Dear Senior Boys Parents,

We just wanted to write and introduce ourselves.  We are Tracy and David Spragg and we will be the new house parents in the Senior Boys boarding house at St Andrew’s Turi Prep School from September.  We are very excited to be joining the school and look forward to getting to know you and your families over the coming years.

First and foremost, we would like you to know that we are also parents.  We have three children.  Holly will be joining the school in year 10, Megan will be joining in year 9 and Luke will be joining in year 7.  As parents we understand the joys that our children bring to our lives and will do our utmost to make the Senior Boys Boarding house feels like a home from home for all the boys in the house.  We will try to make the environment one that we would want for our family.

We have been living and working in international schools for over 20 years.  We first met while working at the British School of Seoul Foreign School in South Korea in the late 90s.  From there we moved to Milan, working at the International School of Milan and then to Qatar in the Arabian Gulf where we worked in a number of schools over a 10 year period.  It was while we were living in Qatar that our three children were born.  For the last 5 years we have been working at NLCS Jeju, a British Style boarding school on a small island off the coast of South Korea.

I, David, have a Bachelor’s degree from Exeter University. It was a combined honours in mathematics and education and a Master’s Degree from Michigan State University in Education Administration. I have been a class teacher in various age groups, school coordinator for mathematics and P.E., a year group leader and deputy head of school.  I have spent the last 2 years working as a housemaster and Theory of Knowledge teacher to sixth form students as well as swimming teacher to all junior age students and maths teacher to a year 7 class.  If I were to choose one book about education for anyone to read it would be “Happiness and Education” by Nel Noddings.

I, Tracy, have a joint honours Bachelor’s Degree from Cardiff university in biochemistry and chemistry. I then graduated with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Leeds University. I have been a class teacher for classes Reception to Year 6, had specialisms in science, computing, English, English as a Second Language and Learning Support throughout the Prep school age and taught music to Nursery, Reception and Year 1 over the years. I have been working as a tutor in a boarding house at our current school in Jeju, S. Korea for the 5 years that we have been working here. I am entering the final stages of a Master’s Degree in Special Education from Nottingham University, England.

As a family we are very keen on sport, exercise and nutrition. We have been involved with playing and coaching a huge range of sports including, rugby, hockey, football, netball, basketball, squash, tennis, cricket, golf, snowboarding, surfing and athletics.  We also enjoy cycling and running. Other interests include cooking, playing board and card games and travel.  We are a Christian family and attending church is a central pillar of our personal philosophy and also a big part of our weekly routine.

We are very excited about the opportunities that coming to St. Andrew’s will offer our family and we are hopeful that we can help your sons’ to enjoy these opportunities too.