Drew Skellern

I am an accomplished educator with 15 years of teaching experience in schools in Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Having taught in a range of international school contexts, I have facilitated the IBDP, MYP, IGCSE, British and Australian curricula.

Leadership Experience

In my current role as Creativity Activity Service Learning & Lasallian Values Coordinator (CASL), I am responsible for the successful facilitation of the IBDP CAS program to support over 440+ students to successfully attain their Diploma. To achieve this, I lead 30 CAS advisors and work closely with pastoral leaders, the IB Diploma Coordinator and SLT.

I am also responsible for introducing, resourcing and administering the whole school CAS program, which is embedded within pastoral programs, classroom curriculum and aligned with the CCA program. The success of this program is dependent on working with all key stakeholders, facilitating workshops/training and conducting ongoing reviews.

As Co-Curricular Activities Coordinator, I am responsible for the organisation and coordination of over 150 co-curricular activities (CCAs) each academic term. It is my responsibility to ensure that every student can engage with one or more experiences that will challenge, inspire or help them grow. The success of the program is dependent on strong relationships and collaboration with the Head of Sports and PE, Aesthetics subject lead, Service Learning Coordinator and enrichment officers.

My prior leadership experiences also include roles as History Team Leader, Head of House, Head of Outdoor Education and Duke of Edinburgh Coordinator.

Teaching

As a History specialist, I have experience as a team leader of the IBDP, HSC, and Junior History programs, Extended Essay Supervisor, and have significant experience teaching the Australian Curriculum emphasising inquiry-based learning and critical thinking. My experience as a marker of Australian (NSW) and international History curricula (IBDP) reflects my knowledge, expertise and capacity to support students and colleagues.

My classroom experience also includes a range of subjects in the Humanities and Social Sciences, such as Geography, Sociology, and English as well as interdisciplinary humanities subjects across the Australian and British National Curricula. 

With significant teaching experience already under my belt and having been a middle manager within international schools, I seek to continue to develop my capacity as a senior leader. My career spans teaching in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore and this has provided me with opportunities to gain insight into the ways that local and international contexts influence and shape the direction, management and vision of a school. The diversity of my experience has enabled me to reflect and learn from other teachers who have had varied and interesting career trajectories and this has allowed me to more closely define a vision for my own personal framework for leadership. As such, I would classify myself as an authentic leader who aims to develop the capacity of my staff by investing in my colleagues. I seek to understand their strengths and nurture a conversation that helps teachers identify their own career goals and aspirations in teaching and learning, and want to work with them to carve out an achievable career trajectory that fulfils these aims.

Having worked at international schools and completed my Master of Education in Global Learning, I aspire to embed internationalisation into the framework of the schools I belong to. I want to bring the ‘global’ to international education in a way that is not tokenistic, but instead meaningful, eye-opening for students and truly reflective of global citizenship education. I want to encourage teachers and students to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of the historical, cultural and ideological diversity that comes from working in an international-melting-pot-community that is often found in international schools. I believe I can be influential in the development of programs and strategies which fosters a greater acceptance of diversity where through the acknowledgement and value of difference, students can learn to problem-solve and work towards constructive solutions for all. I believe this type of framework is increasingly more important as the world starts to become more nationalistic rather than global in its outlook. In preparing students for an ever-evolving future and challenging them to actively take responsibility for shaping a better world, I believe that international schools have an obligation and duty to ensure that they are framed and coloured by the ‘global’ in mission and practice.

My commitment to best practice, particularly in an international school setting, can be seen in my Master of Education (Global Learning) which I was awarded a High Distinction Average. 

I consider myself to be an ambitious educator dedicated to enhancing my own learning and I model this within my classroom. As a curriculum leader, I have no doubt that my academic research will support and strengthen my capacity to lead in an international school setting and foster enduring relationships as I build and develop school programs and initiatives.

My research papers reflect my interest, experience, and expertise in the fields of international education and international schools and I hope that visitors to this site will view some of my research- Available HERE.

As an active individual, I enjoy maintaining a healthy lifestyle and being outdoors. I am a competent soccer player and an experienced surfer, snowboarder, and scuba diver. 

I am an avid traveller who enjoys learning about new cultures and ways of living. I use these experiences to inform my teaching practice and engage with my students from diverse backgrounds in a meaningful way.

I eagerly seek new opportunities to grow and learn in areas that push my known limits to reach my personal potential. I aim to inspire this same approach in the students I teach.