Council of British International Schools (COBIS): COBIS newsletter

December 2014 \| COBIS Connect


COBIS Connect - December 2014 Please forward our news on to your colleagues
Connect with COBIS on social media In This Issue: 1. Welcome from Colin Bell, COBIS CEO 2. Dates For Your Diaries 3. New Member Schools 4. School Member News 5. COBIS Student Competitions & Events 6. Professional Development Recent Conferences Forthcoming Conferences and Events Other Association Events 7. COBIS Webinars 8. News from COBIS Schools Around the World 9. Supporting Member News 10. Contact Us Welcome from Colin Bell, COBIS CEO Dear Colleague, With December already here, the excitement of student Christmas productions and festivities are just around the corner. Something for us all to enjoy! As we look to 2015, there are plenty of opportunities for the COBIS family of schools and supporting members to get involved. Students, staff and governors are invited to participate in lobbying activities, high quality competitions, conferences and professional networking events. In terms of a unified voice to better represent British overseas schools worldwide, the recent FOBISIA conference was a welcome opportunity to strengthen positive cross association links between FOBISIA, BSME, NABSS and LAHC and to develop collabortative projects which include child protection and safeguarding within our sector. Thank you to our generous FOBISIA hosts at the Bangkok Patana School for an excellent conference. With this being the last COBIS Connect of the year, on behalf of the fabulous team here at COBIS HQ and the COBIS Board, thank you for your valued individual and collective contributions during 2014. Finally, as always, being a consultative and premium global association, your thoughts on how COBIS can better serve your school community are always welcomed. Kind regards, Colin Bell CEO Dates for Your Diaries Teachable Moments - The Key to Success in the Early Years - Booking Now Open EYFS Training Days, in association with COBIS 3 January 2015 (Teachers and Leaders) and 5 January 2015 (Teachers, TAs and Support Staff) Rainbow International School, Kampala, Uganda COBIS Seminar - Leading British Overseas Schools - Booking Now Open Considering your next leadership role? Would you like to lead a British International School overseas? 31 January 2015 (14:00-17:00) The Park Plaza Hotel, Victoria, Central London COBIS Conference for Teachers and Support Staff and Four-Day Middle Leaders’ Programme Excellence and Happiness: Creating a Collaborative Learning Ethos for the Whole School 2-3 March 2015 (Middle Leaders 28 February – 3 March 2015) St Catherine’s British School, Greece COBIS Conference for Teachers and Four-Day Middle Leaders’ Programme Future Learners – The Challenge of a New Environment 20-21 March 2015 (Middle Leaders 19-22 March 2015) The British School of Beijing, China COBIS Conference for Teachers, Leaders and Support Staff Students Taking Ownership of their Learning 16-17 April 2015 Grange School, Nigeria COBIS Conference for Marketing, Development and Admissions Staff Stakeholder Engagement: the Past, the Present and the Prospective 23-24 April 2015 Dubai College, United Arab Emirates 34th COBIS Annual Conference Measuring Success: Wellbeing, Resilience, Education and Leadership in British Schools Overseas 9-11 May 2015 Park Plaza Hotel, London New COBIS Member Schools COBIS is delighted to announce 3 new member schools and 2 schools which have moved from COBIS Member to COBIS Accredited Member status following successful BSO inspections. St. George Bilingual Bulgarian-English School, Bulgaria Congratulations to staff at St George School, Bulgaria on recently joining COBIS as Members. The school, which has 249 pupils aged 2-14 on role, is the 4th COBIS school in Bulgaria and the third in Sofia. Lydia Bartlett, English Coordinator at the school said upon accepting COBIS membership, “I can't express my happiness at this approval!” Trident Preparatory School Solwezi, Zambia COBIS is delighted to welcome Trident Preparatory School Solwezi, as our first member school in Zambia. The school is part of the Educore group which has 5 British curriculum schools in Zambia. Headteacher Susan Eriksson, who was previously Head at COBIS Member school St Saviour’s Ikoyi in Lagos, was delighted to accept membership on behalf of the school. The English Primary School, Kuwait The English Primary School in Kuwait was recently approved as a COBIS Member by the COBIS Membership Committee. The school joins the infant section, Salwa Infant School, as COBIS Members and brings the total number of COBIS schools in Kuwait to 3. The school welcomes pupils aged 4-11 and has over 40 staff on role. GEMS Jumeirah Primary School, Dubai COBIS is delighted to welcome a 5th GEMS school into membership. GEMS Jumeirah Primary School in Dubai, UAE, has over 1,400 pupils aged 3-11 on role and underwent a successful BSO inspection in January 2014. Principal and CEO Catherine McKeever was delighted to accept membership on behalf of the staff and students at JPS. Braeburn Garden Estate School, Kenya COBIS would like to welcome staff at Braeburn Garden Estate School into membership. The school joins 4 other Braeburn schools as COBIS Members, 4 in Kenya and 1 in Tanzania. Joanna Garner, who coordinated the membership applications on behalf of the Braeburn schools, was thrilled to accept membership on behalf of the school. The team at COBIS would like to welcome staff at all our new member schools into membership. We look forward to working with you. Congratulations to New COBIS Accredited Member Schools COBIS would also like to congratulate Al Khor International School in Qatar and Edron Academy in Mexico on receiving COBIS Accredited Membership. This follows successful ratification of the schools’ BSO inspection reports by the COBIS Quality Assurance Committee School Member News Important Reminder to COBIS Member Schools COBIS Members are schools which have satisfied us of their suitability and committed to a BSO inspection within three years. COBIS appreciates that a BSO inspection might not be appropriate for every school. In this case Members who do not complete a BSO inspection within three years will at the discretion of the COBIS Board be expected to submit a selection of revised documents to retain COBIS membership. At the very least these documents will include. a current child protection policy, school development plan, safer recruitment policy and articles of association for the governing body. Where CIS accreditation is held, confirmation will also be required after three years for membership renewal. COBIS is committed to supporting all COBIS schools to reach full Accredited Membership status. To find out more about the process download our free webinar: 'How to Progress from COBIS Member to COBIS Accredited Member' (note this is a big file). With many thanks to our host Jennifer Bray, COBIS Inspections and Quality Officer and Chair of the COBIS Quality Assurance Commitee, for her participation in this significant webinar. If you have any queries on how to proceed contact Natalie Friend (member@cobis.org.uk) Important Reminder to COBIS Candidate Schools Candidate membership is available for 12 months before to 24 months after opening. Thereafter, application is required to an alternative membership level. Natalie Friend, COBIS Communications and Membership Officer, will contact you six months prior to the 24 month deadline in order to prepare your application for Member status. If you have any questions about your membership, please contact Natalie - members@cobis.org.uk Further information about membership levels can be found on our website here. Consultation on GCSE and A level Reform A note to keep you informed as the DfE (UK) has launched a consultation on revised subject content for GCSE and A level religious studies. As a result, the DfE are currently seeking views on revised subject content for GCSE and A level religious studies for first teaching from 2016. This is the final consultation on subject content. The consultation closes on 29 December 2014 and the consultation documents can be found by clicking here. Ofqual are also consulting on developing new religious studies GCSE, A and AS level qualifications. Their consultation closes on 5 January 2015 and the consultation documents can be found by clicking here. As always, you and colleagues at your school are encouraged to contribute to the consultation as appropriate. Going the Extra Mile: Competitive School Sport, Ofsted Guin Batten from the Youth Sport Trust reports: Competitive school sport came under the Ofsted spotlight last summer. Their report ‘Going the Extra Mile’ makes a series of recommendations to schools and to sport, but the most interesting observations were the links they demonstrated between competitive school sport provision and wider achievement, Ofsted school rating and GCSE scores. Directors of Sport and Headteachers looking to benchmark their provision might find the report interesting reading; it can be downloaded from here. BETT Show 2015 - Are You Attending? New COBIS Supporting Members Lightspeed Systems will hold a reception for COBIS members at the BETT Show in London in January 2015. If you are attending the BETT Show, please can you contact Natalie Friend to let her know on which dates you are attending so COBIS can schedule this reception to coincide with members visiting the show. Please email members@cobis.org.uk with this information. More information on the BETT Awards can be found in the Supporting Member section of Connect. COBIS Graduate Internship Programme In 2013, COBIS launched its International Marketing Internship programme. Building on the success of this initiative, COBIS is now looking to recruit a third International Marketing Intern from February 2015. This six-month, full-time paid internship is suitable for a recent University or College graduate with experience of education in an international setting (for example, in a British International School). More information can be found on the COBIS website here. We would be grateful if you could help COBIS to promote this opportunity by circulating details to your alumni if appropriate. Child Protection & Safer Recruitment Training - Deadline 31 December 2014 COBIS Schools are reminded that Heads or nominated members of senior leadership teams in all COBIS member schools will now be required to have completed training courses related to the following two subjects, Child Protection and Safer Recruitment. This training must be completed by 31st December 2014 and schools which have not completed this training risk suspension from COBIS membership. You may have already completed relevant training, however if not, COBIS can advise accordingly. Please note that as a requirement of membership, this training requirement will need to be updated every three years. This frequency will be monitored by COBIS as a component of continual membership quality assurance. If you have already completed Child Protection and Safer Recruitment training courses, please forward relevant details to Natalie Friend – members@cobis.org.uk Should you or a member of your senior leadership team require training, COBIS will cover the cost of online Child Protection and Safer Recruitment training courses for one member of staff at your school. Criminal Background Employment Checks - Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) COBIS is committed to safeguarding, protecting and reducing risk to children, staff and members of school communities worldwide. COBIS administers DBS checks to support schools to make safer recruitment decisions. This service is open to all International schools, including non-COBIS member schools, recruitment organisations, training providers and other commercial suppliers To register or to find out more about the DBS service administered by COBIS: Call the COBIS team on +44 208 240 4142, email admin@cobis.org.uk or visit www.cobis.org.uk COBIS CEO, Colin Bell, Visits Doha, Qatar Colin Bell was pleased to be invited by the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to meet to discuss school evaluation and inspection processes, especially the UK DfE inspection system for British schools overseas which is of course monitored by Ofsted. In terms of quality assurance, SEC were interested to learn more about BSO standards, COBIS Accreditation and the similarities which these robust systems have with the Qatari National Quality Assurance standards. Both COBIS and the SEC, look forward to continuing this positive discussion and COBIS looks forward to welcoming SEC colleagues to the COBIS Annual Conference in May 2015. The above photograph shows Colin Bell with Ms. Amerna Hassen Al Obaidli and Ms. Nehad Ahmed-Kayali who both represent the SEC standards and evaluations department. Colin also visited COBIS member schools Doha College, Doha English Speaking School (DESS) and Sherborne Qatar whilst in Doha. Many thanks to Vice Principal Teresa Woulfe at Doha College, Principal Andy Yeoman at DESS and Principal Michael Weston at Sherborne Qatar for their hospitality on these school visits. Colin also met colleagues from new COBIS Accredited Member Al Khor International School and from the Compass International School Doha during a SEC conference. COBIS Member Schools - Staff Changes St. Saviour’s School Ikoyi, Lagos New Head - Craig Heaton British School Al Khubairat New Head - Mark Leppard COBIS reminds all member schools to notify us of changes to their administrative and senior leadership staff. This will help us stay up to date with all important contacts and make it easier to facilitate dialogue with the appropriate person in each school. To inform us of any changes, please email Fiona Rogers - cpd@cobis.org.uk Other Staff Changes ISC Announces New General Secretary ISC is pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Robinson to be General Secretary from April 2015 in succession to Charlotte Vere, the Interim General Secretary. Mrs Robinson was a very successful prep school head and in recent years has been Education and Training Director at IAPS. She is a well-known public speaker in our sector and has plenty of experience with press and TV. The ISC Board took the decision that being a qualified lawyer was not a prerequisite for the new General Secretary as this area is already very capably covered by Sunena Stoneham, ISC’s Principal Legal Counsel. ISC Chairman, Barnaby Lenon, would like to express his gratitude to the ISC staff, the representatives of the ISC member associations and to Anthony Millard Consulting for their help with this appointment. Also a special thanks to GSA for lending ISC Charlotte Vere, who as Acting General Secretary continues to do great work and will do so for the next four months. FOBISIA Announces New Chairman Gary Benfield from The ABC International School, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was named as the new FOBISIA Chairman at the recent FOBISIA Heads Conference held at Bangkok Patana School, Thailand. Gary takes over from Shaun Williams from the British International School, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Peter Derby Crook from the Tanglin Trust School, Singapore, who have retired but will still be involved in FOBISIA activities. To read the full press release, please click here. Vacancies Publishing unlimited vacancies is a component of COBIS annual membership subscription fee. The Recruitment section of our site is attracting increasing numbers of passive and active job seekers and COBIS schools have reported that they are attracting quality candidates via this channel. Recruitment ads can be published via the ‘Member Area’ – all you need is your unique school password. COBIS reminds schools to include a safeguarding statement, when posting job vacancies, with information about criminal background checks, school safeguarding and child protection policies. COBIS Student Competitions & Events Primary Creative Challenge – deadline this month! This year's Creative Challenge focuses on food. We want your KS1 or KS2 pupils to star in a short film of them making a tasty traditional dish, snack or drink from the region in which your school is based. Prizes include a free subscription to Oddizzi.com and some of the latest Lonely Planet Kids books. Winning entries will be showcased at the 2015 COBIS Annual Conference, 9-11 May 2015. Click here to download an entry form now. Please fill this in and send it to jenny@oddizzi.com along with your entry but be quick - the closing date is 31 December 2014. For more information, please click here or for inspiration from last year's entries, click here. 2014 COBIS/King’s Group Student Leadership Scholarship COBIS is pleased to announce that Gruia Dimcea, Head Boy at The British School of Bucharest, is the recipient of the 2014 COBIS/King’s Group Student Leadership Scholarship. Following the COBIS/King’s Group Student Leadership Conference in Madrid in October, participants were invited to submit short films about their experience. The films were assessed by a selection committee and Mr Dimcea was selected as the winner of the €500 scholarship which will be awarded when he is enrolled at university. Thank you to King’s Group for their generosity in supporting this new initiative. The photograph to the right shows the scholarship recipient Gruia Dimcea. Stewart MacPherson, secondary leader and English teacher at The English International School Moscow East, enjoyed attending the COBIS/King's Group Student Leadership Conference stating: "We are happy to say that the event was a tremendous experience and the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the trip and, more importantly, gained from it. This was the first time [we have attended] such an event and there are plans for future ones, with the EIS Moscow keenly involved." Please click here to find a photo montage and text from the pupils from EIS who attended. Professional Development Recent Conferences British School of Bucharest hosts COBIS Pastoral Care Conference The first COBIS Pupil-Centred Pastoral Care Conference took place at The British School of Bucharest, 7-8 November 2014. The conference was well-attended with delegates representing schools in 15 different countries. Speakers/trainers Jackie Cox, Paul James and Matthew Cox led delegates through sessions on a range of topics including Promoting Self Esteem, Dealing with Challenging Parents, Third Culture Kids, e-Safety and more. Thank you to British School of Bucharest for designing and hosting this new event, and to all of the speakers and delegates for making it a success. To view a copy of the conference programme, please click here. Forthcoming Conferences Teachable Moments – The Key to Success in the Early Years - DEADLINE APPROACHING EYFS Training Days, in association with COBIS 3 and 5 January 2015 Rainbow International School, Kampala, Uganda Early Years Teachers, Leaders, and Support Staff are invited to register for one of two EYFS Training Days, hosted by Rainbow International School, in association with COBIS. For more information and booking forms please click here. COBIS Seminar - Leading British Overseas Schools BOOKING OPEN *The Park Plaza Hotel, Victoria, Central London* 31 January 2015, 14:00 - 17:00 This one day seminar, hosted at the Park Plaza Hotel in Central London, organised by COBIS, sponsored by Anthony Millard Consulting and Eteach International, offers a helpful, independent introduction to this fast-expanding market. There will also be the opportunity to seek initial, personal guidance, and if you wish, to register in total confidence, your possible interest in current or future overseas posts. Attendance and bookings are welcome from school leaders from across all age settings (Principals, Heads, Deputies and Senior Leadership Team staff) at UK maintained and independent schools. Click here for more information and to book your place. Click here to view the flyer and conference programme. COBIS Conference for Teachers and Support Staff: Athens, Greece - 2-3 March 2015 BOOKING OPEN Excellence and Happiness: Creating a Collaborative Learning Ethos for the Whole School St Catherine's British School, Athens Teachers and TAs from Primary and Secondary Schools are invited to register for this COBIS Conference. in addition to high-profile speakers, the programme will also include workshops on a range of topics including: Coaching to improve performance EYFS - enabling environments Philosophy of children The role of the teaching assistant Integrating new technology in schools Global literacy Effective strategies for children with ADHD Developing thinking skills And more For more information and a booking form, please click here. A four-day programme for Middle Leaders will run alongside the conference, 28 February-3 March. Click here for more information. COBIS Conference for Teachers: Beijing, China - 20-21 March 2015 BOOKING OPEN Future Learners - The Challenges of a New Environment The British School of Beijing, Shunyi This conference for Primary and Secondary Teachers will include sessions on: 21st Century Learners Using Digital Technology to Transform Learning The Thinking Classroom Make Your Classroom and iPad Classroom Future-Proofing Schools Blended Learning: a New Approach to Teaching & Learning And more There will also be opportunities for optional cultural visits (Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc.) for participants on Sunday 22 March. For more information and a booking form, please click here. A four-day programme for Middle Leaders will run alongside the conference, 19-22 March. Click here for more information. Four-day Middle Leaders’ Programme, Athens and Beijing, Spring 2015 Leading Learning from the Middle COBIS, working in partnership with Karen Ardley Associates, St Catherine’s British School in Athens, and the British School of Beijing, will be running two four-day courses for aspiring or current middle leaders in Primary or Secondary schools. 28 February-3 March 2015 – St Catherine’s British School, Athens (click here for more details and booking forms) 19-22 March 2015 – The British School of Beijing (click here for more details and booking forms) Course objectives: To deepen middle managers’ understanding of themselves and their leadership behaviours To extend middle managers’ knowledge and understanding about leadership To develop leadership skills COBIS Conference for Teachers, Leaders and Support Staff: Lagos, Nigeria - 16-17 April 2015 Students Taking Ownership of Their Learning Grange School, Lagos This conference for Teachers, TAs, Support Staff, Middle and Senior Leaders, and Proprietors of British International Schools will include sessions on: Using ICT to Enhance, Extend and Support Learning British International Schools: The African Perspective - Challenges, Threats, Opportunities Special Educational Needs New Models of Educational Delivery: Opportunities and Challenges And more For more information and a booking form, please click here. 2nd COBIS Conference for Marketing, Development and Admissions Staff *Stakeholder Engagement: The Past, The Present and The Prospective* 23-24 April 2015 Dubai College, UAE Building on the success of the first conference, COBIS is pleased to invite delegates to register for this CPD event in Dubai. The programme will cover a range of topics including: Marketing & Admissions Alumni Engagement School Branding Establishing a Development Office The Cutsomer Journey Media Relations for Schools Social Media and Technology And more For more information and a booking form, please click here. 34th COBIS Annual Conference, 9-11 May 2015, London Measuring Success: Wellbeing, Resilience, Education and Leadership in British Schools Overseas The 34th COBIS Annual Conference for Heads, Governors and Senior Managers will take place at the Park Plaza Hotel, Victoria, London in May 2015. Booking and programme will be published on the COBIS website shortly. Keynote speakers at this year’s conference will include Professor Guy Claxton, Ben Walden, Dominic Peckham, and Baroness Sue Campbell. The Saturday Welcome Reception and Dinner moves to a new venue this year – ZSL London Zoo. Delegates are invited to join us for a drinks reception in the Tiger Territory, followed by dinner in the Prince Albert Suite. Delegates are also invited to register for an additional Advanced Child Protection Course taking place on Tuesday 12 May 2015. Bookings for the Annual Conference are now being accepted. COBIS is pleased to announce that delegate fees have remain unchanged for the past three years. For more information and booking forms, please click here. National College/COBIS – Facilitator Training – International Programme for Middle Leaders COBIS has a partnership arrangement with the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the delivery of the International Programme for Middle Leaders (IPML). The IPML is the successor of the highly successful Middle Leaders Development Programme which ran in the UK and internationally through COBIS for 4 years with some 20,000 middle leaders passing through the programme. In addition to running the IPML in COBIS Schools, COBIS is now also able to train new facilitators to deliver the course. We are looking at the possibility of running a three-day facilitator training course before or after the Annual Conference in London in May if there is sufficient interest. To be eligible to complete the training, candidates must be a Head, Deputy, or equivalent senior leader. To express initial interest in this training opportunity, please email Fiona Rogers on cpd@cobis.org.uk. The above photograph shows IPML participants taking part in face-to-face sessions in The Netherlands. Host Schools for 2015/16 COBIS Conferences COBIS Schools have recently been sent a letter inviting expressions of interest from schools that would like to host a COBIS Teachers’ Conference or other CPD event in 2015/16. If you would like to discuss these opportunities, or to request a copy of the Host School Guidance, please contact Colin Bell (ceo@cobis.org.uk) or Fiona Rogers (cpd@cobis.org.uk). Other Association Events Student Google Code-in Contest Dec 1 - Jan 19 This month launches the start of Google Code-in, a global, online contest introducing 13-17 year old pre-university students to open source software development. Google Code-in is a great way for students to gain real world experience working on an open source project and gain confidence in their skills while having mentors available to help guide them through the contest. The contest will start for students on Monday, December 1st. Students complete tasks in categories include coding, documentation, UI, outreach, quality assurance and research. Prizes include certificates, t-shirts, hoodies, and 24 grand prize winners will win a trip to Google headquarters in California, USA next June for themselves and a parent or legal guardian. You can learn more about the details of the contest on our blog post and the contest site google-melange.com Over the last 4 years Google have had 1575 students from 78 countries complete tasks in the contest. They hope to expand the program this year and would appreciate your help to spread the word to students around the globe. COBIS Webinars The COBIS webinar schedule for spring 2015 has recently been announced. Webinars include Third Culture Kids, Cross - Cultural Kids and the University Transition; LinkedIn for Beginners in association with COBIS supporting members Interactive Schools and Assessing Pupils’ Progress in a World Without Levels in association with COBIS supporting members Rising Stars. To book your free place, please visit our website. Past webinar recordings are available in the COBIS Member Area. All webinars are free of charge for COBIS members. News From COBIS Schools Around the World The British School in Tokyo Wins Company of the Year at the British Business Awards COBIS Accredited Members The British School in Tokyo celebrated last month after winning Company of the Year at the British Business Awards (BBA). The event, held at the Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku, was organised by the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) and attended by over 300 guests. The Awards has become one of the biggest annual events of the foreign business community in Japan and is a unique showcase for British creativity, culture and lifestyle. A record 50 nominations were received for the six awards with the winners chosen by a panel of independent judges from business, media and government. Brian Christian, Head at The British School in Tokyo, was delighted to receive the award adding, 'A good night was had by all!' Congratulations to Brian and all the staff at the British School in Tokyo on this excellent achievement. Read the full article on the BCCJ website. Remembrance Day at St George’s British Georgian School, Tbilisi COBIS Member, St George’s British Georgian School, tried something different this year to mark Remembrance Day. Headmaster, Christopher Greenfield, purchased poppies in England through a donation to the Royal British Legion. The school then re-sold them raising money for the families of wounded or killed Georgian soldiers. The poppies were a wonderful success and sold out. The school also hold a minute’s silence on 11 November in a special commemorative assembly. The below photograph is a Year 1 class wearing their poppies. British School Al Khubairat Hosts British and UAE Dignitaries COBIS Member, The British School Al Khubairat hosted COBIS Patron, His Royal Highness The Duke of York, His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan and others last week to unveil two new commemorative plaques at the school. The guests took in a tour of the school grounds and were entertained by musicians and singers before meeting with staff and students. Click here to read the full article. Celebrate 10 Years of the Red Book Awards COBIS members are invited to participate in the Red book awards which promote literacy and reading. Next year, the Red Book Awards celebrates its 10th birthday and to honour the occasion, they are trying to get 10 new countries involved. Red are looking for international schools who have connections with local, poorer schools, who are willing to share facilities and host local pupils through sharing books. The school needs to be able to provide internet access (to send reviews, and other communications), space to meet, and possibly a facility to create - and send - a video presentation of one of the shortlisted titles. For more information, please contact Anne Ngabia (Anne.Ngabia@falkirk.gov.uk). Supporting Member News Welcome To New COBIS Supporting Members COBIS would like to welcome the following new supporting members who have recently joined us: LSC Education - Recruitment Notts Sport - Facilities Management and School Furniture / Equipment Worldteachers Recruitment - Recruitment S + B UK Limited - Facilities Management and School Furniture / Equipment Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes - Student Development Planet PC - ICT 2nd COBIS Supporting Member Reception Friday 30 January 2015 COBIS is holding its 2nd COBIS Supporting Member Reception at the Institute of Directors in London on Friday 30 January 2015. All COBIS supporting members are invited to this event which will take place from 17.15-19.00. The Reception offers the opportunity to meet the COBIS Head Office team and the COBIS Board as well as network with colleagues from other COBIS supporting member organisations. To confirm your attendance, please email Natalie Friend – members@cobis.org.uk – with the name of the person attending from your organisation. We look forward to seeing you there! UCAS Competitive Admissions Conference Tuesday 9 December 2014 Hotel Russell, London This UCAS conference is aimed at teachers and advisers of those going into higher education and is contributed to by representatives from 15 higher education providers. UCAS and the International Baccalaureate, will focus on selection criteria, admissions tests, interviews, references and personal statements, qualification reform and seven specific competitive subject areas. To view the UCAS Compettitive Admissions Conference Flyer click here. BETT Awards 2015 Supporting Member Nominations Considered by many as the most esteemed accolade in the industry, the Bett Awards provide a showcase of resources and companies that seek to provide educators with the information, ideas and inspiration that are fundamental to the learning process. BESA will again act as chair of judges, overseeing the impartiality and fairness of the robust, two-stage judging process by a panel of experienced educational professionals. Entries will be assessed on specific criteria, including; design, cost-effectiveness, accessibility, innovation, enabling effective learning, and supporting learning beyond the classroom. COBIS is proud to see so many Supporting Members in the 2015 finalist categories including: 2Simple Software, Rising Stars, Alfiesoft (AQA), Cambridge University Press, Soundbitelearning, Texthelp, Contact Group, iSAMS Independent, Capita SIMS and Twig World. To view the full list of finalists and categories click here. The College Board’s Summer Institute for International Counselors *June 15-18, 2015* *Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.* Join us for the College Board’s Summer Institute for International Counselors, a comprehensive, interactive professional development program for counselors at overseas international secondary schools. Through compelling sessions and engaging dialogue with faculty and peers, you will learn how to provide your students with an early and ongoing understanding of the admission process for U.S. universities. You will also acquire strategies and tools to help your students secure postsecondary options that best fit their career aspirations. For more information and to request an application, please visit www.collegeboard.org/si-intl Free Webinar: The Imagery-Language Connection to Dyslexia, Hyperlexia, and Autism New Supporting Member Lindamood-Bell are hosting a free webinar on December 3 at 15:30 GMT / 16:30 CET. Lindamood-Bell's research-based intervention develops reading accuracy and reading comprehension, even for those previously diagnosed with dyslexia, hyperlexia, and autism. Co-Founder, Nanci Bell will discuss the importance of the imagery-language connection for reading words and comprehending language. To view the webinar flyer click here. To register to attend or recieve a recording after the event click here. ISC Datashare and ISC Online for Schools New Video ISC Research, the leading organisation for data and market intelligence on the international schools market and a research partner of COBIS, has introduced major innovations to its services through ISC Datashare and ISC Online for Schools. These enhancements are designed to make it easier for international schools to share their data and to access real-time analyses and data relating to their market – at no cost. Thet have now released an online video to show International Schools how to participate and benefit from ISC Online for Schools. Click here to view. For more information on these services and details of how to participate read the full article. Contact Us If you have any comments or requests, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you. Colin Bell, CEO - ceo@cobis.org.uk Natalie Friend, Communications and Membership Officer - members@cobis.org.uk Tamsin Gordon, COBIS International Marketing Intern - intern@cobis.org.uk Catriona Lawless, PA to Colin Bell - pa@cobis.org.uk Fiona Rogers, Senior Professional Development Officer - cpd@cobis.org.uk Sarah Wooldridge, Finance Officer - admin@cobis.org.uk Follow us on Twitter @CobisDirector Like us on Facebook Connect with us on LinkedIn Share with us on Google+ Connect with COBIS on social media Telephone: +44 208 240 4142 Address: COBIS, St Mary's University, Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, TW1 4SX, UK
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