Meet the New Teacher: Christophe Maruniak

Meet the New Teacher: Christophe Maruniak

Christophe Maruniak is the new Science and Physics teacher


Secondary Physics Teacher

Christophe Maruniak is the new Science and Physics teacher. He hails from Nabonne, in France. He earned a Bachelor’s in Engineering at the University of Huddersfield and his PGCE in Wales. He said, however, he never did learn Welsh.

I went to university in France but decided I needed to improve my English so worked in the UK as an au pair. However, when it was time to return to France to complete my degree, I realised that I wanted to go back to the UK and finish my last year there.

This has always been a place where I wanted to work, it’s one of the big names in international education. We both knew that it was the type of school we wanted to work in; a non-profit school. We’d worked in for-profit schools and they are very different. The philosophy and approach of a non-profit school is a much better fit for our values.

After graduation I decided I preferred education instead of engineering, I found working in the labs behind a computer screen all by myself was a bit lonely. I knew I wanted to work with kids, I had worked with them in summer camps as a teen, so I had some experience already.

The Journey to Bangkok Patana

When I was in the UK and had finished my degree, all my British friends did a gap year. I had no idea what that was, so I investigated and thought “Yes, I want to do that. I want to travel.”  I earned my PGCE and worked in Sri Lanka for two years. I returned to the UK for three years to obtain teaching experience in the UK and that is where I met my wife who is an Art teacher here as well. We decided to go to Malaysia for two years but ended up staying nine years. We loved everything there but at the same time we wanted our girls to be exposed to their French heritage and to European culture. We moved to Switzerland for three years but realised that Bangkok Patana has so much more to offer. Here they will get an amazing education with so many opportunities; the Science labs, the drama and the arts.

Learning New Skills

What I missed in my previous school was working in a big faculty – it was very small. The faculty here is very big, I’m looking forward to sharing with colleagues and learning new skills. It has been nice to go through new techniques, collaborating and sharing with the other members of the Science faculty. One of the things I really love about Thailand is the diving, I love diving. I would like to get the girls into diving (including my wife). I would like for us to go diving as a family. I am looking forward to enjoying the quality of life that Thailand offers.

The information in this post is valid for the date posted above. Our curriculum and policies are dynamic. For up-to-date information, please contact the school directly.