Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 44

Featured Teacher
A CONVERSATION WITH BILL AND
ALISON TURNER: LIFE AFTER HEADSHIP
BY: LEISA GRACE WILSON
H
ave you ever wondered
what ex headteachers
get up to after leaving
their posts? To find out
what life is like after headship, I
caught up with Bill and Alison
Turner, who have both been
at the head of some of Dubai’s
top international schools, They
were kind enough to share what
they are up to nowadays. Before
we dive into the question and
answer section of this article,
let’s take some time to learn a bit
about Bill’s and Alison’s career
history.
Bill started his teaching career in Sudan, in a rural
school of 150 boys. He has fond memories of sharing
his mud-floored home with 2 other English teachers,
10 chickens, 2 dogs and a monkey. After leaving Sudan,
he spent a year teaching English as an additional
language (EAL) in Italy and London. Bill went on to
teach English and Drama in England for 18 years, up to
the position of Deputy Headteacher. He then moved
back overseas, as Secondary Headteacher of Al Khor
International School, Qatar. In 2009 Bill was appointed
as the Middle/High School Principal of GEMS World
Academy, Dubai. His final Dubai placement was being
the Founding Principal of Kings’ School Al Barsha.
After leaving Kings’ School Al Barsha, in August 2016,
he started his career in recruitment, with Search
Associates, taking over leadership of the Dubai
Recruitment Fair.
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Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020
Class Time
Alison launched her career in education as a Year 5 teacher
in West Yorkshire before moving into school leadership.
She served as a Deputy Head Teacher in 2 schools, before
taking on her first headship in Barnsley England, and then
the second one, in Rochdale. Alison moved to Dubai in
2005, as the founding Head of Primary of GEMS Wellington
International School. She then moved on to Kings' Dubai
in 2011. Under her leadership the small primary school, she
took over, doubled in size in just one year. This success led
to the opening of two new Kings' schools in the following
years! For Alison, those were amongst the most rewarding
and challenging times of her career. She found it a difficult
decision to leave such a wonderful group of schools. After
leaving Kings’ she went on to lead the opening of a brand
new British school, on the outskirts of Bangkok. This was
her final school leadership challenge before joining the
Search team.