International Head of School

This new school will be launching in August 2018 as a private boarding school and will ultimately be a full K-12 school helping highly motivated students to attain excellent academic results with the purpose of attaining entry to top UK and US universities. The school is owned and operated by Runcai Education, which was formed to create schools with an international flavour for Chinese students. Runcai Education operate a successful school in Suzhou (the Suzhou International Academy), which opened 3 years ago and has 1300 students, and the school in Xuzhou will be their second opening.

The British Council is pleased to be working with Runcai Education on the development of this exciting new bilingual school in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, a city of 9 million inhabitants and a 2.5 hour train journey from central Shanghai. Initially, the British Council will be working with Runcai Education on the creation and on-going development of the international curriculum which also includes initial international teacher recruitment. The British Council will play a very active role during the important first years of the school.

Phase one of the school will open in autumn 2018 on a 15 acre purpose built campus, catering for students aged 11-18 and at capacity will be for 1080 students. This will be followed by phase two, on an additional 15 acres and catering for students aged 3-10. The whole school will eventually have a total capacity of 2,550 students. Phase one is in the final stages of construction and will include first class learning facilities, excellent boarding quarters, and extensive sports installations.

Phase one is anticipated to open with c.300 students across the school of which approximately 50 pupils will be joining IGCSE programmes in the international section from Year 10 onwards (ie equivalent of Year 11 in the UK). The curriculum will be bilingual and bicultural (UK and Chinese). Students will be prepared for the compulsory Zhong Kao exam at the end of year 9, followed by IGCSEs and AS, A2, and A-levels in years 10-13.

Teaching staff for Primary and Lower Secondary will consist of qualified Chinese national curriculum teachers with international teachers providing English support, ESOL examinations and programme enrichment. In Upper Secondary there will be an international division staffed by international teachers and management with lodgings provided on site.

The Board of Runcai Education, with the assistance of the British Council, are currently seeking to appoint an International Head of School who will provide academic, pastoral and administrative leadership to the international school, primarily the upper secondary years where pupils will be following a UK curriculum based around IGCSE and A Level examinations. As the Founding Head of the International School, the post holder will establish robust school systems, academic content, university guidance and lead a newly assembled team of classroom practitioners to deliver high quality teaching in a challenging time frame.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact either Liz Gibbs on +44(0) 7552 845990 or email liz@lsceducation.com or contact Edward Clark on +44 (0)7718 588616, or email at edward@lsceducation.com. To apply for the post, please visit www.lsceducation.com and submit your up-to-date CV and a letter of application, quoting code ‘XA’. The letter should incorporate why you are applying for the position and what particular attributes and qualities you would bring to the role.

Key dates:

Closing date: 4 May 2018
Longlist interviews: 17,18 May 2018 (by Skype)
Shortlist interviews: 6,7 June 2018 (in Xuzhou, China)

Runcai Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undergo relevant background checks.