Meet the judges

As CEO of COBIS, Colin works with British International schools across more than 80 countries worldwide.

Representing the sector, he’s appointed to the UK Government’s international Education Sector Advisory group and the UCAS International Advisory Group. Plus, he’s a founding member of the International Task Force on Child Protection, a Trustee of the British School in Tokyo.

He has taught in the UK, Asia and Europe working with the Department for Education in the UK and with the Government Office for London has led educational projects on a global scale.

Safeguarding is of paramount importance to COBIS and Colin has a strong partnership with ACRO, cementing COBIS’ position as the founding Global Ambassador for the International Child Protection Certificate (ICPC), and our commitment to keeping children safe around the globe.

Natasha Hilton is an experienced primary school leader who has been in education for over 16 years. After leading in inner city schools in London in the UK she moved into international education in the Middle East.

She moved to Qatar as Head of Primary at Park House English School last year after a successful six years as part of the leadership team at British School Muscat, Oman.

Natasha is a strategic lead for WomenEd and on the board of advisors for TES. She works with BSME and is leading the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion network.

Kirsty is a committed lifelong learner and endeavours to understand the specific needs and cultural expectations of the multicultural groups she works with, focusing on adapting teaching and learning around this understanding using a transformational approach.

She currently leads Continuous Professional Development at the Institute of Learning in Wellington College China. She’s a highly experienced and outstanding teacher and lecturer with knowledge and expertise across the primary age range and within the higher education sector where she worked with future teachers in Initial Teacher Education, leading Primary English. She’s also passionate about developing teachers to excel.

Ruth is the Principal at The British School of Amsterdam, and has worked in international schools around the world for 26 years. She is a school leader with passion. She enjoys building relationships with students, parents and teachers to develop trust, confidence and a supportive community.

Ruth has expertise in strategic planning and implementation, change management, collaborative teamwork and assessment for learning. She has an MBA in International Education and has achieved the Certificate of International School Leadership from the Principal’s Training Center. She enjoys spending time with her family and playing games of all types with them.

Samantha is a primary school year leader and lead practitioner for CPD and training at British School Muscat, where she has worked for almost a decade.  Her varied career spans many years experience in both the health and education sector, leading professional development strategies and initiatives. 

Samantha began her career in the NHS before moving into the education sector as a curriculum lead, lecturer and teacher. 

As well as being a pathway tutor and QTS assessor, she is currently a board member for the TES Global Advisory Board, contributing to international school training and development.

Chris Seal is an experienced educator and currently Head of a Senior School at Tanglin Trust School in Singapore.

A twenty-year career in UK independent schools, latterly as Deputy Head at Millfield, culminated in his appointment to be the third Principal of Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok. 

Chris delivers leadership keynotes with the Boarding Schools’ Association of the UK as well as remaining an enthusiastic history teacher and sports coach. 

Always aspirational, Chris seeks to find ways to improve provision for all young people in his care and to offer them the opportunity to find and fulfil their potential.

Mr Olli-Pekka Heinonen started his tenure as the eighth Director General of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in May 2021. 

Globally recognised as a leader in education, Mr Heinonen brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of educational systems development and innovation to the IB. 

Between 2017–2021, Olli-Pekka served as the Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education. The core tasks of the Agency include developing education and training, early childhood education and lifelong learning. The Agency also prepares education policy decisions and supports the development and promotion of internationalization within the Finnish education system.

John started his working career in banking (The Midland Bank - or now HSBC) before pursuing his teaching qualification at The University of Wales, Trinity College in Carmarthen.  He took up his first appointment as a teacher in 1976. 

In 1986, John embarked on his International career in teaching/leadership in Hong Kong, and has since worked in Malaysia, Indonesia and Lao. He now works out of Bangkok in Thailand as the CEO of FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) which has a membership of nearly 100 premier British International Schools across 19 countries in the continent of Asia.

Kam Chohan joined ECIS in February 2018 as Chief Operating Officer and became Executive Director in August 2020.  

With a background in education and leadership, Kam is a learning leader and brings insight, wisdom, and compassion to the role. She has demonstrated the ability to build meaningful, lasting relationships that contribute to personal and organisational development and improvement.  

Kam is a passionate educator and has enjoyed lecturing in mathematics and business in previous roles. As an example of her commitment to student learning. Kam worked with the UK Government’s Behaviour Insights Team to apply the Nudge Theory to improve student outcomes on a national level.

Rob Ford is Director of Heritage International School group in Chisinau, Moldova. Heritage International School is the first Cambridge and COBIS international school in Moldova.

Rob was previously Principal of Wyedean School, Gloucestershire, UK where he led a school nationally and internationally known for its innovative holistic curriculum and developed model of global learning.

Rob was co-founder of the IB schools network in the SW of England. Rob has been a senior leader in leading schools in Wales and England. In 2021, Rob was given a "Global Principal" award from AKS.

Liz Free CEO and Director of the International School Rheintal, an IB continuum school in Switzerland.

She is a globally recognised educator with expertise leading some of the world's most successful schools and in leading teacher professional learning at OUP, Oxford University and as founding Director of the International Leadership Academy in The Hague.

Alongside this work, Liz is a founding trustee of the global charity WomenEd and board member for the Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS) and TES Global. Liz is a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Fellow of RSA.

An educator for over thirty years in international education, Ms. Vanita Uppal OBE is the Director of The British School New Delhi.

She is the proud recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of her services to British education in an international context, becoming the only Indian serving principal to receive this honour.

Under her leadership, the school has won global acclaim and prestigious international awards such as the TOP British School in the world (2018). She is a member of the IB Heads Council and Vice Chair of the Executive Board of FOBISIA.

Debra Forsyth has been dedicated to education for over 30 years since starting her career teaching Chemistry in London.

A move to the emergent city of Abu Dhabi in 1987 ignited Debra’s life-long passion for international education. She has since capitalised on the opportunity to work with children and educators from around the world in a variety of fascinating locations, including Muscat, Damascus, Vienna and Sharjah.

Debra has worked across a wide range of educational systems and establishments and held a variety of senior leadership and advisory roles.