Mark Bretherton

Head of School

Mark Bretherton

Mark is originally from Bolton in Lancashire, UK. He gained his B.Ed Honours Degree from Leeds University (Carnegie School of Physical Education) UK in 1979. Mark was awarded a Masters in Education Degree from Trenton State College, USA in 1998. Mark also holds the Principals’ Certificate in International School Leadership.

Following five years teaching in UK, Mark moved abroad and has remained an international educator ever since. He has worked at Vienna International School, Austria; The Overseas Children’s School Colombo, Sri Lanka; Kilmore International School, Australia and at three schools in the Philippines. These are The British School Manila, Brent International School Manila and most recently Cebu International School where Mark was Superintendent for ten years. Mark has served in various capacities as a teacher including PE, Social Studies, Art and Design Technology. Further, he has been Athletics Director in a number of schools, Elementary and Deputy High School Principal and Superintendent.

Mark’s experience covers both small and large schools, and has involved IB, International, American and British curriculum models.

Mark is accompanied by his wife, Carol. Their son, Brian, is a student at BCIS.

Julie Lawton

Elementary School Principal Deputy Head of School

Julie Lawton

Julie is originally from Yorkshire, in the North of England. She gained her BA in German, Spanish and Business Studies in 1988 in the UK. She then went on to study for her Post Graduate Certificate of Education (Primary) in 1991. Julie's first teaching position was for 2 years as a Grade 2 homeroom teacher in a small school in her hometown. She then chose to head overseas and worked as a Grade 3 homeroom teacher for 2 years in Kuwait.

In 1996 Julie moved to Beijing and worked for 9 years at an international school. There she enjoyed several positions including G3, G4 and G5 homeroom teacher, G1-6 ESOL teacher, Assistant Principal and in her final year was the Lower School Principal. From 2000 to 2004 Julie was the Primary Years Programme (PYP) Coordinator. During this time Julie also gained her TEFL/TESOL Diploma.

Julie is a PYP Workshop Leader for the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), which involves training teachers and conducting authorisation/evaluation visits in PYP schools within the Asia Pacific region.

Julie joined BCIS as the founding Principal and PYP Coordinator in August 2005 and is privileged to be working with a strong group of professionals, who are collaborating to build a first class international school.

Julie's three children, Jack, Finn and Molly, are students at BCIS.

Phil Clark

Middle School Principal

Phil Clark

Phil is originally from Wallasey, near Liverpool in the UK. He gained his Bachelor in Education Honours Degree from the University of Lancaster, UK in 1989. Phil was awarded a Masters in Education Degree from the University of Sheffield, UK in 2001. He also graduated from the Principals’ Training Center in 2008 and holds the Principals’ Certificate of International School Leadership.

Phil has been an educator for 20 years, as an elementary and middle school homeroom teacher, a middle school mathematics and science teacher, an IT coordinator, grade-level coordinator and, most recently a Middle School Assistant Principal. Phil has worked in international education for 17 years in Turkey, Kuwait and in Beijing, China.

Phil is an MYP Workshop Leader for the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IB), which involves training teachers and conducting authorisation/evaluation visits in MYP schools within the Asia Pacific region. Phil was also a member of the team responsible for reviewing the MYP Sciences curriculum at the IB Curriculum and Assessment Center in Cardiff, UK.

Phil’s wife, Amanda, is the Elementary School Assistant Principal at another Beijing international school.

Frank Davis

High School Principal

Frank Davis

Frank is from Liverpool in the UK. Frank attended Reading University to read Physics and Mathematics, then on to University College of Wales, Aberystwyth for his teaching qualification.

After having taught in a prestigious boys boarding school in Sussex, he started his international teaching career in 1984 – teaching at the New English School (Kuwait), Kamuzu Academy (Malawi), Aloha College (Spain), Sandford Community School (Ethiopia), Colegio Anglo Colombiano (Colombia), International School Hannover Region (Germany) and Suzhou Singapore International School (China). Positions of Responsibility have included Year Head, Department Head, Diploma Coordinator and Head of Secondary School. Most of his recent curriculum experience has been in connection with International Baccalaureate programmes, but in the past he has worked with a number of national and international systems. In addition, he was an IB examiner for seven years, and has been involved in a number of educational organizations (ECIS, AGIS, the Mathematical Association) in a number of roles.

His interests include travel, sports (especially football, golf, cricket and table-tennis), recreational mathematics and notaphily. He enjoys reading and solving puzzles.

Anthony Carman

Whole School Counselor

Anthony Carman

Anthony has been involved in education as a teacher and counselor for over 25 years across three continents and in a wide variety of contexts. Anthony is from Australia and is accompanied by his wife, Mary who is an ESOL teacher at BCIS. Anthony has been involved in international education for over 10 years, working in schools in Vietnam, Germany and now China.

Anthony’s role at BCIS is as the Whole School Counselor and he is looking forward to expanding the counseling programme to grow with the school.

Susan Im

Head of Business Administration

Susan Im

Susan is from the United States and has lived in Maryland, California and Singapore before moving to Beijing in 2000. Her training is in Toxicology with an MBA from Pepperdine University.

In her professional career she has worked for Merck Sharp and Dohme, NOVA, the University of Maryland, School of Medicine and Research Institutions in Maryland and California. She held numerous management positions in research and development, international business and marketing, business development and business strategy consulting.

She made the transition from the corporate field to education to contribute to educating our next generation of leaders. She is a firm believer that our society is a reflection of its educators and that education is the source for all children to reach their fullest potential. It is her desire to see each student reach their potential at BCIS. This desire fuels her dedication to help build our school during the next growth phase and beyond.

Susan’s interests include traveling, learning about different cultures, reading about leadership development, and especially spending time with her son who is a student at BCIS.

Katherine Qu

Communications & Development Director

Katherine Qu

Katherine brings to BCIS more than 10 years’ experience in business development and marketing related roles within various industries including consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and IT. She started her career in the economic sector of the Chinese government, working on a number of key international projects bridging China and the global society. With her graduate study on business administration, Katherine moved on to work for PepsiCo, Pfizer, and Lenovo in different parts of the world including New York, Beijing and Singapore. Katherine enjoys working in diversified environments and believes that international-mindedness can only be built by living and experiencing it. It’s the school’s mission to help our students become global citizens and work towards a better world that has attracted her to BCIS. She is committed to helping the school grow to benefit more students, more families, and the whole of society.

Katherine was originally from Liaoning, China. She got her BA degree in English from Dalian University of Science and Technology, China, and her MBA degree from University of Maryland, USA.

Katherine is married and has two children – Flora and Frank. She enjoys singing, dancing and watching movies.