Leo Winkley, headmaster, Shrewsbury School

“Haileybury has considerable experience of working with partner schools; Haileybury Almaty opened in 2009 and our partner school in Astana opened two years later. These schools are now the market leaders in the region. They remain competitive by offering the very highest standard of education. We are in the process of signing a contract to partner a school in Europe to open in September 2020 and we are in discussion with other interested parties who would like us to partner schools elsewhere. We have successfully managed this growth through the creation of a fully staffed partnership office. Exciting times lie ahead.” 

Martin Collier, master, Haileybury

“There is currently something of a gold rush mentality amongst independent schools operating internationally, and it is important to manage growth sustainably and to continue to provide real value to our partners, parents and pupils overseas. One way in which we are able to do this is to exploit the competitive advantage we gain through having a growing group of schools. This provides us with opportunities for collaborative curriculum work across multiple campuses, for example, in addition to more traditional opportunities such as teacher and pupil exchanges.”

Allan Walker, director of international schools, Malvern College

You might also like: What is it like to lead an international school in China?

The post Talking Heads: how does your international school remain competitive? appeared first on Independent Education Today.

During Clark’s time at the college, Malvern has moved steadily up the academic league tables, and opened four international schools. He has also overseen an ambitious building programme – partly funded by the income from overseas – including a new sports centre, two new boarding houses, and a thoroughly refurbished science centre and theatre.

“I’m proud of how, during my time, Malvern has enhanced its reputation as an IB [International Baccalaureate] school and boosted its national and international profile,” said Clark. “We run the IB alongside the A Level programme and, these days, half our sixth form pupils do each; there are some distinct advantages with the IB, which is academically more stretching. It is highly-prized by Russell Group universities, and gives our IB pupils very favourable offers. We’re now seen alongside the top schools in the country, and people come to us from further afield. Our students are drawn from 27 different countries, including the Cayman Islands and Australia, and numbers are rising, up by 80 this year, to the current roll of 650.”

We want Malvernians to strive for success, but be able to cope with setbacks; to be confident, but not arrogant; to see learning as a lifelong experience and be optimistic about the future – as I am

“We run well-attended language schools over the summer,” Clark continued, “and our sport is on a real high, thanks to excellent coaching and first-class facilities. Worcestershire County Cricket Club come to practise here, and we are a growing centre for girls’ cricket, too; we now offer Britain’s first dedicated cricket scholarships for girls. We have close links with Worcester Warriors rugby, and a number of pupils are in their academy set-up or playing professional rugby with them on leaving school. Our girls’ hockey is particularly strong, and our under-16s recently reached the national finals for the third time in six years. It helps that our head coach, Mark Moss, is the captain and coach of the GB over-35 team.

“Academically, our girls buck the national trend by excelling in STEM subjects. Unusually, as many girls as boys study maths, science and economics here, partly because of a number of strong female role models we have in the different disciplines. I appointed Chey Hooper-West as our first female director of sport, for example, not to make some sexist point but because she was the best person for the job.

“This has been a rewarding, challenging decade for my family and me. The toughest aspect? Having to expel people, particularly when they are lovely kids with a lot to offer, but who have done something very wrong. However painful, though, it’s important to follow the correct procedure and do right in the eyes of the school. Generally, in education and society at large, there is less respect for authority than there was 25 years ago, and we scoop up more issues; IT hacking, for example, to which the police find it more difficult to devote their time. It’s crucial that we maintain a strong sense of discipline and norms of conduct, otherwise we become a society that is less free to operate with choice.”

I’m proud of how, during my time, Malvern has enhanced its reputation as an IB school and boosted its national and international profile

Through winning a Douglas Smith scholarship, which enabled him to attend Downing College, Cambridge in his early 20s, Clark, a modern historian, knows first-hand the transformative effect of academic or sports awards on promising youngsters from cash-strapped families.

“I am really excited by my leaving present, the Clark Scholarships, being launched this spring,” he said. “They are means-tested awards for sixth form entry to Malvern College, and will provide between 60% and 100% of the fees for young people who couldn’t otherwise attend the school but are outstanding academically, and in other areas, too; perhaps sport, the arts, or leadership. The first Clark scholars – who could be from Britain, the Commonwealth countries, or elsewhere – will join the school in September 2019, and I know just how life-changing the opportunity to study here will be.

We want Malvernians to strive for success, but be able to cope with setbacks; to be confident, but not arrogant; to see learning as a lifelong experience and be optimistic about the future – as I am.”

For details on how to apply for the Clark Scholarship, email: giles.vosper-brown@malverncollege.org.uk

The post Malvern College head steps down appeared first on Independent Education Today.

September’s 2018 Global Report on the International Schools Market, from ISC Research, states there are now 9,605 English-medium international schools worldwide; an increase in just one year of 6.3%, and a compound annual growth rate over the past five years of 5.6%. 

ISC Research reports that student enrolment increased globally during the last 12 months by 7%, taking the total number of children now learning at international schools to 5.1 million, a compound annual five year growth rate of 6.7%.

Approximately 20% of these students are the children of expatriate families who are seeking a school offering the language of learning and curriculum from their home country. However, the vast majority are the children of local families choosing what they consider to be the best possible education to prepare them for university overseas and/or global careers. For example, approximately 72% of all students at Vietnam’s English-medium international schools are Vietnamese; 57% of the students at the international schools in China are Chinese; 67% of the students at India’s international schools are Indian; and 48% of the students at Germany’s international schools are German.

“Demand is fuelled by increased wealth and parents’ aspirations to prepare their children in the best possible way to study at universities overseas, and for careers that can take them around the world.” 

Never before has there been so much choice in education for families in many cities of the world. There are 18 new international schools in China alone; 17 in the United Arab Emirates; 12 in Malaysia, and five in both Vietnam and Thailand. 20 of these are affiliated with established independent school brands originating primarily from Britain, as well as the US.

Richard Gaskell, Schools Director at ISC Research, says: “This continuing demand for international education reflects a trend that we are seeing in a vast number of countries. It is fuelled by increased wealth and parents’ aspirations to prepare their children in the best possible way to study at universities overseas, and for careers that can take them around the world. There is a very high level of investment interest in international education in many countries and we expect this trend to continue as economies improve.”

ISC Research projections for the global market suggest that by 2023 there will be seven million children studying at international schools.   

The post Educational hands across the world appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Harrow, Dulwich, Malvern and Brighton College are among the renowned UK schools dominating the overseas market, while Westminster School is setting up six offshoots in China, unusually teaching the Chinese curriculum to children from six upwards, though students aged 16–18 will study the English national curriculum. 

The 4,300 British international schools around the world – 45% of the international schools market – are now a leading UK export, valued at more than £1bn together with the crucial ‘soft power’ and influence they generate, through educating tomorrow’s global elite and highlighting the value of British culture and education worldwide.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is well aware of the sector’s huge importance in boosting trade links through strengthened bonds, mutual understanding of different cultures and the provision of a top-class education to ex-pat and local families. At the recent [May 2018] conference of COBIS, the organisation which accredits reputable British International Schools abroad, International Trade Minister, Graham Stuart, announced, “In 2017/2018, DIT helped 12 UK school groups achieve 15 export wins valued at £170m. This Government will work hard to ensure that British education continues to shape the world.” He cited Brighton College and Lady Eleanor Holles among the well-known schools which the DIT has helped to open overseas campuses.

Amid the euphoria, however, is growing concern. The entire sector is growing 6% a year with 450 new schools opening annually, boosting demand for high-quality staff: in the next decade, British international schools will need an estimated 230,000 more teachers. So where will they come from, particularly given teacher shortages in the UK with pupil numbers predicted to rise by 530,000 over the same period? 

COBIS has just undertaken a major survey analysing the flow of teachers in and out of the sector. The data, based on more than 1,600 responses from international school leaders and teachers on the move suggests that although many schools find recruitment ‘challenging’, the overall picture is complex. New initiatives are underway to make up the shortfall: increased marketing, portraying teaching as a high-flying international career, enhanced professional development and greater training of local teachers, to boost supply in Britain and abroad. 

“Almost a third of British teachers moving into the international sector had been considering leaving the profession beforehand,” explained COBIS CEO Colin Bell, “and over 70% of those who go abroad return to teach in Britain within 10 years. High-quality teachers are the most important resource in any school. We’re talking about a precious cargo: children’s lives and futures and we’re devising innovative solutions to ensure far greater numbers of teachers are trained in the British system to supply the entire profession.”

Michael Wilson, soon-to-be-head of the fast-growing Cranleigh, Abu Dhabi, has been involved with recruiting its teachers since late 2013. He believes the overseas sector offers opportunities to bring in talented graduates who might not normally come into the profession. 

“I’m convinced that offering tax-free salaries together with accommodation and training could actually help showcase a profession that is struggling to fill teacher training places,” he said. “When we initially began our recruiting, we brought in a specialist to help us. He said that if you look at a candidate’s CV and ring their referees, they won’t say nasty things. Instead he recommended asking the applicant which people have inspired them in their career to date, then contacting them. If they say ‘Yes, huge potential,’ that’s great. But if they say ‘Who?’ you need to do more work on checking out the candidate. Speaking to these people after the interview gave us a much clearer view of who we were dealing with. I’ve also noticed that candidates who were described, or described themselves, as conscientious, ‘working hard with a purpose’, have been the ones who have stayed and risen to the top.” 

Anne Howells, Headmistress of the British International School in Stavanger, faces entirely different obstacles, relying on quality of life to offset Norway’s cripplingly high taxes when recruiting staff. 

“It’s frustrating and time-consuming,” she explained. “I’ll often get six or seven good people applying but my heart sinks as I get call after call saying, ‘I’d love to come but I’ve worked out what the tax is!’ The only thing not taxed here is fresh air but the lifestyle’s fantastic. I can see boats sailing up the fjord from my office. Those that come here love it. I pick up people who are looking abroad because they’re worn out, disillusioned with teaching in Britain. We give them a better experience. We have really robust standards and are inspected but that obsession with OFSTED inspections doesn’t exist in our schools so we can teach from the heart, experiment, do things a bit differently not slavishly follow the curriculum. Teachers come to life here, which is a joy to see and our kids out-perform their peers in literacy and numeracy.”

The distinctive qualities of a British-style education are attracting huge interest further afield, in China where the number of international schools – now 530, mainly in Shanghai and Beijing – is expected to double over the next decade. One driver is the growing number of Chinese parents rejecting the narrowly academic, high-pressure ‘funnel’ system, which eliminates pupils through a system of increasingly competitive hurdles en route (for the lucky and driven few) to a coveted place at an elite university.

Steve Allen, currently Head of Senior School at Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok is about to become Head of the Lady Eleanor Holles School, Foshan, which opens in September 2019. It will be the first international school in Foshan, a major Chinese industrial city the size of London, with HSBC and Volkswagen among the major employers plus a strong reputation for ceramics and kung-fu expertise.

“Places like China and Singapore look to Britain for a more joyful, creative education,” explained Steve. “Parents appreciate our high academic standards but also want their children to learn the ‘soft skills’ – creativity, collaboration and communication – realising that in real life problems are solved by working together. Foshan wants our school as a beacon to attract more international businesses by providing a top-class education for families working here.”

“It’s a problem finding outstanding teachers but quality schools attract quality staff by word of mouth and starting on the ground floor of a new school gives our people exciting opportunities for rapid promotion,” continued Steve. “We offer good salaries, free accommodation and free places to teachers’ children – a better package than in British schools – and we also develop a real family community.”

Ian McIntyre, Director of Schools at Brighton College’s International Schools division, has played a major role in recruiting staff for Brighton’s three UAE offshoots, in Abu Dhabi and nearby Al Ain, both among the top-rated schools in the region, and in Dubai which opens in September.

“Getting inspirational, dynamic people to engage with children is hard enough in the UK,” he admitted. “It’s doubly hard internationally but if you get it right, good teachers will apply because of your strong brand and the support you offer. It’s important, as it will enable us to keep taking children from a range of abilities and deliver the results we’re renowned for. Expat parents want authenticity, not fake branding with little beyond the name.

“When our deputy head joins Dubai in September from Shanghai with his wife and toddler, it’s crucial we support them carefully, like making sure they have working mobile phones and can get straight into their apartment when they arrive. Our UK school with its strong leadership is closely involved in helping our international schools recruit top-level leaders. In the last three years we’ve introduced a senior leader development programme. Senior members of our UK staff go out three times a year to work with our UAE leaders, helping them to develop themselves and their careers. When Dubai opens it’ll be exciting to visit after the first term, see the children sitting in school and the whole process getting underway.”

“Happy schools keep their staff,” added China-bound Steve Allen, “so in a competitive recruitment environment, looking after them well and providing an enjoyable, positive learning environment is key. Setting up schools in places like China means huge challenges – but it’s hugely rewarding to be teaching kids who really want to learn, among motivated colleagues who really want to teach.” 

Creating a successful recruitment strategy  

Rhys Howells, Business Development Director at eTeach works side-by-side with leading schools in the UK and internationally to successfully enhance their recruitment strategies, save money and ensure great schools hire great teachers. Here’s a summary of his insights…

“You have the best possible platform for recruiting the best candidates, e.g. you have autonomy, powerful reputations and incredible values and propositions. All you need to do is make the most of this position by embracing modern marketing principles such as:

Harness the power of your brand. Drive traffic to your website not to a third-party site. Capture candidates when they are engaged and in a ‘need-state’. Ensure your site is mobile friendly with simple application methods.

“Tradition can live alongside modernity. Let the latest technology find you the ultimate candidates. AI, machine learning, behavioural learning and smart automation are just a few of the terms you’ve probably heard of but leave for the more technically minded. The fact is, this technology will improve the quality of your candidates, improve application rates and reduce time during the recruitment process. This tech is out there, easily accessible and surprisingly cost effective – just make sure you embrace it.

“Think like a consumer brand and focus on the candidate experience (CX). We all demand instant information in this ‘always on’ world, why should your school be any different? Keep candidates informed in real time, provide access to their application status, be mobile friendly, onboard them in ‘byte-sized chunks’.

“Adopt a popular marketing technique called A/B testing for all your job ads to help you understand what really attracts the right candidates. With an unlimited job postings subscription, you can write two versions of your jobs, see which delivers the most quality candidates, and stick with the more effective.”

There are many more insights and recommendations we can offer. For more information call Rhys Howells at eTeach on 0845 1962206

The post All the world’s a stage – for teaching appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Could you explain a little about how Buckinghamshire Learning Trust came about?
Buckinghamshire Learning Trust (BLT) is an education consulting and service provider offering school challenge and development services throughout the UK and to British schools overseas.

Formed in consultation with the leaders of schools at home and abroad, BLT is a social enterprise delivering market-driven services to schools and is passionate about increasing opportunity through education while supporting schools and leaders to achieve their potential.

What sort of services do you offer to British international schools?
From working with British schools overseas we know that a common concern is a lack of coherent, long-term support tailored to school priorities.

BLT works with schools worldwide with contracts throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. We offer a full spectrum of training and consultancy services across all phases of education from 0–19 years. We provide bespoke packages designed to validate quality and to support schools to offer exceptional provision. In addition to the DfE NPQ suite of programmes, our NQT and QTS services are available to UK independent schools and independent schools overseas that have had a BSO inspection.

How do you think the role of senior leaders is changing?
The leaders of independent schools both in the UK and overseas are more accountable than ever for the standard of education they provide, particularly in terms of the quality of teaching and learning, effective assessment practice that ensures student progress, behaviour and student welfare, and their impact on the standards in their school.

It is our belief for children who are displaced from their home environment that it is critically important that an international school is able to offer a link back to the home education experience, and that it is run with the same sense of aspiration and commitment as the very best schools in the UK. Experiencing an international lifestyle is a life-changing experience for a young person and we are committed to working with leaders within the sector to maximise the positive benefits to children during their time overseas.

Why do schools want to achieve BSO status?
The DfE BSO scheme of inspection was implemented in 2010 to give parents and others an assurance that a school had been properly inspected and to give access to the inspection reports of each BSO. The BSO inspection regime is based on the standards used to inspect the great majority of independent schools that are based in England and Wales.

Schools that have successfully undergone a BSO inspection demonstrate to parents and the school community that they have reached a similar standard to that of a UK independent school that has attained the same rating in an Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection.

BSOs enjoy certain benefits, such as the right to take British Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) through their induction period, in the same way as a UK-based school. Experienced graduate teachers overseas who, for one reason or another, do not have a UK-recognised teaching qualification may also pursue the Assessment Only Route to QTS in a BSO school.

How have schools benefited from the support for BLT?
Over the last five years BLT has supported in excess of 500 NQTs and unqualified teachers in BSO schools across the world to achieve full QTS and over 200 school leaders to access the gold-standard DfE NPQ programmes within their schools.  We believe in ensuring that the very best CPD opportunities are afforded to our colleagues in the independent sector and remain committed to supporting all leaders to achieve their ambitions.

For more information, visit learningtrust.net or call 01296 382859

The post Increasing opportunity through education appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Nowadays, the successful progressive and innovative schools are embracing newer, more relevant tactics, more akin to modern marketing best practices. So, what do schools need to do to find the best candidates?  

Really own your ‘brand’ 

Independent and international schools are good at creating and maintaining a well-known brand. There are far fewer in the education market compared to state funded schools, allowing for prominent exposure within their local and national teaching community. This strong brand concept results in teachers organically searching/visiting their websites and, if compelled to apply, will do so directly to the school. Independent schools can harness the power of a strong aspirational brand and not rely so heavily on extremely expensive methods of advertising. The irony is that many of these schools believe their adverts obtain an amount of prestige by advertising via third parties, however it is their own excellent brand that is driving the traffic to said websites in the first place. Harness the traffic to your own site with a careers site, enabling mobile applications (not application forms) and capture the candidates where they are fully engaged with your brand, not someone else’s.

Focus on conversion rates – advertise only to the relevant audience

As technology advances, job boards that simply present adverts to a passive, unengaged audience will start to fall behind. Most of the time, these candidates are more interested in resources and news than actual live jobs. As independent schools, you require a unique calibre of candidate, one that isn’t commonplace in the jobseeker market. Therefore, you need technology that focuses on quality not quantity. Find solutions that are looking at machine learning, artificial intelligence and smart automation technology to learn your unique job requirements and then serve both you and the candidates the right roles, rather than leaving you to fish in a passive pool. This technology exists today and scans databases to match exact roles to candidates using comprehensive data about their sentiment, preferences and behaviour, rather than just location and subject, to identify the strongest candidates. 

Use candidate experience as a differentiator

Independent schools should view the candidate as an online consumer. Candidates want real-time updates and access to information about their job applications. Slow, archaic and unfriendly recruitment processes will drive away the most talented individuals that come across your job adverts. Little do you know that this directly reflects on your brand as a school. Do you want to be a progressive, modern employer or an old-fashioned establishment; an already common perception of the independent sector? 

Target the quality state sector candidates

Amidst the worst teacher recruitment crisis in history, independent schools must now learn to fish in the bigger pond. There are many quality candidates in the state sector that have previously been overlooked and attracting them requires a different approach. Focus on testimonials using employee spotlights, content or profiles on your current staff to give a personal touch to the school’s employer brand. Try to reduce the ‘independent’ bias from your job descriptions: use phrases like, ‘high expectations and understanding of selective schools’ rather than ‘outstanding teacher with experience in the independent sector’. 

Do the processes differ from state school recruiting?

Both sectors are suffering the same challenges in terms of supply of teachers to the market. Independents have full autonomy around the way candidates submit their applications. You are not beholden to a local authority dictating the way things must be done and therefore it is imperative you take your unique opportunity to do what they cannot, to compete: streamline your application process and create a candidate-centric application journey. Do you need to collect the entire application form in one go, or can a candidate log their ‘initial interest’ with you using a form that draws data instantly from their online or social media profile with one click? Is your method mobile phone friendly? Over 60% of candidates view and aim to apply for new jobs on their smartphone.

For more information call Rhys Howells at eTeach on 0845 1962206

The post How to find and recruit the best teachers appeared first on Independent Education Today.

One of the higher profile deals Dr Abell and his team have recently acted on is Westminster School’s agreement with a Hong Kong-based company to establish six schools under its name in China.

The reason that Dr Abell and his team at Bird & Bird are seen to be such leaders in their field is that they are more than black letter lawyers. They are able to help schools assess if they are ready for international growth, assist them in developing their international strategy, advise them on how to organise themselves internally, benchmark the sort of commercial arrangement that they might expect, establish an appropriate roadmap for the way forward, as well as draft the documentation and support them in the negotiation of the deals they seek to strike.

The team’s unrivalled experience, global footprint and results-focused approach, mean they enjoy a close relationship with their educational clients. Peter Marshall, the Bursar of Sedbergh School, praises the Bird & Bird team for its “technical expertise, commercial insight and sheer patience” in its support of Sedbergh’s recent transaction with a Chinese partner to build and operate a school in Guangdong.

The team is genuinely committed to education, as evidenced by its work with Compassion International – a charity which aims to provide educational opportunities to children living in extreme poverty – on the acquisition of a school for refugees in Kenya.

This has enabled Dr Abell to co-author and edit Educational Institutions: A Legal and Regulatory Handbook for Setting up Overseas, published by Globe Law and Business – the first book of its kind.

“Given the size and growth of the world education market, it is no wonder that so many schools, higher education organisations and vocational colleges are looking to expand internationally. However, it is a far from straightforward process, with a wide variety of very different potential approaches, each with their own implications,” said Dr Abell. “This comprehensive handbook provides a unique guide to the risk profiling, structural analysis and regulatory compliance issues that face all educational organisations seeking to establish themselves internationally”.

The book makes essential reading for all lawyers, accountants, school governing bodies, the senior management team of educational organisations and educationalists concerned with international expansion. Private equity investors, who need to understand the due diligence process specific to this sector and the structuring of their partnerships with potential ‘sister schools’, plus commercial property and real estate consultants involved in the actual building of overseas institutions, will also find this book invaluable.

The book can be ordered here via: globelawandbusiness.com/books/educational-institutions-a-legal-and-regulatory-handbook-for-setting-up-overseas

Dr Mark Abell will be speaking on the international expansion of schools at the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association Annual Conference in Brighton on 10 May.

W: twobirds.com

The post Bird & Bird produce handbook for schools setting up overseas appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The COBIS Conference is always a great opportunity to speak directly to school leadership in an environment focused on educational growth and development. We met passionate and motivated educators, some with a lot of experience working in British International Schools and others who were quite literally just starting to build them!

Our goal at the conference was to launch our new education branding and gather as much feedback as possible from delegates. We wanted to introduce schools to our story and share our mission with them in an engaging and inclusive way. I am pleased to say that the feedback we had was very positive, with people stopping by the stand to watch our animation and chat about our vibrant new look (hence my big smile in the photograph above!).

You might have seen me walking around handing out bookmarks and tote bags – if you missed me, send me an email at jessica.beckitt@oup.com and I shall make sure you receive some goodies.

We took breaks from looking after our colourful stand to attend some of the sessions. Rethinking Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 by Kai Vacher (Principal of the British School Muscat) was especially interesting – hearing about the challenges and successes of rolling out a more dynamic pedagogical approach was really inspiring. The spirit of the session certainly represented the Council of British International School’s broader goal of driving positive and impactful change within schools. 

For more information, visit www.global.oup.com

The post REVIEW: Oxford University Press team reflect on COBIS 2018 appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The major exceptions to the mufti habit, however, are the UK-influenced international schools overseas, including offshoots of great British establishments like Dulwich, Malvern and Repton, in far-flung outposts from Malaysia to Mongolia. Here the historic scholastic traditions of the Old Country are highly prized, particularly the striking school uniforms which symbolise for both expats and local parents the way this blue chip education sets its offspring apart from the competition.

Although the garments themselves are mostly made in the Far East, the supply of uniforms to major international schools around the world is a homegrown success story. Britain dominates this rapidly expanding market with top firms such as Norfolk-based Schoolwear International sourcing and supplying a huge range of clothing to hundreds of schools worldwide, from tiny orders of boaters crafted by specialist firms, to uniform staples such as shirts, blouses and blazers made in their millions by famous manufacturers like Banner and Rowlinson.

“School uniform is utterly different from fashion and fly-by-night suppliers usually get it wrong as it must be durable, well-designed and of really consistent quality,” said Graham Michelli, MD of Schoolwear International. “Take the flagship item, a blazer. This must fit well and look immaculate on Speech Day as it’s helping to set the entire tone of the school and establish its distinctive brand. But it also has to act as a goalpost at break time without coming apart at the seams – quite a tall order. I always pray that a school doesn’t come to us demanding a ‘Star Trek-type’ uniform as the tried and tested styles, solidly made in perfect materials for the local climate invariably last far better than anything gimmicky or poorly-manufactured.” 

“These days most ordering is done online and good service is vital. When you’re supplying a school somewhere remote like Mahe in the Seychelles, it’s crucial we provide exactly the right numbers and sizes of garments really promptly as it’s so expensive to send replacements,” added Graham. 

For Colin Bell, CEO of COBIS, the professionalism of the supplier is as crucial as the quality of the uniform itself.

“We visit hundreds of schools each year to assess them on a range of areas,” he explained. “A smart, carefully designed uniform reflects the atmosphere of the school and local conditions – something the outstanding suppliers understand. In Norway and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for example, daylight is at a premium so hi-vis reflective patches are built into school bags and coats. The overseas international schools all want to replicate top British uniforms but some get it wrong with certain pupils in hot Middle Eastern countries still sweltering in thick woollen blazers. A good supplier would ensure the uniform was comfortable and fit for purpose, even in extremes of climate.”

The British International School of Stavanger is the only one in Norway with a uniform. Although the freedom for Norwegian children to choose their own schoolwear is a cherished right in the rest of the country, Principal Anne Howells is convinced that both school and pupils reap huge benefits from the distinctive, high-quality outfits.  

“Norwegian children and parents often tell us the clothes they wear at school are a source of peer pressure and bullying,” she explained. “Our incidence of bullying is extremely low and never linked to wearing the latest fashion trends. Uniform also gives the student a strong sense of identity; helps us forge a collegiate atmosphere and reinforces our school’s ethos. We proudly stand out in the national schoolchildren’s parade held in all Norwegian cities on 17 May.”

No wonder growing numbers of international schools are developing the uniform habit. 

The post What are school uniforms like overseas? appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The conference offers delegates the chance to hear from high-profile keynote speakers as well as a choice of insightful seminars and workshops all designed to challenge and inspire. Considering COBIS schools operate in diverse geographical locations (80 countries in five continents to be exact), the conference is a vital opportunity for attendees to explore the common issues that face the sector and to learn from experienced leaders as they reflect on the latest trends, technologies and approaches to teaching, learning and leadership. The event offers ample opportunity to network with colleagues, old and new, while exhibitors are on hand to speak to you about how they can support your school.

With a focus on mental wellbeing in schools, keynote speakers include writer, pundit and positive body image campaigner, Natasha Devon MBE, and former headteacher Dick Moore, whose passionate interest in adolescent development and emotional wellbeing has led him to a career as a speaker, raising awareness of depression through talks aimed at teachers, young people and parents. Also joining them at the COBIS Annual Conference will be Will Gompertz, the BBC’s Arts Editor who says, “improving education is the great design challenge”, Lucy Crehan, author of the critically acclaimed book Cleverlands, Professor Christian Van Nieuwerburgh, an expert on coaching and psychology in education and Tim Oates, Cambridge Assessment’s Director of Assessment Research and Development. 

Keen to ensure British international schools receive the same opportunities for professional development and training as their domestic counterparts, COBIS will once again offer conference attendees the chance to access shoulder courses and seminars. Optional courses on the programme will cover child protection issues and safer recruitment in schools and are designed to help senior international school staff gain an advanced understanding of these important topics. Delegates can also learn about High Performance Learning, a philosophy that helps schools become world-class through systematically building intelligence in students regardless of background or starting point. 

Overall, there are 21 inspiring seminars to choose from, with titles ranging from‘What does a mentally healthy school look like?’ to ‘The changing face of SEN in the international sector’. New for this year is a speed dating session on edtech trends, coordinated by Innovate My School. According to Dr Fiona Rogers, Director of Professional Development and Research at COBIS, it’s “a fast, fun, effective way to be introduced to cutting-edge products and services that will help you to innovate your school”. It’s not only edtech companies that will be represented at the conference with over 130 exhibition stands showcasing creative solutions for international British schools overseas. 

Booking is still open for the conference, which is sponsored by HP, with tickets starting from £499 + VAT: cobis.org.uk/cpd/37th-cobis-annual-conference-2018

The post A global gathering, with COBIS appeared first on Independent Education Today.