King’s College Online is a global institution and part of Inspired Education, a group of online and bricks-and-mortar schools educating over 50,000 students worldwide. With bases already operational in Asia and the Pacific region, the latest outpost of Inspired Education will begin enrolling full-time GCSE and A-level courses starting in September 2021 from today.

The new online school shares its name with the chain of day and boarding co-educational British-curriculum international schools in the King’s Group, which was absorbed by Inspired Education two years ago. The King’s Group operates 15 English-speaking King’s College schools in Spain, Latvia, Germany, Panama and the UK.

King’s College Online will cost €7,000 per year for full-time international GCSEs (eight to ten subjects) and the same for AS and A-levels full-time (up to four subjects). The school said its fee structure gives it a competitive advantage over traditional independent schools, which charge on average nearly three times more.

We want to break away from the Victorian model of education, which was designed to produce workers for factories. King’s College Online aspires to empower individuality and ambition – Mark O’Donoghue, King’s College Online

“King’s College Online enables students between 14 and 18-years-old to experience the best of online and offline schooling, plus the opportunity to attend one of Inspired’s 70 prestigious schools around 20 countries and five continents,” the school said.

“Each student is also assigned a personal tutor for regular success coaching, as well as pastoral care and access to university counsellors,” it added.

The curriculum is to British standards and includes extra-curricular activities. Online schools like these are popular with young people pursuing a career in sport, entertainment or music and whose schedules do not fit traditional timetables. The school hopes to attract those who frequently relocate or could not afford traditional private schooling.

Mark O’Donoghue, chief executive of the new school, said: “King’s College Online is a whole new approach to learning in secondary education, which is innovative, challenging and enriching. It is closer to the approach higher education has been using for a while, combining live lectures with smaller learning groups, but all embedded in a virtual campus.

“We want to break away from the Victorian model of education, which was designed to produce workers for factories. King’s College Online aspires to empower individuality and ambition.”

Read more: A-level reform: broadening subjects post-16 ‘essential’, says head

The post King’s College Online opens across Europe, Middle East and Africa appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The family of schools have partnered with guardianship and student placement agency Connexcel to provide the holiday provision, with Julie Ann Morse leading the camps.

Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools welcomed the return of boarders on 14 August last year and their boarding provision has remained open ever since.

Morse and her team also ran activity camps for the schools’ international boarders in October/November 2020 half-term, during the Christmas and New Year period, and in February half-term.

Teachers from Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools also assist with the camps so that the children have familiar faces around, and the schools’ nurses are available throughout.

“It has been such a turbulent time in the UK and we recognised the need to provide excellent pastoral support and care for our international boarders, and to do everything we could to ease their anxieties,” said principal of Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, James Murphy-O’Connor.

It has been such a turbulent time in the UK and we recognised the need to provide excellent pastoral support and care for our international boarders, and to do everything we could to ease their anxieties – James Murphy-O’Connor, Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools

“With this in mind – and to support our international students further – we approached the Connexcel to run activity camps during the holiday periods for our international boarders who would be unable to return home due to the pandemic.”

“We are proud to have formed such a positive and flourishing relationship with this outstanding agency and are delighted that, as a family of schools, we have provided uninterrupted and unbroken provision for our boarders at school for seven months.”

“The boarders have responded extremely positively to the holiday provision and have formed a special community within a community.”

Activities such as volleyball, dance, pebble painting, printing, scrunchie making, sushi sessions, scratch art and an Easter egg hunt will be keeping the international boarders busy over the Easter period.

The independent school in Wales educates girls and boys aged 3–18 through a combination of single-sex and co-education delivered “at the optimum stages of a child’s academic and personal development”.

You might also like: How will the pandemic impact international pupil recruitment?

The post Easter activity camp supports international boarders in Monmouth appeared first on Independent Education Today.

In November and December 2020, 628 staff in international schools in 109 countries were surveyed, including teachers, leaders with a teaching role, leaders with a non-teaching role, administrators and school counsellors.

The report, which was created in collaboration with International Education Psychology Services, shows an increase in awareness of staff and student wellbeing has been prompted by the pandemic.

For example, when asked if they felt the international school they worked in is concerned about their personal wellbeing, 68% said they agreed or strongly agreed that their school did. This can be compared with the results from ISC Research’s 2018 survey where only 57% of respondents felt this way.

When asked if their school has supported their wellbeing through the challenges of Covid-19, 71% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed their school had. However, when analysing this statement based on role, while 74% of all leaders agreed, only 44% of teachers agreed.

Respondents noted active support of colleagues (70%) and active support of the senior leadership team (58%) as the two most beneficial wellbeing support measures. Staff group events (online or in person) were considered beneficial by 41% of respondents. However, 11% of respondents said there is no wellbeing support for staff at their school.

The report also shows individual resilience, inter-personal reliance and a sense of belonging has increased for most international school stakeholders as a result of facing the challenges of Covid-19.

Whilst international schools faced similar challenges to schools everywhere, they also experienced additional challenges as a result of the high percentage of expatriate staff who were impacted by country border restrictions.

When asked which aspects of the job have been particularly challenging, 73% of respondents said increased stress due to the impact of Covid-19, 63% noted travel restrictions and 62% said increased workload due to Covid-19.

The report also shows parent-staff relationships have strengthened, with 83% feeling they could count on the support of most of their parents. This is an increase from the 2018 survey when 62% of respondents felt they could count on the support of most of their parents.

The report covers staff perceptions of their role, parent relationships with staff, student-staff relationships and whole school wellbeing. There are practical suggestions on how teachers and school leaders can respond proactively to their own wellbeing and that of others.

You can download the full report online.

The post Wellbeing in international schools report launched by ISC Research appeared first on Independent Education Today.

In feedback gathered by COBIS, most of the participants rated the webinar as excellent and reported they would recommend it to a colleague. Given those positive reviews, here is a quick summary for anyone also currently involved in evaluating potential online entrance tests for their own school.

Second language development can be classified in two ways. Initially, learners acquire what are called basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS). This early language development is primarily based on speaking and listening skills and within two to five years an EAL learner may appear as ‘fluent’ as a native speaker.

However, it takes considerably longer (on average seven years) for EAL learners to achieve cognitive academic linguistic proficiency (CALP), even in an immersive context. This is because becoming fully biliterate/bilingual requires equally strong skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Critically, that means testing the English language skills of a pupil entering English medium instruction needs a tool appropriate to the task. Assessments that are designed for native speakers are unsuitable because an EAL pupil’s results on any such standardised test will be dependent on their linguistic proficiency at the time of taking it. On the other hand, the most commonly used online English language tests focus on content and activities which relate to day-to-day communication.

So, while such general English placement tests might quickly tell you how well a prospective pupil will settle socially at school, they will not give you an accurate insight into whether the individual will thrive academically, nor how much English language support might be necessary to allow them to reach their true potential. Yet this is vital information.

Used by over 300 schools, colleges and universities worldwide, Password tests are a trusted name in assessment of academic English language

EAL learners who achieve academic linguistic proficiency by the time they hit exam years tend to out-perform native speakers in their GCSEs, but for those who do not, research tells us the attainment penalty is severe. With all that in mind, it is tempting to fall back on creating an in-house test, designed by your own team of EAL experts.

However, that throws up issues not just relating to the reliability of test content if not thoroughly piloted, but also around security. A test becomes vulnerable to cheating the moment it comes in the form of a PDF attachment, especially in the current circumstances, where the option of using British Council offices and staff for invigilation purposes is not available.

So, when evaluating the assessment options for your prospective EAL learners, here are three questions to ask:

1. Who was the test designed for? (eg native or non-native users of English)
2. What was the purpose of the test? (eg to assess general or academic English)
3. How secure is the test? (eg how vulnerable is the test to malpractice).

Password Pupil English tests were designed to provide accurate information on prospective international pupils’ academic linguistic proficiency.

Based on research by world-leading academics in the field of English language learning and assessments, and delivered online using a secure browser and an enormous database of questions from which each test is uniquely generated, they provide schools with an own-branded test that is fit for purpose. Our academic management constantly review test data and our qualified markers are experienced at spotting plagiarism.

Our friendly support team provide free training for schools and their trusted agents, so that ‘at home’ testing can be used with the protection of remote invigilation while the pandemic restricts test-taking in person.

Used by over 300 schools, colleges and universities worldwide, Password tests are a trusted name in assessment of academic English language. If you want to put our assessments to the test, get in touch for a demonstration.

E: contact@englishlanguagetesting.co.uk

W: www.englishlanguagetesting.co.uk

The post Assessing the assessment appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The IB said the pandemic disruption – that saw A-level and GCSE exams cancelled – made it “very unlikely” exams would be possible. The decision was taken in consultation with the examinations regulator, Ofqual.

IB exams will, however, take place in other countries. The exam board last week announced that IB candidates would be offered “a dual route” to grades this year. Students will either sit exams or complete courses with teacher-assessed grades. The IB said it was consulting with schools in more than 152 countries to identify the best local solutions.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “The IB has today written to schools to inform them of our decision not to hold examinations in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man following active and positive discussions with Ofqual throughout the past week.

“This decision has been taken on the basis that local examinations have also been cancelled for students in the UK and because for many schools in the UK it is very unlikely that examinations will be able to be administered due to ongoing disruption.

“We intend that the results of students in the UK should be awarded using coursework marks and predicted grades for the May 2021 session, as described in the awarding model outlined two weeks ago.

“However, we cannot confirm this until the end of Ofqual’s technical consultation,” the board added. “We are working closely with our friends at Ofqual and we are very hopeful we will reach agreement on this.”

Related news: Hybrid learning here to stay, says Royal Hospital School

The post IB exams cancelled in the UK appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The challenge for the UK day and boarding school was to get to Cranleigh Abu Dhabi before those at the international school got to the UK. The schools needed to log 5,488km first in order to win and were encouraged to log their physical activity on Strava.

Activities included walking, running, skateboarding, swimming, riding, rock climbing, cycling, roller blading and rowing.

The challenge kicked off on 18 January and Cranleigh Preparatory School announced that Cranleigh Abu Dhabi had won the race on 27 January.

Although both schools have now completed the distance, they are still uploading their activity results.

Director of sports at Cranleigh Preparatory School, Alison Jolly, said the challenge has made pupils and staff more excited about physical activity during lockdown.

She said: “We have had lots of evidence uploaded to our school blogs on Seesaw which shows the pupils and staff have really been excited to get involved. The fact that they are still uploading items after the challenge has been completed makes it seem that they are getting out to exercise more.”

Cranleigh Preparatory School and Cranleigh Abu Dhabi are now racing from Abu Dhabi to Cranleigh China in Changsha – another 5,791km – to keep the activity going over the next few weeks.

Cranleigh Preparatory School is part of a family of schools including Cranleigh School, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, Cranleigh China and Kawama, their sponsored school in Kitwe, Zambia.

You might also like: Cheltenham College donates Severn Stars sponsorship to inclusion charity

The post Cranleigh Prep races international schools in virtual challenge appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The girls’ secondary boarding school in Cranbrook opened in 1923 – and counts Princess Anne and former head of MI5 Eliza Manningham-Buller among its alumni.

The school has partnered with Hong Kong-based CTF Education Group (CTFEG) to open “a series of schools” in China, with the first expected to open in 2023.

Benenden headmistress Samantha Price said the overseas venture would help “support our ambitious bursary programme”.

“As one of the leading independent schools in the UK, Benenden is committed to significantly widening access and the opportunities available for future generations of girls to benefit from our educational offering,” Price said.

“We have been looking at various options in recent years and this first project in China is a wonderful opportunity to establish a fantastic new school at the same time as generating, in time, revenue that will supplement the donations from our incredibly generous supporters to help us offer more bursaries here at Benenden.”

The school will “reflect Benenden’s educational ethos and feel wherever possible,” Price said – and share more than a name with its UK-based sister school.

The as-yet-unnamed first school will open in the Panyu District, in the city of Guangzhou, and teach 1,550 boys and girls from kindergarten through to sixth form – it is anticipated that half the school’s intake will be boarders.

Revenue from the overseas schools will enable the school to develop an endowment to facilitate “a significant bursary programme in the future”.

Jennifer Yu Cheng, deputy vice-chairwoman of CTF Education Group, said: “We are delighted to announce CTF Education Group’s strategic partnership with Benenden School to bring one of the best schools in the world to the Greater Bay Area. The partnership sets the tone for our goal to deliver one of the best K-12 bilingual schools in Greater China.”

Picture credit: The Hon Anna Birkett, chair of Benenden’s governing council, signing the agreement, along with headmistress Samantha Price and Matt Commander, director of international and strategic projects

Read more: Downe House to open girls’ school in Muscat

The post New Chinese schools will fund UK bursaries, says Benenden appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The awards celebrate learning, teaching, community, wellbeing, leadership and strategic initiatives at international schools. This year’s awards attracted 264 nominations from 62 countries.

“This year, due to the impact of Covid-19 on schools throughout the world, many initiatives will have been developed to respond to the crisis. As a result, the judges will be looking for initiatives that show innovation and the potential for change through adversity,” said ISC Research.

Branksome Hall Asia, an independent school in South Korea won both the International School of the Year award and the Community Award.

Branksome Hall Asia is an international day and boarding school for girls located on the island of Jeju. It is the sister school of Branksome Hall Canada, an independent girls’ school in Toronto.

The International Baccalaureate World School says it is “committed to girls’ empowerment and helping students to shape a better world”.

The judging panel of 11 experienced international educators said: “Branksome Hall Asia has demonstrated well planned initiatives that have excellent intentions and truly impressive development which, as a result, are making a real impact for students and others.”

The school was recognised for a student-led initiative which resulted in designing and producing security necklaces for girls in vulnerable situations in Nepal, and for a research and mission-led strategic approach to its online learning.

Its Paradigm initiative saw former graduate Seung-eun Shin and her peers create a disaster research project in collaboration with the NGO Life World (or Life Nuri) for the victims of the Nepal earthquake.

They designed and produced an RF security necklace with a built-in torch, tracker and alarm for vulnerable young women in Nepal – 100 of which were sent to Nepal.­­­

A live streaming of the International School Awards will be repeated at 18:00 GMT today (18 January) on Vimeo.

The winners

International Impact Award: The International School of Prague

Community Award: Branksome Hall Asia

Inclusion Award: Alice Smith School, Malaysia

Safeguarding Award: The English School, Kuwait

Teaching and Learning Award: Fairview International School, Malaysia

Digital Technology in Learning Award: Deira International School, UAE

Wellbeing Award: The International School Kuala Lumpur

Student Pathways to Continued & Higher Education Award: The British International School Abu Dhabi

Environmental Award: Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket, Sweden

Ethical Values Education Award: Dulwich College Singapore

Strategic Leadership Award: Nord Anglia International School, Hong Kong

Future-Thinking Innovators Award: The American Community School of Abu Dhabi

International School of the Year 2021 Award sponsored by Pearson: Branksome Hall Asia

The post ISC Research announces winners of International School Awards appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Thank you, I am very excited by this opportunity. I was drawn to the role for three reasons. Firstly, the Thai family owners are truly committed to education, as is evinced by the extraordinary facilities and investment they have made into the school site. Working with the Rugby School Group resonates with me.

Their belief in educating the whole child and having vibrant co-curricular and enrichment opportunities running alongside high academic standards is what I have espoused wherever I have worked. Finally, the potential of RST to be a world-class boarding school is obvious and I want to help the school realise that.

What’s the best and worst thing about being a headteacher?

The best thing is definitely being able to create the platforms and opportunities for all in the school to achieve and excel, whether that be students or staff. It is so satisfying helping someone to perform at the highest level. The worst thing is informing someone that they can no longer be a part of the school community for whatever reason.

What was your favourite subject at school?

Music has always been my favourite subject because it combines so many disciplines and skills: the repetitious routine of essential practice and technical exercise; the intellectual rigour of analysing and understanding compositional processes and techniques; the mathematical beauty of structure and form and, of course, the emotional creativity and responses it evokes.

What are you currently reading?

‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It’s good, old-fashioned compelling storytelling and beautifully crafted. The narrative is chronological, but there are clever jumps in time, so the reader fills in the gaps of family events the characters know and from which they are still experiencing emotional fallout. It has a great saga feel; family sagas interwoven with powerful events in Nigeria’s history.

What issue in education are you most passionate about?

I am passionate about the individual: no two children are the same and, therefore, their outcomes and educational journeys will not and should not be the same. The sooner we all realise that educational success needs to be measured by the improved outcome for each student rather than merely a wealth of institutional statistics and percentage A and A* grades, the better.

If you weren’t in education what would you do instead?

I would attempt to be a chef. I adore cooking and find it therapeutic, both relaxing and creative. It is similar to music in that sense: the mundane and rhythmic repetition of chopping and preparing is wonderfully mind emptying, whereas the actual cooking itself is artistic, challenging and highly creative.

With a year to go until you step into your new role, how will you be preparing?

I will be finding out more about Thai culture and trying to learn some basic words and phrases. I will be in close contact with the school and aim to meet as many of the staff as I can through various Zoom conference calls. I will also be spending some time up at Rugby School working with the team there and interviewing for some new teachers for the 21/22 academic year.

Can you sum up your experience of leading a school through the pandemic and what you have learned?

Dealing with the global pandemic has been a real struggle for so many, however, every cloud has a silver lining and the experiences of last summer have taught us a lot and demonstrated some real strengths and opportunities.

At Sutton Valence School we learned how quickly we are able to adapt; how creative and innovative everyone can be; our resilience and determination; and how digital technology and new ways of working can actually enhance, complement and improve our provision and educational offering.

However, what really stood out for me is how the entire community coalesced and worked together to overcome adversity; it was truly heart-warming. Whether it was the support all staff showed each other; the charitable and generous acts of kindness enacted by so many to those that needed it; or by the way the parent and student bodies rallied round, backed our initiatives and worked to make our remote learning a success, it was the community working together that made our provision so effective.

The post Interview: Bruce Grindlay, upcoming principal of Rugby School Thailand appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The aim of the two-year project is for students to explore the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations through the creation of a unique virtual city.

A series of physical and online activities will be carried out in each school to create the city, with its own citizens, education and political systems, taking into consideration the SDGs that will make their city environmentally friendly, poverty free and granting education for all.

Once travel restrictions have been lifted, there will also be exchange trips, enabling students to work together and learn more about each other’s languages and cultures.

It is a wonderful and unique opportunity for students from all three schools to work collaboratively, to improve their linguistic skills, to develop their IT skills and to foster a love for cultural differences and tolerance – Esmeralda Salgado, King’s Ely

Esmeralda Salgado, head of modern foreign languages (MFL) at King’s Ely, said: “It is a wonderful and unique opportunity for students from all three schools to work collaboratively, to improve their linguistic skills, to develop their IT skills and to foster a love for cultural differences and tolerance.

“During their visits to La Reunion and Albacete, once travel is permitted in schools, students will spend most of the time at the French and Spanish schools carrying out different workshops and activities for the creation of our virtual city. They will also undertake several day trips to emblematic historical or geographical places in the country of origin, in relation to the project.

“This is a project which echoes the King’s Ely MFL department’s mission to instil a love of language learning and to take languages outside the classroom.”

In 2019, King’s Ely won a British Council eTwinning National Award for its “outstanding contribution to international school collaboration”.

You might also like: Downe House to open girls’ school in Muscat

The post New Erasmus+ project for King’s Ely and European partner schools appeared first on Independent Education Today.