Director of Primary Appointment

June 1, 2022

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Nilde Pais as the new Director of Primary at UWC Maastricht, effective 1 September 2022.

Nilde joins our school following a twenty-year career as Primary teacher, coordinator and Primary lead at various international schools in Switzerland. She will be leaving the International School Rheintal in Buchs, St Gallen, where she has been the Primary lead for seven years. She also works as a school accreditation evaluator for the Council of International Schools (CIS). Nilde has a Bachelor degree in Primary Education from the Piaget Institute of Education in Almada, Portugal and is completing a Masters degree in Educational Leadership at the University of Dundee, Scotland.

The Head of College, Lodewijk van Oord, comments: “I am very excited to welcome Nilde to UWC Maastricht, as our new Director of Primary and member of the school’s Leadership Team. Nilde’s appointment follows a thorough search and interview process involving numerous stakeholders in our school. Nilde stood out because of her track record as a Primary leader and curriculum expert but also because of her great enthusiasm for the UWC movement and its mission and values. I am confident Nilde will lead our great Primary team with energy and empathy, to solidify the important work of the past number of years.”

“My vision for UWC Maastricht Primary is to continue to build, together with the secondary school, a community where teachers, students and their families feel at home,” writes Nilde. “To connect our community with all the good UWC has to offer, a multicultural community with true holistic learning. A school where students are encouraged to change the world through education and where we, as educators, help children develop into conscientious, inquisitive and sustainably-minded people. I am very much looking forward to being part of this fantastic community of people. For me, being part of UWC Maastricht is a dream come true!”

Nilde will be joining the UWC Maastricht community with her family, including her two daughters Mia and Eva who will join the school in MYP1 and DP1. Nilde is planning to visit our school for a handover and introductions before the end of this academic year.