TIM RICHARDSON is the incoming Principal of Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong (NAIS HK). He talks to us about his journey in education and what he’s looking forward to about his new role.
Tim started his teaching career in the UK, having graduated with a Bachelor’s in Education from Exeter University. He very quickly realised his passion for international education and moved to the Middle East to teach in one of the first truly international schools in Dubai.
“That immediate commitment to international education was in no small part because I was an expat child,” says Tim. “My parents moved abroad when I was very young and it was a lifestyle that I knew and understood. I’ve now spent the last 32 years teaching and leading schools and departments across the Middle East, then Guangzhou and now Hong Kong.”
Along with a strong interest in working internationally, Tim says another realisation dawned on him very early in his teaching career: namely, that the children in his classes learnt best if what was being discussed was connected with prior learning, or with areas that particularly interested them.
“I realised that making connections between the present class and other areas of the curriculum really deepened the learning – it took us from knowledge to understanding.”
Much later in his career, Tim heard a term being applied to his theory: “constructivism” – the idea that students actively build their own knowledge rather than just acquire it passively. “It really embodied what I’d discovered through my own experiences and working with those particular classes. It’s also reflected in many of the curriculums that we work with today, and it’s particularly prevalent and present in the IB philosophy. It’s something I’ve carried with me through not just my teaching career but also my school leadership career – the importance of enabling students to make those connections between what they know and what they need to learn.”
Short-term and long-term goals as principal of Nord Anglia?
Whenever a new principal joins a school, there is inevitably a period of transition. Tim says his first objective is to manage that as smoothly and as efficiently as he can. Longer term, he wants to get to the heart of the school and understand what makes it unique, so he can build on those strengths as a whole school community.
“For me, building relationships has to be based around communication. Listening to people is incredibly important, so one of the first things I’ll be doing is hearing the views of members of the school community and discovering what’s important to them, and what they value.”
The aim, he adds, is to develop a community-generated plan for the school for now and the future that reveals exactly what everyone hopes to achieve, and how they’ll go about achieving it. “We’re all part of that journey.”
Tim adds that he is fortunate with the work his predecessor Kenny Duncan did in engaging with the Hong Kong community and developing the school’s reputation across that community. “Those will be hard footsteps to follow, but I’m hoping to really get to know our parents and understand what it is that they’re looking for from a premium international school like NAIS.”
Tim also knows he’ll be aided on the journey by the school’s passionate teachers. “One of the exciting things I sensed even from my first couple of visits to the campus – and from conversations both in formal meetings and in corridors and classrooms – was the real passion for teaching, learning and wellbeing at NAIS – I can’t wait to be part of that.”
Leadership and results
The new Principal of NAIS describes his approach to leadership as “devolved”: if the right people are appointed in the right roles, he says, they should be given the freedom to make the right decisions and to lead their areas of responsibility.
“In particular, with NAIS’s three geographically separate campuses. I think it’s really important that those in positions of responsibility feel the autonomy to be able to make big decisions that relate to the operational development of their particular campus. If they feel empowered to make those decisions, it will help streamline the process – and potentially produce some spectacular results for the school.”
And by spectacular results, Tim isn’t referring to high grades alone. “When people talk about academic excellence, it’s often against wellbeing – as if the two are opposing poles. In fact, where students achieve real academic progress and see the value in the learning that they’re doing, it can have a tremendously positive impact on their wellbeing. I’m looking forward to managing this co-relationship, with the help of the wellbeing teams and the academic teams at NAIS.”
Finding balance at school and in life
So, how would an ideal school day at NAIS look for Tim, from a Principal’s perspective? “It would be an incredibly rich and varied day – a mixture of some really in-depth exploration of ideas, thoughts and concepts, but also involving a huge amount of physical activity, as I love the idea that learning is a physical experience that involves the whole body as well as the mind.”
In view of this, it’s no surprise to discover that Tim has a super active life outside of work, too. “I love to cycle – anything on two wheels, whether it’s mountain biking, road biking or gravel biking. It’s a passion of mine and something that I was really fortunate to be able to do both in Dubai and Guangzhou.” He’ll be pleased to discover that Hong Kong, beyond its narrow and congested centre, has some fantastic trails to explore.
Another hobby is diving – in fact, when asked for one fact about him that most people don’t know, Tim reveals that he’s a qualified scuba diving instructor. “The other thing that I like to keep very quiet, especially around people with a greater degree of competency, is that I’m learning Italian!”
But back to the ideal day at school: Tim reiterates that it would of course include some core subject learning, but also some enrichment – be it music, art, PE or sport, for example.
“In short, it would be the kind of day where, at the end of it, you’d look back and say, ‘Wow, I just can’t wait to do that again!’”
Early Years Campus: 285 Hong Kin Road, Tui Min Hoi, Sai Kung
Primary Campus: 11 On Tin Street, Lam Tin, Kowloon
Secondary Campus: 19 Yuet Wah Street. Kwun Tong, Kowloon
3958 1428 | nais.hk | admissions@nais.hk
This article first appeared in the Autumn 2025 issue of Expat Living magazine. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe so you never miss a copy!
