Find out how Joseph Moyster became School Principal of the Capital School Bahrain and what it is like working in Bahrain.
The Capital School Bahrain is based on a classic British primary school set-up and operates as such. Offering a class/form structure within key stages of development, a British National Curriculum, including Early Years Foundation Stage, whilst adhering to the requirements of the Bahrain Ministry of Education guidance on the teaching of Arabic and Islamic classes.
Give us a brief history of how you got into working in education.
My background is slightly unusual in that I actually left school with no formal qualifications at all. Instead, I joined the Merchant Navy. When I was in the Navy someone suggested that it is never too late to get an education, so I started all over again and got my first degree at the ripe old age of 24, and then eight years later went on to get a Master’s.
I left the Navy and became a teacher, progressing really fast to being a headteacher at just 29. For the first thirty years I spent in teaching it was all in the UK and I worked in a variety of post and schools, from special needs units to community schools, catholic schools and village schools – and mostly in areas where there was a high level of social deprivation. In fact, it was my time in a special needs unit that inspired me to do my Master’s degree in special needs.
Did you like being a headteacher so young?
Anyone who is a head knows that there are definite challenges to being in that position – whatever and wherever the school – and whilst most of my experiences as a headteacher were extremely positive, having that level of pressure so young meant that when I did have a negative experience in the 2000s, it nearly put me off for good. In fact, I swore I would never take a headship again.
Is that when you moved to Bahrain?
No, I just took a step back to re-evaluate and filled in my time doing some supply teaching. One day I ended up working at a school in Bedfont – Bedfont is a suburban district of Hounslow in London, about 2 miles from Heathrow Airport. I did one lesson there and the head offered me a full time teaching position on the spot. So after nearly thirty years, I became a teacher once again and loved it. Seriously loved it.
Why did you enjoy being a teacher again?
It was a rollercoaster ride and I was rusty. Thirty years is a long time to be out of the classroom, so I guess I was more like a NQT really. And things had moved on since I had last taught so it was a steep learning curve, especially as I was new to the experiences of things like online training and interactive web tools. I basically had to re-train myself – but I moved on quickly because the school was using packages like Inside Abacus Maths and Wordsmith, so all the research and lesson planning and pulling things together I thought I would need to do were basically done for me. All I had to work out was how to deliver and concentrate on simply teaching and connecting with the students.
How did you get from there to now being the head of a school in Bahrain?
One day I got a call from an agency and they asked me if I had ever thought about working abroad. I said no – but it was such an interesting and challenging proposition that I eventually said yes. So in October 2014 I ended up in Bahrain, in an empty school, with no staff and no students. We opened in January 2015 with just three students. Now, in September 2017, we have started this term with 514 students and 91 members of staff. It’s been an incredible three years.
What made you say yes?
The brief I got from the agent was to literally set up a school. Just that. Set up a school from scratch and, mad as it seems, that appealed to me, so I said yes. I have always liked a challenge. I’ll admit that at the time I saw this as a short-term project, something to get my teeth into, then leave. I honestly never imagined I would still be here three years later.
What were the challenges you faced setting a school up from scratch?
To begin with it was just me. I wasn’t selling a school as there was no history to talk about, so I was literally selling myself. I would say that the challenges were multi-layered. I not only had to recruit pupils, I had to also recruit staff and there was literally nothing here. Everything that a school consists of I had to pull together.
This school really is my baby; I have nurtured it from nothing 24/7 and I fully admit that I like to be in control. Even today, I don’t have a deputy as I’m not sure what kind I want. But I love what I do and am continuously evolving the school. I listen to my staff, the students, parents and anyone who has anything to do with the school. We never stand still and every day we take new small steps forward to make things better and more effective. We often send out surveys asking for feedback and we always try to act on that feedback. A school should never stand still.
How is running a school here different to running one in the UK?
There are many more levels we have to think about here; for example, it is not just about teaching the curriculum. Here the Ministry say that we have to teach Arabic every day and Islamic and Social Studies at least once a week to all Arabs, so we have to cram all this in on top of the usual teaching schedule. But in an international school, it’s even more complex than that as not all students are Arabic, so we need to find something else for the other half of the class to do at these times.
Recruiting teachers here is also very different to the UK as most of the teachers are not from Bahrain, so we have to think of more than just providing a good induction in their first few days of starting. We have to think of everything to help make their transition as easy as we can, from finding accommodation, to picking up from airports, medical insurance etc. We always give new members of staff a mentor. It’s what I meant earlier about the challenges being multi-layered.
In Bahrain, we also have to staff up as there are no supply teachers readily available. And if someone needs to be off for compassionate leave if, for example, a family member is ill, they are often away for more than a month.
If you were a teacher coming to work in an International School in Bahrain for the first time, what advice would you give?
Recognise the diversity of your students, your students’ families and the community your school is in. Recognise their culture and their needs. You are coming into a world where most things will be alien and you have to embrace all of this and be sympathetic to the finer details of social etiquette and understand that these details can be very demanding.
There is so much respect for foreign teachers out here, so be prepared and enjoy this experience – you immediately have status in the community. Everyone wants to get to know you and help you. Every parent wants to come and shake my hand. This can be demanding but enjoy it and be equally respectful back.
Take advantage of the opportunities working in the Middle East will give to you. It will open up a whole new variety of professional, social and personal opportunities. Your attitude to work, travel and adventure will be so different to what you can achieve elsewhere. For example, in half terms, instead of sitting at home as I did in the UK, now I can travel to Dubai or Oman.
There are so many opportunities out here as well as constraints at the same time, but it really will be a fascinating journey – and to top it all off, you really do have amazing weather: sunshine most of the time, which in my opinion definitely makes you feel happier most of the time. Everything you earn is also tax free, so, as many jobs provide accommodation or at least a housing allowance, it means that all you have to spend your salary on is food. Most teachers who have worked for me here say they would never go back.
So what does a salary package typically involve in Bahrain?
Generally, a teacher’s package will includes flights home, free medical insurance covering everything from eyes, teeth, emergencies – and the hospitals are seriously good here. There is often free housing or at least subsidised accommodation… And when I say accommodation, you are talking luxury apartments with a pool, gym, fresh linen and cleaning included. The salary for a teacher who has approximately three years’ experience is on average around £2k per month net.
What surprised you about living here?
The people from Bahrain are so warm and welcoming and friendly, and really do embrace you as a member of the community and that is so important. Despite what people say, it’s a really safe place. I feel really safe here and that did surprise me. I only wish I had moved out here years ago.
Tell me something you wish you had known before coming here.
OK, so this is a true story and a good example of how things are different where you might not expect. When I arrived in Bahrain, I was coming through security when the guard took my passport and asked me if I had a visa. I didn’t. He told me I needed one to get into Bahrain but that he could issue me one there and then. He asked me, ‘Where are you going?’… I said ‘Bahrain’. He said, ‘Yes, but where in Bahrain?’… I said, ‘Oh, I’m not sure’. He said, ‘OK, so where are you staying?’. I said, ‘Oh, I’m not sure’. He said, ‘So how are you going to get to where you are supposed to be going?’ and I said, ‘I have been told there should be a man outside with a card with my name on it’. At this stage, I was beginning to feel a little foolish, as I genuinely had no idea where I was going. So then the guard said, ‘OK, so what is your name and I am going to check there is a man waiting for you’. So I told him. ‘It’s Mr Moyster’. So off he went and he came back and said, ‘You are in big trouble because there is no-one out there with a card with your name on it, but I do believe that you are genuine and so I am going to issue you a two week visa – I wish you luck and hope you find your man!’
As it turns out – in Bahrain, most people are known by their first name so there WAS someone waiting for me, but they weren’t waiting for Mr Moyster, they were waiting for a Mr Joseph! I wish I had known that because I nearly didn’t make it into the country!
You mentioned the weather was always good… Tell me, how is it now?
The temperature here at 9.33am is 37 degrees and sunny!
In this article
