Our Team

Management Team

Clinical Director

Jenna Ellis

Clinical Supervisor

Bec Freakley

Clinical Supervisor

Karishma Khullar

Assistant Clinical Supervisor

Joseph Hickman

Finance

Martin Binoj

Clinical Supervisor

Merryll-Anne Morris

Clinical Director

Jenna Ellis

Jenna is the Clinical Director at Woodbury and Ruben’s Place. She is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) and a Certified Behaviour Analyst (CBA). Jenna holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology)/Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) double degree, Master of Rehabilitation Counselling and Master of Education and Instruction (Applied Behaviour Analysis).

Jenna found ABA by chance when she was studying at the University of Sydney in 2011. She accepted a casual position as an in-home ABA therapist advertised on the university’s website and has loved working in the field ever since. Previous to working at Woodbury, she worked for a service provider for 9 years focusing on supporting children in building skills across all developmental domains for in-home therapy, preschool and school settings, and parent training.

Jenna joined the Woodbury team as a Clinical Supervisor at Ruben’s Place in 2020, supporting students to build skills to best support them in preparation for the transition to the kindergarten setting. She quickly realized how important and functional group learning is for our students, and that the challenges faced in the home setting are different to those in the group learning setting.

Jenna stepped into the role as Woodbury and Ruben’s Place Clinical Director in 2023. She is passionate about applying Applied Behaviour Analysis in a group learning setting and how this can best support both students and staff. Jenna is proud to be a leader in the Woodbury and Ruben’s Place community because the work that the team does on a daily basis is incredibly inspiring.

Clinical Supervisor

Bec Freakley

Bec came to Woodbury as a teacher in 2010. After gaining experience in Applied Behaviour Analysis; her first experience and ABA training were through service providers and in-home therapy. Bec has a B. A (majoring in Psychology), and an M.Ed. Recently having completed her BCBA qualification she moved to the role of Clinical Supervisor. Bec brings extensive knowledge into the role not only in the classroom, but of Woodbury.

Her particular interests are helping children develop their self-help skills with regard to daily living tasks, communication, helping students manage and identify their own behaviours (where possible) and making the transition to other schools as smooth as possible for both the children and their families. Bec is also passionate about training others in ABA, including staff and other stakeholders, so more people can see the benefits of this powerful tool.

Clinical Supervisor

Karishma Khullar

Karishma Khullar is a dedicated Clinical Supervisor at Woodbury Autism Education & Research with a passion for helping families and individuals affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With a Master’s degree in Applied Psychology obtained in 2018, she has gained extensive experience by working in various settings across three different countries to become a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. Additionally, Karishma is also a Certified Behaviour Analyst in Australia and is committed to expanding Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) practices in India.

Karishma’s work has primarily focused on Early Intervention and Parent Training for families with children diagnosed with ASD. She has a wealth of experience working in schools, community, and clinic settings, leading multiple teams to provide trauma-informed interventions and value-based procedures to address severe challenging behaviour.

She is dedicated to providing highly effective training and reliable support to families struggling with everyday challenges, building capacity, and aiming to bring joy back into their lives.

She is focussed towards finding gaps in the research areas that can further support the field of ABA and answering questions about Autism and other developmental delays.

Assistant Clinical Supervisor

Joseph Hickman

Joe began his ABA journey in 2019 working as a home therapist and a registered behavioural technician. He then started at Woodbury in 2021 as a level 2 therapist and began his new role as an assistant clinical supervisor in January 2023.

Joe has completed a Bachelor of Psychology with first class honours (GPA of 6.5 out of 7) in 2020 at Western Sydney University. Joe currently is studying a Master of Applied Behaviour Analysis through Monash University (current GPA is 6.75 out of 7) and is completing his supervision requirements through Woodbury. Joe aims to sit his BCBA exam and become a BCBA, once he is eligible.

Joe finds his job fulfilling because it allows him to do meaningful work that helps children to increase their independence, build their skills and enjoy coming to school.

Finance

Martin Binoj

Martin has brought his extensive experience in management and financial accounting to our Woodbury School Team since joining in September, 2019. Coming with extensive finance experience, he is keen to use his skills and knowledge within Woodbury. Martin is keen to ensure excellent financial performance, and meeting all financial compliances. When Martin is not assuming his role as a professional bean counter you can find him completely engrossed in a cricket match or singing just about any song on the radio.

Clinical Supervisor

Merryll-Anne Morris

Merryll-Anne has recently joined Woodbury as a Clinical Supervisor. She is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) with a special interest in the application of ABA in the school setting, and teaching students essential functional skills.

Merryll-Anne started working in ABA in 2011 while studying her Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Linguistics). Merryll-Anne then worked for various ABA providers in Sydney as a Senior Therapist while studying her Masters in Special Education.

After completing her education and relevant experience hours, Merryll-Anne spent time in London supervising at a “Special Free School” where she fostered her passion for teaching essential functional and toleration skills, as the foundation to building more complex skills. Returning to Sydney she worked with a service provider over the last 3 years as a supervisor, trainer, and clinical subject matter expert.

Merryll-Anne’s experience at the school in London was career altering and she was thrilled to return to this setting as part of the Woodbury family.

Woodbury School

Teacher

Kane Ali

Teacher

Lori-Anne (Annie) Brennan

Teacher

Tammie Chui

Teacher

Ethan Munday

Teacher

Sarah Stewart

Teacher

Kane Ali

After studying a Master of Teaching (Primary). Kane entered teaching as a second career, going on to work in large public schools. Having worked in mainstream schools, she joined Woodbury at the start of 2022, drawn to it due to the opportunity to make a significant and positive impact into the lives of those she will teach.  She is excited to be applying her teaching and to embed ABA into teaching opportunities.
Kane is passionate about all learners being enabled to access the curriculum. She is enthusiastic about providing a creative learning environment that draws on students’ strengths and interests. Kane aims to ensure a positive experience for students, where they can acquire skills, independence, and knowledge that they can take with them throughout their time at school.

Teacher

Lori-Anne (Annie) Brennan

Lori-Anne (Annie), started at Woodbury in 2018.

Annie’s initial encounter of Woodbury was after an in class observation when they first opened in 2006. It was this experience which ignited Annie’s passion for teaching. Now, after completing her studies ( and a short break to start a family) she has come back to Woodbury and is excited to be part of this amazing team.

She first began her career in the Early Childhood Sector, completing a Diploma in Children’s Services. She then went on to complete a BEd (birth to 12 year) gaining valuable experience working with children in both the classroom and outside school settings. While on maternity leave she completed post graduate studies in behaviour support teaching.

What she enjoys most about working at Woodbury are the relationships and bonds that are built with your students and their families. Annie says “The students at Woodbury have taught me so much already and I can’t wait to see what my future at Woodbury holds”.

Teacher

Tammie Chui

Tammie graduated from Sydney University with a Masters of Teaching in primary school and went on to teach for a number of years at various schools throughout Sydney before moving to Canberra. At the end of last year, she returned with her family and has become a valuable member of the Woodbury team. She is a passionate teacher and loves watching students grow academically as well as socially and the excitement and energy that it brings.

Teacher

Ethan Munday

After graduating with a BA and B.Ed (primary) Ethan moved to the UK to explore different teaching opportunities. During this time he worked in a range of roles including teaching at a behavioural school, special ed needs and disability schools including children with Autism, as well as working on a one to one basis with students who had been excluded from school and looking to return.

Through these schools he witnessed the improvements students could achieve academically, socially and emotionally when the appropriate learning environment and support was provided. These experiences fostered a strong passion for teaching children with additional needs and developed my educational philosophy of inclusion wholism and independence which he brings with him to Woodbury.

Teacher

Sarah Stewart

After graduating with a Bachelors of Primary Education (Majoring in Inclusive Education), Sarah taught in a primary school before becoming a full-time carer of a close family member who had a profound intellectual and physical disability. During this time, she commenced a Master of Education (Special Education) where she developed an interest in teaching with the principles of ABA and a passion for supporting students with high support needs.

Sarah has high expectations of her students achieving this by providing engaging and fun learning experiences, through encouragement and positivity developing communication and functional skills. Her wholistic approach to teaching, ensures Saran builds independence and self-determination for her students.

Ruben’s Place

Speech Therapist

Jasmine De Aquino

Room Leaders

Andrea Berimballi

Clinical Supervisor

Eliza Piper

Room Leaders

Amira Bazouni

Speech Therapist

Jasmine De Aquino

Jasmine joined the Woodbury team as a speech pathologist at Rubens Place Early Intervention.

Previously, Jasmine worked with students with complex communication needs in both mainstream schools and schools for special purposes. These experiences fostered a passion for supporting students through in-house speech pathology in the school environment; because here she can see students daily and work collaboratively with families and educators to best develop a child’s functional communication in all settings. She has a particular interest in developing and implementing Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for students with disabilities.

Jasmine began her professional journey working in marketing for many years, before re-skilling with a Master of Speech Language Pathology at the University of Sydney.

Room Leaders

Andrea Berimballi

After completing a diploma in early childhood education, Andrea went on to study a Bachelor of Teaching to further her career. After 6 years of educating young children within a Montessori learning environment, Andrea joined Woodbury as a Junior Therapist. She was eager to learn all about ABA and how best to support children with additional needs. At the start of 2021, Andrea began working with our young children in Rubens Place, and shortly thereafter, was appointed room leader gaining her RBT certification.  Andrea’s passion is supporting our younger children in their growth and education before their move to primary school. “I believe education is about teaching a child in the way they learn and adapting the learning environment to suit their abilities and needs”.

Clinical Supervisor

Eliza Piper

Eliza recently joined the Woodbury Team as a Clinical Supervisor in Rubens Place.

Eliza found ABA in 2017 through a friend who was passionate about working in early intervention Starting work as an independent therapist in the home, daycare and school setting before progressing to a centre-based model. Eliza worked as a service provider for 4.5 years focusing on supporting children in building skills across all developmental domains for in-home therapy, parent training as well as training therapists. In this role Eliza completed her Post graduate diploma in Advanced Psychology as well as a Masters in Education majoring in Applied Behaviour Analysis. She also acquired her BCBA supervision hours and plans to sit her registration exam in the near future. Eliza 15 passionate about alternative methods of communication and assisting children in reaching independent communication.

Room Leaders

Amira Bazouni

Therapy Team

Meet the Woodbury Therapy Team.

Woodbury is proud to have a dedicated team of highly trained ABA therapists who work in our school providing vital support within the classroom.

The team here at Woodbury undergo specialist training in ABA, and are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including education, speech pathology, childcare and psychology.

Our Board of Directors

Woodbury was started in 2006 after a group of parents and a dedicated speech therapist saw how ABA therapy could improve the lives of children with Autism. As the first school of its kind and based in NSW, Woodbury has made ABA therapy accessible to parents and families offering their children acceptance and achievement.

Those parents and Speech therapist, now form our Board of Directors along with a parent representative. The board of directors work closely with our Clinical Director and Finance Manager to ensure Woodbury’s continued development and growth.