34th COBIS Annual Conference
9-11 May 2015
Seminar Overviews
Quick Links:
Sunday 10 May 2015
Sunday Morning Seminars
Best Practice in International School Governance
Panel Discussion chaired by Trevor Rowell, Chairman, COBIS
This interactive session will give panel members and audience members the opportunity to consider and discuss the most important factors of successful governance in a British School Overseas.
Fostering Resilience in Your Teaching Workforce
Anna Lise Gordon, Programme Director, St Mary’s University, UK
This interactive seminar will share an approach that has been developed by Anna Lise Gordon with trainee teachers at St Mary’s University and with middle leaders in one partnership school to focus on resilience as a key component of teacher wellbeing and effectiveness. Research-informed evidence and examples will underpin the presentation throughout. The importance of resilience in a challenging profession will be considered, as well as a range of strategies to prompt reflection as part of school-based CPD and/or coaching and mentoring provision with colleagues. The seminar will be of personal and professional interest to participants, but also aims to provide a framework for fostering resilience with colleagues.
Anna Lise joined St Mary’s University in 1998 as senior lecturer in education for modern languages. She is currently working towards a Doctorate in Education focusing on resilience of early career teachers. She is also a committed coach as part of St Mary’s Coaching and Mentoring Strategy for staff. Particular interests include mentoring for trainee teachers and the development of trainee teachers as reflective practitioners to enhance pupil learning. Anna Lise is PGCE Secondary Programme Director and leads the MFL PGCE programme. Anna Lise was a joint winner of the St Henry Walpole Prize for Teaching and Learning (awarded by St Mary’s in December 2013) for innovative work on fostering resilience with trainee teachers. Anna Lise is a member of the national Executive Council for the Association for Language Learning. She was awarded a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship in 2012 and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Teaching Character and Wellbeing
Ian Morris, Head of Wellbeing, Wellington College, UK
What is the purpose of education? It’s easy to muddle or mislead in responding to this question and this session will argue that the purpose of education is exactly the same as the purpose of human life: the pursuit of flourishing or wellbeing through the acquisition and practice of the virtues.
Ian Morris is Head of Wellbeing at Wellington College, a large independent boarding school in Berkshire, UK. Ian introduced the wellbeing curriculum at Wellington in 2006 and has since written 2 books on the teaching of Happiness and Wellbeing (second book currently in press). Ian lives at the school with his wife and two young children.
Our World, Our School – Effective Use of Pupil Voice to Shape our School Development
Craig Halsall, Headmaster, Haileybury Almaty, Kazakhstan
We would like to share some of our ideas as to how we’re using pupil voice to help develop our school. Whilst none of the ideas are perhaps individually ground breaking, we are using widespread pupil voice effectively to develop our school within a cultural context that believes pupils attend school to be taught, and not to make decisions on behalf of school leaders. Our objective is to ensure our pupils are heard and fully included in all major decisions that affect them including the recruitment and selection of all new teaching staff, staff appraisal, attendance at SLT meetings and inclusion in lesson planning and much more. Our vision is to encourage a paradigm shift of cultural expectations, by showing parents and our local community that to be leaders within a global context, our pupils must find and develop their voice and leadership skills during their time at Haileybury Almaty. This will be an interactive session.
Craig is currently Headmaster at Haileybury Almaty, a successful 5-18 international school following a British curriculum with 580 students. Craig has acquired a balance of experience across independent, public and commercial educational sectors including secondary and primary schools in the UK, Middle East and Asia. Craig prides himself on being highly motivated and with leadership strengths in inspection/accreditation, organisational structures, school development planning, and building effective teams.
Why Mindful Listening is Key to Leading a Successful British International School
Kai Vacher, Principal, British School Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
This seminar will look at the role of mindful listening in constructing and implementing an ambitious school development plan; establishing a master-plan to create inspiring facilities; and creating an ethos that underpins and drives all aspects of learning. Participants will come away with an understanding of what mindful listening is and why it is an essential leadership skill.
Kai Vacher is an experienced school leader. He is a progressive and modernising thinker with an open and inclusive style. He has held senior positions in 2 large schools in the UK and for 9 years was a Director of Innovation at SSAT, an independent, school improvement charity based in London. As Principal of British School Muscat, Kai is determined to establish BSM as a leading international school globally. He has an appreciation of and interest in combining the best of traditional teaching methods with more innovative approaches based on research.
Sunday Afternoon Seminars
Measuring the Impact of Leadership
Karen Ardley, Lead Consultant, Karen Ardley Associates
Research tells us that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on student outcomes. What are the leadership activities that have the greatest impact? How can we measure the impact of leadership? What does high impact leadership look like in practice? Can you increase the positive impact of your leadership? In this engaging and interactive seminar we will explore what we know from international research into leadership about the impact on school and student performance. We will consider what high impact leadership looks like in practice and identify ways in which leaders can increase the positive impact of their leadership and management. Participants will work together to develop their knowledge and understanding about measuring and improving the impact of leadership on school performance.
Karen is a successful programme designer, facilitator and coach specialising in leadership. Her programmes are engaging and practical, focusing on learning and impact. Currently Karen is working with United Nations to design and implement a leadership programme for systems leaders. This work follows the successful roll out of Leading for the Future for 700 school principals in the Near East. She works extensively with National College International Business Unit on projects, Ministries of Education in UAE, KSA and India, Ningbo University, China, programmes for international school principals and leaders of ICT. COBIS have successfully run the KAA Middle Leadership programme in Spain, France, Czech Republic, Japan, Egypt, Greece and China. Karen is passionate about learning and leadership.
Workload – Worklight: Managing Workload in Your School
Learning Circle chaired by Derek Laidlaw, Headteacher, King’s College Alicante, Spain
How do you manage your workload? What contributes to a sense of ‘overload’ at work and how can we, as school leaders, lighten the load for staff, and ourselves, whilst maintaining an efficient work rate and effective teaching? What, in your opinion, constitutes an acceptable workload? Who should set the parameters for an individual’s workload? Have you solved the workload puzzle? Offering support and challenge in equal measure and investing in staff training coupled with a robust and transparent accountability process are all required in order to create an effective, high achieving and positive school workforce. Easier said than done? This session will consist of a discussion and sharing of ideas to enable school leaders to learn from each other and explore areas of common concern.
Derek started his teaching career in Scotland, spending 13 years at the High School of Dundee (HMC) followed by 5 years at Morrison´s Academy (HMC) in Crieff. During this time Derek also worked as a freelance Musical Director with the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA), spent 10 years as a commissioned officer in the Black Watch TA and 12 years as an examiner and moderator with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). In 2001, he moved to Qatar to work at Doha College for 6 years before moving to his current school in Alicante, Spain.
New Landscapes for Leadership Development
Dr Coleen Jackson, International Associate, National College for Teaching and Leadership and Peter Simpson, Headteacher, Senior School Voorschoten, The British School in The Netherlands
This session will cover three broad areas: Using international programmes (IPML, IPSL) within COBIS; Models of professional learning that work; Case Studies from the field. There will be an opportunity to hear about the latest leadership development initiatives from the National College in England and how the programmes are having an impact in schools around the world.
Dr Coleen Jackson has extensive experience in education consultancy as a facilitator, executive coach and process consultant in both the UK and internationally. Coleen has been an associate with the National College for a number of years and has contributed to the development and facilitation of leadership programmes and the College’s facilitation framework. Coleen has held senior positions in universities and schools. Peter Simpson is currently Head of Senior School at the British School in the Netherlands. Peter has UK Headship experience and a long-term interest in leadership development. He is a trained and experienced facilitator on the National College leadership programmes and is the COBIS Lead Facilitator for the IPML. Since 2010 he has been a member of the Board of COBIS and serves on the CPD and Quality Assurance committees.
The Core Purpose of School Leaders is to Improve Student Learning, So Why Are Your Staff Keeping You Awake at Night?
Michael Shaw, Programme Director, TES Online Learning and Helen O’Donoghue, Head of International, TES Leadership
This session will explore some of the key aspects of staff management, including performance management and appraisals, professional development through CPD, and the use of resource platforms that will allow your staff to shortcut lesson planning to focus on the quality of teaching and learning.
Michael Shaw is the TES's programme director for online learning (and former deputy editor of the TES magazine). He joined the publication as a news reporter back in 2002, and has worked in a variety of journalistic roles including editing its comment and news pages. In 2013 he set up the app version of the magazine, TES Reader, and the free TES Jobs app. Helen O’Donoghue has over twenty five years’ experience of working in schools nationally and internationally. She has held key leadership roles in international schools in Germany and the UK, also working in senior leadership roles in the Netherlands and New Zealand. Helen has previously worked as an international trainer and consultant, supporting schools to improving learning, through strategic planning, curriculum development and leadership training.
Wellbeing for the Individual, Wellbeing for the School Community: Mindfulness Programmes for Teachers and Leaders
Kate Fitzroy, Accredited Mindfulness Instructor, King’s College School, Spain
This seminar aims to explore the benefits and practical aspects of implementing mindfulness training and practice in schools. Mindfulness develops, among other skills, kinds of awareness and concentration which reduce stress. Individuals who can manage pressure or stress better develop greater resilience, avoid dangerous levels of fatigue, and are able to bring their professional life into closer alignment with their values, ideals and vision. Leaders who practise mindfulness report that they make better decisions, manage change and stress more effectively, feel generally more productive and able to communicate better. This in turn leads to an improved way of managing their work and interacting with staff, as well as greater scope for creativity and innovativeness. Benefits for the individual, therefore, result in benefits for the school community as a whole.
Kate Fitzroy has over thirty years’ experience in training and education. She has applied her expertise in languages and arts to training in the private sector and also to teaching humanities at a UK university. She is an accredited Mindfulness instructor, having trained with RespiraVida/Breathworks, a member of the UK Network for Mindfulness-Based Teachers. This includes institutions such as the Universities of Oxford, Bangor and Exeter, and, among other functions, is responsible for quality assurance in the work of mindfulness instructors. Kate offers mindfulness training to groups during the year and has frequently run workshops (often to professionals, such as a London-based law company), as well as mindfulness retreats in rural Spain.
Monday 11 May 2015
Monday Morning Seminars
Leadership Coaching: The Latest Fad or a Learning Tool to Take Seriously?
David Porritt, Headteacher, Junior School Leidschenveen, The British School in The Netherlands
This 90-minute workshop blends practical participant peer-coaching activity with theory. The workshop aims to establish an empirical base by examining what is known about the effectiveness of coaching both in practical and psychological terms. For the most part, the workshop concentrates on peer coaching and examines what can be done to establish it as an effective tool for leadership development in our schools. The workshop is particularly suitable for senior leaders who are interested in developing their own coaching skills or establishing peer-coaching programmes in their school. The presenters’ Doctoral research, set within the COBIS International Programme for Middle Leaders, provides a context for discussion and an up-to-date understanding of the impact coaching has made for teacher leaders in COBIS schools.
David has been a Headteacher for 17 years in the UK state sector, an international school in Singapore and now in Holland. He holds an MBA in Educational Leadership and has been an Additional Inspector for Ofsted and ISI. He has facilitated five National College Middle Leaders Development Programmes for COBIS and is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management holding a Level 7 certificate in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring. He is currently working on his Doctorate in Leadership at UCL The Institute of Education, where his research focus is on the impact that peer coaching makes on leadership effectiveness. His passion is for developing people, for learning and continuous improvement in schools. His particular interest is ensuring that all learners achieve and progress as well as they can in an inclusive, service orientated school. In adult learning he is interested in distributed leadership, organisational effectiveness, self-managing teams, coaching and mentoring.
COBIS Spark – Sharing Innovation and Best Practice
Chaired by Teresa Woulfe, Senior Vice Principal and Mark Leppard, Principal, Doha College, Qatar
COBIS Spark (Sharing Pedagogy And Refining Knowledge) is a new initiative at the Annual Conference. During this session delegates will give short presentations to other delegates about an area of innovation or best practice within their school. Spark events (also billed as TeachMeet) have taken place successfully in a number of international schools in recent years. This session will give senior leaders attending the Annual Conference the opportunity to share their experience and expertise, learn from colleagues, and come away with new ideas. Presenters have volunteered in advance; all delegates are welcome to attend as observers.
This session will be chaired by Mark Leppard, Principal and Teresa Woulfe, Senior Vice Principal/Head of Secondary of Doha College, Qatar. Doha College is one of the oldest British curriculum schools in Qatar, providing a world class education for 1800 children between the ages of 3 and 18, representing over 70 nationalities.
Resilient Classroom Cultures
Paul Dix, Lead Trainer, Pivotal Education
Paul Dix will reveal the practical steps the best teachers take to build resilient learners. This session will look at the power of teacher behaviour to create rapid change. It will explore the role of positive recognition and pride in building resilience and examine how fine-tuning of classroom assessment can transform learning. Paul will show you how to embed high expectations deep in your classroom cultures while inspiring you to change your practice. He will challenge you to engage in whole school action research and give you the practical tips that are essential for leading institutional change.
Paul Dix is a leading voice in Behaviour Management in the UK and internationally. Paul is a columnist for the Times Educational Supplement and Teach Primary magazines. He is a leading writer for Pearson/Longman with five published titles, has advised the Minister for Justice (UK), Department for Education (UK) and has presented evidence to the Education Select Committee on behaviour and discipline. Paul won a National Training Award in 2009 and a Royal Television Society Award in 2011 for his Teachers TV programme 'The Behaviour Challenge'. Paul is a trainer with an exceptional reputation for designing, implementing and sustaining excellence in schools across the world. Most recently Paul has been working with St Paul’s School in Sao Paulo Brazil as well as the Alpha Plus Schools in the UK.
Feedback & Data – Essential for Effective School Leadership in International Education
Panel Discussion chaired by David Paton, Proprietor and Head, Radnor House, UK
“Leading schools have leading leaders” – but how do today’s school leaders have to adapt to the demands of a data driven society? Colleagues, including representatives from schools in Mexico and Egypt, will talk through the challenges that they have faced to meet the demands from students, parents and governors of their schools to ensure that their school continues to exceed expectations academically and pastorally whilst building their reputation. The session will look practically at how data and effective use of feedback in a selection of COBIS schools is used with a variety of stakeholders including students, parents, Middle Leaders, Senior Leaders, and School Governors.
David Paton is the Proprietor and Head of Radnor House and a passionate believer in the power of good teaching. As Head, David works closely with the Senior Leadership Team to deliver an outstanding learning experience for pupils and teachers alike. David has been a teacher for almost 15 years and prior to founding Radnor House was Head of Sixth Form at Harrodian and Deputy Head of the Senior School at Dulwich College. He achieved his undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh and his Masters degree at the Institute of Education. David still teaches the GCSE and A-Level Business and Economics courses and has been the driving force behind the school's entrepreneurial outlook.
Monday Afternoon Seminars
Maximising the Effectiveness of Teaching Assistants
Eva Cartwright, Principal, The Teaching Assistant College
This session will explore the following topics: Looking at opportunities to make the most of the Teaching Assistant team through systematically reviewing the current roles, responsibilities and impact; Using auditing tools to assess current practice and using the findings to work out the direction to take the TA team along with considering the ideal picture; Formulating a professional development plan to fill gaps in knowledge, skills and understanding; Considering performance management as a positive process for target setting and action planning; Developing the working relationships of teachers and TAs for a consistent approach in leading learning and classroom management.
Eva Cartwright is Principal and founder of The Teaching Assistant College and Early Years College. With over 14 years of experience in delivering the highest quality training for teaching assistants and early years practitioners she has devised strategies including eLearning and blended learning approaches to make becoming qualified accessible. Eva has a passion for supporting teaching assistants and early years’ practitioners to be creative in their approach and to focus on the things that really matter in the children they work with such as building independence, self-esteem and confidence. Eva’s training organisations have delivered accredited qualifications and professional development to over 15,000 teaching assistants in over 20 different countries.
Delivering Effective Student Leadership Training For All COBIS Schools
James Slocombe, Director of Studies, King’s College Madrid, Spain
For several years King’s Group and COBIS have organised a Student Leadership/Head Boys’ and Girls’ Conference that ran alongside the teachers’ conference in the autumn term. In 2014 the Student Leadership Conference ran as a standalone event and it proved to be tremulously popular with COBIS schools from around the world sending student delegates to Madrid to participate. Through interactive activities with trainers and motivational speakers, students were presented with opportunities to develop self-awareness, interpersonal skills and life competencies. The scope for expansion of the Student Leadership Conference, by extending the depth and breadth of activities and encouraging a year-round student-led dialogue focused on bringing the COBIS “Student Network” together, is a real and exciting possibility for future years. The aims of this seminar are to discuss and evaluate the programme of the Student Leadership Conference in October 2014; establish COBIS schools’ needs in regard to Student Leadership training; and collaboratively develop and promote a programme for a Student Leadership Conference in October 2015.
James Slocombe is Director of Studies at King’s College, Madrid. He holds responsibility for the academic provision and quality of Teaching and Learning throughout the College (EYFS to Sixth Form) and is a member of the Secondary Leaders’ Strategy Group encompassing all of the Group’s schools. James was the Programme Director of the King’s Group/COBIS Student Leadership Conference held in October 2014. As a Trustee and Director of the British Youth Council for 7 years, James led BYC’s International Representation to the UN, Commonwealth and European Youth Forums and ran youth empowerment projects throughout the UK. He is a serving school governor, a senior mentor for the University of South Wales PGCE programme and contributor to the RSA’s Opening Minds curriculum. James has led expeditions with Young Leaders through Ghana, Jordan, New Zealand and Malaysia in programmes organised through World Challenge and the Scout Association. A warranted 14-18 Leader for the Scout Association, qualified DofE Expedition Assessor and Mountain Leader (ML-S) holder, James currently runs the DofE programme for King’s students in his spare time.
A Model for Teaching & Learning Excellence
David Paton, Proprietor and Head and Lucy Moonen, Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning, Radnor House, UK
David Paton and Lucy Moonen will be considering how to construct, deliver and maintain excellent standards of Teaching and Learning. This will include consideration of what makes an outstanding lesson, as well as an overview of the strategies and systems that can be implemented to embed this. At Radnor House, Teaching and Learning is given centre-stage as the heart of the school and the most important aspect of its day-to-day life. Teachers plan creative and dynamic lessons, whilst also ensuring that preparation for external examinations is rigorous. As a new school founded four years ago, Radnor House has implemented systems of staff training and observation designed to reflect best practice and educational research, providing a supportive platform for teachers as they work to ensure exceptional curriculum delivery and an educational experience second to none.
David Paton is the Head and Proprietor of Radnor House, an independent school in Twickenham, UK. Founded in 2011, Radnor House has witnessed rapid expansion with a roll of over 300 pupils and a very successful Ofsted inspection. David was previously the Head of Sixth Form at Harrodian and briefly Deputy Head of the Senior School at Dulwich College. Lucy Moonen is Assistant Head – Teaching and Learning at Radnor House School, a role that encompasses all aspects of classroom practice, and the methods and processes that ensure consistently excellent education. A History teacher by training, Lucy was previously Head of Humanities at Radnor House, having formerly worked in the state-funded sector. Lucy is currently studying for a Masters degree in Learning and Teaching at Oxford University.
Positive Psychology and The Wellbeing Daisy
Dr Angie Wigford, Educational Psychologist, Teachers International Consultancy
A discussion of the latest British research in positive psychology including a proven method for assessing and measuring wellbeing across your school, “The Wellbeing Project”, and a proven intervention approach using Teaching Assistants (The ELSA Project: Emotional Literacy Support Assistants). The change management approach of Appreciative Inquiry will be considered in relation to whole school development. This session will provide an explanation of the Wellbeing Daisy, devised by Cardiff Psychologist Dr Neil Frude, as a way of understanding how wellbeing is affected by the eight key factors: resilience, optimism, motivation, positive relationships, energy, engagement, self-confidence and enjoyment.
Dr Angie Wigford is a former international schools secondary science teacher (Colegio Anglo Colombiano, Colombia and the Vienna International School). She is a co-founder and Director of TIC (Teachers International Consultancy). Angie retrained 8 years ago and currently works as an Educational Psychologist in the South Wales valleys. She has recently started her own company with 3 other Educational Psychologists to provide services to International Schools: IEPS (International Educational Psychology Service).
The New Kid on the Block – Establishing a New School in a Highly Competitive Market
Brian Cooklin, Principal, Nord Anglia International School, Hong Kong
The session will cover the challenges and strategies involved in building and setting up a new school. Mr Cooklin recently opened a new school in Hong Kong and he will be able to share his in-depth experience of establishing a new brand in an extremely competitive international market.
A teacher of almost 40 years’ experience, Brian Cooklin has been a Principal in the UK, Mexico and Hong Kong for the last 19 years. A former President of the Headteachers’ Association of Scotland and School Leaders Scotland, Brian was an Executive member of ASCL, served on the Council of the International Confederation of Principals and took part in a number of EU and Government Education projects. He is also an experienced trainer, coach and mentor.
To download a PDF version of the Annual Conference Seminar Overview 2015, click here.
