GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
As the number of international schools grow, accreditation has never been more important. Mick Smith has the latest from the Council of British International Schools on how the COBIS scheme is evolving to meet the challenge.
Rigorous partnerships for school improvement
From the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year until the COBIS Annual Conference (May 10th-12th 2025) there will have been 32 COBIS Accreditation or Compliance visits to schools in 24 countries worldwide, in East and Southeast Asia, India, West and Central Africa, (including new COBIS schools in Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo), the Seychelles, the Middle East and in Europe. COBIS now has member schools in 86 countries with close to 250 Accreditation or Compliance visits having taken place since 2017.
Flexible and supportive
As COBIS grows, so does our Accreditation and Compliance scheme. Recognised and respected worldwide as being rigorous with clear and demanding standards, schools value the supportive, collaborative, approach we adopt for the process. Each school, whether new or established, small or sometimes extremely large, works with us on their own path to improvement in a process based around extensive dialogue, consultation and respect between professional partners. Schools appreciate that standards must be met, but that alignment can be demonstrated in different ways depending on their own specific circumstances and school culture.
At the heart of it all: safeguarding
We continue to maintain the very highest standards in safer recruitment and student safeguarding. This year, along with our COBIS Safeguarding Officer Louise Bell and our colleagues at The Safeguarding Alliance, we’ve produced a ‘belt and braces’ Single Central Record exemplar to support our schools managing the challenges of international recruitment. We champion the International Child Protection Certificate as ‘the’ key safeguarding check for staff with experience of working in the UK, but who now work overseas. We are also proud to insist upon clear visibility into all learning areas for safeguarding purposes, and that a school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead should meet regularly not only with the Principal/Head but also with a Designated Safeguarding Governor. These, and some specifics on establishing a safe learning environment, for example, insisting on at least two exit points from all floors along with demonstration of clarity around the role of governance, are the only ‘essentials’ of the scheme.
Feedback, review and development
This year, the Accreditation and Compliance scheme has continued to grow and evolve, taking on feedback from schools and from our wonderful Lead Improvement Partners (LIPs) and Peer Accreditors (PAs) who undertake team visits. In the most recent review of the Standards, we introduced more emphasis on asking schools to consider Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice and Belonging (DEIJB). We recognise that, with a global membership base, schools aren’t all able to approach this in the same way. By threading DEIJB across multiple Standards we aim to encourage schools to develop their thinking and celebrate their successes in this area. Our emphasis in discussions is on asking schools to show their aspiration for every member of their school to feel valued and that they belong.
As we grow, we want to retain the highest standards and the close collaboration with schools that we are renowned for and so have engaged in extensive recruitment and training of PAs and LIPs to work with schools. This year we have trained over 60 PAs, mostly middle and senior leaders in existing COBIS schools.
Start-up school support
We also enjoy the privilege of working with a number of schools each year before they even open, offering support, guidance and critical friendship to help them launch with the best possible chance of success. This Provisional School route is increasingly popular and leads naturally to Compliance and/or Accreditation in the future. As elsewhere, deep, wide-ranging professional discussions and respectful relationships with schools as far afield as Iraq, Senegal, Portugal, India and the UK are features of this process.
Other avenues to accreditation
The whole COBIS team work hard to further extend our reach and to attract new schools to enjoy the benefits of membership, not only through our own processes but also in response to applications following successful accreditations visits or inspections from CIS, BSO, ISI, WASC, NEASC, or OEAS,
Working with national and regional organisations
We work with governments and national organisations to encourage further recognition of COBIS Accreditation and Compliance as a means for schools to demonstrate that they are meeting the highest standards. Assistant Director of Accreditation Victoria Pugh and Global Development Director, Deniece Wheeler recently held a successful event with the British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Deniece and COBIS CEO Colin Bell have been engaged in exciting work with schools in India, Vietnam and Thailand, and in January we were delighted to receive the official endorsement of COBIS Accreditation and Compliance by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). This complements the validation from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK received in 2023.
If you are planning to attend the 43rd COBIS Annual Conference in London on 10-12th May, we would love to see you at our pre-conference workshop Supporting Your Journey to COBIS Compliance from 14:00 to 16:00 on the 10th.
Mick Smith is the Director of Accreditation at the Council of British International Schools (COBIS)
You can find out more about COBIS accreditation or contact the COBIS accreditation team here: https://www.cobis.org.uk/services/accreditation
FEATURE IMAGE: Getty Images For Unsplash+
Support Images : Kindly provided by COBIS
