Caroline Ratcliffe was teaching at a primary school in Brixton when a particularly wearying bus journey on a dull, grey day prompted her to start perusing job adverts for posts overseas.

And so it was that in 2010 she headed to Thailand for what she expected to be a two-year stint. Fifteen years on, she is still living in the country, is married and has two sons.

What’s more, in August 2023 she became head of St Andrews International School Sukhumvit 107 in Bangkok, an all-through school which is part of international school group, Cognita, and which has a roll of almost 700 students, aged from 2 to 18.

Here, she speaks to Tes about a typical week in her role and life living and working in Thailand.

Strategic leadership

Our school is a really inclusive school - it caters for all students and works with families to find out what they need rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

We have lots of different pathways for students. We teach the ASDAN programme for students who are not able to access the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme - we also do the IB Career-related Programme.

So, St Andrews as a whole [there are four St Andrews international schools in Thailand] is known for learning support, and now we are ensuring that we are known as an academically excellent school, too.

The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive; we manage to do both and that’s something I’m really proud of.

Teaching and learning

Of course, this means consistency and challenge are a big focus for us - thinking about “what does personalised learning look like?” to challenge and support higher-ability students but cater for those students who have additional needs.

A big part of this is ensuring that teachers are meeting our 10 areas of high-quality teaching that we introduced last year, such as learning objectives and success criteria. Every lesson must have that clarity around what the focus is, and how to get there.

We are using video observation so teachers can watch and reflect on their processes. They do this with a coach - they watch the video separately and then talk together about what they have seen. The expectation is that teachers will undertake at least four coaching cycles in a year.

Part of this work has also included helping our middle leaders to get used to difficult conversations in that coaching role if a teacher is not at the level we want - from when it’s appropriate to raise issues, and when it’s not, to the kind of language you might use.

Target setting

We also ask our middle leaders and subject coordinators to think about their goals and areas of focus for the year so expectations are clear.

It’s an opportunity to talk about any professional development they might want but also to discuss anything they are worried about - or excited for - and develop support and ways of helping.

Parent and community engagement

Our parents really rate international education, and it’s a real privilege to manage a school, so I make sure they see me regularly - I’m on the gate every morning and accessible more generally. They know they can pop in to see me and I know them and their children, and they have that trust in me.

Making sure we are a listening school is a big part of this. I have this huge piece of paper covered with Post-it notes with feedback from parents about what they love about the school but also things that they feel need to be improved.

I work my way through it as the year goes on and do what I can, but I’ll also tell them if I can’t do something and explain why. It shows that we are listening because they know their children’s needs best.

Accreditation

We are moving our school accreditation to the Council of International Schools because they are recognised in Japan and China, and that’s more reflective of our students.

So we are looking at the framework and gathering all the evidence, and then we will have a prep visit in February. There are some similarities [with our previous framework], such as safeguarding and health and safety, but other parts are about global citizenship and sustainable leadership, and supporting our students with leadership, and helping them to understand their privilege and using it for the betterment of society. That’s what I’m excited about.

The status of teaching and lifestyle

Teachers are held in the utmost respect in Thailand so there isn’t the same difficult situation with behaviour that teachers in the UK can face.

Here, the teaching you can get done in the time you have is just incredible. The children want to learn - they love to learn, and in Asian culture being academic is a positive thing. I love having my children growing up surrounded by that.

In some ways I lead a very similar life to the life I would have led at home. I take the boys to basketball or football on a Saturday morning. All in all, it’s a wonderful place to live, the cost of living in quite good and it’s a great springboard for travel.

During the week I don’t get home until late so I have about an hour with my family in the evening and in my down time I like to read or listen to podcasts. On a Monday I also play netball with other staff from the school. It’s a nice time for people to realise I’m human!

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