Our Leadership & Our Teachers

Our Teachers

St. Andrews International School Sathorn is committed to recruiting teachers who are highly experienced, dedicated, and passionate about their subject, age range, and are excited by the prospect of working within a dynamic and diverse community.

Open-minded and curious, our teachers make discoveries between subjects, forming connections across disciplines. Classroom practices emphasise active, collaborative learning. Team-building activities, workshops, conferences and lectures by leading educators are among the initiatives we employ to develop our staff’s teaching skills. Professional development is an on-going priority, as we strongly believe that a school flourishes when its teachers are committed to lifelong learning.

In identifying potential staff we take into consideration their professional experience, formal education, length of tenure at their previous schools and their on-going commitment to professional development. We are fortunate to have an outstanding team of teaching staff, with a tremendous experience base and background.

In short, our professional standards and expectations are high, and the support in place for our teachers is substantial.

Collaboration

Respectfully engaging with diverse teams to achieve a common goal.

Communication

Effectively articulating, ideas and solutions in a variety of ways, and present them to a range of audiences.

Critical thinking

Identify, analyse and evaluate information, to make informed and logical decisions.

Creativity

Exploring new and innovative approaches to solve problems.

Our Leadership Team

Karen Pennock

Head of School

Karen is from Middlesbrough, UK. She originally came to Thailand to join St. Andrews International School, Green Valley in 1996 before relocating to Bangkok in 2002 as the founding Head of St. Andrews International School, Sathorn. Karen has also previously taught in Kuwait, Dubai and Cairo. She holds a Bachelor of Education in Primary Education and Masters in Bilingual Education.

Helen Coleman

Deputy Head of School

Helen taught and managed in the U.K. for 6 years before coming to Thailand to teach at St. Andrews International School, Sathorn in 2011. Since arriving in Thailand, Helen has also completed a Master’s in Business Management in International schooling. Helen has worked across early Years and Primary and has a keen interest in child development and the Early Years. Since joining St Andrews she has worked on many projects and has enjoyed working as part of the Sathorn community and across Cognita globally.

Nicola Hsien

Assistant Head and Lower KS2 Coordinator

Nikki is from London and has taught and managed in several schools in the Lambeth and Wandsworth boroughs before moving to Thailand to join St. Andrews Sathorn in 2017. Her passion is with teaching Year 6 and Upper Key Stage 2 but she has worked across the whole primary range. Nikki was awarded her PGCE at Brighton University and also has a first-class BSc in Psychology. Her interests include mathematics and creativity across the curriculum. She has worked as the head of mathematics in all her schools. Since living in Thailand, Nikki has also started her own family and has a young son who will be joining St Andrews in the near future.

Hetal Naetsawan

PR and Marketing Communications, Head

Born and brought up in Thailand and moved to India for 20 years; completed her Degree and Masters in Marketing and International Business with a work experience of over 17 years. She has been with St. Andrews Sathorn and the group of schools – Thailand in liaison with Cognita for about 4 years. Parent and Public Relations, Digital and Offline advertising, Brand and Website Management, and Marketing Communications alongside Events and Corporate Social Responsibility are her areas of expertise.