Staffing News 21.05.2022

As with all schools at this time of year we say goodbye to some of our teachers as they choose to return home or look for new adventures in different locations. This year we wish the following staff all the best and thank them for their hard work and for all they have brought to our KIS community. Gemma Milligan (English) who is relocating to Singapore, Louise Davis (Geography & Psychology) and Frank Davis (Head of Maths) are returning to the UK, Laura Jane Service (Science & HoKS4) is relocating to Cyprus and Ms Ann Chin who will be starting a new overseas adventure. We wish them every success and know that they will always be a part of our KIS family.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the new teachers who will be joining us in the new school year. We are all very excited for their arrival in August.

As the weeks countdown to the big move, the excitement is mounting. I visited Sabah many years ago and instantly fell in love with place. Myself and my family are looking forward to becoming part of the KIS community, with my wife Nicola joining the teaching staff in KS2 and our two children joining Year 4 and Year 7. It will be twenty years this year since I started teaching science, specialising in Biology, in the UK. For the past 9 years I have also been a KS5 head of year, a role I have relished. I love to travel and experience nature first-hand, whether that be trekking through jungles or diving beneath the sea and I look forward to doing both and more once we’ve arrived.  I enjoy most sports and what I lack in skill I make up with enthusiasm with football, squash and golf being a few of my favourites.  Another passion of mine is food, whether that is foraging for, cooking or just eating and I know KK is a great place for all three.  I look forward to meeting you all soon!

I am excited to be joining the KIS family in Kota Kinabalu.  I am coming with my husband Andy, who will be joining the science department at KIS, along with my two children who will also be joining the school.  I have been at my current school for five years, in the city of Gloucester in the United Kingdom, (part of Harry Potter was filmed at our local Cathedral!) where I lead languages, outdoor learning and Forest School.  I love being in the outdoors and as a teacher, I try my hardest to provide as many engaging opportunities as possible for learning inside and outside of the classroom and it will be nice to do the outside part in a sunnier climate! I love the idea that children in my class leave as, authors, mathematicians, scientists, geographers, linguists, historians and sports people and very much instil the mindset of, ‘I cannot do it….YET!’ This will be my first international move as a teacher, and I am very much looking forward to embracing new cultures with my family.  I do love travelling and have been to Malaysia before but am excited to be able to explore even more of the country and visit other destinations whilst I am at KIS.  Outside of school life, I enjoy being active, anything from playing netball, squash, biking and going for family walks and adventures so I am already thinking when we can fit in a trip up Mount Kinabalu. I look forward to meeting you all very soon.

I’m currently living in Brighton, UK, and teaching in a seaside town called Worthing. I’ve been teaching English in the UK for five years, and previously taught for two years in Tokyo, Japan. I’m very excited to move to Borneo and to begin my experience teaching at Kinabalu International School. My interests include reading (some of my favourite authors are Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami and Philip Pullman), writing my own short stories, gaming and I am also into running regularly. I also love to travel as much as I can, so the opportunity to explore Borneo is something I am very much looking forward to. Previously, teaching abroad was a brilliant experience, and I am similarly excited to meet my new colleagues and students.

I am very excited to be joining all of you very soon. I have been a Primary school teacher for the past six years in rural England and most recently Munich, Germany. My classroom is always full of interactivity and learning in a variety of ways. As much as I love the winter sports here in Germany, I am eager to experience adventurous activities in warmer climates. I love the outdoors and play a variety of different sports that involve anything with a ball. As a keen cyclist and runner, I have recently completed my first duathlon and hope to continue into triathlon training. I am especially looking forward to scuba diving for the first time, hiking up Mount Kinabalu and discovering the surrounding areas when exploring this new home. I look forward to meeting everyone in the KIS community soon!

My family and I are looking forward to exploring another part of Malaysia as we are currently based just outside KL. I will be starting my 25th year of teaching and my career has been approximately equally split, between the UK and international positions (Kuwait, Oman and Malaysia). I will be coming with my wife Sharon and our two boys, James (13) and Andrew (11) to teach Secondary Mathematics. We are originally from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the Northeast of England and our home is close to where they film the Harry Potter movies! As well as enjoying the challenge of Mathematics I feel very strongly about inclusive education and supporting all learners whatever their ability. Away from work, I enjoy different cultural experiences, the outdoor life, golf, and playing my guitar. I also enjoy any racket sports, though my ability is variable. My family and I hope to try a bit more snorkelling in Sabah and, of course, explore the whole region of Borneo.

I am so grateful to spend every day teaching students about our precious planet and the humans around it! With a BSc in Social Psychology, I worked in education across the private and charity sectors for seven years before becoming a teacher. From running a lively tuition centre for KS1/2 students to heading up GCSE/A Level coaching programmes for a social mobility charity, I got to meet many wonderful students, teachers and parents. These experiences inevitably lead me into teaching and, eager to share what I’d learn from visiting over 50 countries. This will be my fourth year in the classroom and I’m excited to combine both of my passions by teaching geography and psychology at KIS next year.  As well as travelling which is my biggest interest, I love hiking, reading and trying new foods so I’ll probably be asking for your favourite spots to eat in Kota Kinabalu. Since I’m from Colchester in the east of England which is very flat, I love being surrounded by hills and mountains. My proudest achievement so far is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2012, and I’ve got my sights set on Mount Kinabalu to round off 2022! Can’t wait to meet you all soon and carry on learning about the world together.