Jodie Drew

Jodie Drew, founding Principal of The Boys’ School at Rashid and Latifa School in Dubai, is recognised for her enterprising spirit, strategic foresight, and capacity for driving significant and positive change. As an empathetic leader, she is a great advocate of wellness leadership with a focus on holistic staff well-being. Above all, her fervour for school improvement and leadership principles are firmly anchored in her pursuit of optimal educational outcomes for her students.

Her unwavering dedication to educational excellence, shaped by a celebrated 17-year career in teaching that includes 12 notable years in leadership roles, has earned her widespread acclaim. Skilled in managing multicultural stakeholders, Jodie’s innate interest in Early Years and Primary Education adds immense depth to her forward-thinking approach.

A passionate proponent of high-quality play as an essential learning building block, she ensures it forms the backbone of her education strategy. Recently, amid global turbulence, she was recognised for sensitively navigating unprecedented challenges, maintaining high educational performance, fostering employee wellness, overseeing school expansion, and guiding the construction of new facilities. Previously, in the UK, she successfully collaborated with the Welsh Government to innovatively transform curricula and advanced professional development in regional schools.