Head of Junior School

North London Collegiate School Ho Chi Minh City seeks a Head of Junior School

 Effective start date: August 2024

 The School reserves the right to make an appointment before any deadline dates if a suitable candidate is found.

Proposed interview dates: w/c 15th April 2024

Closing date for Applications: 4th April 2024

NLCS (UK) 

North London Collegiate School (UK) was founded in 1850 by Frances Mary Buss; her aim was to offer an academically ambitious education to girls, similar to that available to their brothers. The School has pioneered women’s education for over 160 years and remains among the highest achieving schools in the UK. Exam results regularly top the UK league tables and the School has repeatedly outperformed other prestigious schools in terms of Oxbridge success rates. Unlike many UK independent schools, NLCS has a firm commitment to ensuring close links with its overseas branch schools. Every effort is made to replicate the ethos and standards of NLCS overseas. Wherever possible, staff for overseas schools are interviewed in London and by NLCS (UK) staff, as well as staff from our overseas schools. All teachers, once appointed, are invited to travel to London for induction and training at the UK school and this is generously funded by our partners.  

As the NLCS family of schools expands, it is hoped that partnership activities will expand so that each school in the group develops links with the others. We also hope to see staff join the group in order to build their career with us and benefit from the many professional development and career-progression opportunities, which a group of world-class schools such as ours can offer. 

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS 

In 2011, NLCS opened its first international school in South Korea – NLCS Jeju. Working with an agency of the South Korean government, the school was the first of a number of international schools to be built as part of an ambitious project to transform the island of Jeju into a global ‘hub’, The School opened with over 400 pupils and, now in its tenth year of operation, has reached its capacity of 1500 students. NLCS Jeju offers the IB Diploma to all students in the Sixth Form, and in 2021 the cohort of 110 achieved an average points score of 39 placing it in the top 50 schools globally. 

The second NLCS international school, NLCS Dubai, opened in 2017 and has reached a roll of 1100 students as it enters its fifth year of operation. NLCS Dubai is a K-12 co-educational, IB continuum school. In 2021, with only its second graduating cohort of students, the average IBDP points score was 40. 

In 2020, NLCS (Singapore) opened its doors and has grown swiftly to over 800 students in just its second year of operation. The school is a K-12, co-educational school offering a bespoke primary curriculum, followed by the IB Middle years and Diploma Programmes. 

NLCS HCMC 

Founded in partnership with Embassy Education, North London Collegiate School HCMC offers an academically ambitious education in keeping with the aspirational ethos of NLCS (UK). The School provides the same impressive range of extra-curricular activities for which the NLCS schools are well known, and to foster well-rounded individuals who are capable of becoming leaders. 

NLCS HCMC aims to be the top-performing IB World School in country, supporting the aspirations and abilities of all students; as a result, they and their families will choose to stay with NLCS throughout their Primary and Secondary schooling.  

NLCS HCMC will be a dual language immersion school, and aims to seek authorisation as an IB continuum school for the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma programmes. The school will also be approved by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) as teaching the Vietnamese National Curriculum. As a result, a number of lessons per week are devoted to the teaching of Vietnamese language and culture, with the school adopting a bilingual strategy throughout the Junior school with the emphasis shifting gradually to teaching predominantly in English by the end of Grade 5. 

THE ETHOS  

The ethos of NLCS HCMC echoes that of NLCS (UK) – every effort is made to recreate the ethos of the UK ‘parent’ school, whilst taking into account and remaining rooted within the local culture and context.  

The School aims to provide a first-rate ambitious academic education for every child, which inspires a life-long love of learning and gives the knowledge, attitudes and confidence to flourish.  

At North London Collegiate schools, academic success is gained, not through an emphasis on results, by creating an atmosphere of rigorous scholarship; students are encouraged to study beyond the examination syllabus in order to develop their intellectual independence and love of their subjects. The pastoral well-being is of the utmost importance and good relationships are fostered between students and staff, as well as between the students themselves.  

The extra-curricular life of NLCS schools is vibrant, both in academic and non-academic fields. Students participate in a wide range of subject-focussed clubs and societies, from weekly book groups to Debating, to ‘Mad Scientists’ and ‘Model United Nations’. In the UK School, over forty academic clubs and societies operate weekly meetings and events, in order to give every opportunity for students to develop their intellectual curiosity, independence of thought and genuine love of subject; there are a large number of student-produced academic journals which reflect the particular interests of these societies. 

Non-academic activities also thrive as NLCS schools aims to create an environment in which the whole personality can grow. Extra-curricular Sport, Music, Art and Drama are all of excellent quality and over seventy activities take place at lunch times and after school each day, with large numbers of students involved.  

THE CURRICULUM 

The curriculum reflects the academic ambition and aspirations of NLCS (UK). As mentioned above, an extensive extra-curricular programme of Sport, Music, Drama and other activities, which closely reflects that at NLCS (UK), are provided to enrich and broaden the education offered, developing the talents and confidence of students. 

NLCS HCMC aspires to be a MOET-approved, bilingual “IB Continuum School’’ offering the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) in the Junior School in Grades 1-5, Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Grades 6 to 9, Pre-IBDP in Grade 10 and Diploma Programme in the Sixth Form (Grades 11-12). 

LIFE IN VIETNAM 

Life in Vietnam is a blend of many different influences. The architecture still displays French influences and the Chinese influence on civilization and government. Vietnam has a rich history and a vibrant future. Expats moving to Vietnam will experience a culture thought to be the oldest in East Asia. Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam with a population of more than 9 million. HCMC is not only a commercial centre but also an industrial, cultural, scientific, technological, and tourist centre. HCMC has a strong expat community and Vietnam is very welcoming of incomers. There are numerous historic and modern attractions to explore within the city and food lovers will be spoilt for choice. The city is also ideally located for exploring the wider region during term breaks.