection of short stories for all ages entitled “Les Histoires du p’tit Nikhölaf” (Le Verger des Hespérides).

✔ PhD in Sociology of Education and Teaching French as a Foreign Language degree holder (Aix-en-Provence)
✔ Can offer training and support to students in needs (dyslexia, lack of motivation…)
✔ Worked as a teacher for students in situation of school dropout
✔ Makes sure every student gains autonomy all along the learning process

Viviane Leray

After completing her BA in Nantes, Viviane moved to England to be a lecturer where she realized that teaching French was her true calling and kept traveling the world: Ethiopia, Hungary, Mongolia and Georgia. She is now back in France but still teaches with the Alliance of Oxford, online. Like a true Française, she is passionate about gastronomy and cooking, having mastered the local dishes of each of the countries she has lived in. But still a « bretonne » at heart: ask her why Brittany is the best region of France!

✔ Master in Teaching French as a Foreign Language (Paris X)
✔ DELF B2 instructor,
✔ Conversational French for business and government leaders (President of the Central Bank of Georgia)
✔ Private lessons (general French and FOS – professional and tourism French)
✔ Training for job interviews in French
✔ Teacher for future French teachers

Barbara Giraud

Barbara has been living and studying in the UK for 20 years. She graduated from Oxford Brookes University and has been working as a Senior Lecturer since 2009. Her research focuses on the interactions of the literary and medical discourses during the 19th century in France. Barbara is passionate about literature, painting and is a keen yoga adept.

✔ Specialist in the 19th French literature: the Goncourt Brothers and PhD in History of Medicine (hysteria and neurosis)
✔ Taught at University for 15 years (language and literature modules)
✔ PGCE (Oxford) in French and Spanish


Victoria Gasso

Victoria comes from Toulouse in the South West of France. Her city is also called « The Pink City » because of the color of its brick. She loves teaching French and being in contact with students from different cultures. It is a fascinating and dynamic work, each day is unic full of challenges and surprises. Seeing the students’ progresses is the most rewarding. Apart from teaching, she loves to cook and bake classic French pastries like Paris-Brest, chocolate éclairs or madeleines. She likes to go on city trips mostly for their entertainment, energy, and good restaurants.

✔ MA in Teaching French as a Foreign Language (Toulouse)
✔ BA in Foreign Languages, Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Civilisations (Toulouse)

The Communication Team

Éponine Petiteau

Éponine comes from Cholet, the capital of fabric tissues ! She studies a Master's degree in Intercultural Relations in Lille. She loves traveling to new places, making new friends, listening to music and she spends most of her spare time in second-hand shops. She will be doing a six-month internship at the Alliance Française of Oxford to discover how the Alliance organises French languages courses, events and social media.

Our Trustees

Caitlin Kennedy

Chairman of the Trustees
trustees@af-oxford.org

Peter Anderson

Treasurer

Marie Giraud

Secretary

Andrew Rattue

Vice Chair

Jane Varley

Trustee

Greg Barnard

Trustee

Louise Brimacombe

Trustee

Alicia Drake

Trustee

Nick Paladina

Trustee


For more information about governance, please email trustees@af-oxford.org.

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