Christopher Charleson
Christopher Charleson is Head and Chief Executive Officer at the Sotogrande International School in Cadiz, Spain. The school is a coeducational, international, multicultural day and boarding school with 680 students aged 3 to 18. He is currently Chair of the IB Heads Council and was a founding member of the IB Asia-Pacific regional heads representative committee. He has a profound commitment to the philosophy of the IB, with experience of coordinating and implementing the IB curriculum in four IB World Schools in four different continents. He is a recognized international educational leader, and a strong advocate of intercultural responsibility in schools—through community service, global citizenship and experiential learning.
Christopher studied at the University of St Andrews, where he gained an honours degree in applied mathematics (1981), followed by a postgraduate certificate in education. He holds diplomas in education from the University of Glasgow and the University of Loughborough, as well as a master’s degree in international education from the University of Bath.
In 1985 he began his teaching career at the British International School in Cairo, Egypt. In 1991 he took up a post as Head of Middle School at St George’s College in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was responsible for leading and managing the newly created middle school. In 1997 he moved to Thailand and joined the Dulwich International College (now the British International School, Phuket) as Head and Chief Executive Officer. He guided the school successfully through a rapid expansion programme that saw pupil enrollment increase from 120 to 700.
Christopher moved to the Sotogrande International School in 2002. During his tenure the school has relocated to a new campus and has expanded its curriculum to include the PYP and MYP, thus offering a continuum of IB education to its students.
Christopher’s leisure pursuits include football, scuba diving, golf and Scottish country dancing. His interests embrace technology in mathematics, world literature, ballet, ancient Egypt and the paintings of Jack Vettriano.
