The 2009 COBIS Annual Conference took place in London in the Royal Horseguards Hotel, One Whitehall Place, and the National Liberal Club, May 9th-11th, 2009. The theme was Shaping the Future: How shall we support and develop the global citizens of tomorrow? The conference was a great success with more than 100 delegates from more than 30 countries.
The opening reception, sponsored by Eteach International, was held on the terrace of the National Liberal Club overlooking the Thames.
Speakers at the conference included Marcus Orlovsky (Bryanston Square Consultants - Imagine Learning Spaces), David Hopkins (HSBC Chair in International Leadership at the Institute of Education, University of London - iNet: International Networking for Educational Transformation), Sally Featherstone (Remodelling the Primary Curriculum: The Why, How, and What of New Initiatives and What it Might Look Like in Practice), Brent Davies (Professor of International Leadership Development at the University of Hull - Leading the Strategically Focused School), HRH The Earl of Wessex (The Duke of Edinburgh's Award in the International Context), and Penny Jones (DCSF - Update on the Government's plans for inspection of British Schools Abroad).
Marcus Orlovsky
David Hopkins
Sally Featherstone
Brent Davies
Penny Jones
The programme also included seminars on Good Governance; The Future of ISI Inspections for COBIS Schools; Access to Higher Education (UCAS); IT in Schools (session sponsored by Pearson Phoenix); Leading the Strategically Focussed School; Putting Learning at the Heart of Your School (Fieldwork Education); Primary Schools Forum; Is the Cup Half Full or Half Empty? Is it all in the Mind? Maximising opportunities and overcoming barriers to global citizenship (ISCO); and Building an Effective School Workforce: Recruitment, Retention, and Succession Planning (Eteach International).
COBIS Accreditation Certificates were presented to schools that had recently had recently had a successful ISI inspection.
British International Primary School of Stockholm
British International School, Cairo
St George's International School, Luxembourg
Jerudong International School, Brunei
HRH The Earl of Wessex met delegates and exhibitors before addressing the conference.
The 2009 conference ended with the Annual Dinner and reception in the lovely surroundings of One Whitehall Place.
COBIS Patron, HRH Princess Alexandra attended the reception before the Annual Dinner. She met delegates and guests and was presented with flowers by Vicky Lu, a student at St Michael's College.
COBIS would like to thank all of the delegates, exhibitors, sponsors, and speakers for making this event a success.
The 2010 Annual Conference will take place in London, 15-17 May, 2010.
