Deputy Headmaster's Message - Recruitment

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Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we approach the end of Term 1, the school gets busier than usual with the important, character building Residentials and Mock Examinations. This is also the time of the year where we look to recruit the next cohort of teachers and school leaders to join DBS from August 2024. I am often asked questions about this, so I thought I would describe the process in this week’s newsletter.

Recruitment is incredibly important as DBS continues to grow. Some might say that we are fortunate to have the quality teachers that we have at the school, but ‘fortune’ does not come into it as this is the result of a long process starting with a review of the staffing requirements for the next academic year, preparing the recruitment literature, posting the job adverts, reviewing hundreds of candidates, shortlisting our top picks, conducting final interviews, offering contracts and then onboarding

In this, our first round of recruitment for this year, we received an average of 100 applications for every position advertised - many hailing from competitor schools in Thailand, and also well renowned schools in the region and the UK. This is a sign of the demand that there is to work at DBS, with our reputation growing in Thailand and beyond. It was also a sign that we had a lot of work to do, reviewing every single candidate’s application form, covering letter and CV (resume), to shortlist those who we felt would further push DBS onto greater things. 

Once we shortlisted 4-6 candidates for each role, they were invited to formal interviews where the panels questioned them on subject knowledge, pedagogy and safeguarding. The interviews also allow us to get a feel of the candidate and ensure that they are the ‘right fit’ and align with our DBS values. We will also call the candidate's references from their current and previous schools to get a more complete picture.

Once a candidate has been offered the role, the process does not stop there. It may be 8 more months before they set foot on campus, but we start the process of onboarding which includes buddying them up with a current member of staff (who will answer any questions on working and living in Thailand), training up on key areas of importance for the school including key frameworks and safeguarding, assisting them through the visa process and supporting any children they may have to help them feel welcomed by the school.

It is an extensive and very thorough process that allows us to have the confidence that we are recruiting the best teachers available to us, who will join the DBS community and further enhance the quality of teaching at the school.

We are already excited by the new members of the DBS team recruited so far, who we will be proud to introduce to you in the next academic year.

Thank you for reading and have a safe and restful weekend,

Simon Fowler

Deputy Headmaster