Federation of British International Schools in Asia eMagazine February 2022: Term 2, Issue 38
INSIDE
• FOBISIA eConferences • Student Event Highlights • The Importance of Feedback
Board Members Anthony Rowlands
Chris Seal
Principal British International School Ho Chi Minh City
Principal Shrewsbury International School Bangkok Riverside
Treasurer
Chair
chris.s@shrewsbury.ac.th
anthony.rowlands@bisvietnam.com
Matt Mills
Martin Towse
Head of School Bangkok Patana School
Principal St. Christopher's International Primary School, Penang
Stuart Bridge
Dinah Hawtree
Head of School Discovery Bay International School, Hong Kong
Principal Prince of Wales Island International School, Penang
sbridge@dbis.edu.hk
principal@powiis.edu.my
Vanita Uppal OBE
Roger Schultz
Director The British School New Delhi
Head of School The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur
Secretary & Membership
Vice Chair & HQ Support
martin.towse@scips.org.my
mami@patana.ac.th
CPD
Student Events
Sport
Safeguarding
hos@alice-smith.edu.my
v.uppal@british-school.org
Nick Magnus
Rachel Dent
Heads' Support
Communications
Headmaster Dulwich College (Singapore)
Head of School Harrow International School Beijing
headmaster@dulwich-singapore.edu.sg
rdent@harrowbeijing.cn
Headquarters John Gwyn Jones MBE
Shana Kongmun
ceo@fobisia.org
eom@fobisia.org
Fariha Ebrahim
Janine Minchin
cpd-safeguarding@fobisia.org
student-events@fobisia.org
Dawn Jones
Li-May Lim
marketing@fobisia.org
design@fobisia.org
Salinee (Tai) Chooputtaphong
Jitsaman (Pheung) Chan
info@fobisia.org
accounts@fobisia.org
Executive Operations Manager
Chief Executive Officer
CPD & Safeguarding Executive
Student Events Executive
Marketing & Communications Executive
Design Communications Executive
Accounts Executive
Administration Executive
THAILAND Headquarters 39/4 Todsamon Clubhouse Building, Mezzanine Floor Soi LaSalle 39/1, Sukhumvit 105, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND
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CONTENTS 7 8 9 13
UPDATES Calendar of Upcoming Student Events Introducing Shana & Dawn The Importance of Feedback The International School Awards
12 14 16 19 20 24 26 28
STUDENT EVENT HIGHLIGHTS Online Maths Competition Gymnastics Invitational Drama Monologue Challenge Females in Science Pop-Up Book Design Competition Education Perfect Challenges Virtual Dance Competition One Family at a Time
36 38 40
FOBISIA eCONFERENCES FOBISIA's Love of Learning FOBISIA's Drama eConference FOBISIA Music Teachers eConference
43 46
LEADERSHIP Towards a More Sustainable Future What Stays the Same When Everything Changes?
49 50 52
Universally Challenged #08 Our Member Schools Our Affiliate Members
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
FOBISIA Music eConference
BPS Virtual Dance Competition
3
from our
Chair
A warm welcome to Term 2 of THE FOBISIAN! Many of us have begun this term back in physical school, some back to hybrid learning, yet as schools we have managed to adapt and shift to all of the changes as we go. AT FOBISIA we have also had to reshape the way in which we conduct our conferences; this year has seen some inspiring online events. It was remarkable to see how efficiently our Teaching Community Conference and our Music Teachers Conference were conducted by FOBISIA HQ and the hosting schools. So many of our community were able to attend virtually and they were hailed as a great success. As I write, we are working hard to prepare for our 28th Annual Leadership eConference and we are looking forward to an outstanding event. This term has already seen a number of student events from Gymnastics and Virtual Dance to The Race4Good. Once again, we are proud of our school communities for stepping up to the many challenges they faced, not only the hosting schools, but also the students who have engaged so enthusiastically. I hope to see more of our Member Schools taking part in our upcoming competitions and CPD events - I would especially like to warmly welcome our new Members Schools as they join the FOBISIA Family. A sincere thanks to the John and the team at HQ. Additionally, a warm welcome to Shana as our new Executive Operations Manager (EOM). Shana takes over from Siobhan who has relocated to Australia but continues to work for us virtually until the completion of the Leadership Conference. I am sure you will all join me in welcoming Shana and thanking Siobhan for her outstanding service to FOBISIA over the years. My best wishes to you all for the rest of this term, Anthony Rowlands FOBISIA Chair - March 2019 to present Principal, British International School Ho Chi Minh City
4
from our
Chief
Gong Xi Fa Chai and a Happy Chinese New Year of the Tiger.
We have all had to plan for slight setbacks due to the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, although I am pleased to see that concerns seem to have eased as it appears to cause less serious illnesses, especially to those that are fully vaccinated. As a result, some countries in our region are re-opening their borders with less demands on travellers regarding quarantine etc. We are hosting two key virtual conferences at the start of this second Term - the first being the PE & Sports Conference which attracted participation from 55 Schools and over 400 delegates. We will also be hosting our very first Virtual FOBISIA Annual Conference, which will commence after our Board and Heads Meeting. We are delighted with the 78 Member Schools participating and have an outstanding line up of speakers, so there will be something for everyone. We have also included a light hearted aspect to the programme to support everyone’s well being, so it will be fun! I would like to record our thanks to Siobhan for her commitment in managing this year’s leadership conference. We have three new candidate schools applying for membership - North London Collegiate School Singapore, Wellington College International School, Hangzhou, The British School of Tashkent, and recently, an expression of interest from Brighton College in Singapore. This will take us up to 91 member schools! I am pleased to report that we have also exceeded 100 affiliate members, which reflects the interest that companies have in offering their services to support our member schools. This month, we welcomed our first successful applicants to our new category of Individual Members of FOBISIA, namely Christopher Short, Maggie Raffee, Barnaby Sandow, and Ronald Stones OBE. We will continue to carry out surveys of our schools in areas where members have asked for much needed information. At our Heads meeting, we will present surveys for participants to complete on the current status of learning in your schools, along data on recruitment and retention of staff. Can you believe that 16 Heads of Schools have either left, or will be leaving their schools by the end of this academic year? Recently, FOBISIA hosted a meeting with other British International Schools’ Associations (FOBISIA, BSME, COBIS, AoBSO, LAHC and NABBS). We collectively agreed to support each other in areas such as planning and contingencies of the examination boards, developments at the DfE with BSO Inspections, the iQTS pilot scheme, cross association collaboration on safeguarding and child protection, and more. Our CPD and Safeguarding executive, Fariha Ebrahim, will depart in early March on maternity leave and will return to the UK in July, and we are currently doing a search for her replacement. Fariha has been outstanding in her role and will be greatly missed. Shana Kongmun, has taken over the role of Executive Operations Manager (EOM) and has settled in so well in leading and managing the wonderful team at HQ. I have agreed to a new two year contract with the Board that will extend from August 2022 to July 2024 and remain very committed and enthusiastic in developing the role of the FOBISIA CEO, as it has been quite a challenge to fully fulfil the role over these past two years. I look forward to welcoming most of you to our Annual Leadership eConference next month. We have a great programme lined up, which includes some training for members of your Board of Governors, and we very much value your commitment to your schools in sacrificing your weekend to participate. Let me wish you all a wonderful second term. John Gwyn Jones MBE FOBISIA CEO
THE FOBISIAN: June 2021, Term 3, Issue 36
5
editor's note
F O B I S I A ' s T E R M LY e M A G A Z I N E
A very happy 2022 to all, and welcome to the 38th issue of The FOBISIAN. This term we highlight the various FOBISIA student events that have taken place, as well
PUBLISHER FOBISIA
as the many eConferences for our Teaching, Drama, Music, and at the end of February, our Leadership Community. We share our Student Events Calendar for Terms 2 & 3, Sad to say, some events have had to be cancelled due to COVID lingering, but we are seeing more face-toface invitationals starting out as in-country events. Do make use of the Recruitment Page on the FOBISIA website for the positions that are opening up in your schools. Did you know that FOBISIA now allows credit card payments? We hope this will help making payments more efficient and reduce processing time. Finally, we would like to introduce our new Executive Operations Manager, Shana Kongmun, as well as our new Marketing Executive, Dawn Jones! Happy reading!
Best Regards, Li-May
EDITOR Li-May Lim
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Anthony Rowlands British International School HCMC & FOBISIA Board John Gwyn Jones MBE, Shana Kongmun, Dawn Jones FOBISIA HQ Rebecca Maw-Dzatkowski, Vallary Lokre, Cindy Adair, Bangkok Patana School Cat Molloy British International School Ho Chi Minh City James Welburn King Henry VIII College, Malaysia Anna Glossop Price of Wales Island International School Juliet Anderson Education Perfect (EP) Oscar, Mira, Maho, and Sapphire The British School in Tokyo Emma-Marie Horridge Brighton College International School Bangkok Paul Hannon The British School Manila Beth Bown Dover Court International School Gareth Groves The ABC International School Ho Chi Minh City Thomas Banyard King's College International School Bangkok
Vector images from freepik.com Quiz from Parkinson's UK Farnborough and District Branch 'Did you know?' from Discovery Magazine
FOBISIA now accepts payments via credit card (subject to 3.5% processing fee*)
ABOUT THE FOBISIAN A termly eMagazine for sharing events and news among the membership. Three issues are published each academic year — in September (June to August content), February (September to January content), and June (February to May content). If you would like to contribute, email: design@fobisia.org.
*email accounts@fobisia.org for a payment link
6
Calendar of Upcoming Student Events FOBISIA events are subject to change due to COVID-19 restrictions. Where feasible, host schools will adapt face-to-face (F2F) events to in-country, hybrid, virtual/online formats before cancelling, and notify Member Schools of any changes within reasonable time frames through FOBISIA HQ. Refer to Member Support page on www.fobisia.org for calendar updates. * Pending COVID-19 restrictions allowing
JANUARY 2022 Academic
NEW! Virtual Computer Game Creation Festival - Postponed to 2022/23
British Int Sch Ho Chi Minh City
10/01 - 09/03
Academic
NEW! FOBISIA Primary Literacy & Numeracy Festival
Education Perfect (EP)
18/01 - 20/01
FEBRUARY 2022 Invitational
Netball Invitational U13, U15, & U18 - CANCELLED
Dulwich College (Singapore)
11/02 - 13/02
Academic
Robotics Competition
The Alice Smith School KL + OhBot
14/02 - 27/04
Invitational
Rugby U18, U16 & U14 - for boys only - CANCELLED Touch Rugby U15 & U13 - for girls only - CANCELLED
Dulwich College (Singapore)
25/02 - 27/02
Invitational
Squash Invitational - CANCELLED
Jerudong Int Sch Brunei
25/02 - 27/02
Academic
Senior Race4Good, Race 1 2022 with Linda Cruse (Online)
Race4Good
28/02 - 01/04
Academic
Short Film Festival (Online)
The Alice Smith School KL
28/02 - 31/03
MARCH 2022 Invitational
Virtual Swimming Championship
The British School of Beijing, Shunyi
01/03 - 31/03
Academic
Seconday Maths Competition
The English Sch of Mongolia
01/03 - 06/03
Invitational
Volleyball Invitational (U13 & U15) In-Country*
Harrow Int Sch Bangkok + Shrewsbury Int Sch Bangkok City Campus
05/03
Academic
FOBISIA Global Languages Championships
Education Perfect (EP)
08/03 - 15/03
Invitational
Climbing Invitational In-Country*
Garden Int Sch KL
10/03 - 13/03
Invitational
Tennis Invitational In-Country*
Bangkok Patana School
11/03 - 13/03
Invitational
Basketball Invitational - March Madness Basketball (U19) In-Country*
Bangkok Prep
12/03
Academic
Primary Maths Competition (Online)
Haileybury Almaty
17/03 - 18/03
APRIL 2022 Academic
Poetry Competition (Online)
Taipei European School
15/04 - 09/05
Academic
Student Environmental Conference (Online)
Bangkok Prep
26/04 - 28/04
NEW! Foundation Race4Good 2022 (Online)
Race4Good
09/05 - 27/05
MAY 2022 Academic
JUNE 2022 Academic
Drama Junior Festival (Y7-10)
Garden Int Sch Eastern Seaboard Ban Chang
02/06 - 04/06
Academic
FOBISIA Junior Humanities Competition
Education Perfect (EP)
07/06 - 09/06
7
Introducing... Shana
Executive Operations Manager
in Asia, a native Shana Kongmun has spent over 30 years also has a English speaker and conversant in Thai, she days. smattering of Mandarin from her university of the top Prior to joining FOBISIA she worked at one ing that she British international schools in Asia. Preced lish language was the Managing Editor for the first Eng south of naged a small resort in the newspaper in Chiang Mai, Thailand and ma Thailand. d the importance of global tan ers und to her ped hel has nce erie exp This broad-based pel FOBISIA to a global audience in pro g pin hel to rd wa for g kin loo is She s. connection this interconnected world.
Dawn
Marketing & Communications Executive
es spent the last Originally from Dorset in the UK, Dawn Jon East, & Asia. 11 years living overseas in the USA, Middle family for her Dawn recently arrived in Bangkok with herool, and is now husband's new role at Bangkok Patana Sch iland and looking forward to traveling throughout Tha beyond. Communications after a parenting career and ting rke Ma in k bac be to ited exc is n Daw ching Assistant. break and then working in a school as a Tea made to feel welcome by everyone n bee e hav and HQ IA BIS FO at ng bei ng "I am enjoyi here".
8
The Importance of Feedback
W
e’ve all bandied about the term “Big Data” and talked about how “they already know everything about us” but the truth is, knowledge, and the sharing of that knowledge, is key. We survey to find out how FOBISIA schools are adapting to the ever changing environment. This gives our schools insights into rising trends, from recruitment to retention to packages. Surveys give unbiased information that can shape decision making; finding out how other schools in FOBISIA are tackling issues can give
you ideas on how to tackle your own. Surveys also give us the opportunity to benchmark those results against previous years. Feel like this year there is higher turnover? Surveys from last year, or even prepandemic, will give clear answers to these types of questions. As the number of Member Schools grows, the more broad that information becomes, giving insights into not only what happens in Thailand or Malaysia but right across the Asia region and the FOBISIA family.
Heads of Schools, please do remember to fill out the survey that will be given at the Heads’ Business Meeting on Friday 25 February. Knowledge is power.
WE NEED YOU! Have you or your students enjoyed participating in a FOBISIA Event this year?
Could you host an event next year? Bids are now being accepted for 2022-23 CPD Events. Contact your school's CPD Leader if you wish to host a JAWS or JAWS-Conference. Bidding will open for Student Events and Staff Conferences in February. Look out for the email coming from your HOS or FOBISIA Lead soon!
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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Online Maths Competition Winners T
his years Online Maths Competition was hosted by Seoul Foreign British School from 4 to 8 October. We are excited to celebrate the winners of this competition. Congratulations to all the winners and participants, we hope you had fun in doing your challenges.
Primary Video Challenge 1st: Bangkok Prep International School 2nd: Taipei European School 3rd: The British School New Delhi
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Secondary Video Challenge 1st: Haileybury Almaty 2nd: Dulwich College Seoul 3rd: Seoul Foreign British School
GROUP CHALLENGES In Teams of 4, these students solved puzzles to complete the virtual escape room in the fastest times.
Primary Group Challenge: 1st: (tied) • Bangkok Patana School • Shrewsbury International School Riverside Bangkok
2nd: (3-way tie) • British School in Tokyo • Discovery Bay International School • Tenby Setia EcoPark 3rd: The Regent's International School Bangkok
Secondary Group Challenge 1st: Crescendo HELP International School 2nd: The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur 3rd: (tied) • The British School in Tokyo • Garden International School Eastern Seaboard Ban Chang
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The International School Awards 2022 T
he International School Awards 2022 hosted by ISC Research took place in January this year and from the 260 schools that were nominated, seven FOBISIA Member Schools received nominations and three took home awards. We are incredibly proud of our Members Schools for all their efforts in these awards. Congratulations everyone for such outstanding achievements! Brighton College Bangkok, Thailand won the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Award for using a program that catered to its students with Special Education Needs, ensuring that they were not disadvantaged, even during school closures. Dulwich College Beijing, China won the Pathways to Continued and University Education Award for its student-led initiative that enriches the career pathways of its students by creating connections between the school and the world of work. This includes internships, panel discussions, and recorded video conversations with industry partners from a wide range of disciplines. Marlborough College Malaysia, Iskandar Puteri won the Strategic Leadership Award for a crossschool positive psychology and wellbeing initiative for students and staff involving a wellbeing researcher in residence and staff peer mental health first-aiders. Read more about award ceremony and the event on the ISC Website here.
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
Congratulations FOBISIA Member Schools!
WINNERS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice Award Brighton College Bangkok
Pathways to Continued & University Education Award Dulwich College Beijing
Strategic Leadership Award Marlborough College Malaysia
NOMINATIONS Community Building Award
Brighton College Bangkok Nord Anglia International School Shanghai, Pudong
Community Wellbeing Award The British School New Delhi
Innovation and Creativity in Learning Award The British School New Delhi
Strategic Leadership Award Marlborough College Malaysia The British School New Delhi
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice Award Brighton College Bangkok
Safeguarding Award
Sri KDU International School
Pathways to Continued & University Education Award
The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur Dulwich College Beijing
Teaching and Learning Award Brighton College Bangkok
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Gymnastics Invitational Rebecca Maw-Dzatkowski Head Gymnastics Coach, Bangkok Patana School
A
t the start of the academic year, Bangkok Patana School, like so many other schools across Asia, had to, unfortunately, keep it’s doors closed to students. When considering the number of events that students have already missed out on due to the pandemic, I knew that I didn’t want FOBISIA Gymnastics Invitational 2021 to be another ‘what could have been’ moment for gymnasts who look forward to this event as a seasonal highlight. Therefore, I decided to commit to hosting the event and began brainstorming a new competition concept to tackle the restrictions in place. It was important to my team and I to create an event that was: 1) inclusive of all gymnasts, being particularly mindful of those students who were still learning from home, and 2) include an element within the competition that would bring the gymnastics community together on the scheduled weekend. To ensure the event was accessible, it had to be a floor-only competition which meant creating new, simplified competition routines which could be safely executed from home. When announcing this new competition format, I was uncertain whether it would be popular; however, the response to this virtual event was overwhelmingly positive, with 25 International Schools from 7 difference countries, of which 23 were FOBISIA Member Schools. We registered a total of 292 gymnasts from Year 3 to Year 13.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur Bangkok Patana School Bangkok Prep British School Manila Discovery Bay International School Hong Kong Dulwich College Singapore Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi Dulwich College Suzhou elc International School Malaysia GEMS - Pearl City, Penang Harrow International School Bangkok HELP International School Jerudong International School Brunei Kellett International School Hong Kong King's College International School Bangkok King George V Hong Kong Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar Marlborough College Malaysia Prince of Wales Island International School Shrewsbury International School Hong Kong St Andrews International School Bangkok Tanglin Trust School The British International School Shanghai, Puxi The International School @ ParkCity United World College Dover Singapore
The competition required students to submit a link to their pre-recorded floor routines in advance of the event. For the competition weekend itself, we welcomed on-site six Thai National Judges from The Thailand Gymnastics Association to officiate the competition. The judges were set up in front of a big screen and played the routines while we live-streamed footage of the screen, the officials and the gymnasts’ scores in real-time. This setup enabled all viewers tuning in to the live-stream channels 14
to watch all gymnasts’ routines, which recreated some of the emotions and excitement that gymnasts are used to experiencing during “normal” competitions. During the event, we saw a wide variety of settings, from yoga mats in living rooms, to air-tracks in gardens, to students performing in masks in their gymnastics halls - it was inspiring to see the students' resilience, doing the best they could in their individual circumstances. This demonstrates how truly dedicated and passionate these students are about the sport of gymnastics and how both the student-athletes and coaches adapted to be able to support and engage all 292 students in school sport. Do click on this video to see highlights and students who have been awarded in their respective categories.
bring this event to fruition, particularly the BPS Gymnastics Coaches, the BPS Sports & Events team, the Buildings & Grounds Department and IT technicians who all pulled together to help make this event happen. I would like to offer my appreciation to all coaches and parents who helped support the gymnasts. Finally, I would like to congratulate all students who participated in this event. All students who registered committed to trying something new, and regardless of the outcome, you should be proud of yourself for taking a risk and taking part.
I would like to extend my thanks to The Thailand Gymnastics Association for officiating the competition. Additionally, I would like to thank all Bangkok Patana staff who helped
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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Drama Monologue Challenge Cat Molloy Director of Performing Arts, British International School Ho Chi Minh City
I
n November, British International School Ho Chi Minh City (BIS HCMC) opened the FOBISIA Monologue Challenge 2021 for submissions. Students from the age of 8 to 15+ were invited from all of the FOBISIA schools to participate. We had over 100 students from 32 schools enter the challenge with monologues from contemporary pieces as
Ilsa, Classic 8-10 The International School of Penang (Uplands)
Aiyana, Contemporary 11-14 Tenby Setia Eco Park
well as Shakespeare and ancient Greece. The standard of performance was incredibly high and the breadth of material used was inspiring. Some students filmed in their bedrooms and some on their school stage, but all of those who entered showed a passion and a dedication to their art.
We were incredibly lucky to have the world renowned Red Leap Theatre judge the entries for us, selecting the winners and giving detailed feedback to the top 5 entries for each category. Red Leap are an Australian based theatre company who have run workshops with FOBISIA Drama at our 2021 Drama eCconference. They are a bold and innovative company who pride themselves on pushing
Dhriti, Classic 11 - 14 Dover Court International School
the boundaries of the creative process. I would like to congratulate the following winners of each category. All of the entries and the finalists are showcased on the FOBISIA Monologue Challenge website along with comments from our judges on the winners and those who were highly commended. Please do go and look at the amazing young talent that we have within our schools. I would also like to thank the amazing FOBISIA Drama committee for their support and the Drama teaching community that we have within FOBISIA, who consistently inspire creativity and ambition within our schools. If you have not already joined the FOBISIA Drama family please come and join us.
Johanne, Classic 15+ The International School of Penang (Uplands)
Amber, Contemporary 8-10 Prince of Wales Island International School
Lorine, Contemporary 15 + The British School Manila 16
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Females in Science James Welburn Head of Biology, King Henry VIII College, Malaysia
A
t KH8 we are very passionate about encouraging all our students to follow their dream careers. We also know that one of the best ways to do this is to develop our students' self-confidence, and to embrace our school motto “they achieve because the believe they can”.
On 7 December, in collaboration with the University of Leeds and the University of Malaysia, I organised a Females in Science event for all FOBISIA schools across South East Asia. The event was a great success with over 30 different schools from 10 different countries and 600+ female students attending. During the event, it was great to see so many students asking questions about careers in science and what they can do now to help prepare themselves for the future. It was also a great
platform for students to ask more sensitive questions about the challenges that females may face in following a scientific career, in terms of prejudice, family commitments and the gender pay gap. I would like to give a 'big thank' you to all the students who attended and to Mr. Marks for hosting the Q&A event live on YouTube and also to our guest lecturers: • Professor Deuchars - Leeds University • Dr. Kwok - Leeds University • Dr. Ghani - University of Malaysia • Dr. Shaniza - University of Malaysia We are hoping that this will become an annual event that we can run for the benefit of female students across the whole of South East Asia.
chat with female scientists
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
Hallah - PhD student at the Faculty of Biological Science doing her research on signaling pathways of protein channels found in the cells in our body.
Jennifer - BSc in Medical Genetics, Masters in Immunity, Infection and Human Disease, and currently a PhD Medical student scientist examining the fruit fly as a replacement model for mice in studying a rare brain disease found in children.
Charlotte - Studying for her Masters by researching about cells around the spinal cord and the possibility of harnessing and manipulating their ability to proliferate to cure diseases.
Dr. Suruchi - Post Doctoral Plant Research scientist focusing on plant hormone auxin.
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Pop-Up Book Design Competition Anna Glossop Head of Year 10, Assistant Curriculum Leader - Arts Prince of Wales Island International School
F
rom September to November 2021, Prince of Wales Island International School (POWIIS) hosted a Pop-up Book Competition for FOBISIA schools. This was during a COVID-19 lockdown period for many schools with students working online from home or in school in a limited capacity. Participants were tasked with adapting one of the UN Sustainability Goals into an educational pop-up book with a narrative and some moving parts to help to educate other students about a sustainable approach to life. The level of craftsmanship and time spent making these practical outcomes was particularly impressive and I hope that the competition benefited our students, particularly with screen time having been at an all time high over the last two years. We were amazed here at POWIIS with the quality of the work submitted and the time and creativity invested in the outcomes. 31 schools registered to take part in the competition and we received entries from year 5 to 9, and selected 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each of these categories. The winners creations can be viewed here. The work that we received ranged from hand crafted pop up fully bound books to digital animated cards and many students across the range of schools submitted video footage of reading through and presenting their stories,
books and narratives which really brought their work to life. Collectively, our students are the future inheritors of our planet and it is paramount that they have sustainability and the core values of the UN sustainability goals built into their education to help shape them into the future change makers and responsible young people who care for and respect their planet. I want to thank all of the extremely talented students for taking part and their submissions and I hope they enjoyed the competition. Congratulations to the following schools for winning prizes in one or more categories for their outstanding work: • • • • • • • • • • •
Seoul Foreign British school Taipei European School Bangkok International Preparatory & Secondary School Prince of Wales Island International School (Primary) Nexus International School, Malaysia St Andrews International School Bangkok The British School New Delhi The International School of Penang (Uplands ) Prince of Wales Island International school, Penang The International School of ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur GEMS International School, Tropicana Metropark
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Group Work Category: 1st Place Juwon, Megumi, Sena & Steven - Seoul Foreign British School
Year 7 Category: 2nd Place Dylan - Prince of Wales Island International School
Year 9 Category: 1st Place Naely - GEMS International School Tropicana Metropark
Year 7 Category: 1st Place Raymond - The International School of Penang (Uplands)
Year 5 Category: 3rd Place Katherine - Nexus International School Malaysia
Year 8 Category: 3rd Place Riya - The British School, New Delhi
Year 6 Category: 1st Place Ashley - Taipei European School
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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28th FOBISIA LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
LEADING IN AN ERA OF CHANGE The Road to Recovery 25 - 27 FEB 2022 · Crisis Management & Leadership Strategy · Diversity, Equity & Inclusion · Reshaping Recruitment · · Gaps, Possibilities & New Pathways · Technological & Structural Change ·
Bringing together Heads and Senior Leaders from FOBISIA’s Member Schools to promote high-quality British international education, hear from leading educational thinkers from the UK and elsewhere, share good practice and co-construct new knowledge, and interact with a range of educational suppliers and organisations from around the globe.
Keynote Speakers Dame Alison Peacock
Sir John Jones
CEO Chartered College of Teaching
Education and Leadership Author & Presenter
Andreas Schleicher
Angela Browne
OECD International Student Assessment
Diana Osagie
Founder of The Academy of Women’s Leadership
Lord Jim Knight
Chief Education Advisor to TES Global
Leadership Coach, DEI Consultant
Lord David Puttnam CBE British Film Producer, Educator & Policitian
Gareth Davies UK Rugby Great
HEADTalks Katie Tomlinson
Senior Leader Sri KDU International School
Mark Steed
Principal & CEO Kellett School Hong Kong
Vanita Uppal OBE
Director & Head of School The British School New Delhi
and more...
www.fobisia.org
#FOBISIALeadership2022
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Education Perfect Challenges Juliet Anderson Marketing Specialist Education Perfect
H
ere at Education Perfect, we’re thrilled to continue building on our partnership with FOBISIA in the 2021-22 academic year. So far this year, we’ve run three online events especially for schools in the FOBISIA network. Our FOBISIA International Science Championships - ‘The Next Frontier’ saw Year 7-9 students from 28 FOBISIA schools engage with a range of future-focused science topics and have fun competing with their peers from across the region. In early December, we ran our first ever IGCSE Revision Challenge. In this online competition, KS4 students were able to engage with learning and revision materials for IGCSE English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, and
Science. We were thrilled to have over 1,579 students answer over 434,000 questions during this event - a fabulous break from completing endless past papers! Our FOBISIA Primary Literacy & Numeracy Festival has just wrapped up - our first ever event specifically designed for upper Primary (Key Stage 2) students. We were delighted to see 20 FOBISIA schools take part in this special competition. Congratulations to all students who participated, as well those students and schools that achieved ‘top 3’ places across these first competitions. Coming up next? Our March FOBISIA Languages Champs (8-15 March) and our FOBISIA Junior Humanities Champs (7-9 June). We look forward to seeing even more FOBISIA students competing in these events! Here at Education Perfect, we support over 3,000 schools and 1 million students worldwide with great learning, all year round. With extensive resourcing and powerful assessment tools for English, EAL, Maths, Science and all major Foreign Languages, we are proud to be a fullschool solution that truly makes a difference. FOBISIA schools are eligible for a special discount on Education Perfect subscriptions. Reach out to our team at global@educationperfect.com to learn more.
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Virtual Dance Competition Vallary Lokre Head Dance Coach, Bangkok Patana School
Bangkok Patana School began hosting a Virtual Dance Competition when Bangkok, unlike other cities, was doing relatively better in terms of COVID-19 after the first big wave had calmed down in Thailand, and staff and students were back on campus here at our school in August 2020. We had realised that we were among the lucky few at the time to access face-to-face learning while in most other major cities in Asia, there was still a lockdown and only online learning was taking place.
We wanted to create a virtual opportunity for dancers in schools to be able to get up, find some motivation and dance. This gave birth to the Bangkok Patana School Virtual Dance Invitational. Compared to the first year, the competition has really grown in popularity as well as in the quality of entries in its second year. We were delighted to have had 213 entries this year from 28 different schools and 8 different countries - Thailand, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Taipei, India and Brunei. The breakdown for the number of entries per category are: • • • • • •
Primary Solos - 69, Primary Duo/Trio - 27, Middle School Solos - 48, Middle School Duo/Trio - 15, High School Solos - 44, and High School Duo/Trio - 10
We did not want to limit the number of entries from each school, and with the competition being absolutely free of charge to enter, and was absolutely done with the intention to be inclusive for dancers of all proficiency levels. Although we have awarded the top three spots in a typical, yet healthy, competition fashion, all the entries are worthy of appreciation. In our first year we published the results online and sent out certificates to participating 26
schools. Due to the overwhelming number of entries and seeing how much effort not only the students themselves, but the parents, dance teachers, friends and community members put in to make this competition super successful this year, we felt the need to honour our participants in a much bigger and better way. This feeling gave birth to the first ever live Virtual Award Ceremony at Bangkok Patana School. The grand live 'Oscar style' award presentation ceremony is the first one in its kind to be hosted by Bangkok Patana School. The Dance Academy, in collaboration with marketing, IT and the lighting department worked together
to make it special. Presenters included several members of Senior Leadership at Bangkok Patana including Mr. Matt Mills and Ms. Cindy Adair, from FOBISIA, CEO Mr. John Gwyn Jones MBE, and Students
Events Executive, Ms. Janine Minchin, as well as several dance educators from Bangkok International Schools. There were two stunning performances - one from our student committee for KPop and
another beautiful performance by Ms. Nanzie who was on the panel of judges for the competition. Watch the whole ceremony here. Needless to say, the effort put in towards this event was worth it. The award ceremony in particular received very strong positive feedback from the community. We hope to continue hosting future events in the current virtual format and explore the possibility of a face-toface competition in the future. We are extremely grateful for all the support we have received from the FOBISIA team and we hope to develop opportunities for dance in a variety of ways through such collaborations.
Thank you for the organisation of the event. I watched the live stream and you guys really showed how it is done! We had some really positive feedback from our parents who also watched to support their daughter's entries. - Alice Curwood, Head of Curriculum PE, The Alice Sith School Kuala Lumpur
Ms. Vallary, Organiser THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
Khun Sarun & Khun Nanzie 27
One Family at a Time
Establishing Strong Roots with Race4Good By Oscar, Mira, Maho, and Sapphire The British School in Tokyo
After a disaster, people look to the rich and affluent in the world. They expect mass handouts and support for the people who have been affected. Their expectations are fulfilled, but is this really the most effective option?
C
hanging lives forever. This is the aim of Race4Good, a unique leadership programme bringing schools together from all around the world to uplift a community in need. 25 years ago - in 1996, to be precise - a young, stressed mother was driving home along a motorway one night when, suddenly, she couldn’t see the road in front of her. This was the result of temporary blindness, and it provoked a profound insight: what is the point of living… if life has no point? This idea sparked a newfound interest within the woman: an interest to help improve the lives of people around the world. From then on, she became a determined humanitarian, helping out on the frontline with people who were desperately in need. Determined to make a difference, Cruse started a new life. This was the beginning of a scary, lonely, but emotionally fulfilling job: teaching skills and bringing aid – and, above all, love – to war-torn refugees, the
poverty stricken, and the victims of disasters. When creating Race4Good, Cruse fused her passion for adventure and explorer’s spirit with her aim of helping communities to achieve an ambitious goal: making a difference within remote communities. What set her apart when she started her journey was her ability to negotiate powerful partnerships between large businesses who wanted to help strengthen communities but did not know how to go about it. Cruse was completely invested in supporting people in need, and so she achieved success through the necessity of the project; for her, failure was not an option.
Linda Cruse, the founder of Race4Good
Why did Linda Cruse decide to create ‘Race4Good’?
While Linda Cruse was working on the frontlines, a woman came up to her with a baby in her hands. She pleaded in desperation: ‘Linda, please take my baby.’ However, Cruse looked back at her and said: ‘No. I will not take your baby, and I will not feed your baby. Instead, I will promise to help you so that you can support your own baby.’ Linda Cruse’s phrase ‘Hand up, not handout' is essentially a mantra of Race4Good and what this means is that instead of giving sustenance to those in need (a handout), a hand up is to provide a chance for people to sustain themselves, for example, by helping them start a business, and this is a brilliant example of it; The lady was struggling to support her baby after a natural disaster had wreaked havoc on her community. Cruse was there, helping with handouts, but she acknowledged she couldn't do that forever. This moment was when Cruse realised that handouts lead to dependency. Of course, handouts are necessary, but this form of helping only 28
works for the short-term - at most, around six to eight weeks - and so it is more sustainable to give a ‘hand-up’ instead. Cruse now implements these hand-ups through Race4Good; and by harnessing the power of the fresh young brains of children, Cruse was able to make a change she wanted, using a fun competition for students around the world which uplifts communities in need. She called this the ‘Race4Good’.
Race4Good in Action Race4Good supports both of the parties involved in the competition. The students participating get to learn about religion, geography, history, business, effective teamwork, and more, while the family being uplifted is given a chance to become independent and is empowered through the application of winning solutions. These are implemented quickly (within two days), so students are able to see the effects of their efforts in action.
One of the most recent examples of such sustainable solutions can be seen in the rural village of Ghufa Pokhari (Nepal). The 2020 Race4Good challenge was to economically uplift the Bishwakarma family with a budget of 400 GBP after the Nepal Earthquake. Prior to the earthquake, Raju Bishwakarma was a blacksmith, supporting a wife, Tulsi, and their two young children. Using the powerful combination of innovation and empathy, teams thought of a range of ways in which to uplift the family. The winning team, the Prince of Wales Island International School, came up with a number of business plans that have been implemented. Some of their plans include goat rearing opportunities for several families, a weaving cooperative managed by a women’s group, an introduction of traditional looms and a yak to provide cheese and clothing. From these ingenious ideas from the team, the family is now
One of the many families who have been raised by Race4Good
economically independent. This clearly shows how a hand-up is far more effective in the long run than a hand out, and how a few, wellplanned ideas can change a whole community. The next region to be influenced by Race4Good will be a remote community in Haiti. Why does Race4Good focus on small communities? What is its ultimate end goal? Race4Good’s ethos is centered around a few main objectives: uplifting communities, reflecting inspiration, and also developing key skills in students. All of these are very important parts of the organisation, and not one is more important than another. Cruse is a firm believer that charities should focus on empowerment rather than financial aid. Of course, the ultimate end goal here is to support and enable all human life to thrive. This is done through all of Race4Good’s objectives: the uplifting builds strong, stable roots in poorer countries as more families and communities are able to thrive independently, and students are able to grow up with the mindset to make meaningful change. By empowering one family at a time, Race4Good hopes to transform many lives forever.
“A lovely, heart-warming opening that uses the enticing headline to
great effect. The article shines with warmth from its opening line and encourages the reader to want to know more.” - Judges of the Race4Good Journalism Competition, Sally Flint, Linda Cruse, and Andy Homden THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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NEW FOBISIA COMPETITION IN 2022!
DEVELOPING LEADERS OF TOMORROW, AS THEY SOLVE REAL-LIFE PROBLEMS FACED TODAY. Teams from FOBISIA schools will transform the lives of a remote community in Haiti. With the support of international business mentors, students from Years 10, 11 and 12 will compete to win the Race4Good. Register Here >
Welcome to Haiti >
The Race Watch as a race unfolds >
CHANGING LIVES
Hear from FOBISIA CEO >
BENEFITS
Forever! This unique leadership programme will see year groups working together in a fun, fast-paced competition, to see who can have the greatest impact on the world.
Students will be mentored by prominent business leaders, who will help them to develop a broad range of leadership and life skills that go beyond academic success.
Your students will develop tangible leadership skills as they use their first-class education to be a force for good.
A unique opportunity for students to make a difference in the world and leave a real legacy.
Helps to develop international mindedness and an informed global outlook. All pupils experience Courageous Leadership Future Leaders modules, designed by Linda Cruse. Winning team receive a Masterclass from Linda Cruse.
Supports many areas of the A Level and IB academic curriculums. Provides excellent material to support independent research projects – including Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) and Extended Essays (EEs). Evidence for UCAS applications and International School Awards.
TO REGISTER, VISIT: TheRace4Good.com/FOBISIA © Race4Good 2022. Race4Good and the Race4Good logo are trademarks belonging to Ms Linda Cruse. All rights reserved. Frontline First Ltd. Company Number: 10479376 | Lynwood House, 373-375 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA1 2AW, UK
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FOBISIA “Virtual”Swimming Championships 2022 Event Window: 1st - 31st March 2022 Organised by Richard Thorp @ BSB Shunyi
Adapted programme of events to suit programs returning from online. Single Age group (10 yrs - 18 yrs) entry & results. Please scan the QR code to register your school's participation - closing date 31st January 2022
Further details of event and files will be sent to registered schools
WHAT? An Online Student Film Festival led by The Alice Smith School, open to all FOBISIA schools. WHO? Open to all students from Key Stage 2 (age 7) to Key Stage 5 (age 18). WHERE? Film Festival Short Films will be shot and produced in students' homes, or other locations depending on the restrictions in locations throughout the world. WHEN? Student submissions due on 31st March 2022. International winners announced on 2nd May 2022.
Fill out the expression of interest https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1USHvxRdZcUgNEf4KK7CTxpNl zSdfL_Db5AdWXKGB3hXAcA/viewform to receive further updates.
HOW? Students will work individually or with classmates, or friends or family members or in remote digital production teams (where students will remain within their own residences). WHY? Because there has never been a better time to be creative, have fun and work to achieve something that reflects your interests and story. WHAT CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA WILL BE USED FOR JUDGING THE FILMS? Essentially, the film festival will include two broad categories: Fiction & Non-Fiction. No short film production can be placed in more https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd1USHvxRdZcUgNEf4KK7CTxpNlzSdfL_Db5AdWXKGB3hXAcA/viewform than one category.
Registrations have now closed - good luck to all the schools who have signed up to enter the Battle of the Bands. Don't forget, video submissions are due by 4th March!
FOBISIA'S LOVE OF LEARNING Emma-Marie Horridge Deputy Head of Preparatory School, Brighton College International School Bangkok
The FOBISIA biennial
Teaching Community Conference is a highlight of the CPD opportunities offered by FOBISIA. At Brighton, we were delighted to have the opportunity to be this year’s hosts. While COVID-19 has presented many difficulties in getting together in the way we used to, we were also excited by the prospects COVID offered in running this year’s conference a little differently.
shared one common connection - a love of learning. Therefore, we wanted a format that allowed everyone to participate and that is exactly what happened with over 1700 ticket holders from over 50 schools attending either live or by watching the recorded videos. Thank you to all of you that took part!
It also meant that we could reach out to an amazing range of hosts who truly could provide something for everyone. The feedback from our keynote speakers Kate Jones, Alex We recognised that all of Qigley and John Hattie has our teaching and learning assistants, teachers and leaders been excellent, terms such as
‘motivational’ and ‘inspiring’ often being used. They were complemented by a wide range of additional speakers who were able to focus more specifically on CPD for our teaching and learning assistants, Early Years, English specialists, wellbeing and so much more. However, for
excellent “Anrange of
speakers and a useful and practical opportunity to share and develop practice
”
many of our members, it was actually the internal speakers and the opportunity to network on Whova that proved the particular highlight of the event.
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What an amazing opportunity this provided after being stuck in our own school bubbles for so long, this chance to share like minded frustrations was a relief, and definitely learning that there is a light at the end of this groundhog day tunnel was just the message that many of us needed. I know I came away revitalised after listening to the wonderful Cathy Williams. It gave me the clarity to truly reflect on what we have achieved at Brighton so far and how we can continue to grow as professionals. This for me is what a teaching community conference is all about!
Brighton, this was truly a team effort. So many staff jumped in to help secure speakers, host sessions, create the marketing materials and support the IT. In Adrian Bethune’s session on wellbeing he spoke about creating a ‘tribe’ like classroom where the children want to support each other for the good of the class; for me, creating a tribe amongst your school team too is what can really make a difference and what an honour it is to be a part of this one!
So where next for CPD? Has the opportunity for everyone to attend the conference had a greater impact on teaching and learning in your school? Or I would like to say a big thank should we be getting back to you to FOBISIA for providing us with the opportunity to host normal and providing face to face conferencing again? For this amazing event and for me, I hope we fall somewhere in the wonderful support they provided. Another big thank you the middle. I love how podcasts, webinars and Twitter provide to my amazing colleagues at
“
me with so much content online from around the world, I have probably taken part in more CPD over the past few years than I had in the entirety of my career pre-COVID. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to hopefully see some of you in person soon, to take part in an embarrassing icebreaker and enjoy a cup of coffee and a biscuit while we discuss life in school. I hope the message from this is that we get to go back to what we have missed but that equally we never forget the invaluable lessons we have learnt about being in charge of our own CPD and keeping that ‘love of learning’ alive. A big thank you to all of you who attended and I hope that you are seeing real differences in your own schools from what you took away from the event.
The team from Brighton College were excellentreally professional introductions to all sessions and they kept the whole thing running smoothly
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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planning for this year's various student FOBISIA DRAMA and festivals and events. However, when the pandemic hit the opportunity to travel and collaborate with peers vanished. eCONFERENCE: practically In response, FOBISIA Drama hosted six online professional development sessions affectionately titled Drama Thursdays in an LEAP NOW, effort to maintain some sense of community and collaboration during the school year. The LEARN HOW. response was overwhelmingly positive and the proposal for a full day eConference was made.
Paul Hannon Head of Visual and Performing Arts, The British School Manila
O n 30th September 2021, the British School Manila in collaboration with Red
“First day-long web conference that I have been on where I do not feel like I have been on a computer all day… I have learnt so much as someone that is new to international teaching.”
Forty-two FOBISIA schools from across Asia, Leap Theatre Company and the FOBISIA ranging from Kathmandu to Jeju Island and Drama Committee were excited to host a total of sixty four FOBISIA Drama teachers the first FOBISIA Drama eConference: signed up for the LEAP NOW: LEARN HOW LEAP NOW. LEARN HOW. event. The conference was centred around a masterclass with award winning Red Leap In a normal academic year, FOBISIA Drama Theatre. In the two hour session, Artistic teachers would have the opportunity to come Director Julie Nolan and Associate Director together for a weekend of training, sharing Katrina George shared the company’s 38
approach to the devising performance that “crosses the forms of physical theatre, imagery and storytelling, we believe in playful discovery, the power of the imagination, and building a strong ensemble of performers.” Throughout the programme of the day, participants had the option to attend a variety of peer-led workshops ranging from Use of technology in the Drama classroom or All The World’s a Zoom: how to put together online performance to Socially Distanced Devising or Diversifying the texts we teach. These workshops were interactive, practical and immediately applicable in our teaching practice. A big thank you to all contributors, namely: • Eimear Lucy McEvoy-Edwards, Brighton College Bangkok • Severin Herbert, Harrow International School Bangkok • Manish Halder & Harshita Guha The British School New Delhi • Suzy Watkinson, The Alice Smith School Kuala Lumpur • Kate Edwards, Tanglin Trust School Singapore • Holly Sullivan, Alice Smith School, Kuala Lumpur • Joe Wyatt, Garden International, Kuala Lumpur • Gareth Marks, King Henry VIII College, Kuala Lumpur • Kat Cooper, King Henry VIII College, Kuala Lumpur LEAP NOW. LEARN HOW. was FOBISIA Drama’s first online conference and we look forward to adding this event to our future academic calendars. THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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FOBISIA MUSIC TEACHERS eCONFERENCE: MUSIC EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE
T
Beth Bown
Gareth Groves
Director of Music Dover Court International School
Head of Performing Arts & Creative Outreach The ABC International School Ho Chi Minh City
he past two years have been a steep learning curve for those of us in education, with the move to virtual learning proving a challenge for so many. We have felt the limitations of online learning hard within the FOBISIA Music Community as our live musical collaborations became a distant memory. The Music Committee has tried to keep this collaborative spirit alive and to continue to provide challenge and opportunity for our young musicians to perform together. The
success of last year's FOBISIA Voices project proved that there was still a huge desire for our students to collaborate, even if this could not take place in person, and we are continuing to build on this with the forthcoming Battle of the Bands and Virtual Orchestra events taking place this year. The aim of our 2021 annual conference, ‘Music Education for the Future’, was to equip our teachers with the necessary skills 40
to continue making musical learning effective and engaging, whether delivered online or in the classroom. Whilst we have lost so much live music in recent years, one small silver lining we have gained from the pandemic is that there has been a huge increase in the quality and sheer amount of online professional development, where previously this might have been considered unviable. We certainly used this to our advantage and, in the past, where we would only have been able to accommodate a single keynote speaker to lead the vast majority of the conference, we were no longer bound by those constraints. Therefore, we were able to invite a multitude of different presenters to impart their expertise across a huge range of areas, including body percussion, digital audio workstations (DAWs) and Dalcroze Eurhythmics to name but a few. Presenters included some familiar faces such as Musical Futures International, Charanga, Sing Up and Andy Gleadhill from Drums for Schools, all of whom have presented in person at previous events. However, there were also a number of new presenters, such as Kaboom Percussion, Ollie Tunmer from Beat Goes On
Josh Webster & Cat Betts of Kaboom Percussion
Ollie Tunmer from Beat Goes On
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
and Roo Piggott from Songwork International, who were able to give us a snapshot of their work in Music Education. Another advantage of transferring the content online meant that we could run a number of different sessions concurrently and, as all of the sessions were recorded and accessible for up to a month afterwards, the delegates were able to catch up on missed sessions or share particularly useful content with colleagues. For the registered schools, the CPD sessions were open to any interested staff, including non-music specialists and visiting instrumental teachers, and therefore the content was able to reach a wider audience than previous inperson conferences. It was wonderful to see so many schools signed up for the conference, including several who had never been involved prior to this, and, although there is no doubt that we would rather be networking in person, the e-Conference nevertheless provided a wonderful opportunity for us to reignite the collaborative spark which makes our FOBISIA Music Community so special.
Jerison Harper Lee introducing Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Phil Heeley demonstrating BandLab for Education
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FOBISIA ASA VIRTUAL RUNNING CHALLENGE Host School: British School Manila ENTRIES ACCEPTED BETWEEN 18TH MARCH to 1ST OF APRIL
AGE GROUP & CATEGORIES: U11: 3KM U15: 5KM U18: 10KM Open Age community: 10KM
Join the fobisia strava community! Please Note: the recommended age rating for strava 13+
Fill in the google form with relevant information.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS, PLEASE EMAIL: ssherratt@britishschoolmanila.org Award for most entries per school
TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Cindy Adair Assistant Principal, Extra-Curricular Activties and Sports Bangkok Patana School
If there has been one positive from the mess that is the global COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been the slight reprieve Mother Nature has enjoyed. Here in Thailand we’ve witnessed the regeneration of our oceans, a much needed rest for our island eco systems and overall better air quality. The pandemic opened up some time for us THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
to examine our approach to environmental stewardship and work together to pen a stand-alone sustainability policy. For several years now Bangkok Patana School has had a vibrant Student Environmental Committee and underpinned by the Eco Schools programme, they have begun a range of small projects to improve our waste management, biodiversity and energy consumption around campus. They have successfully raised awareness in our community, especially via their highly successful annual “Waste Less Weeks” which feature: Less Meat Monday - Promoting more plant based diets Transport Tuesday - Promoting the use of public transport, ride sharing and walking/cycling to school Water Bottle Wednesday - Promoting the use of reusable water bottles and keep cups as opposed to single use plastic Turn if off Thursday - Promoting responsible use of electricity and energy sources Finish It Friday -Promoting the reduction in food waste in our canteens and snack bars 43
We have had a proudly student-led provision supported by a core of passionate educators, but I am sad to say we’ve not always met the students’ ideas with the enthusiasm and support they deserve, largely because we didn’t have a framework within which to do so, or a culture of shared responsibility. Sustainability is embedded in our broader Global Citizenship values but it was becoming clear that it needed more attention to truly move forward. So in 2021, whilst the pandemic was at its peak, we formed a staff cross campus working group to examine our whole school approach to sustainability. Importantly, we made sure to include key members of our Business teams who have such important roles in moving this agenda forward. We had representatives from our purchasing department, catering, buildings and grounds and marketing/events sit alongside our educators. Three months of work culminated in the following documents:
A whole school sustainability policy, which features: • Our overall philosophy • Key definitions • Responsibilities of Leaders • Responsibilities of Teachers • Responsibilities of Business Staff • Our approach to teaching sustainability in the curriculum (recognising that in some key stages this is explicit and in others it is embedded in play and daily routines • Communications Alongside this we also created: • Green procurement guidelines • Green purchasing guidelines • An aspirational targets document and a Sustainability Advocates programme • The provision of an annual Green Report to record and celebrate our progress as part of our wider Stewardship Report
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COVID-19 has been a key circuit breaker for the environment, as our roads, cities and schools get back to being the vibrant busy places we love, we are aiming to do things in a more sustainable fashion that safeguards the flora, fauna and natural resources on our campus for future students to enjoy. Is our new policy aspirational? Yes! Unashamedly so… we are setting a new course for a greener future. • An online section of our intranet dedicated to sharing a range of sustainability resources and combining all the activities happening on campus in one central location
The next phase will be rolling out these new documents and policies to our whole staff, identifying our first group of Advocates and offering a several supporting CPL workshops for staff to further develop and contextualise their understanding of the document. These are planned for the latter part of this academic year and include: • Creating a more sustainable classroom • Sustainability in the curriculum • “Green” decision making for leaders
Professional Learning Events At a Corwin event, expect a quality professional learning and development experience and tools that you can bring back to your school. You’ll meet fellow educators who share your concerns, passion, and commitment to improving teaching and learning. You’ll exchange ideas with the top experts in the field. No matter what event you choose to attend, you’ll walk away with new strategies, ideas, and a larger network of like-minded individuals.
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
Register for our events Go to au.corwin.com/events or scan the QR code
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WHAT STAYS THE “ SAME WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGES? Thomas Banyard Headmaster, King's College International School Bangkok
The global pandemic
has been a challenge for all of us. Yet, where there is challenge there is growth and the
other side much stronger. However, during this period I have reflected on the things which haven’t changed, because we must never forget these things if we want to build outstanding schools.
” Sometimes in education we
can try and do too many things and end up achieving none of them. We need to remember the key things that everything else must be built around. The first of difficulties have helped us these things is community.
grow in so many areas.
At King’s College International School, Bangkok we had to welcome over 350 new students, induct new staff and build a community when we couldn’t be physically together during a 6 month period of working remotely. We had to find ways to make things work and we have come out of the
Despite the fact that we were remote, we realised the importance of keeping people connected. This was done through a number of things such as social registration calls every morning to bring the classes together, calling staff to check in on them and arranging virtual events like yoga, mocktail making and cooking. A Harvard study
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recently showed that people who were feeling isolated reported feeling burnt out; if
we can’t connect and we can’t building strong relationships learn or do our jobs effectively. and knitting a net which Community is at the heart of supports us all. The second important thing for us was pastoral care. Whilst we had to change the systems for online learning, we didn’t change the principle that the wellbeing of our staff and our students sits at the centre of every decision we make. Part of this was linked to building a community, but it also related to how we speak to each other and how we communicate information in times of difficulty. We ensured that the students were meeting with their tutors each week, that we did wellbeing surveys and helped new students make friends through team-building events. The third, and perhaps the most important thing that never changed was our focus on kindness. Kindness builds the character of our community and reinforces the work we do on pastoral care. However, it goes beyond that and also tells us how to treat others and how to treat ourselves. It is easy to be kind to others when everything is going well, you only truly test your school in times of challenge. It is easy to tell yourself that things are fine during the good times, but you need to truly practise self-kindness during times of change or challenge. During this global pandemic kindness is needed more than ever.
THE FOBISIAN: February 2022, Term 2, Issue 38
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So whilst this era of change has made us learn new things, it has helped move on our use of technology and it has helped us show our adaptability, it has not changed our focus on kindness, pastoral care and building a community. When we returned to campus after 6 months online we quickly saw the benefits of keeping ourselves focussed on these things: we had happy confident children ready to learn helped by staff who had looked after each other and (hopefully!) feel supported by their school. No matter what happens in the future we will never change our focus on these three things.
Universally Challenged #08 Missing Link Part 1 One word links all three. Can you work it out? e.g. Fire, Stow, Tear = Away Coronation
Run
Spring
=
Blood
Fox
Grey
=
Cradle
Paw
Whiskers
=
Drop
Plate
Sake
=
Brake
Bright
High
=
Full
Magic
Vicious
=
Dog
House
Rod
=
Back
Bond
Wise
=
Egg
Hop
Whiskey
=
High
Jester
Martial
=
Did you know? Viruses are not alive, they are inanimate and do not have cells. This means they cannot turn food into energy, and without a host, they are just inert packets of chemicals. They are not exactly dead either, they have genes, they reproduce and they evolve through natural selection. Virus comes from the Latin word for "poison" or "slimy liquid". (source: Discovery Magazine)
Answers to last terms Cryptic Books quiz: Our star's far eastern domain : Empire of the Sun, J.G Ballard
In short, the big bird with a large mouth : Pelican Brief, John Grisham
Flying insects' master : Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Went fishing - got just over 20 : Catch 22, Joseph Heller
Really value a place surrounded by water : Treasure Island, R. L Stevenson
This lad might be fit for purpose : A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
Story of a duo of municipalities : A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
Solo OFSTED visit : The Inspector Calls, J.B Priestley
About little rodents and grown boys : Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Baby sheel have lost their bleat : Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris
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THE FOBISIAN: June 2021, Term 3, Issue 36
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