from our
Chair
Dear Colleagues, I would like to offer you a warm welcome to this issue of THE FOBISIAN. We are certainly going through a very challenging time as a Federation at the present time with regards to the Coronavirus outbreak which sadly has had a significant impact on many of our events. This is all very unfortunate but I am extremely pleased with how our schools and our affiliates have responded in this crisis. Everybody has endeavoured to understand each other and we have taken on a shared responsibility to support each other in these difficult times. Indeed that is what makes FOBISIA a very special Federation. I am also grateful to the team at FOBISIA HQ led by John Gwyn Jones for steering us in the right direction during this crisis. We experienced two wonderful events in November. Firstly, the Leadership Conference in Macao was an outstanding success with wonderful presentations, workshops and social events. Great credit to our HQ team for pulling it all together. Secondly, the Teaching Community Conference held in Penang and hosted by St. Christopher's International Primary School, Penang was a very special event and it was an absolute pleasure to be there at the opening. We are grateful to Martin Towse, Tim Lamb and their team at SCIPS for organising such a successful event. In December we sadly said goodbye to Tania Donoghue after nine years of service to FOBISIA. We are grateful for her excellent contribution to the Federation over the years. In relation to this, HQ has now gone through some changes and I would like to wish Siobhan Bland well in her new role as Executive Office Manager & PA to the CEO. Additionally, I would like to welcome Robyn and Li-May to the HQ team and hope they enjoy the experience of being key members of FOBISIA. I would like to wish you a good second half of the school year and hope that we can get FOBISIA events back on track in the not too distant future. Best wishes, Anthony Rowlands FOBISIA Chair - March 2019 to present Principal, British International School Ho Chi Minh City
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