Background

Braeburn Schools is a group of 16 co-educational international schools spread over 9 campuses providing world class teaching of the British National Curriculum and GCE A-Levels to over 3,600 pupils. Our schools actively value and celebrate diversity, nurturing personal growth by providing a friendly and supportive environment.

Braeburn School, Gitanga Road, Nairobi is seeking an exceptional educator for this inaugural role of Lead Teacher of Mandarin. This is a unique opportunity to complete our multilingual offer. We are looking for a visionary professional who will design a rigorous vertical curriculum but also partner with our families to integrate Mandarin as a core pillar of our school’s identity. This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our globally minded families and shape a multilingual future in one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan cities.

We are seeking a dynamic, near-native Mandarin speaker to take on a brand-new role enriching the school’s diverse educational landscape at our leading international school in the heart of Nairobi.

Key Responsibilities

In alignment with our commitment to excellence, the successful candidate will:

• Curriculum Leadership: Design and implement a seamless vertical Mandarin curriculum from EYFS to Year 7, establishing high quality benchmarks for both native and non-native pathways.
• Pedagogical Innovation: Model evidence-based innovative pedagogy that differentiates for a diverse range of talent and ability, ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging and growth.
• Community partnership: Act as a strategic liaison for our Mandarin-speaking community, co-creating authentic cultural initiatives and leading academic workshops for parents to strengthen the home school partnership.
• Professional Collaboration: Work synergistically with the Heads of Kiswahili, French, Spanish to ensure a cohesive and balanced multilingual student experience.
• Pastoral and Beyond: Play a full part in the schools’ pastoral care and vibrant extracurricular programme, contributing to the all-round growth of our pupils.

The Ideal Candidate

You should possess:

• A relevant degree and a recognized teaching qualification (e.g., PGCE / QTS).
• Near native proficiency in Mandarin and English to facilitate high level communication across our global community.
• A proven track record in curriculum design and a passion for language acquisition.
• An international mindset: adaptable, collaborative and committed to equity and internationalism.

• Design and implement a seamless vertical Mandarin curriculum from EYFS to Year 7, establishing high quality benchmarks for both native and non-native pathways.
• Model evidence-based innovative pedagogy that differentiates for a diverse range of talent and ability, ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging and growth.
• Act as a strategic liaison for our Mandarin-speaking community, co-creating authentic cultural initiatives and leading academic workshops for parents to strengthen the home school partnership.
• Work synergistically with the Heads of Kiswahili, French, Spanish to ensure a cohesive and balanced multilingual student experience.
• Play a full part in the schools’ pastoral care and vibrant extracurricular programme, contributing to the all-round growth of our pupils.

• Curriculum design
• Language acquisition
• Innovative pedagogy
• Community partnership
• Professional collaboration
• Pastoral care
• Near native proficiency in Mandarin
• Near native proficiency in English
• Adaptable
• Collaborative
• Committed to equity and internationalism

• A relevant degree
• A recognized teaching qualification (e.g., PGCE / QTS)