Malvern College International is pleased to welcome Dr Jill Cowie to the post of Head of School, Malvern College Chengdu.
The role of Head of School is a newly created one which reflects the growth of the school since the secondary school joined the primary section at the new purpose-built Xinjin campus in the south of Chengdu in August 2020. Malvern College Chengdu is a co-educational school for children aged 3-18 years, offering a premium, bilingual, day and boarding education for children living within the city of Chengdu and beyond.
Background
Dr Cowie has a BSc (Hons) and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh, an M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Aberdeen and a PGCE from the University of Leeds.
Starting her teaching career in West Yorkshire, Dr Cowie progressed into roles including Head of Chemistry, ITE mentor and Advanced Skills Teacher. In 2000, she was nominated by her school for a National Teaching Award.
From 2007 to 2010, Dr Cowie taught in two A-level Centres attached to prestigious Chinese High Schools in Jiangsu Province. During this period, she acted as Chemistry subject leader for eleven centres throughout China and in conjunction with the University of Warwick, she also developed one of the first UK-style secondary teacher training programmes for Chinese nationals.
Heavily involved in teacher training throughout her career, Dr Cowie has worked as a Lecturer in Science Education and was Director of the PGCE course at the University of East Anglia.
Dr Cowie first came to Chengdu in 2014 to take on the role as Head of Science. She subsequently took up a post as Head of Secondary in a school in Azerbaijan before returning to her former school in Chengdu where she was promoted to Deputy Head Academic and then Principal. Here she was awarded ‘Edexcel Outstanding A-level Teacher of the Year’ in 2016.
Prior to taking up post at Malvern College Chengdu, Dr Cowie acted as a Science Consultant at a top international school in Beijing.
We wish Dr Cowie every success in her new position and look forward to working with her over the coming years.