Steve Shaw

Biography

Steve Shaw is an experienced international school leader who has spent more than 25 years working in education in the UK, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He is currently School Principal of The ABC International School (ABCIS) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he has been a member of the senior leadership team since 2013.

Steve began his career as a teacher of Mathematics and Physical Education in the UK in 1998. His early career saw him progress through a range of teaching and leadership positions, including Deputy Head of Mathematics at The Long Eaton School and Director of Mathematics and Computing at The Nottingham Emmanuel School. During this period, he also worked as an A2 Statistics examiner for Edexcel.

In 2008, Steve moved into international education, relocating with his family to Abu Dhabi. Initially working as a Leadership and Advanced Subject Advisor with Nord Anglia Education Services, he supported schools and educators as part of the development of education within the emirate. He subsequently joined The British International School Abu Dhabi as Director of Studies and IB Coordinator Designate.

In 2013, Steve moved to Vietnam to join The ABC International School as Head of Secondary. Five years later, he became Principal and today has whole-school responsibility for an international school educating children from the age of two through to 18 across two campuses in Ho Chi Minh City. His role encompasses strategic planning, educational development, staffing and recruitment, financial planning, professional development, safeguarding, policy and systems, and the welfare and wellbeing of the school community.

Steve's leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that successful schools need to achieve much more than strong examination results. Academic achievement matters greatly, but he believes young people are most likely to thrive when they also feel known, valued and genuinely part of their school community. This is reflected in ABCIS's ethos of Achieving, Belonging and Caring and in Steve's belief that every child should feel that they can achieve, that they belong and that they both care for others and are cared for themselves.

During his time at ABCIS, Steve has helped lead the school through a significant period of development and growth. This has included the development of a whole-school approach spanning Early Years through to Sixth Form, the expansion and development of the school's campuses and facilities, and an ongoing focus on high-quality teaching, student outcomes, safeguarding and school improvement. Throughout that development, he has remained committed to maintaining the strong sense of community and personal relationships that he believes should sit at the heart of a successful school.

Increasingly, Steve's work extends beyond his own school. He is a British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspector and works with schools internationally to support evaluation and school improvement. His inspection work has included roles with both Penta International and Education Development Trust.

Steve is also a Board Member of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA), with responsibility for Student Events, Academic and Performing Arts. Through this role, he contributes to opportunities that bring together students and schools from across the region through academic, sporting, creative and performing arts experiences.

Within Vietnam, Steve has also played an active role in developing collaboration between international schools through the Saigon International Schools Network (SISN). His involvement with the network has included several years in its leadership and the role of Chair, working alongside other international school Heads in Ho Chi Minh City.

Professional learning remains an important part of Steve's own approach to leadership. He holds the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) and completed a Master's degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Chester, graduating with Distinction. His original degree combined Mathematics with Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, followed by a PGCE in Secondary Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

His recent professional development reflects the breadth of modern international school leadership, including safeguarding and child protection, safer recruitment, staff wellbeing, health and safety, artificial intelligence in education and suicide prevention. He has also been a contributor to professional safeguarding discussions in Vietnam, including participation in a safeguarding panel at the Vietnam Safeguarding Summit.

After more than a decade at ABCIS, Steve remains particularly motivated by the relationships that develop within a school community over time. Having known some students from their earliest years of school through to graduation, he values the opportunity that long-term school leadership provides to see children grow into young adults and to understand the contribution that teachers, support staff, families and the wider community make to that journey.

Steve believes that effective school leadership requires a balance between ambition and humanity: setting high expectations for what students and schools can achieve while recognising that education is fundamentally about people and relationships. He is particularly interested in how schools can continue to evolve while retaining that human dimension, including questions around the purposeful use of technology, student wellbeing, social interaction, safeguarding and preparing young people for a rapidly changing world.

Away from school, Steve enjoys keeping active through golf, badminton and the gym. He is also an enthusiastic reader, with a particular interest in biographies and educational research. He is married with four children and has spent much of his family life overseas, with Vietnam having been home for more than a decade.

Areas of focus

“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed" Michael Jordan on the importance of being allowed to fail to achieve”