The Author: Oliver Furnival
Welcome to IB Coordinator Resources.
The aim of this website is to share the expertise I have gained, primarily in the role of IB Coordinator and Curriculum Manager, but also through teaching secondary school students, and training and leading teachers.
This website is full of a wide range of resources that I have created and introduced to the schools in the positions outlined below that I have held over the past 22 years. These include initiatives, theses, reports, teaching and learning materials, booklets, documents, and videos that I have created for teachers, students and parents.
My career as a teacher started in 1998 when I took the role of English as a Foreign Language teacher at Shane English School in Japan, rising to the rank of Senior Teacher.
After four years in Japan, I returned to England in 2002 to complete my Post Graduate Certificate in Education as a Secondary School teacher of Citizenship at The Institute of Education, University of London.
My first placement as a PGCE Citizenship teacher was at The Chafford School in Rainham, Essex, where I was lucky enough to be offered a full-time position upon the completion of my course. The Chafford School gave me the remit of creating and sustaining a Citizenship Department across the school at Key Stage 3 and GCSE. While at The Chafford School, I held the positions of Head of Citizenship, Gifted and Talented Lead Teacher and Director of Humanities. I continued my association with the Institute of Education as well as other universities across London as a PGCE Citizenship teacher trainer. I also progressed to the position of GCSE Citizenship Examinations Team Leader for Edexcel.
After nine highly successful years at The Chafford School, I secured my first role as an International Baccalaureate teacher at Tamagawa Academy in Machida, Japan in September 2011. My first roles included teaching MYP Individuals and Societies and DP Theory of Knowledge. I soon took up the role of Areas of Interaction Lead Teacher and Personal Project and Service@Tamagawa Coordinator. I secured the position of Diploma Programme Coordinator in January 2014, putting the initiatives on this website across all of the International Baccalaureate’s Standard and Practices into place to lead the school through a very successful 5-year review self-study and visit.
I returned to England in January 2019 to take up the position of International Baccalaureate Curriculum Manager at The Anglo European School in Ingatestone, where I was a student for the whole of my Secondary School education. The Anglo European School was the first state school to introduce the IB in The United Kingdom. As well as offering the Diploma Programme, the school offers the International Baccalaureate Careers Related Programme. It also gives students the unique chance of taking a mixture of A-Levels and International Baccalaureate subjects.
Family reasons dictated that I have now returned to Japan in the role of Director of Teaching and Learning in the International Baccalaureate Division at Tamagawa Academy.
The documents I have created and initiatives I have put into place would not have been possible without the students I have taught, and the colleagues I have worked with throughout my career, who I would like to acknowledge.
I would like to recognise the students whose progress I have been proud to witness, in both their academic achievements and personal growth into young adults and who are a credit to their families and their local, national and international communities. The students I have taught and tutored across a wide range of backgrounds and abilities have made me laugh, cry and burst with pride, and have inspired me to continue to learn, with the aim of providing them with the education that they deserve. I would like to pay a special mention to the forms I have had the honour of tutoring. Firstly, to “L”, my first form at The Chafford School, who I had the pleasure of being a tutor to from their first day at secondary school until their last. To Moore, my first vertical tutor group and to Ikoma my first IB tutor group in Japan. My experiences of tutoring these groups have formed the backbone of my booklet and video on being a form tutor as seen on this website, and have continued to remind me why I am in this profession.
I would like to thank the following teachers who have inspired me throughout my career in areas such as teaching and learning, pastoral care and leadership. Lifelong learning never ends, especially in a career so varied as teaching. From my first day as a teacher to the present day, I have been lucky to have worked with first class professionals who have given their time to let me know when I have done things right and to guide and advise me when I haven’t. Teachers who have listened to my ideas and questions and who have shared their experiences, all of which have played an important part in making me the teacher I am today: David Barrs, Richard Beaumont, Paul Butcher, The “Fridays” group, Jody Gee, Jeremy Hayward, Catherine Kowalski, Aidan Leach, Bob Loukes, Paul Moate, Ann Nelson, Nobuo Morimoto, Stuart Newton, Gordon Nisbet, Yoshiaki Obara, Greg Pearce, Debbie Prior, Jo Santinelli, Munetaka Soai, Angela Tallack, Brian Teeley, Will Uricher, Terry Wood.
Design credit for the logo and banner for this website goes to Maxime Bailey, an old IB student.
Finally, I would like to dedicate this website to the memory of Dave Turner and Dave Thompson, two gentlemen I had the pleasure of working with in the Humanities Department at The Chafford School in Rainham, Essex. Dave Turner perfected the knack of making an over-excited class fall silent just by walking into the room, with a twinkle in his eye. Dave Thompson had the natural ability to connect with, and inspire all students, especially those who found life challenging. Both are sorely missed.