Dear Rossleben community 

It is with great pleasure that I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as your incoming Head of Boarding. I am honoured to have been chosen for this position. Being responsible for the care of students at Klosterschule Rossleben represents a great privilege to me, in no small part due to the excellent reputation the school has amongst educators in the global educational community. 

Throughout my career in education, I have always viewed a school’s community spirit to be the single most important aspect of a student’s development. In my view an edu-cational body as a collective is inextricably forged by the respective school’s values. Fortunately, in the case of Rossleben these values have stood the test of time imme-morial. Students and staff at the school have impressive examples of great bravery, prudence, modesty, and justice amongst its alumni past and present. I hope to further support and make use of these guiding tenants in my daily life at the school. As a former Housemaster at Stamford School in England and a pastoral lead at Ecole Des Roches in France, I recognise that the life of a student both in the boarding or day context must be rich in knowledge acquisition in lessons as well as varied in out of class activities. To this end I have always sought to be innovative in my approach to holistic education. Innovation is best found when codirection and consensus is reached. In this sense It is my primary focus to work closely with staff and students to achieve a collective action and result. In following this process my former students have been able to compete in and establish unique opportunities ranging from debating against teams at the University of Cambridge to collaborating with Nobel laureates. I always stand by the notion that if a student can conceive of an idea and has the passion to stay the course, they can achieve anything they set their minds too. 

As an educator, I am a historian and a classicist, having taught both subjects in Eng-land and on the Continent. I am also passionate about rowing having rowed at the University of Cambridge. It is my hope that many of the students of Rossleben will join me on the water to form harmonious and competitive crews. Growing up and living in rural England has furnished me with a great love of nature and the environment. It is my ambition to share this love of the outdoors with our school community accompanied by my wonderfully loyal and friendly dog Violet. 

Most recently I have been working as Head of International Relations and Partnerships at Primakov Gymnasium in Moscow. I have also lectured on pedagogical methods at the Higher School of Economics University. I am delighted to join Klosterschule Rossleben, a school deeply rooted in timeless values. 

I am immensely excited to join the Rossleben community, and to get to know all the students, parents, and staff at the school. I look forward to many years of service at Rossleben and to getting to know Thueringen which is so rich in culture. 

With kind regards 
David Gloucester