Bill Turner has over 33 years of experience in international education. His three Head teacher/Principal positions cover two Middle Eastern countries and the British system, the IB and American APs. Bill began his career in education in 1982, after graduating from Eton College and earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of East Anglia. After adding a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate from International House in London, he taught EFL in Sudan, Italy, and London. Having then acquired his Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from Hertfordshire College of Higher Education he taught English and Drama at Brighton Hill School, Basingstoke, and Durrington High School, Worthing.
Since 1987, Bill has assumed leadership positions: as House Leader; Assistant Head of English and then Department Head of English; and, at the George Ward School in Melksham, Assistant Head teacher, and then Deputy Head teacher. During this period he completed his MEd, his NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship), and became a GCSE examiner.
For the past 11 years, Bill has brought his school leadership skills to positions in the Middle East, where he has also become a British Schools in the Middle East (BSME) accredited inspector. From 2010-2014 Bill earned the rating “Outstanding Leadership” in all Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) inspections; this organization is responsible for the growth and quality of private education in Dubai.
As Secondary Head teacher/Deputy Principal at Al Khor International School, Qatar, Bill introduced the school’s first sixth form and increased enrollment by over 300 students. As Middle/High School Principal at GEMS World Academy-Dubai, the GEMS flagship IB World School in the city, he oversaw the authorisation of the IB Diploma. From 2012 until 2016 Bill, as Founding Secondary Head Teacher and School Principal, has been instrumental in the start-up of two sister-schools in Dubai: Kings’ School Al Barsha and Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba.
However, Bill says his greatest learning experience comes from bringing up three boys. He is also a linguist, speaking Italian well and French not quite so well, and a little Arabic. He says he has learnt much of his Arabic from translating road signs whilst stopped at traffic lights.
Bill is supported in his leading of the Dubai Search Fair by his wife Alison, who has been a Primary Head Teacher and School Principal in five schools in the UK, Dubai and Thailand. Her Primary expertise enables them as a team to cover the 3-18 range in their support of schools and teachers. As a School Head with so many years’ experience in meeting the recruitment needs of aspirational teachers and aspirational schools, Bill is really excited about building great relationships with all parties and developing this aspect of his professional leadership
