Unlocking the Hidden Curriculum

Dubai, UAE
November 23-24, 2024

Celebrating leaders sparking change (12)

The World Schools Summit brings together leaders and decision-makers from schools, academia, NGOs, and the public and private sectors including tech companies, to transform teaching and learning by harnessing the Hidden Curriculum.

Participation in the World Schools Summit is free to attend and by invitation or application only.

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A truly global conference
bringing together
the brightest stars in education

600 school leaders from around the world

Leading figures in global education

Addressing the sector’s most vital issues

Empowering schools with the hidden curriculum

Programme

The principals of schools that have triumphed in the World’s Best School Prizes and achieved certification in the Best School to Work programme will share their best practices and innovative solutions alongside leading figures in global education.

Innovation & Technology

Leadership & Development

Whole Child Approaches

Professional Wellbeing

Global Collaboration

Discover speakers

Leadership Council

Our expert Leadership Council guide will guide the programme of the World Schools Summit, drawing on their decades of knowledge and experience in education and in leading schools.

Alex Crossman

Headmaster of London Academy of Excellence, London, UK

Asha Alexander

Principal of GEMS Legacy School, Dubai

Danielle West

Founder and CEO of Inicio Partners

Duriya Aziz

Senior Vice President
(International, Education)
Scholastic Inc

Farah Sarraj

Chief Corporate Officer
Al Futtaim School Management Company

Fiona Cottam

Principal of Hartland International School, Dubai

Dr. Jesus Jara

Practice Leader, K-12 Global - Prometric

Kiran Bir Sethi

Founder of Riverside School, India

Mark Leppard MBE

Principal, The British School Al Khubairat, UAE

Nadim Saad

Founder and Chief Happiness Officer The Happy Confident Company, UK

Sandra Ospina

Head of School, SEK International School, Saudi Arabia

Saurabh Saxena

Founder & CEO Power Club

Simon O’Connor

Director of Deira International School, Dubai

Vijita Patel

Principal of Swiss Cottage School, London, UK

William Campbell

Founding Head of School, Franklin School, USA

Venue & Hotels

The World Schools Summit will be held at Deira International School, Dubai, UAE on November 23-24, 2024.

Learn more

Kiran Bir Sethi

Founder of Riverside School, India

Kiran Bir Sethi is an Indian designer, educationist, education reformer, and social entrepreneur. With a degree in visual communication from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, she ran a flourishing design practice, but it was when her children started going to school that Sethi recognised her true calling -putting design thinking into education.

She founded the award winning Riverside School in Ahmedabad that focuses on empowering children with the I CAN MINDSET. She then founded aProCh ( an initiative to make cities more child friendly ) and Design for Change, which is today the largest movement of change for and by the children where children use the simple framework of Feel/ Imagine /Do/Share to design solutions for some of their greatest challenges.

Her most recent venture is the Riverside Learning Center which offers training programmes to empower schools across the world to become ‘I CAN SCHOOLS’ by using the codified processes from Riverside.

Over the years, Kiran, Riverside and Design for Change have won several accolades and Awards, and some of the most recent ones are : Riverside wins the World’s Best School Prize for Innovation, HundrEd.org selects Design for Change into the Hall of Fame, The Earth Prize, the Rockefeller Innovation Award, The Lego Remagine Award, The Lexus prize, was The Top 10 Global Teacher nominee and the Light of Freedom Award. She is an Ashoka and Yidan Fellow.

Sethi is a published author, having written a book, ‘Every Child CAN’ for HarperCollins, which chronicles the journey and offers readers a glimpse into Riverside’s unique design-led approach to empowering children.
Born in Bangalore, India, Sethi comes from a family of designers. She lives in Ahmedabad with her 2 children, Raag and Jazz and her husband, Geet. She loves life, dark chocolate and Govinda movies!

Dr. Jesus Jara

Practice Leader, K-12 Global - Prometric

Dr. Jesus Jara is a distinguished education leader, deeply committed to enhancing educational opportunities for students. His tenure as Superintendent of the Clark County School District (CCSD), the nation's fifth-largest, and his roles in other districts have resulted in significant academic achievements. Having arrived in this country from Venezuela as a child and navigating the education system as an English-language learner, Dr. Jara has gained unique insights into the need for inclusive and high-standard educational environments. This background has profoundly influenced his leadership, driving his focus on ensuring equitable access to education and fostering environments that support the success of diverse student populations. During his five-year Superintendency at CCSD, Dr. Jara led the district to notable achievements, including improved graduation rates, increased participation in Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment programs, and recognition as the National Magnet District of the Year by Magnet Schools of America. Under his guidance, the district also saw significant improvements in mathematics proficiency by introducing a standards-based curriculum. Amid these successes, he adeptly navigated the district through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. For his efforts during his tenure, Dr. Jara was recognized as the 2024 State Superintendent of the Year by the Nevada Association of School Superintendents. Dr. Jara began his career as a bilingual biology teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Moving to Springfield, Massachusetts, he then served as principal, where he notably enhanced Advanced Placement (AP) course offerings and improved graduation rates. As Superintendent and Chief Operations Officer in Monroe County Public Schools, Florida, Dr. Jara increased participation and performance in AP and Algebra I courses. In his role as Deputy Superintendent for Orange County Public Schools in Florida, he was pivotal in narrowing the achievement gap faster than 90 percent of major cities across the U.S. And, as Executive Director of the College Board’s Florida Partnership, he coordinated services to bolster equity and access for minority and underrepresented students statewide. Dr. Jara has also contributed to various community and educational organizations, including serving on the executive board of the Council of Great City Schools and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. Dr. Jara holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Leisa Grace Wilson

Editorial Director of Teach Middle East and schoolfinder.ae

With her extensive experience spanning over two decades, Leisa Grace is a trailblazer and thought leader in the educational landscape of the Middle East. She has held various roles, from being an inspiring teacher to a Head of Department, a trusted Education Advisor, and a transformative School Leader. Her journey has seen her contribute to the education sectors in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and the wider Middle East.

Her passion for education transcends the boundaries of the classroom and the school. As an accomplished speaker and writer, Leisa disseminates her innovative ideas and educational philosophies to a wide audience, inspiring educators and policymakers alike. Her insights have shaped discussions around teaching and learning and school leadership, reflecting her deep understanding of the unique dynamics and cultural nuances of education in the Middle East.

Leisa is the visionary behind the 'Teach Middle East Podcast,' a platform that encapsulates her commitment to fostering dialogue, sharing best practices, and spotlighting success stories in the region. She is also the founder of the 'Education Roundup Middle East,' a weekly newsletter that serves as an invaluable resource for educators, parents, and stakeholders. The newsletter curates the latest news, trends, and insights pertinent to the Middle Eastern education scenario.

With her relentless dedication and drive to elevate education in the Middle East, Leisa Grace continues to shape the future of learning, affirming her position as a leading light in the field."

Asha Alexander

Principal of GEMS Legacy School, Dubai

Asha Alexander is Principal at GEMS Legacy School, Dubai and Executive Leader of Climate Change at GEMS Education. With 35 years of experience in the provision of education to K-12 students, she has overseen the school’s transition to an exclusively digital curriculum.

Passionate, driven to achieve aspirational goals and ready to take on any challenge, she believes in nurturing students’ hearts and minds and is particular about a value-based education. She is excited by the prospect of watching every child achieve his or her potential. Asha is a UN certified Climate Change Leader and has made presentations at several Conference of Parties (COP) and other international conferences and has conducted workshops on leadership, and change management for schools in India and UAE. She has led the school’s Twinning Program with 87 schools enabling schools to develop partnerships around the world to embed the SDGs. Currently she has established GEMS Hub Schools for Sustainability in Italy, Indonesia, Malawi and India and is working with the Ministry of Education in UAE to bring Climate Literacy to schools in the UAE. She has been recognized as a UNCC Champion at the 60th anniversary of UNITAR this year at Geneva.

Duriya Aziz

Senior Vice President (International, Education), Scholastic Inc, Singapore

Duriya Aziz believes that education is the way to a better future for all. She considers herself fortunate to work as a learning ambassador focused on reading and math, bringing best practices and effective pedagogies to schools, educators, parents, and learners in more than 50 countries, through programs that use proven and emerging methods and technologies in ways that are culturally and contextually appropriate. She finds that there is nothing more satisfying than seeing usage, engagement, and efficacy numbers go up and up and up! She has had the privilege of introducing Singapore math around the world, including in the US, Australia, New Zealand, India, Turkey, Oman, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia and the UK. The author of several math and literacy course materials and children’s books, she regularly leads professional development in curriculum and course design, math, literacy and creative and critical thinking. Passionate about community service, she participates in programs counselling young people on their education and career and helps women entrepreneurs start and build their businesses and careers.

Danielle West

Founder and CEO of Inicio Partners

Danielle is a hugely influential talent acquisition, management and HR specialist in the Global Education field, having spent the last decade working with one of the biggest K-12 private school providers in the world. Danielle has been responsible for hundreds of the key educational leadership appointments including C-suite, across all school price points and curricular and a wide range of countries including Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, Africa and North America. Danielle has led multiple large scale change-management and organisational development projects for major providers in the for profit global and charitable education and skills sectors.

As the Founder and CEO of Inicio Partners, Danielle brings a wealth of experience and expertise to multiple stakeholders including Governments, Higher Education, Schools and Academies, Educational Foundations, Charitable Trusts across the international public and private sectors, including educational start-ups. Danielle has served extensively on Executive Boards in both the educational and international charitable sectors, and acts as trusted advisor to Proprietors and Chief Executives of educational groups at all phases of school leadership.

Farah Sarraj

Chief Corporate Officer, Al Futtaim School Management Company

Dr Farah Sarraj currently holds the role of Chief Corporate Officer at Al Futtaim School Management Company; she also leads a dedicated centre for excellence in Arabic founded in 2018 by the Al Futtaim Education Foundation. Dr Sarraj’s advocacies include education for the 22nd Century, bilingualism, raising the profile of Arabic as a language for thought and life, and education for global citizenship. Dr Sarraj held several senior school leadership roles in the UK before she moved to the UAE in 2011. In the UAE, Dr Sarraj served on the senior leadership team of a start-up school in the northern emirates before moving to Ajman University, where she lectured in the College of Education at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Dr Sarraj holds an MA and PhD in English Literature/Early Women’s Writing from the University of Manchester, a PGCE/QTS from Brunel University, London and an MSc in Educational Leadership from the University of Portsmouth. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and is currently pursuing a Master’s in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at Kings College London.

Nadim Saad

Founder and Chief Happiness Officer The Happy Confident Company, UK

Nadim Saad is a best-selling author, parenting expert and education thought leader. He is the founder of the Happy Confident Company, where he works with renowned psychologists and teachers and draws from the latest research in child psychology and neuroscience, to develop cutting-edge personal development and mental wellness programmes for schools and families that have already changed the lives of over 100K families.

He is a regular speaker at leading conferences such as the Festival of Education, GESS, BSME, MESLC, COBIS and the Word Happiness Summit and he has been featured in leading media publications including Sky News, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian and the BBC.

Sandra Ospina

Head of School, SEK International School, Saudi Arabia

Sandra has more than a decade of experience in education. She has taught from nursery to university level, has developed science curricula, and has held leadership roles in the past few years. Sandra's educational philosophy centers on nurturing the whole child, which in short means attending to a child's cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and ethical development while inspiring their curiosity, and creativity.

In her current role as Head of School at SEK Riyadh International School, she is working closely with allthe faculty to ensure that the curriculum, teaching methodologies, and resources align with the IB philosophy to provide the children at the school with an exceptional educational experience.

Sandra has a BA in Chemistry, BS in Biology, MA in Biology education from Brooklyn College(New York), an M.ed in International Educational Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is currently working on her Executive Master in Business Administration.

Saurabh Saxena

Founder & CEO Power Club

Saurabh is a visionary entrepreneur, educator, and life design coach with 17+ years of experience in shaping the education landscape. After graduating from IIT Roorkee (2005), he founded Lakshya, a successful offline learning center chain. In 2012, he co-founded Vedantu, a unicorn impacting millions of learners. Shortly after becoming a parent himself, Saurabh realized that the education system needs to prepare our children with real-world life skills required to lead a happy and successful life. Now based in the US, he's building Power Club aimed at providing real-world learning experiences and preparing children for the future.

Vijita Patel

Principal of Swiss Cottage School, London, UK

Vijita Patel is the Principal of Swiss Cottage School, Development and Research Centre, a large special school for 260 pupils in London. Vijita is passionate about the role of education in developing an equal society, and its fundamental purpose in reducing the marginalisation of pupils with additional needs.

Vijita is an advocate of empowering educators as leaders of learning design, and the responsibility of school leaders in creating school cultures that cultivate teacher agency. She works with school leaders, governors, and Local Authorities as a National Leader of Education. She equally enjoys training early career teachers on the neuroscience of learning. Vijita is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teachers, and a Trustee for Special Olympics Great Britain, Challenge Partners, and the Artists in Residence Charity.

Swiss Cottage School, DRC was designated as an Apple Distinguished School in September 2021 and has six consecutive Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ Inspection outcomes.

Alex Crossman

Headmaster of London Academy of Excellence, London, UK

Alexander Crossman is Headmaster of The London Academy of Excellence, the highest ranked sixth form provider in England offering a full A Level curriculum.

Alex is a senior academic adviser to Lighthouse Education Group in Shenzen, China, a member of the Leadership Council of the World Schools Summit, and an advisory board member at the Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning (CIRL) at Eton College. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and The Chartered College of Teaching.

Alex is the author, most recently, with Ian Warwick, of 'Greater Expectations: Enabling Achievement for Disadvantaged Students' (Sage 2024).

Alex’s career in education has included being the founding Head of one of London’s most successful free schools and the Chief Executive of an education consulting firm based in the Middle East but operating worldwide. Teaching is Alex’s first calling but his second career. Previously, he was a managing director with global responsibility for strategy at one of the world’s leading investment banks.

Simon O’Connor

Director of Deira International School, Dubai

Simon O’Connor is the Director of Deira International School – an outstanding rated all through UK/IB curriculum school based in Festival City, Dubai. Simon is also Chief of Education for the Al Futtaim Education Foundation, working across their portfolio of schools. Simon has over 25 years of experience in education and joined DIS in August of 2020. Prior to this he was Principal of Jumeirah College, an outstanding school in Dubai, since 2013.

Simon is passionate about learning and ensuring all students are challenged in lessons for them to achieve their full potential. He is also very interested in school leadership and is currently studying for Doctorate with the University of Buckingham, researching the impact of a focus on organisational culture in international schools.

Before moving to the UAE, Simon taught History and Politics for over 20 years in a variety of different school contexts. In his last role in the UK, Simon worked as a school leader in a very successful grammar school in Kent. His role there was curriculum lead and was also responsible for the management of a teaching school and working across an academy chain of schools which he helped to found.

As a student Simon studied for a BA in History and Philosophy at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff where he was a choral scholar at Llandaff Cathedral. He then studied for a PGCE at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was also a choral scholar. Simon also holds a Master’s Degree in Education Leadership, and a National Professional Qualification for Headship.

Fiona Cottam

Principal of Hartland International School, Dubai

Joining Hartland International School in 2016 as Principal, following a successful tenure at GEMS Education and as a Headteacher in the UK, Fiona is a graduate of University College Dublin. She sits the COBIS Global Board, The Irish Business Network Dubai and the International Task Force on Child Protection.

William Campbell

Founding Head of School, Franklin School, USA

William Campbell is the Founding Head of a pioneering educational institution in the United States of America. He is recognized for his expertise in harmonizing the rich tapestry of historical teaching methodologies with the demands of contemporary, purpose-driven curricula.

With leadership experiences spanning multiple countries and curricula, he is adept at navigating the complexities of the educational landscape at International, National, and State levels. His leadership philosophy revolves around cultivating dynamic learning environments that nurture critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability among students and faculty alike.

Mark Leppard MBE

Principal, The British School Al Khubairat, UAE

Mark is a successful and ambitious school leader of an outstanding British international school. In 2015 Mark was awarded an MBE for his services to education and has an M.Ed in Educational Leadership. In 2023 Mark won the SchoolsCompare.com Best Principal in the UAE Award. His focus is on team building, in terms of motivation, personnel and structure, ensuring that the students benefit from these developments. He has a lifelong passion for learning and ensures that the student is at the heart of all decisions that are made. Holistic education is fundamental to Mark's philosophy and he believes that learning should not be restricted just to the formal classroom. Mark has a track record of success, having led schools through 7 'Outstanding' school inspections and accreditations. He is a lead school inspector and has inspected a variety of schools around the globe.