Principal's Blog

The Fear and the Freedom: A Kitchen Table Dialogue on Agency

by Kanwal Malik As school leaders, we spend our days dissecting educational management, leadership theories and accreditation standards. We draft policies designed to level up international school ...

Being Excellent Was Never Enough

by Shaina Neal On Imposter Syndrome and learning the hustle My second year as a school leader, I sat in a room with principals, organizational leaders, and heads of institutions, many of whom had not ...

Purposeful Data: Progress in Primary Data

by Callum Watt Why Use Data? Qualitative data in primary schools are far more valuable than the quantitative data, which is pulled regularly from summative assessments. The gap analyses we run and ...

From the Surgery Receptionist to the Principal’s Office: Why Consistency is the Ultimate Leadership Hack

by Rob Daws In exactly one month, I’ll hit 40 and I’m almost certainly having a midlife crisis Like many people approaching that milestone, I’ve found myself in a period of deep reflection – I ...

Humanize Your Classroom: Teaching Beyond the Curriculum

by Patrick Rakiro Building Human Connections in Learning As a seasoned educator, I believe that education is more than delivering content. It is about shaping lives. As we begin this academic journey ...

What If We Inspire Our Students to Cultivate Moral Ambition?

by Amulya Malaki Dear Aspiring Leader, If you are preparing to lead an international school today, you are not simply assuming the mantle of academic stewardship. You are stepping into a profoundly ...

Elevate Wellbeing Without Adding More

by Cassandra Clark There is a moment in almost every school year when someone says, “We should really do something about wellbeing.” It usually comes after a difficult incident, a spike in behaviour ...

Teacher Recruitment in International Schools: Tame, Critical, or Wicked?

by Emmanuel N Barthalomew This reflective piece, as most of my writings tend to be, is a summary of my musings. Between teacher interviews across subjects, phases, and leadership posts, I’m also ...

Head and Heart – A Balancing Act

by Lisa Thorpe With over 20 years in education, including a decade in senior leadership, I have cultivated a leadership style that is uniquely my own, rooted in heart, experience, and ...