FOBISIA CPD Digest, Volume 3 Issue 8, 8th June 2021

CPD Digest Volume 3, Issue 8, 8th June 2021

INSIDE CPD & Safeguarding eConference...

How did it go?

Page 4

eJAWS Reflections from Garden International School Kuala Lumpur and The International School @ ParkCity Page 5- 9

Upcoming Events Confirmed JAWS 11-12th June 2021

Excelling in Middle Leadership eJAWS

Page 12

24th June 2021

Drama Thursdays: Theatre Companies and Texts

Page 13

Sri KDU International School co-hosted with The British School Kuala Lumpur

The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur

Coming up next year....

FOBISIA have over 50 CPD events scheduled for next academic year, ranging from eJAWS to conferences! Go to the member section of www.fobisia.org to see our calendars and updates.

Join the FOBISIA Community....

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Upcoming FOBISIA Webinars 8th June 2021 4pm ICT

Schrole Group: Diversity and Inclusion - Why getting it right matters Register here

Visit www.fobisia.org for further details, updates and registration links

Coming up next year....

We are now accepting webinar proposals for Term 1 of next academic year! If you’d like to present a webinar, please send us your proposal through THIS form by September 3rd 2021.

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With the unmoving obstacle of a global pandemic, FOBISIA felt a pressing commitment to provide an accessible, engaging and cost-effective CPD event to uplift spirits and connect our communities. To this end, FOBISIA’s CPD and Safeguarding Committees joined forces and a combined conference was born.

On the 20-21 May 2021, FOBISIA hosted the CPD & Safeguarding eConference: Working and Leading Together. The eConference was organised by a group of committee members and HQ staff who worked tirelessly to identify key areas of interest and deliver relevant content for FOBISIA teachers.

The eConference boasted 28 fantastic speakers including Tom Sherrington, Jonathan Taylor, Tim Gerrish OBE and Maria Cunningham. We were able to draw upon the wealth of knowledge and resources offered by FOBISIA Affiliate Members such as Veema Education, Real Training, Mental Health and Wellbeing Training, Tes and more. The 33 sessions were delivered live from all corners of the world and offered a vast array of CPD and Safeguarding CPD to suit everyone’s needs.

The conference was hosted solely 4 | CPD Digest, Volume 3 Issue 8, 8th June 2021

online using the conference platform, Whova, and Zoom for live sessions. The online format and availability of session recordings for four weeks post-conference gave teachers an opportunity which might not have been otherwise accessible whether that be due to a busy teaching schedule or a remote location. It is not surprising therefore, that an outstanding number of 802 teachers from 58 schools signed up for the event, making this the largest FOBISIA conference to date!

Whova allowed attendees to interact with each other, ask questions and answer live polls!

Examples of live polls on Whova The success of CPD & Safeguarding eConference is a testament to the

progress made over the last year. Despite the uphill struggles brought on by the pandemic, FOBISIA teachers and leaders have continued to uphold an enthusiasm to develop their skills and knowledge, and to continue to build meaningful connections in the FOBISIA community.

Special thanks to FOBISIA HQ, Ciaran

Harrington, Roisin Pearson, Steven Ashford, Tim Lamb, Jane Smith and Victoria Rotheram for their time and commitment in organising this event.

Fariha Ebrahim FOBISIA CPD & Safeguarding Executive

802 attendees, 58 schools 28 speakers & 33 sessions!

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JAWS Reflections

Challenging and Supporting All Learners in Mathematics eJAWS Garden International School Kuala Lumpur 30th April 2021

On Friday 30th April, 35 maths teachers from across 12 FOBISIA schools met online to continue their professional development and share ideas in the FOBISIA Maths eJAWS hosted by Garden International School.

‘Challenging and Supporting all Learners’ was our main theme which allowed us to focus on effective lesson planning, resources to support all learners and strategies to challenge all students. Much of the focus was on KS3 and it was a pleasure to welcome a wide mix of Primary and Secondary colleagues along to this eJAWS. The event started with a speed geeking session. Three rounds of 8 minutes each allowed everyone involved to meet with at least 3 peers to share ideas and make connections. This was well received, with many taking resources and contact details away with them in order to further explore ideas beyond this event.

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We then welcomed 6 speakers from 5 different schools to present over 3 sessions. Many thanks to Alexander Biggs (The British School, KL), Rekha Rao (Dulwich College, Singapore), Sujatha Ramanan and Krishna Das (The British School, New Delhi), Anita Collins (Garden International School, KL), and Dominic Hill (Discovery Bay International School, HK). The sessions were well received and offered a chance for further discussion and questions.

The online platform enabled more attendees to join from the comfort of their own home or offices and engage with one another. It was fantastic to be able to connect with so many new people from across the FOBISIA region

Natalie Clark Head of Maths Garden International School Kuala Lumpur

JAWS Reflections

Mastery in Maths for Key Stage 2 and 3 The International School @ ParkCity 21st May 2021

The International School @ Parkcity was delighted to have the opportunity to host our first eJAWS on Friday 21st May. The focus was on the use of a mastery approach in the teaching of mathematics through Key Stage 2 & Key Stage 3.

This was evidently a popular topic for our FOBISIA colleagues with over 50 participants joining us from a wide range of FOBISIA school contexts and locations.

Participants were enthusiastic throughout the day and there was a great deal of sharing of good practice, resources and questions being asked. Like many of the JAWS offered this year, when the bid was placed originally we envisioned hosting onsite with meetings taking place face-to-face rather than screen-to-screen. Nevertheless, as I hope the participants agree, the eJAWS format worked very well, proving that teacher-led CPD opportunities can prevail, global pandemic notwithstanding!

Following a welcome from the Principal, some brief networking opportunities and a virtual school tour of our wonderful campus here in Kuala Lumpur, the day began with an overview of mastery from our Primary Maths Lead, Tom Williams.

He offered a demonstration of how to teach and link the part-whole model to bar modeling. He talked us through the ways in which this promotes the use of a wide vocabulary and deep understanding through visualisation. As a Key Stage 1

teacher, he was well placed to explain these vital early steps maths learners go through on their journey to mastering understanding of a topic.

One of our talented Secondary maths teachers, Petros, took over next to outline the mindset and passion necessary to bring the mastery approach to a classroom. He shared a plethora of resources that elicit this response from students during a maths lesson, no doubt making participants very grateful that they could revisit and explore these one-by-one using the shared resources website we created.

Using just a piece of A4 paper (and perhaps too many puns) Phil Bowen, our Secondary Head of Mathematics, then demonstrated the central principle of the day... that depth can be found in simple mathematics. Using folds and careful questioning he was able to show a lesson activity that contained content suitable for the beginning of Key Stage 2 right up to GCSE level mathematics.

Exploring aspects of 2D and 3D geometry which the participants could hold in their hands and then linking them to abstractions on the screen.

The afternoon sessions provided opportunities for more discussion and knowledge sharing. Dominic Hill from Discovery Bay International School took us through some of the resources he uses to bring popular and degree level mathematics into the classroom.

A passionate advocate for building confidence and fostering a love of the CPD Digest, Volume 3 Issue 8, 8th June 2021 | 7

JAWS Reflections subject to all students, Dominic provided our participants once again with access to a huge wealth of resources. His enthusiasm and interest in the subject was not lost through the screen and was just another reminder of just how lucky FOBISIA students are in having access to such passionate communicators as those presenting today.

The final session of the day allowed for reflection and discussion on how to overcome barriers when implementing the mastery approach in Member Schools and a chance for us to share some of the success we have experienced in adapting our schemes of work and planning to promote mastery here at ISP. Once again the enthusiasm and interest of the

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participants ensured success in this session and an openness to sharing benefited us all.

I would like to thank everyone involved in the eJAWS event and especially those teachers who led workshops and presentations. I hope participants found it useful and we look forward to welcoming you back to The International School @ ParkCity in the future, be it in-person or online.

Nathan Phipps (Event Coordinator) Deputy Head of Primary The International School @ ParkCity

JAWS Reflections

Communication, Language and Literacy in the Early Years eJAWS The International School @ ParkCity 28th May 2021 On Friday 28th May, we were delighted to host our second eJAWS CPD event for this year. It was an opportunity to gather an experienced group of EYFS and Key Stage 1 practitioners from across the region for a day of knowledge sharing and networking. The day focused on communication and the development of language and literacy skills in the early years classroom. With 25 teachers participating it was a busy day, packed with information, resources and good practice to share.

Following a warm welcome by our Principal, Mr Jon Turner, and a whistle-stop virtual tour of our vibrant international school, the day began with a deep dive into the different approaches to delivering a literacy curriculum in all the participating schools. Information was shared on how innovative and ageappropriate approaches such as ‘I Can’, ‘Talk for Writing’, ‘Helicopter Stories’ and ‘Drawing Club’ were being used to get the very best from our youngest students.

There was a great deal of enthusiasm for a chance to hear the diversity of programs and approaches being delivered and how similar challenges were overcome in different school contexts. The willingness by our participating teachers to listen to new approaches and take advice from other settings was clearly a reflection of the growth mindset in FOBISIA schools.

Mid-morning was a chance to hear a professional perspective from a Speech and Language Therapist. Deena Al Sharif, who has a great deal of experience working with children with delayed or impaired speech and language development. After spending years working with international schools in the region she was able to offer excellent advice on how EYFS practitioners can best help to identify and support our students with language needs. There was a great deal of interest in methods for tracking development, the various games and activities that would develop typical language skills, as well as some excellent guidance on what not to do!

Speaking on a subject she has a great deal of passion for, Tracy Lewis (our Head of Early Years here at ISP) then presented a detailed overview of how she has adopted the ‘Communication Friendly Spaces’ approach when designing our Early Years Centre classrooms. This was a fantastic opportunity to show off the early years learning environments that we have here at ISP and to draw out some of the pedagogical reasons for why it looks like it does. She assured us that it wasn’t just to look good on Instagram! Tracy was able to demonstrate the link between research findings and visual images of classroom spaces and it was fabulous to hear that other schools within FOBISIA are following the same approaches.

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JAWS Reflections Jess Gosling (Taipei European School) shared the experiences she has had in using focus groups to support children who are native Mandarin speakers and at the very beginning of their journey in learning spoken English. She shared the ideas that were developed with her focus group and how they created a successful action plan for supporting English language learning throughout this academic year. There were some fantastic ideas for us all to take away.

It was an excellent day of networking and a pleasure to meet so many enthusiastic teachers who are working so hard to provide the best they can for our youngest

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students. Thank you to everyone who attended for their contributions to the day and especially to our hard-working presenters for making it all possible. We look forward to being able to welcome you back again soon to the International School @ ParkCity.

Nathan Phipps (Event Coordinator) Deputy Head of Primary The International School @ ParkCity

JAWS

WHAT IS JAWS? A FOBISIA Jobs Alike Workshop (JAWS) is an opportunity for professionals in similar fields to share knowledge and good practice in a costeffective and practical way.

A JAWS can be conducted in-person or online (eJAWS)  A face-to-face JAWS is held across 1-2 days whilst an eJAWS is a 2-6 hour event  It includes a schedule of short workshops relevant to specific topics outlined by the host school  Workshops can be presented by the host school and attending schools  The host school is responsible for organising, leading and facilitating a JAWS, with support from FOBISIA Headquarters.

What is expected of JAWS participants?

Participants should expect to be asked to present a workshop and are encouraged to do so Participants can co-host workshops All participants should be actively involved in the planning of the agenda and be provided with opportunities to contribute.

For more information, please read the CPD Handbook here CPD Digest, Volume 3 Issue 8, 8th June 2021 | 11

JAWS

Date : 11th June 2021 & 12th June 2021

This is a co-hosted JAWs event. Programme coordinators: Frances Baxter (Sri KDU) and Aidan Edmanson (BSKL)

Place : Sri KDU International School

FOBISIA JAWs: Excelling in Middle Leadership During the Job Alike Workshop (JAWs) there will be an opportunity to network with teachers from other FOBISIA schools to share excellent practice across Middle Leadership roles.

Primarily, this JAWs is targeted at experienced, current, Middle Leaders yet content would prove extremely useful and positively challenging for aspiring Middle Leaders.

Programme - Reassessing our own Leadership Styles - Emotional Intelligance in Leadership - Leading Teaching & Learning - Leading Effective Change - Leading Professional Development - Leading Difficult Situations - Leading Recruitment - Leading the Self - Deepening understanding of Whole School Leadership

Please complete this Google Form (click here) to register or access it using the QR Code. Deadline edfor registration is Friday, s s a e P 2021.

16th April n i l d ea (for face-to-face delegates) Cost : MYRD250 FREE (for online delegates) scan this QR code to sign up!

Timings : Day 1 : 9.00am - 3.00pm | Day 2 : 9.00am - 2.30pm contact : f.baxter@srikdu.edu.my

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FOBISIA Affiliate Members

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CPD Calendar 2020-21* Date

Name of Event

11Excelling in Middle Leadership eJAWS 12/06/2021 24/06/2021 Drama Thursdays: Theatres and Texts

Name of School

Contact

Sri KDU International School (cohost- Frances Baxter ed with BSKL) f.baxter@srikdu.edu.my The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur Holly Sullivan hsullivan.ep@alice-smith.edu.my

Term 3 3

*Due to COVID-19, this year’s CPD calendar is subject to change. The events and dates listed here may not be confirmed. Please refer to page 2 and our website for more details.

For queries, please contact...

Fariha Ebrahim CPD & Safeguarding Executive fariha.ebrahim@fobisia.org

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