End of year reflections

We hope that you are enjoying the end of the summer term and that you are taking full advantage of the remaining few weeks of term.  This has been a busy year: the furore over 08h00 start times; post-16 Funding Review; new science courses to prepare for; our first in-person Conference since Covid; plus many other equally important events and issues.  Throughout all of these we have once again been heartened by the spirit of community which runs through  IBSCA schools.  Without the collaboration and cooperation which exemplifies all that we do we would be much the poorer. 

Our dealings with the IB have shown time and agin the power of ‘volume’ and when issues do arise it is good to be able to quickly harness the collective wit and wisdom of all our schools.  As we look forward to next year we have exciting plans for the Association. We are in the early planning stages for a major, face-to-face event in London which will seek to capitalise on the current interest in the UK for baccalaureate education. More on this anon.  We are also working through our proposed marketing plan for the next three years, attempting to play our part in the wider promotion of IB programmes in the UK.  We will be aiming to hold a series of focus groups over the coming months and I hope that you will volunteer to help us identify the key needs for any marketing of the IB. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the summer break when it comes, good luck to any of you who are moving to new roles and fingers crossed for CP and DP results in July.

Richard Markham

CEO, IB Schools & Colleges Association