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Board of Governors

Purpose of the Board of Governors

  • To ensure that South View School provides students with an outstanding education

Responsibilities

  • This is not an operational body but a governance mechanism aiming to deliver the school’s mission
  • To ensure that SVS’s Senior Leadership Team has set the plans and policies of the school to ensure delivery of the school’s mission
  • To engage with stakeholders and champion communication towards the school meeting its objectives

What is involved?

  • The Board of Governors will be made up of members with different skills, knowledge, and experience
  • The Board of Governors meets as often as its business requires, however, this will be at least once a term
  • The business of the school is progressed by the whole Board of Governors working together in the best interests of the school children

The Board Members

David Flint - Principal

Originally from the UK, David has extensive experience as an educational leader specialising in the UK and IB curricula in Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Malaysia and the UAE. He has worked within, led and developed established schools and start-ups with rolls ranging from 400 to over 3000 pupils in the 3-18 age range.

David has a Bachelor’s degree in Geography from Staffordshire University (UK) and Master’s degrees in Transportation, IT and Education from the University of Hong Kong. He has enjoyed previous careers in the UK military and transport planning in the Far East.

Dinesh Kothari - Chairman

Dinesh Kothari is the Chairman of Interstar Education and the Founder and Chairman of Victory Heights Primary School, a highly-regarded sister school to South View. Mr. Kothari is a well-known businessman and philanthropist in this region, with a proven track record of successfully founding and managing schools, both in India and the UAE, since 1998.

Dinesh is also the primary shareholder and the Managing Director of the well-known Delhi Private Schools (‘DPS’), which have 2 branches in the UAE – one in Sharjah and the other in Dubai (Discovery Gardens). He is also the owner of another DPS in Jodhpur, India which is a not-for-profit trust, and he manages the operations of all these schools, both in India and the UAE.

Dinesh is a qualified chartered accountant who has lived and worked in the UAE since 1974. He has extensive experience in the corporate and financial sector and has a range of business interests, including his own financial consulting practice.

Amit Kothari - Director

Mr. Amit Kothari is a Director of Interstar Education and on the Board of Governors of Victory Heights Primary School, South View’s sister school. Amit is responsible for all new business development, strategy and finance for Interstar Education.

Amit is a corporate finance specialist with more than 20 years’ experience in corporate treasury, mergers & acquisitions and in private equity. He worked with Abraaj Capital in Dubai for 5 years, and prior to that, with the Holcim group in Zurich, Switzerland for over a decade. In addition to his role as a Director with Interstar Education, Amit has now set up his own strategic consulting practice and advises a range of MNCs on corporate strategy and development.

Amit holds a B.A. (Hons) degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in the U.S., as well as an MBA from the University of Cambridge, in the U.K.

Sasha Crabb - Independent Academic Expert and Designated Safeguarding Governor

Sasha is the Founding Principal of Victory Heights Primary School and a well-known and highly-regarded British school leader and educator in Dubai. Prior to joining Victory Heights Primary, Sasha worked in senior leadership positions both in the UK and then, in Egypt, at the Modern English School in Cairo. With a wealth of specialist knowledge and extensive experience, gained over 2 decades of teaching and leadership, Sasha is well-positioned to be a very valuable ‘critical friend’ for South View and support the school on its educational journey.

Sasha has a proven track record as a successful Founding Principal as evidenced by her being awarded Principal of the Year 2017 by the Education Journal Middle East. She is a passionate and very original school leader who takes a personal interest in the professional development of all her staff and has an incredible knack for bringing out the best in all children. Sasha continues to think ‘outside the box’ with her wide range of highly-regarded school initiatives.

Sasha graduated from the University of Chester in the U.K. with a B.Ed (Hons) degree and she gained her NPQH status in 2006. She is currently completing her MSc. in Human Resource Management at Liverpool University.

Jonathan Hughes-D'Aeth - Academic Expert

Jonathan Hughes -D’Aeth studied Geography at Liverpool University, and Education at Queens’ College, Cambridge. He taught in the UK at Rugby School and at Melbourne Grammar School Australia before becoming Headmaster of Milton Abbey School in 1995.

He was appointed as Headmaster of Repton School, Dubai in 2010 retiring after 22 years of Headship in 2017. He subsequently took on the role of Chief Education Officer at EKI running its schools across the UAE. Subsequently he has remained in Education as a consultant specialising in School Improvement, Teacher Training and Strategic Planning.

He was Chairman of the UK Boarding Schools Association in 2005. In addition, he served on the committee of the Society of Heads as well as working with the UK Department of Education on the Joint Council for Qualifications.

Anthony Taylor - Corporate Representative
Anthony has over ten years’ experience within the institutional real estate market. He was appointed Head of Real Estate in 2018 having previously been Fund Manager, Real Estate at Emirates NBD Asset Management since 2012. He has had a key part in building ENBD REIT’s institutional portfolio and its subsequent listing on the Nasdaq Dubai in March 2017. Prior to Emirates NBD Asset Management, Anthony was an Asset Manager at Public Investment Corporation (South Africa) managers to Africa’s largest government pension fund, and prior to that a Professional Valuer at Old Mutual Properties (South Africa). He is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), a registered valuer and holds Bachelor of Science Honours in Property Studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
James Didcott - Teacher Representative

James Didcott is the Governing Board’s teacher representative, and currently a senior teacher at SVS teaching Year 4. James joined SVS from Victory Heights where he started as a founding staff member. Beginning his second career path in the UK, teaching primarily in KS2 classes and carrying out various leadership roles, James moved with his family to Dubai 8 years ago, returning to the country where he grew  up. Now with 15 years of teaching experience, James provides valuable insights into both classroom practice and school development.

James graduated from the University of Manchester in the UK with a BA (Hons) degree and gained a PGCE from the University of Brighton.

Giovanni Criscione - Parent Governor

Giovanni Criscione was born in Ragusa, Italy and since he was very young he had the pleasure to be exposed to a very inspiring international environment thanks to his parents who allowed him to travel worldwide and undertake international studies.

Giovanni’s background includes education and experience in International Relations, Public Affairs, Communications, Protocol and Diplomacy. Giovanni has been working in Dubai since 2016 first as Protocol Senior Manager and after as Head of Protocol for International Visits for Expo 2020 Dubai.

His past experiences include the United Nations in New York, the Italian Government, the Winter Olympic Games Torino 2006, Expo Milano 2015 and Expo Astana 2017. Giovanni holds a Law Degree from the University of Catania, Italy and a Master’s Degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from SIOI, Rome, Italy.

Joanne Wells - Academic Expert and Founding Principal
Joanne is a very experienced and incredibly able British educator. Prior to joining South View School, Joanne was the Founding Principal of the British School of Bucharest for 13 years where she developed it from a small primary school of 70 children to a full primary and secondary school of 525+ students.