Mr M Parkin

Name:	Matt Parkin
Title:	Lower School Principal
Email:	mparkin@nlis.org
Telephone No:	02089200642 / 02089200651 02089200644 direct line
Office Hours:	Full Time
Room:	Principal’s Office (Room 13)
Building:	Woodside
Team:	Senior Leadership Team Lower School Leadership Team
Biographical Statement:	I was born and raised in Derbyshire, England and have always enjoyed working with children. At the age of 16, I became a qualified swimming instructor, and at 18 I was one of the youngest Football Association coaches in the country. During my late teens, I had many part time jobs. Most of them involved working with children - either as a swimming or a football coach. At the age of 19, I worked for a children’s holiday company. At this time I realised I wanted a career in teaching and decided to pursue my education in teaching. I trained in Manchester, England, and during each summer holiday I would work with children coaching football (soccer) in the United States. This is something that I did for eight consecutive summers. After I had successfully completed my degree, I started my first teaching role in Devon, England. Here I taught across all age ranges, and I was responsible for various areas of the curriculum including: Art, ICT, Science, Special Needs and Technology. Following my role in Devon, I took part in the Fulbright Exchange Program. This involved exchanging my role in a Primary School in England for a teaching role in a school in Colorado, USA. I really enjoyed teaching in a Colorado Kindergarten School for a year. I met lots of different people from many different backgrounds, and this was my first true experience with international education. When I returned to the UK, I successfully applied for a role as an Advisory Teacher. My remit was to support head teachers and their schools with budgeting, planning, teaching and learning using ICT. I was still intrigued by international education, and I applied to become a teacher in a British School in Texas, USA. At this school, I drew on my many experiences and successfully applied to be the Head of Middle School and later the Head of Lower School. I was bitten by the international education bug and applied to a large, well established school in South East Asia. For two years I was a part of the Curriculum Leadership Team of that school. After having many intercontinental experiences, I believed I had the necessary skills to work in and lead my own international school and applied for my current post in September 2007. I was excited when I found out that I had become the Lower School Principal at The North London International School (NLIS). I had applied for my current position because I really believed I could have a positive affect on every child’s education. Since joining I have seen many positive changes across our school. It gives me a great deal of pride when I talk to people about NLIS being a wonderful, successful international school.
Teaching Interests:	I am interested in all areas of education management and leadership.
Personal Interests:	I like all sports, particularly football, cricket, running and golf. I have completed 8 half marathons, but I am still too scared to do a full one! I also like going out to the cinema and to restaurants. My wife and I like to travel and keep up with current affairs. I like spending time with my family and often go running with my Labrador dog: Java (although she is a lot faster than me!)
Favourite Quote/ Philosophy	The more you know, the more you realise you don’t know.