Dear Colleague, With the new year now in full swing our attentions here at COBIS turn to a succession of events for both staff and students that occur over the course of the next few months, all topped off by our flagship event, the 36th COBIS Annual Conference in May. The booking deadlines for many of those valuable CPD events are approaching so don't delay in securing a spot for yourself or your staff. Indeed, your students may be ready and raring to compete in one of our competitions. In that case, their chance to express their creativity as part of the COBIS Primary Creative Challenge, or participate in the exhilarating debates that light up the COBIS MUN, depends on you. We hope to see you and your students there! We're all really excited about how the programme for the COBIS Annual Conference is shaping up. I can't reveal too much now but we're confident that we have secured several trailblazing names for the event in London. As you probably know by now, the conference theme is 'Transformations', and our keynote speakers all have inspiring stories of transformation to tell, not just in careers and business, but in education and life too. As we go to press, our pilot period for the COBIS Patron's Accreditation and Compliance scheme is about to kick off. In a few days, three teams of Peer Accreditors led by COBIS LIPs (Lead Improvement Partners) will travel to schools in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia to carry out the first ever COBIS school visits which are an important element of the Accreditation and Compliance process. Remember, as of 1 April 2017, after the pilot has finished, the COBIS Patron's Accreditation and Compliance is the primary route to COBIS membership. If your school has any questions or queries about The Patron's Accreditation, they can be put to Mr Peter Simpson, COBIS Director of Accreditation at accreditation@cobis.org.uk.
For COBIS Supporting Members, the Head Office Team and I are really looking forward to welcoming you to the Institute of Directors in London on the evening of Friday 27 January for our Annual Reception for Supporting Members. Plenty of refreshments and opportunities to network are promised. If you haven't registered for the reception already, please contact COBIS Membership Officer Sharon Gallagher at members@cobis.org.uk. If you can't join us, do keep an eye on our Twitter account @COBISorg for live updates from the reception. That's all for this month from me, I hope 2017 has got off to a super start for all friends and colleagues of COBIS.
Kind regards, | COBIS ANNUAL RESEARCH SURVEY REPORT PUBLISHED | COBIS is pleased to announce that the report from the 2016 COBIS Annual Research Survey has now been published. More than 100 schools from around the world responded to the 2016 Survey.
The third COBIS Annual Research Survey, delivered in partnership with GL Education, looks at curriculum and assessment choices, examination results, school profiles, university destinations, and many other areas. The survey was launched in 2014 to help develop a better understanding of the growing global COBIS family of schools as well as the international education sector as a whole. The results support lobbying activities, inform planning for future CPD events, and help facilitate increased school-to-school networking, communication and support.
Here are a few statistics from responding schools: - 95% of 2015/16 leavers from COBIS Schools went on to University; more than 50% of leavers went on to University in the UK.
- Pupil numbers in COBIS Schools range from 22 to 4332.
- 62% of students in responding COBIS Schools do not have English as their mother tongue.
- 55% of responding schools offer financial support (bursaries/scholarships) with an average annual value of financial support of £80,125.
- Across responding schools, 174 different extra-curricular activities and sports are offered (including common ones like Art, Football and Choir as well as less common ones such as Punting, Zoology and Water Polo).
COBIS would like to thank all responding schools and GL Education for supporting this project. | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TEACHING ASSISTANTS | For further information or to enrol on the course, please contact Mark at The TA College or Sakina at COBIS HQ, both of whom will be happy to help. | PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and EVENTS NEWS | COBIS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017 TRANSFORMATIONS | Join us in London, 6-8 May 2017, for the 36th COBIS Annual Conference. The conference will explore a range of themes linked to the conference title – Transformations:
- Schools, leaders, teachers - transforming the lives of children and young people
- How schools nurture talent and evolve ideas to create better learning opportunities and outcomes for students
- Evolution of the international education sector - how the COBIS community, through working together, sharing ideas and best practice, can transform the direction of international education at local, national and international levels
- Transformative initiatives and approaches - in the classroom and beyond
- Sustainable leadership and teacher supply - developing staff and transforming leadership potential in schools
- Transforming culture in schools to create centres of lifelong learning
Booking for both delegate places and the exhibition is now open! | FORTHCOMING COBIS CONFERENCES | Booking is now open for a range of COBIS Conferences taking place next term:
| Does everyone in your school love what they do for a living as much as we do here at COBIS Head Office in Russell Square (above)? Woohoo Inc will open the COBIS Conference for PAs and School Secretaries in Brussels next month with a session on Happiness at Work.
One of last year's delegates recommended this topic for a future conference: "In Denmark we have a word for it: Arbejdsglæde – directly translated to 'work joy'. It is all about waking up on Monday looking forward to going to work. It is not only about being content, but more about being happy to do what you do. That creates energy and thereby effectiveness." | COBIS MODEL UNITED NATIONS (MUN) CONFERENCE | The COBIS Model United Nations Conference will be held at The Prague British School from Friday 31 March until Saturday 1 April 2017, with an International Evening at the school on Thursday 30 March 2017. The COBIS MUN is a wonderful opportunity for students from around the world to come together to discuss important current world issues. It is an excellent forum for students to develop their key skills such as problem solving, critical and creative thinking, debating and more, while developing international friendships.
The Committees students will be able to participate in at the COBIS MUN are: - Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) - Security in International Waters and Response to Piracy
- Economic and Financial (ECOFIN) - Global Currency Shift and International Regulation over Tax Havens
- Social, Cultural and Humanitarian (SOCHUM) - Assurance of Rights of Migrant Workers
- United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) - Deforestation and Loss of Biodiversity in Indian Rainforests.
For more information or to book a place for your school, please go to cobis.org.uk/mun. | COBIS GAMES LOGOS UNVEILED | The logos for the 2017 COBIS Primary and Secondary Games have been unveiled!
Following a competition within St Saviour's School, Ikoyi, winners of the COBIS Primary Games 2016 and The British School Al Khubairat, winners of the COBIS Secondary Schools 2016, two fantastic logos for this year's COBIS Games have been designed. Thank you to all the teachers at the schools who ran the competitions with their students and well done to all the students who took part, there were some fantastic entries and it was very hard to select the winning submissions. | All COBIS schools are invited to participate in the competitions, events and awards available for students. This year's programme for students includes lots of exciting events and competitions for students of all ages to take part in. Below are the dates and deadlines for all COBIS student engagement opportunities
| GOOD LUCK TO STUDENT DEBATERS AND MEDICS | Best of luck from the team at COBIS to all who are attending the COBIS Student World Debate Competition, taking place at the English International College in Marbella, Spain in two weeks. We are sure it will be a weekend full of spirited debate, great social activities and friendships forged.
The fourth Medical Review Schools Conference is due to take place 4-5 February 2017 at Doha College. COBIS wishes all teams taking part the best of luck for their presentations.
For live updates, be sure to follow COBIS on Twitter @COBISorg. | KING'S GROUP ROYALLY CELEBRATES BRITISH WEEK IN RIGA, LATVIA | King's Group was one of the main sponsors of Latvia's "British Week" (28th November – 2nd December) a series of cultural, educational and informative events organised by the British Embassy of Riga. For the occasion, His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex KG GCVO visited the country and met the founders of the soon to be opened King's College, British School of Latvia, Sir Roger Fry and Nicholas Fry. The prestigious educational group, that will open King's College Latvia next September 2017, organised several events during the week. Sir Roger Fry, Founder and Chairman of King's College schools and COBIS Honorary President, along with Nicholas Fry, CDO at King's Group, and Dawn Akyürek, Headteacher at King's College School of Madrid and COBIS Board Member, participated as speakers in an Education Seminar attended by His Royal Highness.
King's Group believes that the Education Seminar, as well as the entire British Week in Riga, was a wonderful occasion to inform Latvian citizens about the benefits of a British Education and, of course, about what will be the first British school in the country, King's College, The British School of Latvia (to be opened in September 2017). | INNOVATIVE LEARNING FOR NEW GENEVA ENGLISH SCHOOL SECONDARY
| Geneva English School, a COBIS school and one of the most respected international primary schools in Geneva, will open a brand new international secondary school this September to deliver progressive learning within a state-of-the-art environment. GES Secondary will combine innovative approaches for secondary learning with the school ethos that, for over fifty years, has focused on providing a caring, community-oriented, small school atmosphere that nurtures individual pupils with a global outlook.
Creating a new school means the environment will be totally fit-for-purpose for secondary students today. Renowned Dutch educational architect Dirk Jan Postel, a partner at Kraaijvanger Architects in The Netherlands is designing the interior environment. "In contrast with the school of the past (with classrooms along a corridor), we are creating an inspiring atmosphere with contrasting elements suited for different functions: soft and quiet; technical and dynamic; primitive and raw; sophisticated and refined," he says. "The space should not only teach the children knowledge, but enable them to co-operate, be creative in a group, and learn how to learn." | NEW YEAR'S HONOURS FOR MARIANNE BLACK MBE, CHAIR OF GOVERNORS AT BRITISH SCHOOL TOKYO | Mrs Marianne Black, the Chair of the Board of Trustees of The British School in Tokyo, is one of just 76 overseas recipients of an award for services to the UK announced in the 2017 New Year's Honours list. The entire school community is delighted that her outstanding voluntary work in the field of international education has been recognised with an MBE - a fitting reward for five years of dedicated commitment to a successful school with a world-wide reputation.
Mrs Black expressed her surprise and gratitude: 'When the Ambassador (Tim Hitchens, who stepped down from the role in December) telephoned me to let me know, I thought it was simply a courtesy call to say goodbye,' she explained. 'I am very appreciative of the award but it came as complete surprise and it is, of course, a reflection of the hard work of so many others at the school. My five years as Chair of the Trustees have been fulfilling and wonderfully rewarding, and I have every confidence that BST will continue to go from strength to strength.' | NEWS FROM COBIS SUPPORTING MEMBERS | CALLING ALL MUSIC TEACHERS! INSPIRING NEW TRAINING SESSIONS FOR CREATIVE MUSIC TEACHING | COBIS Supporting Member Sing Up is running a new series of training events in London in February 2017. The sessions will be packed with fresh themes and content to help music teachers develop their knowledge and create engaging and imaginative music lessons.
Sing Up's training programmes aim to help teachers develop confidence, skills and knowledge so they can support their pupils in developing singing and music making skills themselves. Shelly Ambury, Sing Up's Head of Learning says "we have great songs and ideas that just work with young people, instilling a love of music as well as core musical skills."
For more information including dates, location and price, and to book your place, please visit www.singup.org/training. | DIT WEBINARS - OPPORTUNITIES AND SUPPORT FOR EXPORTING OVERSEAS | COBIS, as a Trade Challenge Partner, offers Supporting Members the valuable chance to register for these useful webinars run by the Department for International Trade (DIT): - 27 January - Ready, Steady, Export - Start Selling Overseas (REGISTER HERE)
- 9 February - The UK's Dynamic Tech Landscape: Business and Market Opportunities (REGISTER HERE)
- 10 February - Ready, Steady, Export - Start Selling Overseas
- 14 February - Oman - Business Opportunities in Duqm'
| ITM WILL HOST YOUR SCHOOL VACANCIES | COBIS Supporting Member ITM (International Teacher Magazine) are offering free online recruitment support for COBIS Schools.
ITM is one of the fastest growing online magazines serving educators around the world. They already provide a link for readers to the latest positions advertised by recruiting agencies, and have now added a page for schools with links to recruitment pages on school websites.
During the current recruiting season, ITM are offering to place a link on this page in ITM to the recruitment page of any COBIS school free of charge. To take advantage of this, please email itm@consiliumeducation.com with your logo and the URL of your recruitment page. | CREATING APPEAL FOR STEM THROUGH INNOVATIVE INTERIOR DESIGN AND BETTER QUALITY CLASSROOMS | COBIS Supporting Member S+B UK Ltd discusses how interior design can widen the appeal of STEM for students.
Demand for STEM skills is strong across all economies and is set to grow in the coming years. Despite this, the issue of falling numbers in the uptake of higher level science- and technology-based education
has been the subject of many debates, studies and reports for several decades.
STEM in schools suffers from image and perception issues which present challenges for educationalists who are trying to broaden the appeal of science and technology based subjects to a wider cross section of the school population. Students of the "online" age are not motivated or stimulated by dark, old fashioned, uninspiring school laboratory and workshop designs which have remained unchanged for decades.
Effective interior design combined with high quality contemporary furniture systems which facilitate and promote pupil centred learning can help change attitudes towards science so that students are more receptive to the truly exciting possibilities which the subject offers. | |
COBIS CPD AND EVENTS 2016/17 | COBIS Conference for Bursars, Business Managers and HR Staff
Lisbon
10-11 February 2017 | COBIS Conference for EAL Staff
Bucharest 16-17 February | COBIS Conference for PAs and Secretaries Brussels 16-17 February | COBIS/Youth Sport Trust PE and School Sport Conference
Coventry
28 February 2017 | Stepping Up to Senior Leadership Course Athens 4-5 March 2017 | COBIS Four-Day Middle Leaders' Course Athens 4-7 March 2017 | COBIS Conference for Marketing, Development and Admissions Staff
Tokyo
27-28 March 2017 | COBIS Wellbeing Conference Dubai 14-15 April 2017 | COBIS Four-Day Middle Leaders' Course
Dubai
16-19 April 2017 | COBIS Four-Day Middle Leaders' Course
New York
18-21 April 2017
| COBIS Safer Recruitment Course
London
6 May 2017
| 36th COBIS Annual Conference
London
6-8 May 2017 | Advanced Child Protection Course
London 9 May 2017 | COBIS Four-Day Middle Leaders' Course
Stavanger
26-29 May 2017
| COBIS Primary Creative Challenge
OPEN NOW!
Closes 3 March 2017 | COBIS Young Scientist Film Awards
OPEN NOW! Closes 31 March 2017 | COBIS Student Poetry Competition
OPEN NOW!
Closes 17 March 2017 | COBIS Art Competition
OPEN NOW!
Closes 5 April 2017 | COBIS Student World Debate Competition
Marbella
3-5 February 2017
| COBIS Medical Review Schools Conference
Doha
4-5 February 2017
| COBIS Model-UN Conference
30 March - 1 April 2017
| COBIS Primary Games
Buckingham
11-13 April 2017
| COBIS Secondary Games
Sheffield
19-21 May 2017
| COBIS Senior School Music Festival
Murcia
26-28 May 2017 | COBIS World Student Magazine
January issue available to read NOW!
Click here to find information on writing for the next edition | COBIS SERVICES FOR SCHOOLS | COBIS Disclosure and Barring Service
Helping your school to recruit safely
Contact dbs@cobis.org.uk for more information | COBIS Consultancy Service
Offering support to schools, commercial organisations and private investors globally.
| COBIS Diploma for International Teaching Assistants
Giving International Teaching Assistants the knowledge, skills and understanding to work effectively alongside teachers whilst maximising learning opportunities for children. | The British School of Kuwait
Member | Khalil Gibran School
Member | British International School Casablanca
Candidate Member | British International College of Cairo
Candidate Member | Oryx International School
Candidate Member | NEW COBIS SUPPORTING MEMBERS | University of Buckingham
Universities | NonStop Education
Recruitment | Global Educational Solutions
Consultancy and Professional Development | Connect
Assessment and Qualifications | MyCognition
Student Development | Mangahigh
Curriculum Resources and Publishers | Watchman
Consultancy and Professional Development | Galina International Study Tours
School Trips | We welcome submissions from both schools and supporting members for the COBIS newsletter, Connect.
Please read our editorial guidelines before making your submission.
All submissions for the February Connect should be sent to: intern@cobis.org.uk
by 8 February 2017. | |
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| If you have any comments or requests, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you. | By Telephone: +44 20 3826 7190
| COBIS Head Office, 55-56 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, WC1B 4HP, UK | |
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