Richard Cairns remembered his childhood days quite clearly when he performed best in the subject where he was inspired by his teacher. Now the current headmaster of Brighton College in the UK, Cairns ensures the school gets all the teachers right.
Brighton College is a 60-minute drive from Heathrow airport in London.
"Teachers are responsible for inspiring children, and it is through being inspired that pupils build their confidence and raise their expectations," he commented.
Founded in 1845 by William Aldwin Soames, who collected a group of like-minded locals to join him in the task, Brighton College is now one of the most well recognised schools in the UK especially in terms of academic results. The College was the first public school founded in Sussex county where the town of Brighton is situated. In the 18th century, the school was one of the pioneers in teaching both modern languages and science.
A decade back when Cairns started working at the College, about 60 minutes from London's Heathrow airport, the school was ranked 147th of all co-educational schools in the UK by The Sunday Times newspaper. According to the headmaster, in the last three years, the school has climbed up to number one. It also won the UK's Independent School of the Year Award in 2013-2014. Cairns himself was in 2012 named England's Headmaster of the Year by Tatler magazine.
The headmaster attributed the success of the school — which currently serves 1,100 senior students and 1,200 junior students — to the quality of its teachers.
"No school can be successful without excellent relationships between teachers and children," he noted.
Next year, Brighton College will open a branch in Thailand. To be located in Bangkok's Krungthep Kritha Road, the school will first accept students aged two to eight in August 2016. The entire campus, which comprises pre-prep school, prep school and high school, is set to open in 2017 and is expected to have 1,500 students.
Nusara Banyatpiyaphod, chairman of Hands Management under which Brighton College Bangkok will be operated, also believes in the importance of good teachers when it comes to a students' academic success.
"An inspirational teacher is the key to students' success as it encourages children to think beyond borders with the support from their instructors," she explained. "Teachers have to be well educated, passionate and energetic which will enhance classroom relationships and eventually lead to a better performance in both teaching and learning."
According to Cairns, of all the top 20 schools in the UK, Brighton College is the only one that has branched out to Southeast Asia with Thailand as its first location. Brighton College also has two campuses in the Middle East — one in Abu Dhabi which was opened in 2011 and the other in Al Ain which started to operate in 2013.
"One of the problems in international schools [in Thailand] is that you get teachers who head to Southeast Asia because they want to have a nice two-year holiday and want to enjoy the sunshine in a different culture," Cairns commented. "We want them to move to our school because they care about teaching. So we will be appointing teachers [who will work in the Bangkok school] interviewed here in the UK by us so we can make sure high-quality teaching is going on."
And to ensure the consistency of the teaching quality, teachers at Brighton College UK are to undergo 360-degree appraisal every two years. This means teachers evaluate other teachers and they are also evaluated by the students too.
"Students will fill out in computer appraisals whether their teachers are good or not," Cairns explained of the multidimensional teacher evaluation. "And students can't just write anything, even abusive comments. The school gives them 24 statements such as 'Is my teacher passionate about his subject?', 'Does my teacher mark my work helpfully?'. And that's really useful. If a teacher doesn't do his work, then the headmaster should ask that teacher to leave."
Besides teachers, a well-designed curriculum is also paramount when it comes to academic experiences, he added. At Brighton College UK, Mandarin is compulsory for three years, starting at seven years old. This is expected to happen in the Bangkok branch too.
"We plan to have lessons that are going on in the UK to take place in the same manner in the Thai school," he added. "For example, a 15-year-old student here in the UK will be learning physics the same as in their Bangkok counterpart. [Students] can use the same materials which can be accessed from the internet. Teachers can also access the same materials as teachers in the UK or Abu Dhabi."
According to the headmaster, there are three ingredients for good education — academic results, vocational knowledge and life skills.
"All are important and good schools must focus on all three," he noted. "Academic results open doors for future study and provide a rewarding framework for academic enquiry. Vocational knowledge opens pupils' eyes to the opportunities that they will enjoy in the future. Life skills are obviously critical for all."
At the end of the day, there is nothing more essential than students being inspired by what they are doing. This is one of the most fruitful educational approaches for all students.
"Inspiring children is crucial," Cairns admitted. "Inspire them with a love for the subject. Then they will love it and do well in it."
Richard Cairns, headmaster of Brighton College UK.
Students in woodwork class at Brighton College UK.
At lunch, a nursery student is assigned by the teacher to allocate meals to their friends.
Children get 30 minutes of library and computer use a week.
Kindergarten students enjoying PE.
