LYIS Visits Concordia International School Hanoi

by LYIS

🇻🇳 During our last school visit in Hanoi, Vietnam, Leading Your International School spent the morning at Concordia International School Hanoiand met with the school Principal, Doug Grove

Concordia Hanoi is a private, non-profit, co-educational, international day school near the Van Tri Golf Estate. The school was founded in 2011 as a Preschool to Grade 7 and has added the next grade level annually since.

In the meeting, we discussed:

The School Development Plan:

• Doug talked me through the opportunities and challenges at the school in recent years, emphasising his underlying need to build capacity and place service projects at the heart of integrating the school’s core values. With the student body having grown steadily from 40 to 521, the current focus is on enhancing service-related activities and creating sustainable partnerships.

‘High-Touch’ 

• Doug uses an approachable, hands-on leadership style, involving direct interaction with staff and students, which he terms ‘high-touch’. He consistently gathers feedback and always try to be transparent in the school’s decision-making processes. These help build active community involvement. As we continued the school tour, we met the school’s science teacher, Diane Kanas who showed an amazing array of scientific models made by students (see the attached photos).

“It’s really important to create psychological safety and trust within teams,” Doug said. He advocates face-to-face communication over email to resolve issues – something we fully endorse.

Quality Control and Community:

• The school maintains exceptionally high standards and a premium quality of education. The investment in the campus and its facilities is incredible. The Non-Profit status means significant reinvestment. Its size allows for strong personal relationships and a ‘high-touch’ approach, where staff and students are well-known to each other.

• The school organizes various community-building activities, including social events, service projects, and professional development sessions to enhance staff cohesion and engagement. This promotes direct, open communication within the school.

Hiring and Retention:

• The school emphasises recruiting high-quality teachers who fit the school’s values and community-focused ethos. This ensures that both teachers and their children (where applicable) are a good fit for the school.

Professional Development:

• A notable focus is providing professional development opportunities for expatriate AND local Vietnamese staff. The school has implemented a policy where local staff have access to a considerable budget for professional development annually-something we feel passionately will help to level up international school leadership.

Leading Your International School expresses our sincere appreciation to Concordia International School Hanoi and Doug Grove for making this journey so valuable.

LYIS is proud to partner with WildChina Education

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