Founding Head of Early Years

About Rise International School

Rise International School is a new, affordable international school opening in August 2028 in Thonburi, Bangkok. We aim to make high-quality international education accessible to more families. Our mission is to bring out the best in every child through purposeful learning, inspiring opportunities, and a caring environment. We will open with Early Years and the first Primary year groups, before expanding progressively into a full K-12 school.

Our Early Years provision welcomes children from 1.8 to 5 years old and follows the UK Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). In Primary, we follow the Cambridge International curriculum alongside Singapore Mathematics.

Our approach to Early Years

We see young children as capable, curious, and active participants in their learning. We believe they learn best through a thoughtful balance of child-initiated exploration and intentional adult guidance. Children need skilled adults who intentionally shape the environment, model language and thinking, teach essential early knowledge and skills, observe closely, and know when to guide, question, or step back. Our approach centres on guided play and meaningful adult-child interaction.

Our Early Years approach will therefore bring together:

• purposeful play and carefully designed provision;
• developmentally appropriate guided play teaching of early language, literacy, and mathematics;
• support for executive function, self-regulation, confidence, and increasing independence; and
• responsive assessment that helps adults plan the right next steps for each child.

We are looking for a founding leader who shares this balanced view - neither a highly adult-directed classroom nor an entirely child-led one, but an ambitious, joyful, and responsive Early Years education in which children learn deeply and grow with confidence.

The role

The Founding Head of Early Years will build the Early Years programme from the ground up, and then lead it. During the pre-opening phase, you will design the curriculum, set up the systems, and define the classroom practice for the whole phase. You will also meet the families who will make up our founding cohort.

From opening, you will lead the Early Years team while teaching a homeroom class of your own. This is a teaching leadership post, not a purely administrative role. It will suit an excellent Early Years practitioner who enjoys translating a clear educational vision into coherent curriculum, routines, environments, and everyday teaching, and who enjoys building relationships with families.

What the founding year involves

A meaningful part of the pre-opening year will be family-facing. Playgroups, holiday programmes, open houses, and parent sessions will help families experience the Rise approach and build our founding community. Some of these activities will take place on scheduled weekends, with appropriate time off in lieu.

What you will do

Pre-opening phase (AY 2027-2028): Building the programme

• Design the Early Years framework. Develop unit themes, learning progressions, schemes of work, and sample planning, grounded in the EYFS and in our guided play approach. This includes selecting the phonics programme, early reading, and numeracy approach.
• Design assessment and the transition into Year 1. Define what children should be able to do by the end of Early Years, aligned to the EYFS Early Learning Goals, and design how children move into Year 1.
• Establish the environment. Define daily routines, continuous provision, and the physical set-up of the Early Years classrooms, working with the architects and fit-out team while the spaces can still be influenced.
• Build the systems. Create the observation, assessment, documentation, and reporting tools to use.
• Meet the founding families. Lead playgroups, holiday camps, and weekend family programmes for prospective families, and run parent information sessions.
• Help shape the team. Contribute to the recruitment, onboarding, and induction of our first Early Years teachers, teaching assistants, and nannies.

From opening (AY 2028 onwards): Leading Early Years provision

• Teach. Serve as a homeroom teacher in Early Years, with non-contact time protected for leadership.
• Lead the team. Set clear expectations for planning, routines, and documentation, and provide guidance and informal coaching that builds a reflective, child-centred team culture.
• Model the practice. Demonstrate high-quality guided play, language-rich interaction, executive function and self-regulation support, and positive behaviour guidance.
• Work with parents. Communicate openly about child development, learning approaches, and classroom expectations, and lead parent orientations and workshops through the year.

Who we are looking for

Essential

• Full professional fluency in English, written and spoken.
• A Bachelor's degree in Education or a related field, with an Early Years or Early Childhood specialism.
• A recognised teaching qualification or professional teaching licence (QTS or international equivalent).
• At least five years as an Early Years homeroom teacher, including experience leading, mentoring, or coaching other teachers.
• Strong practical knowledge of child development and experience planning, teaching, and assessing a progressive Early Years curriculum.
• Experience with the EYFS framework.
• Evidence of curriculum leadership: designing frameworks, lesson plans, progressions, differentiation, assessment, and classroom systems.
• Eligibility to obtain a Thai work permit and Khurusapha teaching licence or waiver. We provide full sponsorship and administrative support.
• Willingness to work some scheduled weekends during the pre-opening phase.

Desirable

• Experience in an international school in Thailand.
• Experience leading an Early Years curriculum, coaching teachers, or developing planning and assessment across a team.
• A strong record of parent communications, community outreach, or admissions-facing work.
• Safeguarding training at Level 3, DSL, or Deputy DSL level.

What we offer

• An opportunity to design and implement an Early Years programme from its foundations - curriculum, culture, environments, and team development.
• A leadership role that remains meaningfully connected to children, teachers, and classroom practice.
• The support of a committed founding team with a clear educational purpose and a long-term growth plan.
• Full visa and work permit sponsorship, and support with teaching licence or waiver processing.
• Medical insurance.
• Professional development budget.
• Tuition remission for dependents.

Safeguarding

Rise International School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We expect all staff, volunteers, and contractors to share that commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks. These include verification of identity, qualifications, and previous employment; criminal record and police clearance certificates from every country the applicant has lived or worked in; and professional references taken up directly with previous employers, including the most recent one. Referees will be asked specifically about disciplinary and safeguarding matters. Shortlisted applicants may be subject to an online search. Any appointment is conditional on the satisfactory outcome of all checks.

Equal opportunities

Rise International School is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates and select on the basis of skills, experience, and suitability for the role. We do not discriminate on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or belief, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital or family status, or disability. We are committed to building a staff body that reflects the community we serve. Reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process are available on request.

Personal data

Personal data submitted with your application is processed in line with our Recruitment Privacy Notice under the Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (PDPA). Please do not include your religion, ethnicity, health information, criminal record, or a photograph with your application unless we specifically ask for it.