Enjoy this short video snippet about North London Collegiate School Kobe (NLCS) from our 2025 Tokyo Expo.
Transcript
We spoke with Matthew Williams (Founding Principal).
ISTimes Global: (00:00) Hello, I’m here with Matt
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:01) from the North London Collegiate School Kobe.
ISTimes Global: (00:05) Welcome to the Expo, Matt.
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:06) Thank you so much.
School Opening Soon
ISTimes Global: (00:08) I hear that your school is launching in August. How’s that going?
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:12) It is. And it’s going very well actually. Yeah, we have lots of interest in the school and yeah, really excited about opening in just about three months time.
ISTimes Global: (00:21) Yeah, that’s coming up really quickly.
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:23) Yeah, it is.
ISTimes Global: (00:23) What’s it been like opening a school?
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:25) It’s been an absolute joy. I’ve met some wonderful um Japanese parents and students that are coming to join us. We’re a selective school, so students have to be interviewed um to get into the school. And so I’ve met some wonderful creative children who are going to be joining us in a few months time.
Academics at NLCS
ISTimes Global: (00:40) Sounds wonderful. What are your plans for the academics at your school? What kind of curriculum are you thinking about?
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (00:46) So the North London Collegiate School group of schools, we’re one of five across the world. Um are academically um selective and incredibly successful in each of the countries um they open in. And so we will aim to to follow the pathway that’s been set. Um we we hope to teach the IB curriculum. We’re in candacy pha- phase at the moment, and then that curriculum will lead students to fantastic universities across the world.
Extracurricular Activities
ISTimes Global: (01:10) All right. And then how about plans for your extracurriculars and like that? Students gaining involved in the community.
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (01:17) Absolutely. So extra curricular activities are one of the three pillars of our school. So academic excellence, strong pastoral care, and then uh having access to fantastic uh activities. So sports, drama, uh media, music, all of those will be available to the students. And then being out in the community, charity fundraising as well. We want to be a positive influence in our community in Kobe.
Future NLCS Students
ISTimes Global: (01:38) Sounds wonderful. Opening a school, I’m sure is a lot of work. And so to open a school for these children, I’m sure you have some kind of vision or dream for what you want the children to become as they finish their time at your school. Can you tell us a bit about like what it is you want uh to build for these children and their future?
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (01:56) Absolutely. So um we’re committed to the children knowing that they’ve been to a school in Japan. So what I mean by that is whether the children are Japanese or whether they’re international, we want them to have the experiences and the knowledge of going to a school in Japan. So that will be Japanese language, but it will also be the understanding of the culture uh and the um uh and sort of the arts of of Japan. And so that will look like trips and visits uh to Kyoto and places across the country. And we want those graduates um to as well as know that they’ve been to a school in Japan, uh reflect on the fantastic visits and opportunities that that’s offered them. We want them to be confident when they go out and about. We want them to be confident in a boardroom, whether that’s in New York or London or Tokyo. And we want them to have discovered some fantastic interests, things that they may not have known when they joined us, but when they leave us, they’re like, oh, because I went to that school, I’m now a gifted linguist or I’m an amazing musician. So hopefully those happy memories will go with them.
ISTimes Global: (02:55) That sounds amazing. Well, good luck with your launch in August.
NLCS Kobe (Matt): (02:57) Thank you very much. Thank you.
About North London Collegiate School Kobe
- Part of prestigious NLCS group with 5 global campuses
- New Kobe campus launching August 2025
- Selective admissions with an interview process
- IB curriculum (currently in candidacy phase)
- Three educational pillars: academic excellence, pastoral care, and extracurriculars
- Strong focus on the Japanese language and cultural immersion
- Plans for cultural trips to Kyoto and other historic sites
- Prepares students for top global universities and careers
- International perspective with deep local connections
- State-of-the-art facilities in Kobe
- Commitment to developing confident global citizens
