EDITORIAL: AUGUST 2026

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY

If you have been lucky enough to be on a founding team of an international school you will know not only what hard work it is, but also how rewarding it can be. To create something out of nothing – a community of students, parents, friends and staff who come together in a common goal is an amazing experience.

All new schools are different, but of course they are all the same. There will be the high aspirations, new school guiding statements, outreach into a society you’re not yet quite sure of, curriculum design from first principles, budgeting, testing untried systems and walking into amazing new buildings you may have helped design. 

Like anything new, you know it should work, but you are always anticipating where things might go wrong. Then new staff arrive. Onboarding takes place. Keys are handed over. The admissions office gets busier (hopefully) and the countdown to Day 1 intensifies.

Creating a sense of belonging seems artificial at first but becomes real as people get to know each other and roll up their sleeves in a common cause. Opening the doors is of course just the start and the real business of bedding down and snagging systems so the school can acquire a life of its own take over. And for an international school – or, at least for a school that thinks internationally or globally or inter-culturally, which ever term you’d like to use – there is a higher task. Building awareness of the school’s global community, while becoming an active member of the local community is essential.

In her article, International Schools, Local Culture Joanna Povall suggests all international schools should actively prioritise local relationships, while Matt Topliss reports how Kyoto International School strengthened their local network by embracing a global initiative in collaboration with environmental educator Pete Milne. The symposium they organised together did as much to cement the school’s place in the local community as it did to raise an awareness of global issues.

And if you are opening a new school in September, congratulations and good luck!