It is the time of year where we start turning our attention to the next school year and I wanted to give you some updates that I hope you will find both exciting and interesting.
First of all, staffing. As is the way of the world, we will be loosing some staff this year and I have been busy searching the planet to find the best possible replacements. Mr and Mrs Hampton will be leaving us to go to Qatar where Mr Hampton has secured a Head of Department job at a much larger school. Mr and Mrs Provencher will be returning to Canada with their family as will Mr George and his family. Last, but not least, Mr Pemberton, who was in a previous life a Deputy Head, has decided to move on to another school where he can take on more responsibility. We will be formally thanking them for all their hard work and commitment later on this year… they will be missed.
After recruiting in London, Toronto and Dubai, I am happy to say that we have found some really experienced and dedicated teachers that will be joining ABIS next year.
The new teacher that you will all be meeting in a couple of weeks is the replacement for Ms Hampton who will going on pregnancy leave in the middle of April. Joining us at the beginning of April in time for a two week transition period will be Ms Michelle Simpson. Michelle is coming to us from New Zealand but has previously worked in the UK and Dubai. Her two children will accompanying her and will be joining the Primary School.
Ms Françoise Cerdan will be joining us as our French Teacher. Françoise is French, studied at the Sorbonne and qualified as a teacher in the UK where she has been working for the last 7 years. Ms Amy Brewer will become our Secondary English Teacher. Amy comes from the USA and has most recently been working the International School of Penang, an IB School in Malaysia. Our new Art Teacher will be Mr Andrew Clarke. Andrew trained at the Chelsea School of Art in London and is currently the Head of Art at the British School of Jeddah teaching the IB Diploma and IGCSE. Mr Jon Adams will be joining us as our new Mathematics Teacher. Jon is a very experienced Maths Teacher who is currently employed at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School in Chang Mai in Thailand and is teaching Middle School and IB Diploma there. Our new Primary Teacher will be Ms Tania Drower. Tania comes from the South Island in New Zealand and is a PYP Teacher currently working as at Bishop Mackenzie International School in Malawi.
We are not just replacing staff members but we have been very fortunate to employ two additional teachers to further enhance our programme in the Secondary School. Ms Cathy Marchmont will be joining us a Humanities and English Teacher. Cathy is joining us from Australia and she has a huge amount of experience working with Middle School students both in Australia and in international schools. Another additional teacher is Mr Jorge Castano who is a very experienced IB Biology and Chemistry Teacher from Spain. He will be joining Ms Graves to strengthen the Science Programme and allow us to offer the full compliment of science subjects.
They are a great team of teachers all with excellent references and qualifications and I am really excited that they are joining us here in ABIS. I will be publishing fuller biographies and some photos in the next couple of weeks. We have already started the process of introducing them to the school’s programmes and systems so that they will have a smooth and successful start.
As enrollment for next year is looking positive we may well be making some more appointments later on in the year but that’s all I’ve got for you right now!