One of the Island’s private schools is turning a fresh page under a new head teacher as it embarks on “strategic decision making” and re-accreditation.Somersfield Academy head Peter Harding said the International Baccalaureate programme in place at the school had seen “unprecedented worldwide growth”.The school claims to be the only institution on Island to offer the programme for students aged 11 through 16.It is now planning to take its IB programme further.“What’s coming up is a very interesting, exciting time for all the Island’s schools,” Mr Harding said.“We’re all looking very hard at our resources and programmes, and having to be clear about what we offer.”Born in the UK, Mr Harding arrived here in August, following a 30-year career in Tanzania, the Bahamas, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Azerbaijan.Most recently, he spent five years heading the British school in Washington, DC.He said the combination of Montessori and IB for its 460 students made Somersfield particularly appealing to him.“I liked the look of Somersfield’s philosophy — it’s exactly in line with what I think,” he said.“The school’s board has a real vision of where Somersfield is going. Somersfield is interested in the individual’s hidden talents. That’s still exciting to me after a long career in education, and I like the way Somersfield put that out front as a promise.”The school is now preparing to renew its accreditation with Canadian Accredited Independent Schools.Said Mr Harding: “I have a lot of experience in accreditation; I’ve been involved in that for 27 years. I’m a good fit, from the school’s point of view.”As a “shaper, fixer and organiser” he has shaped the focus of schools, and in some cases overseen the addition of new buildings, during a career that coincided with a surge in the number of international schools worldwide.The year ahead includes six to eight months of internal review before Somersfield submits to a CAIS review.“It’s comparable to an audit,” Mr Harding explained. “In our time plan, at the end of the school year in 2013, we will have completed it.”The Devonshire school must now evaluate how best to continue the development of the IB programme.In terms of Somersfield’s size, the head said he reckoned it had reached its limit of physical development and enrolment.He said international schools have tended to align themselves with either the UK or US systems, while IB has emerged as the “genuinely international option looking at students as global citizens rather than being aligned with national systems”.He added: “It’s the difference between having a general national curriculum, and having a curriculum that you can relate to the place where you are, and the needs of the children there.”Asked about the UK’s decision to phase out the GCSE system in favour of a qualification called the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) starting in 2017, Mr Harding said it appeared to endorse the success of the IB programme.However, he said: “I think it’s a little premature to comment on. The UK has made decisions for the UK, but it isn’t clear yet what the implications are for schools overseas.”Mr Harding is no stranger to the Island, having years ago visited Bermuda from the Bahamas to play rugby on the same field where Somersfield now stands.“The circumstances of my personal and professional life have led me to some really interesting places,” he noted.“Before Washington, DC I worked for BP [British Petroleum] in Azerbaijan. [The school they started there] went from 50 children to 650 in about five years. I think the review Somersfield in undertaking is something the oil companies would call a deep drill.”He continued: “In my experience, it’s one of those challenging tasks for a school, but it brings every facet of the school together.“The real benefit of re-accreditation is the self-study. You really get to know yourself inside out.”Comfortable with the size of the Island, and gratified by the welcome he’s received, Mr Harding said he was also at ease within the Somersfield model.“We don’t talk about it in terms of instruction and teaching, so much as what our outcomes are. We’re interested in learning. That’s a big shift around the world. More and more schools are talking about learning as their focus. Our mission here is to develop the individuals themselves, the hidden talents.”