New developments & a welcome return
Welcome back to the new academic year! On behalf of the Officers and Directors of IBSCA I'd like to wish you a successful and prosperous academic year and we are looking forward to working closely with you all. Thankfully the summer was relatively calm, and aside from a few small issues, the examination sessions passed off smoothly. The issues which were reported to us via the post-results survey have been raised with IB World Schools and we are looking forward to hearing the IB feedback to these matters.
Looking forward to the new year we have some exciting updates for you. I am delighted to announce that Simone Lorenz-Weir has very kindly agreed to take on the role of DP Programme lead for IBSCA. working closely with ourselves and IB World Schools to make sure that any DP issues are addressed as speedily as possible. Simone will be working closely with the existing DP hubs which have been so expertly managed by Darryl Barker, Natalie Lockhart-Mann and Debbie Kirkby. Excitingly, we have added two new hubs to this network to better serve the geographic spread of our membership. Becky Revell (Cheltenham Ladies College) will be managing the 'West' Hub and Emma Mitchell (Whitgift) will be managing the 'London' Hub. Hopefully, these slight adjustments mean that schools will be able to access a Hub from which it is able to receive virtual and face-to-face support. In the first instance this will mean a little readjustment in membership of the Hubs but speaking to the existing organisers, we have agreed that schools can be part of more than one Hub initially to allow links that have developed over time to be maintained.
It is intended that Simone will work closely with the hubs to ensure that each is up-to-date with current news and practices and to share information across these networks. Underpinning all of these changes is the intention of making sure that no school feels isolated or unsure of where to find support and advice or to share their own best practice. The organisers of the Regional Hubs will be in contact with individual schools in the coming weeks and we are hoping to incorporate Hub activities into our face-to-face Conference in November.
In other news, this year sees the return of face-to-face events for IBSCA. We have been allowed by the IB to offer our training in both virtual and face-to-face formats and I hope that this means that schools will be able to access the most convenient and desirable form for their individual needs. I really hope that the ability to offer both formats allows schools the flexibility of choice (and cost) that they have been asking for. We are very conscious of the rising costs we are all experiencing and I would also like to assure you that we will continue to ensure that our workshops (both virtual and face-to-face) offer the most cost-effective choice for our member schools. We have also taken the decision to once again freeze our membership costs for the coming year. The cost of IBSCA membership has now been frozen for 5 years and I hope that you continue to appreciate the services and support which you receive for this investment.
We are also looking forward to our first face-to-face Conference since 2019, and there is further information about this event in this edition of the newsletter. The Conference, which will be held at Aston University on the 9th of November, is aimed at DP and CP educators and will feature sessions covering the themes of Pedagogical Leadership; Educational Landscape, The Core, and Assessment, as well as providing ample time to network with fellow IB educators. Please pay particular attention to the deadline for our early bird registration (23rd September) to ensure you receive the discounted rate.
This academic year will also see the continuation of our Seminar Series, which is free to IBSCA members. Over the course of the academic year we will offer 10 seminars ranging in topic from The Extended Essay for new supervisors to subject-specific support in Global Politics, Mathematics, History, and Language A. Details of the seminars available this autumn can be found below and we encourage you to register your interest as soon as possible as spaces are limited.
It just remains for me to repeat my welcome to the new academic year and to ask that you please contact us if there is anything you need or any support or advice we can offer.
Richard Markham
CEO, IB Schools & Colleges Association