We spoke to Murray Tod, Founding Master of Wellington College International, Pune, about their experience of COBIS Compliance and how it has impacted their school.

Tell us a bit about your school – what are you particularly proud of?

We've been open less than two years and we've already got nearly 200 students. We go from early years up to year 10 and we have the Wellington heritage as part of the Wellington Group and we're very lucky in that we are in Pune, in India. Our facilities are coming online a lot more and we're very proud of that. What I really like is the fact that we're trying to be very “pioneering” in India. That word gets bandied around a lot, but we're really trying to offer a high level of education within India by blending the culture of the UK with the local culture. I am most proud of our pupils, they are very happy, vibrant, enriched, and full of opportunity. We want them to be holistic and happy young people to go out into the world and change the world.

Why did you want to pursue COBIS Compliance?

COBIS offers a badge of honour, a hallmark of international education. I wanted to pursue COBIS Compliance very early as it sets an expectation of safeguarding in particular. I wanted to make sure that if there were gaps in our provision that we were looking at that and we had an opportunity to get up to the level required. We decided not to embark on the full Accreditation at the start; we wanted to ensure we covered all the Compliance first and then to upgrade up to Accreditation to cover the teaching and learning.

How did you find the process of COBIS Compliance?

I thought the information from the very beginning was extremely detailed, very thorough, very professional and incredibly helpful. The uploading of documentation onto the MS Teams platform was very easy. The visit was great, really helpful and well-run. The Peer Accreditor and Lead Improvement Partner were fantastic. The Lead Improvement Partner was really tremendous in terms of how he organised the visit with me. Then the reporting after that great, really wonderful, very transparent, very clear.

I thought the options available for improvement were very impressive. The final written report and then the lovely communication from COBIS at the end from lots of different people was also very impressive. My advice would be, to take the advice of COBIS and do the scheme as early as you can!

How did you find working with the Lead Improvement Partner?

The interaction with the Lead Improvement Partner, Clive Agent was absolutely first class. He was incredibly helpful. He was very patient but equally put the pressure on at the right time! I have nothing but praise for him. I thought he was genuinely brilliant.

What impact will COBIS Compliance have on your school?

The main impact will be with parents and pupils. With our COBIS membership, we have a level of accountability, which, for an expat family choosing a school in a new area, will be invaluable. Ultimately our pupil numbers will go up.

What do you hope to gain from membership?

First, a badge of honour internationally. Secondly, the networking opportunities. We will begin to attend COBIS conferences, take part in online activities, and read the informative emails. Today I have forwarded your safeguarding email to our Designated Safeguarding Lead, it’s really helpful. Thirdly, the CPD opportunities, we struggle to find opportunities that we can access. Also, as we continue to grow, we will access support with teacher recruitment through Global Jobs.

What specific member benefits are you looking forward to engaging with?

For next year we will be looking at the student events calendar and seeing what competitions and events we can enter -  it will be a fantastic outlet for these young people to have a go! The conferences are very important, we will be looking to engage in those over the coming year. AI is very high profile at the moment and the COBIS support for the students and my colleagues in this field will be well received.

What would you say to other schools thinking of joining?

Go for it! Make sure you’re ready, be prepared, be rigorous, be regimented, get everything lined up and work extremely hard, but the benefit will outweigh all the work! It was a very collaborative and supportive process, so just go for it!

For any questions or for more information about the COBIS Accreditation and Compliance scheme, please contact sharon.gallagher@cobis.org.uk.