iGNIS Network

INTERNATIONAL TEACHER MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2024 Governance and leadership special issue In this month's edition: applying for an #internationalschool leadership position, leading a school in the 2020s and iGNIS Network, a new online community for international school governors. https://lnkd.in/eGx4zJCb

We are thrilled to announce that Miftah An-Nur Islamic International School has officially joined the iGNIS Network! This partnership presents an incredible opportunity for us to grow and thrive by accessing the wealth of resources iGNIS offers. As international schools, it is essential to foster harmony between our boards, leadership teams, and communities, and iGNIS is the perfect platform to support this mission. A special thank you to Russell Speirs and his team for spearheading this initiative. We look forward to connecting with and learning from fellow leaders in this transformative network!

The latest edition of International Teacher Magazine is out and it’s a special issue, published in association with the iGNIS Network. Keith Clark, Head of International Leadership Appointments at RSAcademics, has written about how to apply for a school principal / head of school position. I have written a couple of articles, too. One is a collection of snippets from some iGNIS “Good to meet…” interviews with Navin Valrani at Arcadia Education, Dubai; Alpha Amadou Barry at Marina International School in Gambia; and Carole Kyaing and Craig Roberts from Network International School in Myanmar. The October edition also has articles by Dr David Porritt, Phil Stapleton, Ivor McGettigan UMA SHANKAR SINGH and editorial from Andy Homden. To read this edition or to subscribe to future editions click here. https://lnkd.in/eB88iQBe

We have an amazing offer to announce for international schools! RSAcademics has worked in partnership with The Wellbeing Hub for a couple of years now. I am therefore delighted to be able to announce today that our partnership will now benefit members of the iGNIS Network, too. A bit of background… Having worked with schools across the UK and internationally for more than a decade delivering webinars, talks and workshops to parents, carers, staff, and pupils, in 2020 Alicia Drummond created The Wellbeing Hub. This award-winning platform provides schools with a whole school, pro-active approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people, now in over 300 schools, impacting over 170,000 pupils. Today’s news… At iGNIS we are proud and thrilled that, from today, The Wellbeing Hub is available FREE OF CHARGE to 10 people at each iGNIS member school / organisation for a 3-month trial access period. This offer gives you a great opportunity to explore all the amazing resources and support offered by The Wellbeing Hub whether that be lesson plans, tutor time sessions, courses, their A-Z of wellbeing or more - we hope you will take advantage of this great offer. Please contact Charley Bennett to find out more and to obtain access to The Wellbeing Hub. You can reach Charley on: charley@teentipcs.co.uk #collaboration #partnership #mutualintetest #wellbeing The BSA Group Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC) THE ASSOCIATION FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) HMC (The Heads' Conference) BSME - British Schools in the Middle East FOBISIA East Asia Regional Council of Schools ECIS, the Educational Collaborative for International Schools New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) COBIS - Council of British International Schools Mark Evans Independent Schools Inspectorate Education Development Trust It’s simple to join iGNIS and now you have another reason to do so! Membership of iGNIS costs £1,000 per school or schools group. If you’d like to talk to me about it, message me or simply visit www.ignisnetwork.org

More live training for members of the iGNIS Network, this time for Principals of international schools. Yesterday, we announced our training for people in governance roles. Today, we are super excited to announce the training for Heads of School. It takes place twice on Wednesday 9th October, the day before the governance workshops. Both sets of training will be repeated in January and April. The workshop is called "Working successfully 📈 🏆 and happily 😀 🧘♂️ with your board" but without the emojis. This workshop is aimed at any international school Principal who recognises the importance of a positive board/Principal relationship. How, when and on what issues should you strive for alignment with the Chair or your Line Manager? What protocols for effective communication are worth trying to establish? How can your own performance evaluation strengthen the relationship? These are just some of the questions we will work through together in this interactive workshop. The workshop leader is Chris Edwards, Senior Consultant at RSAcademics, and former Head of College at UWC South East Asia and CEO of The Green School in New Zealand. To find out more about iGNIS or to express interest in joining, please send me a message or visit the iGNIS website: www.ignisnetwork.org Thank you New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) COBIS - Council of British International Schools BSME - British Schools in the Middle East FOBISIA East Asia Regional Council of Schools TAISI: The Association of International Schools of India ECIS, the Educational Collaborative for International Schools

This is the start of my recorded greeting, to welcome members of the iGNIS Network 🔥 to our library of training videos, launched this week. The training videos have been created by my colleagues Durell Barnes and Lucy Walsh Waring, with other colleagues from the RSAcademics leadership and governance consultancy teams, like Keith Clark and Chris Edwards, also contributing. They really are outstanding. I feel very proud. And they all smile more than I have managed to in my intro! Modules 1 and 2 are now available and we have more than 10 others at various stages of development. Module 1 is called "Good governance - an introduction" It contains 6 sessions, each between 15 and 30 minutes long. The sessions are: 1.1. What is governance? 1.2. Models of governance in international schools 1.3. Mission, vision and values 1.4. Conflicts of interest 1.5. Oversight vs management 1.6. Critical friendship Module 2 is called "The architecture of good governance" In this module we look at a variety of systems and frameworks which enable the principles of good governance to be put into practice. The sessions are: 2.1. Board roles and responsibilities 2.2. Committees (not a recommendation to use them, necessarily!) 2.3. Code of conduct 2.4. Other underpinning mechanisms and processes (induction and training, the compliance matrix and establishing an annual work plan) What do you think? What should we make sure to include in these sessions listed above (we can easily edit and add)? What should the other modules cover? PLease tell us. And remember...if you would like to know more about iGNIS or to find out about joining, you can message me or visit the iGNIS website www.ignisnetwork.org . Thank you.

Today we ran the first onboarding session for members of iGNIS - the Governance Network for International Schools. Another first! Since launching iGNIS on Monday, this week has been full of them. 🙌 🥇 🏆 We are running one onboarding session each week in September, on different days and at different times, so people's pre-existing diary commitments and their time zones can be accommodated. We have decided to do that with all our future live events. We will tweak and improve each session as we go along and then, when we have completed all four, and listened to people's questions, and seen how people are interacting with the platform (via the app or website), we will produce an onboarding video. Today's questions and topics included: - how can I message another iGNIS member without everyone else seeing? - how to manage your personal profile so other people can find you easily - if I join a Special Interest Group, like the one about safeguarding, what will I actually see or get to access? - how can I sign up for a future event and how do I get the actual meeting link into my calendar? (Both achieved with just one click, by the way!) Live events are an important feature of iGNIS. We are already planning the first two live training sessions for early October, for example. One is for board members and covers several key elements and principles of good governance. The other is for school Principals: the working title is "Working happily and successfully with your board". If you would like to join the iGNIS Network or perhaps you have some questions, I would love to get a message from you, or you can visit the website: www.ignisnetwork.org

"It's a huge decision...Ask any mother or father to hand over their baby. It's hard. But it's the way forward. I can see that the school is ready for that now." These are the words of the wonderful Carole Kyaing, Founder of Network International School in Myanmar, whom I interviewed alongside her grandson, Craig Roberts, the School's COO. In the interview, I ask them about Carole stepping back after decades at the helm and setting up robust governance structures for the first time. It's just one of the interviews in what will be a library of recorded conversations with board chairs, senior leaders from schools groups and school Principals called "Good to meet...". And it is already proving a popular resource among early adopters of the iGNIS Network as they start to engage with the platform on Day 2. These interviews give members of the iGNIS Network a window into how governance works in different schools around the world. We are not saying "This is how it should be done", simply "You might be interested in this". We do not preach at iGNIS. In each conversation, I ask my guest a little about them and their school, before exploring their governance arrangements and how they approach certain challenges. Among the 8 interviews already available, members of iGNIS can hear: - Alpha Amadou Barry, Chair of Governors at Marina International School in the Gambia, talk about how some of the training for Board members is opened up to potential new members so they are aware of their responsibilities and code of conduct BEFORE they apply; - Beatrice Cernuta, Head of Investments and Business Development for Elite K12 in China, who explains how their 5 schools are led and governed in ways which harness the benefits of a group, while being rooted in and consistent with the cultural and regulatory ecosystem of China; - Silvan Hoevenaars, Chair at International School of Lausanne, Switzerland, who speaks about how his Board aims to practise the philosophy of the International Baccalaureate in their behaviour as governors. We will be releasing several more interviews in the coming weeks (and months and years!). If you would like to know more about iGNIS - the Governance Network for International Schools, or if you would like to express interest in joining, you can do both without commitment. Either message me or take a look at our website www.ignisnetwork.org. We look forward to welcoming you soon.