Matthew Williams has been appointed as the founding principal of North London Collegiate School Kobe, Japan, set to open in August 2025.
He will come to Kobe with experience leading top international schools, most recently serving as headmaster at for four years.
Before Switzerland, Mr Williams took on a number of key leadership roles in London, including six years as principal of the state-funded senior school Chelsea Academy and two years as deputy head of what was then Quintin Kynaston Community Academy in St John鈥檚 Wood.
In his early career, he taught geography at Theale Green School in Buckinghamshire and was head of humanities at Willowfield School in Walthamstow.
As the founding principal of NLCS Kobe, Matthew Williams aims to “blend NLCS鈥檚 170-year tradition of academic rigour with Japan鈥檚 rich cultural environment”, .
Mr Williams said: 鈥淚 am thrilled to be leading North London Collegiate School Kobe as we prepare to open our doors to families in Japan.”
The school on Rokk艒 Island, which is backed by the Hakko Car Group, will be in easy reach of both Kobe and Osaka.
Initially, NLCS Kobe will offer classes for students in Grades 1 to 6, with plans to extend to Grades 7 and 8 as the school expands.
In 2028, a new senior school campus will open in the Rokk艒 Mountains, designed with a focus on sustainability and architectural beauty.
NLCS Kobe will be part of NLCS International, which includes branches in South Korea, the UAE, and Singapore.
