Leading Your International School Visits Ulink High School of Suzhou Industrial Park

by LYIS

LYIS continued the Leading Your International School tour of China, visiting Ulink High School of Suzhou Industrial Park to talk with the school’s Academic Principal Moses Oriko and Vice Principal Elsa Ye. Moses was also extremely courteous in extending our visit to include an introduction to his wider Chinese administrative team who were only too pleased to share the school’s progress. 

(Elsa Ye, Vice Principal describes the school’s progress)

Ulink High School of Suzhou Industrial Park has developed a tremendous culture, with a large number of its teaching staff staying in excess of five years. Since being established in 2010, the school has seen 5 of its former alumni return to the school as teachers. We are given a guided tour of the school’s Steam Centre by one. 

The school’s motto is ‘Student First – Teacher Oriented and Quality Assured.’ I was consistently reminded of the importance and value the school places upon its teachers. 

(George Liu, STEAM Teacher introduces the programme)

In 2023, 67% of those who applied to universities in the UK received offers from the Top 10 Universities. It receives regular Oxbridge offers. 

When I asked Moses what the most valuable asset of the school is, he had no hesitation in answering ‘Respect and trust‘. Without a doubt, the most valuable thing in our school is our teachers. We trust them, give them certain freedoms and we think that teachers are professionals and they can do their jobs well”. That trust also extends to the students, as the school gives significant ‘free’ thinking time.

Moses also talked about the current challenge that a growing school represents. “When you grow bigger, you need to maintain a higher quality. And related to the quality of teachers, teaching and students is the quality of student’s wellbeing“. He adds “If you don’t pay attention to that (wellbeing), you may not sustain yourself“.

Moses is a strong advocate of ‘Assessment literacy‘ and works hard with his teachers to ensure that high-quality assessment is embedded consistently at the right junctures in the learning process. 

When interviewing, Moses is a firm believer in the power of scenario-based questions and often asks potential candidates about how they have solved particular challenges. He also makes a point of asking potential hires what their own ‘non-negotiables’ are – what they are not prepared to move on.  

Moses is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council of International Schools. He regularly facilitates the NPQH programme. We found many of his values to be perfectly in line with LYIS. From what we can see, Moses is taking his entire school community on his leadership journey and we look forward to collaborating with him on a wide range of leadership projects. 

LYIS extends its thanks to Moses, Elsa Ye and Miss Fang for their time, interest and willingness to share with us everything about the school. 

If you are an international school and would like us to visit, email: amy@leadingyourinternationalschool.com

#LYIS 25 our first-ever conference on international school leadership, is coming to China. To be part of it, WeChat: AndreDouble

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