I am Silvia Di Giacomo Newton, mathematician by training, teacher by vocation, dual citizen straddled between Italy, the country of my birth and education, and the United Kingdom, where I finished developing professionally, married, started a family and lived in for over 20 years.
I hold a Master’s degree in Mathematics summa cum Laude from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, I studied Mathematics Education at the University of Warwick, from where I also got a PGCE Secondary Maths, going on to classroom teaching for a few years. I stepped out of the classroom to be a mum, whilst I carried on offering private tuition. I returned to Italy bringing my family with me in 2021, and now that my familial obligations are lessening, I am thrilled to have joined the team at Viterbo International School since September 2025, where I love the vibrant, multicultural and multinational environment among both staff and students.
Whilst Mathematics is often seen as a subject where there is always an answer, and only one is the right one, I know that it is so much more than that, and I see my role as a teacher as one of facilitating learning, aiming to engage my students in a socratic dialogue that leads them to deeper understanding, wondering at ideas, exploring how and why certain concepts came about, how they fit together, and developing the mental discipline of rigour that needs to accompany the creative process of mathematical problem solving. My favourite moment is the lightbulb one: seeing the young people in front of me come to a realisation or an insight that they own fully.
In my ever dwindling spare time I enjoy baking, crafting, playing board and role playing
games, and, of course, reading!