PUBLICATION
International School Leader Magazine
Latest issue – August 2025
August 2025
WELCOME
As a new academic year begins, international schools around the world are embracing fresh opportunities to support and empower their communities. At ISC Research’s Annual Conference this July, we explored how meaningful relationships are key to navigating complexity and creating lasting impact for students
That theme continues in this edition of ISL Magazine. Our contributors offer powerful insights into how schools are fostering belonging, developing student agency, and responding with intention to evolving needs. From multilingual support to middle leadership, recruitment to sustainable community partnerships, the stories within this issue reflect the innovation and care shaping international education today.
In the busy months ahead, we hope this issue provides space for reflection and inspiration; and a reminder that connection is at the heart of great teaching and leadership.
Adam Gray-Sims
Editor
In this issue
How do you enjoy reading our magazine? We keep options open for you! You can access all articles featured in the latest issue below, or download a PDF version via the ISC Community. If you’ve not already done so, click here to sign up!
Choosing Partners, Not Projects: Why relationships are the foundation of successful international school growth
As more UK independent schools look overseas to diversify income and extend their educational impact, choosing the right market often dominates strategic discussions. Yet, in practice, the greatest determinant of success is rarely the contract or business model, it's the strength of the partnership behind it. Drawing on his experience of international school development, Dave Bates explores why relationships, governance and shared purpose are the foundations of successful international growth. Read more
Schools are Brilliant. They May Just Be Answering the Wrong Question.
As artificial intelligence reshapes access to knowledge, schools are being forced to confront a deeper question about their purpose. Ben Whitaker explores why the future of education may depend less on information delivery and more on the uniquely human experiences schools can provide. Read more
Depth Over Dispersion: Leading Coherent Learning in Complex Times
In a fast-changing educational landscape, the challenge is no longer innovation but coherence. Nick Casey, Head of Primary at Dulwich College Suzhou, explores how aligning leadership, systems, and culture can transform ambitious ideas into meaningful, lasting learning. Read more
Failing Our Future: Why Education Must Evolve to Prepare Young People for a Collapsing World
Young people are already stepping forward in movements for climate justice, equity and peace; but are schools structured to support them? Naheed Bardai explores why education must evolve beyond subject silos and exam metrics and shares how UWC Atlantic is embedding systems thinking and ethical leadership at the heart of its curriculum. Read more
Coaching the Next Generation: A Student-Led Revolution in Pastoral Support
What happens when students are trained not to give advice, but to coach? At British School Muscat, Sixth Formers are learning professional coaching skills to support their peers, transforming pastoral care into a student-led model that builds confidence, inclusion, and emotional intelligence across the whole school. Read more
Identifying Learning Gaps Early: A Data-Informed Approach in Cambridge Schools
Teachers make hundreds of instructional decisions each day, often with limited time and incomplete information. How can international schools identify learning gaps early, personalise support at scale, and turn classroom data into meaningful action? Read more
Co-Designing for Impact: How the Global Impact Diploma is Changing the Story About International Education
As international schools rethink how learning prepares students for an uncertain world, the Global Impact Diploma offers a bold alternative: a co-designed, competency-based program that puts agency, well-being, and real-world impact at the heart of secondary education. Read more
The AI Safety Capsule: A Leadership Framework for Safe and Strategic AI in International Schools
Artificial intelligence is already transforming teaching, learning and leadership but most schools lack a clear, strategic framework for safe adoption. The AI Safety Capsule offers international school leaders a practical model for governance, capability-building and risk management in an AI-driven world. Read more
Sustaining Schools Through Wellbeing, Values, and Culture
This quarter’s ISL Magazine theme explores a question every school, regardless of context or curriculum, must eventually face: how can support for staff, students, and communities be sustained over time? Three contributors – Matthew Savage from The Mona Lisa Effect, Steven W. Edwards from Vega Schools, and Olivia Bugden from Hochalpines Institut Ftan (HIF) – approach this question from different angles, yet their insights reveal a shared imperative. For schools to truly flourish, they must treat wellbeing, values, and culture not as parallel initiatives but as interconnected forces shaping international education. Read more
We Can Do Hard Things: Empowering Young People to Face Challenges
At Hochalpines Institut Ftan, wellbeing isn’t just a lesson, it’s a way of helping students face challenges head-on. From classroom setbacks to rock climbing on the mountainside, students learn to recognise discomfort, manage their responses, and grow from hard experiences, discovering that resilience and self-awareness are skills that extend far beyond school. Read more
KEEP IN TOUCH
Never miss an article
Subscribe to ISL Magazine to receive regular updates on our most recent articles.