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EDUCATIONALIST Susan Anderson, who has helped place scores of Bahraini and expat students into British boarding schools, will be returning to the kingdom this weekend after being awarded a top accolade for her exemplary work in the field.
The founder and chief executive officer of Sue Anderson Consultants (SAC) received the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace last month after being included in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, which was published in the London Gazette over the summer.
Mrs Anderson has worked tirelessly for more than a decade to establish a specialised education service, focusing on helping British Forces families worldwide and expat and local families living in the Middle East, and will be at the Royal Golf Club (RGC) on Friday and the British Club of Bahrain on Saturday advising more mums, dads and children on the options available.
“It was a great honour to be presented with the MBE by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace recently and thanks must go to all those who have supported me during the past 14 years of working in the Middle East when making regular visits to Bahrain,” she told GulfWeekly.
Families living overseas keen to access British education either at a UK boarding school, language or summer school receive free, impartial, help and advice from Mrs Anderson and her team to ‘ensure children blossom and grow to their full potential’.
An MBE is awarded for a significant achievement or outstanding service to the community and is also awarded for local ‘hands-on’ services which stand out as an example to other people. In all cases awards illuminate areas of dedicated service which merit public recognition.
Mrs Anderson has been described as ‘an inspirational and dynamic entrepreneur’ who has drawn on her extensive experience to create a service to support military and expat families who want their children to benefit from a British education.
An expat wife and mother for 15 years, on returning to the UK she worked for 18 years in the independent school sector, where she identified a niche market. Having made the very difficult decision to send her own children to boarding school, she was committed to setting up a first class service to ensure that families in the same position would have access to sound advice from someone who understood their concerns.
Mrs Anderson and her team often meet families with children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD and those with more severe challenges such as autism, asperger’s and cerebral palsy, and says helping these children fulfill their potential is ‘very rewarding’.
This award comes as St Christopher’s School principal and British Schools in the Middle East chairman Ed Goodwin’s many years of work on behalf of British education in Bahrain and the region has been recognised with an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours List, as highlighted in last week’s GulfWeekly.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on June 4, 1917, by King George V. The Order is composed of five classes in civil and military divisions. In descending order of seniority, these are: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE); Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE or DBE); Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE); Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE); and Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
* Sue Anderson Consultants will be at the RGC at 2pm to 7pm on Friday and the British Club at 11am to 4pm on Saturday. Contact enquiries@andersoneducation.co.uk for more details.
