Before taking on the role of Head of School in 2016, Mr. Brett Penny served as the Head of Elementary from 2011 after eight years in Switzerland, where he held the position of Primary Principal of the Inter-Community School Zurich. After a successful teaching career in his home country of New Zealand, Brett commenced his career in international education, working at NIST from 2000 – 2003 as a year 6 teacher and the year 6 coordinator. He holds a Diploma of Teaching from the Dunedin College of Education (NZ), a Bachelor of Education from Otago University (NZ), a Master of Arts in Education Leadership from Columbia University (USA) and an M.B.A. in International Education (with distinction) from Keele University in the UK.

Brett is joined in Bangkok by his wife Debbie (a NIST elementary counsellor from 2001-2003 and now an elementary EAL teacher), a Canadian national, and his son Liam and daughter Hannah.

Khun Nirut Chavanarodjanarugi joined NIST as the Head of Operations in 2013 and oversees all operational (non-academic) areas of NIST, including property, finance and accounting, purchasing, development, catering, transportation, and security. Khun Nirut brings with him great strengths in project management, attention to detail and communication, as well as 32 years of experience in the services and business operations industry. He has worked with various international hotel management companies and was part of the pioneer opening team of Conrad Bangkok Hotel, where he worked for 11 years. His final position there was resident manager and licence hotel manager.

Prior to this Khun Nirut held overseas postings in Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in the Philippines and the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. His education and professional training includes: Assumption Sriracha, Assumption Commercial College, ABAC, Washington State University, Hotelschool The Hague (The Netherlands), Hotel & Airline Central Reservation System – CLAS International US, and Ecole Hotelier Lausanne Switzerland. He believes firmly that “the more you do, the more you get, and that you should always do your best”.

Khun Nirut and his wife Kwanta have two sons, Chinnapat (Birdy), who also attends NIST, and Thanathon (Trophy).

Ms. Poonam Sachdev is the Thai School Director, though she has worked in several roles in the administration since joining NIST in September 1995. Her key responsibilities include dealing with Thai government agencies such as the Ministry of Education, the Immigration Office and the Labour Department to ensure that the school is in compliance with Thai laws. Khun Poonam earned her bachelor’s degree in commerce from Punjab University in India, a Diploma in Teaching from Suan Sunandha College in Bangkok and a master’s degree in Educational Administration from Assumption University, also in Bangkok. Both her children graduated from NIST and are now attending Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

Mr. Julian Edwards joined the school in August 2007. He is originally from the United Kingdom, but has spent more than half of his teaching career in IB schools overseas. He worked previously as an administrator at the Western Academy of Beijing and the International School of Tanganyika. Julian has worked as a teacher and administrator with students from the age of 3 to 18, and has worked as an administrator in all three IB programmes.

Julian believes in lifelong learning for people of all ages. He has a Bachelor of Science in Geography and Sports Science from the University of Loughborough, a Master of Education from the University of Birmingham and an M.B.A. in International Education from Keele University in the United Kingdom. His educational interests are broad and he has developed a number of workshop frameworks for the IB programme around inquiry, action and physical education.

Julian’s wife, Jane, also teaches at the school, and they have two children at NIST.