The founding head of School at Phoenix House in Japan, Claire Fletcher, joins the podcast to share her insights on working in several brand new schools in the international sector and the ups and downs this brings.From the reality of arriving at a school still being built to why she believes you have to interview teachers for new schools in person to sense if it's really for them, she reveals why life as a founding school is 'not for the faint-hearted' - but is also incredibly rewarding.She also offers advice on staying calm when everything around you is brand new and answers are sometimes in short supply - and why this makes recruitment a vital component of setting up a new school.

We chat with Claire Holmes, head of School Counselling at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore to hear about the school's approach to managing pupil transitions - both on arrival and departure - and why including parents in this work is vital.She also explains why it is important international schools give due focus to 'stayers' - those pupils that remain in a school throughout their education but see many of their friends, and teachers, leave on a regular basis - to ensure this consistent loss does not affect them unduly.As part of this she also explains why she has written books designed to help schools and leaders do all this as best as possible to ensure wellbeing of pupils - and parents - remains a top priority.

In this episode of the Tes International College we head to China to chat with Garry Russell, Head of College at Dulwich College Shanghai (Pudong) and Lavinia Tong, head of Admissions & Marketing, to discus staff retention.They explain why this is such an important focus for the school and through a mix of career opportunities and ambitious goal setting, coupled with a strong community ethos, they aim to keep staff with the school for as long as possible.They also talk about how they are developing pupil alumni networks to help build their community feel and ensure past pupil success and life stories can be shared with current cohorts.

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we head to Saudi Arabia to chat with Dr Steffan Sommer, director general of Misk Schools to discuss the school's approach to teaching leadership as part of its standard curriculum.He explains how the course was developed with links to the High Performance Learning framework, why there is a focus on both subtle, in-lesson ideas, and specific leadership classes, and the need to ensure this work develop leaders ready for the 21st-century.He also outlines why the school has appointed an independent researcher to evaluate the work with the intention of releasing findings on best practice in this area to help other schools develop similar frameworks in the future - both in the country and around the world.

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we head to Japan to chat with Mark Beales, the principal (MYP/DP) at Osaka YMCA International School, to hear about a bespoke assessment diploma pathway the school created to sit alongside its IB programmes.He explains why this was formed and how it was created, the importance of having it accredited by WASC, and the work done to make parents, pupils and teachers aware of its purpose within the school's offering.

We chat with Lizzie Varley, an education advisor with Cognita Schools based in the Middle East, to discover how a cross-school focus on student wellbeing encompasses everything from staff development and helping pupils develop a positive mindset to considering how artificial intelligence will change the world children will inhabit and preparing them for this.She also talks about the importance of senior leadership buy-in towards wellbeing initiatives and how to balance this with pressure to deliver high academic outcomes at scale.

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we chat with Chris Woodhams, assistant principal (Academic) at St. Joseph’s Institution International School in Malaysia about how the school revamped its focus on students with English as an Additional Language (EAL).He explains how this involved bringing in outside consultants to help identify areas of strength and improvement, doubling its EAL department staff cohort and embedding a whole school approach to EAL including boosting training for staff to do this - and why all of this requires trial and error and giving staff time to develop these skills.

The director of the British School of New Delhi, Vanita Uppal, joins the Tes International podcast to discuss a major project in the school to overhaul its CPD offering to staff in order to ensure a consistency of quality and approach.She explains how this work was carried out and the practical changes they have made to incorporate this and why this project is now expanding to include administrative stuff too.She also discusses her own education career growth that has seen her spend 32 years at the school and the immense changes witnessed in that time.

In the first episode of the new academic year we chat with Simon O'Conner, director at Deira International School in Dubai and chief education officer of Al-Futtaim Education Foundation Chief Education Officer.He discusses how schools need to start thinking about the arrival of Generation Z teachers into the workplace, what they will expect from the world of work - from technology to how they are managed - and how this can be managed alongside the existing workforce.He also discusses the power of coaching to help drive career growth for teachers - and how school culture can make or break all this hard work.

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we chat with Daniel Jones, chief education officer at Globeducate, to discuss how the school group is managing the challenge of the rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence, chiefly ChatGPT.This includes working to understand how it could benefit teachers by reducing workloads by generating lessons templates or curriculum ideas, through to the risks it poses from plagiarism to if coursework-based assessment can survive into the future.He discusses how this work has included forming working groups to bring expert insights from across its groups and the need for a continued focus in this area given its rapid evolution.

In the latest episode of the Tes International podcast we chat with Evelyn Twebaze, the head at Oak International School in Uganda.She discusses how the school is coping with rapid growth and the changes this creates - from having to increase classroom sizes to building more accommodation for staff, and ensuring new teachers have the skills required to teach in a modern, forward-thinking way required for the setting.She also discusses the challenge of helping to diagnose children with special education needs and disabilities and provide the necessary adaptations for them, and the tricky art of explaining this to parents who are not always receptive to what they are being told.

We chat with Iain Henderson. Deputy Head (Educational Developments and Partnerships) at Wellington College and Chris Woolf, International Director, Wellington College International, about how private schools can run successful international school franchises.They discuss everything from the importance of regularly checking in with leaders at your overseas schools, to how you ensure you create the right ethos in a new setting that mirrors the home school.We also hear how their own Festival of EDucation is about to go global with new events planned by their overseas partners.

In the latest Tes International podcast we chat with Mark Leppard, the headmaster of The British School Al Khubairat, Abu Dhabi about why he still finds time to teach in the classroom despite a school leader - and the benefits he believes this brings to his leadership.He also explains why the school has created its own leadership programme for students to help augment their learning beyond A levels - and how this course has evolved over the years.Finally he talks about how heads can avoid the loneliness that can occur when leading a school and the importance of maintaining close relationships with other senior staff or leaders across your region - or indeed the world.

In the first episode of a new series of the Tes International Podcast, we head to Oman to chat with Kai Vacher, the principal of the British School of Muscat, to hear about an initiative to deliver remote education to a sister school, 1,000km away.He explains how the initiative came to life before the pandemic and grow through various lockdowns to help boost provision for students at Key Stage 3 and 4 and increase pupil numbers too.Vacher also explains about the various hurdles and unexpected issues that can occur developing a program like this - and how to overcome them - to help any other school thinking of doing something similar get a sense of what might lie ahead, and why it's all worth it.

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we chat with Mark Steed, the Principal and CEO of Kellett School, the British International School in Hong Kong about how leaders can give staff meaningful career growth opportunities towards their own leadership goals.He touches on how this involves recognising you may lose talented staff over time - and why this should be embraced - and why existing leaders should spend time explaining the less obvious aspects of leadership to those below them to help set them up for the future

In this episode of the Tes International podcast we chat with Liz Free, CEO and director at International School Rheintal (ISR) in Switzerland, about how she set about establishing a relationship with her board of governors that worked for both her and them to benefit the school, and why this isn't as easy as it sounds.She also discusses the tricky topic of when and how to call on external consultants to help you - from how you pick the right person or organisation for your needs and making it clear what you want them to do - and why sometimes you have to decide their advice is not right for your setting, even if you've paid good money for it. All that and lots more...

In this episode, we chat with Matt Payne, the head of lower school at Nord Anglia International School New York, to hear about how the school works hard to ensure the induction process for new starters goes as well as possible.He explains how this starts at the interview stage as the school looks to get a sense of how candidates may settle in such a fast-paced and bustling city - and how they help them sort the numerous administrative tasks that await.He also explains why buddy systems are back after the pandemic - and why a scavenger hunt can be a great way to help people learn about their new home.

Tes talks with the principal of the British International School Ukraine, David Cole, about how he and his school community have coped during the Russian invasion of the country – and why keeping education going must remain the top priority, whatever the situation

Building strong relationships with the local community is something all schools seek to do - but it is not something that happens by magic and takes time, trust and effort to create genuine connections and dialogue.This is especially true in the international school sector, where many schools have been perceived as silos of privilege and may have struggled to integrate with the wider community. This was the challenge that faced Jonathan Warner when he became headmaster of the British School of Ulaanbaatar in 2019.However, as he explains in the latest Tes International podcast, he set about changing this from the start across the school - from getting pupils to see the reality of life beyond the school gates to reaching out to local government officials to build relationships and form long-term partnerships.He explains how he did this, the impact it has had, why he sees it as fundamental to the ethos of international education - and what it's like to live and work in Mongolia.

As the pandemic recedes in many countries around the world international schools are reporting an increase in safeguarding concerns as the impact of two years of studying at home and a lack of socialisation takes its toll.With this in mind, we chat with Kate Moskwa, principal of Abdulrahman Kanoo International School (ARKIS) in Bahrain, to hear about how her school has seen this issue play out and the work they are doing to support students and give staff the CPD they need to maintain their skills in this area.We also talk about the wider issues of safeguarding in the international sector - from the cultural differences between settings to the importance of using the expertise of local staff to discuss sensitive issues with families.