Born and raised in Kenya, Robitaille went on to the University of Oxford, where she read Human Sciences, and later gained her Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Cambridge.
Robert Cody, head of school, ACS Doha, said: “On behalf of our school, I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to Vanessa to ACS Doha. She brings an impressive wealth of international teaching experience and rigour to the role, and I know she will be a great asset to our school and leadership team.”
When the opportunity at ACS Doha came, it offered Robitaille something special and different, not just with the different curricula it offered through its International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement programmes.
“I’d been in the British independent curriculum and environment my whole career and wanted to do something different. When you first see recruitment adverts like that, you think they won’t be interested because of this, but I was assured ACS wasn’t like that and they were just looking for the right people. They trust when they get the right people, they’ll bring their own experience and be quick to pick up what ACS is doing. The lack of judgment was something that made me feel that ACS was special,” she explains.
“During the course of the interviews, that strong feeling of community, of children first, the incredible internationalism that comes through, was really inspiring. I also liked the fact that ACS is clearly an ambitious schools group, just like my previous school. I find it exciting to work with people who want to develop and make things better and better for the children.
“I’m very much a people person and it’s about the children first. I think it’s important that anyone within a school who is making decisions is ensuring that the children are always absolutely at the centre.”