English International School Moscow, South-West Campus

I am delighted to be heading into my second year as Head of School for EIS Moscow South West. I am originally from the South of England and enjoyed a successful career in publishing sales for fifteen years before re-training as a teacher. I spent the first nine years of my career working with children with additional needs as both a teacher of Humanities and as an Assistant Headteacher before moving into international education.

I moved to Mongolia in 2017 to take up the post of Head of Secondary at the British School of Ulaanbaatar. As a member of the senior leadership team I helped to lead the school through a successful COBIS inspection which saw BSU become one of the first schools in the world to attain Patron's Accreditation. In 2018 I was promoted to Academic Director which involved managing the daily running of the whole school, from early years up to A Level.

I have a BA Hons degree in History and a PGCE in Secondary education, from the Universities of Newcastle and Durham respectively. In 2016 I gained an MA in Medieval History from the University of Lincoln, and I am currently studying for my National Professional Qualification in Headship. As part of my role here at Moscow South West I teach History to A Level Students.

Over the past twelve months I have led a team which has raised academic standards across the school. The school outperforms UK schools in both GCSE and A Level results and the introduction of the Literacy Project has seen a sharp rise in both reading and writing standards. My goal is to continue providing a learning environment that is safe, happy and challenging for all of our students.

Mel Hitchcocks, Head of School