1:15 - 1:40 PM | Leading with Clarity — How Outstanding Schools Build Cultures That Last
PANEL DISCUSSION
The Conversation
Policies alone don't build culture, conviction does. The schools with genuine staying power aren't the ones with the thickest handbook; they're the ones where every person in the building believes something, deeply, without ever being explicitly told to.
This session explores how the most remarkable schools build cultures with genuine staying power, considering culture as something built through conviction and consistency rather than policies alone. It examines what it means to protect what matters most even under pressure, frames culture as what every person in a building believes without being told, and features senior curriculum and culture leaders from across the region.
Key discussion points include:
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How the most remarkable schools build cultures with genuine staying power
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Culture as something built through conviction and consistency, not policies alone
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What it means to protect what matters most, even under pressure
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Culture as what every person in a building believes without being told
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Featuring senior curriculum and culture leaders from across the region
Speakers
Joanna Povall Principal, Wales International School Over 30 years of leadership experience in schools in the UK, France and UAE. Alongside working as a Principal, supports school improvement around the world as a Lead Improvement Partner for the Council of British International Schools. Awarded the Tes International School Principal of the Year 2024/25. Author of Kind Leadership, which was released by Crown House in Spring 2026. The CHASE framework contained in the book has been shortlisted for the Tes International Schools Staff Wellbeing Initiative of 2025. ISC Research Edruptor Education Influencer 2025.
Surji Aboubakker Iqbal Cluser Instructional Coach, Bloom Education Surji Aboubakker Iqbal is a Cluster Instructional Coach at Bloom Education with over 20 years of UAE education experience. Her leadership work focuses on school improvement, instructional coaching, teacher development, and building sustainable cultures of learning. She is passionate about leading with clarity, empowering educators, and strengthening practice across schools.
Jessica Werner Founder, Northshore Learning Jessica has worked with schools worldwide as a professor, instructor, and consultant. Dr. Werner specializes in behavior support, social-emotional learning, student regulation, and educator wellbeing. She is passionate about helping schools meet diverse student needs and support and retain great teachers.
Dr Farah Sarraj Chief Corporate Officer, Al-Futtaim School Management Company Dr Sarraj also leads a dedicated Centre for Excellence in Arabic founded in 2018 by the Al Futtaim Education Foundation. Dr Sarraj’s advocacies include education for the 22nd Century, bilingualism, raising the profile of Arabic as a language for thought and life, and education for global citizenship. Dr Sarraj held several senior school leadership roles in the UK before she moved to the UAE in 2011. In the UAE, Dr Sarraj served on the senior leadership team of a start-up school in the northern emirates before moving to Ajman University, where she lectured in the College of Education at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Dr Sarraj holds an MA and PhD in English Literature/Early Women’s Writing from the University of Manchester, a PGCE/QTS from Brunel University, London and an MSc in Educational Leadership from the University of Portsmouth. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts and is currently pursuing a Master’s in the Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health at Kings College London.