A School Is Only As Good As…

The success of Epsom College in Malaysia (ECiM) is based not only on the exceptional pupils that we attract to the school, pivotal though that is, but also on the outstanding abilities of our teaching staff. The traditional mantra, based upon many generations of educationalists in the UK, of ‘A school is only as good as its teachers’, continues to hold true. ECiM is extremely fortunate in possessing a first-class teaching body, encompassing the very best of UK and international experience. We have staff, and Headmasters, who have taught at elite UK independent schools, whilst the diverse experience of our staff is encapsulated by the range of countries or cities in which our colleagues have worked: Australia, Cambodia, Canada, Dubai, England, New Zealand, Vietnam, Wales…the list is endless and the ECiM College community is all the better for it, allowing us to more fully appreciate the backgrounds of our students who hail from 25 different nations. Furthermore, we encourage Malaysian applicants for our teaching posts, seeking to mesh the very best local teachers with our keen international profile.

Nevertheless, despite this range of background, a common unifier for many of our teachers is their education in the UK, both initially at Russell Group Universities and subsequently in their teacher training. This is evident through our Prep to Senior School, and is a hallmark of all that makes ECiM’s education rich and vibrant. Indeed, in addition to a number of doctorates on the staff list, we have First Class Honours graduates, university prize winners and colleagues who began their teaching career in hallowed university cloisters.

The key determinant, of course, is the impact that a talented set of teachers can have with a gifted pupil cohort. Ultimately, it is pupil outcomes, both attainment and welfare, that count and serve as a benchmark to evaluate progression. At ECiM our teachers strive for excellence, are unforgiving on mediocrity and insist on exemplary behaviour. We need our teachers to imbue forensic subject knowledge into their classes, reflecting their own earlier training, to push students to find ever deeper levels of meaning in their courses. In this manner, our pupils will become inquisitive independent learners, and they too can continue the quest to delve for ever greater knowledge on their areas of interest.

In essence, therefore, in 2018 perhaps a more enlightening College motto should really be that ‘A school is only as good as the quality of the relationship that exists between teachers and pupils’, for it is that diversity of approach, based upon sound educational principles, which truly determines the greatness of a school