Leadership

Silke Friedrich
(Germany)
Executive Director

Master of Arts in communications

Silke Friedrich studied modern social and business communication at the University of Arts in Berlin. Since 2007 she has been responsible for internal and external communication at BMS, and created the school’s corporate design together with her team. As Managing Director of BMS for the past three years, she has been directly involved in setting up the school's governance and program structure.

Ben Hinves
(Australia)
Principal Secondary School

Postgraduate Diploma of Secondary Education, University of New South Wales (UNSW).
B.A. Honours First Class by Research, UNSW
B.A (Asian Studies) majoring in History, UNSW

Ben Hinves is a History specialist and educational leader.  His educational philosophy was grounded in his experience as a Head of Department in some of the leading educational institutions in Australia.  He is a regular key presenter of pedagogical seminars for the HTA and HTAV.  Ben has also been the Head of Secondary and Head of Campus of an International Boarding IB World School in China.  He has a passion for building a culture of education centered on rigorous academic achievement which is firmly anchored to a pastoral care system that focuses on nurturing student enlightenment across all age groups.

Robert Sutherland
(Canada)
Principal Primary School

M.A. Education
B.A. Recreation/Leisure Studies
B.A. English (Film and Communication)

Robert Sutherland is a Literacy Specialist and an experienced primary school teacher. He has taught in Canada, St. Lucia W.I., Africa, Sweden and Norway. In St. Lucia, Robert was the Academic Director of a school that was in the process of becoming a PYP school – it was here that he became interested in the IB and Learning through Inquiry. In Sweden and Norway, Robert was able to deepen his understanding of the PYP while teaching, and he also attended several IB Workshops. These experiences have enabled him to gain an understanding of teaching/learning in an international context.

Birgit Meir
(Germany)
Principal Preschool

Educator

Birgit Meir was trained in education at the Fachakademie für Sozialpädagogik (Academy of Applied Social Pedagogy) in Dillingen, Bavaria. As a certified educator, she acquired practical experience in vocational education centers, such as private schools and a variety of kindergartens. After many years as a self-employed entrepreneur, she managed a day care center attended by 90 children for the past four years. It is important for Ms. Meir to work together with students, parents and her colleagues to realize the school's visions and goals. This includes the age-specific encouragement of children's individual personalities and skills in various areas of knowledge, as well as an education based on life values.

Martin Ecker
(Germany)
Director After School

In addition to his years of experience as a professor of theater, Martin Ecker has also held a number of executive positions in the communications industry, including working as a consultant for various companies. Martin Ecker has been at BMS since October 2009 and is responsible for the content and organization of the Afternoon Program.

Mark Shillitoe
(England)
PYP Coordinator

BSC(Hons) Physical Education, Sport Science and Mathematics
QTS- Bradford College

Mark Shillitoe was educated at Loughborough University. After a successful career as a sports and exercise specialist he came into teaching through being involved in the Butterfly Programme, a holistic educational project working with children, parents and schools where behavior was an obstacle to learning.

He began teaching in the UK, moving to Berlin with his family in 2008. After teaching fourth grade at BMS, he takes on the role of PYP coordinator guiding the development of the Primary Years Programme. He shares his passion for inquiry based learning and creative classroom practices.