Schools Now! 2017 | conference | British Council Sri Lanka

Date: Tuesday 28 February 2017 09:30 to Wednesday 01 March 2017 16:30
Location: Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo

What is Schools Now?

British Council’s first Schools Now conference under the Partner Schools Global Network banner was held in Abu Dhabi in March 2016, with the goal of encouraging thought leadership in the education sector through interaction, the exchange of ideas, and collaboration. This year's conference will bring together education leaders from around the world for a packed two days filled with plenaries, parallel sessions, gallery walks etc. with more than 250 participants that are part of the British Council’s Partner Schools Global Network.

Schools Now! 2017 | Teaching, Learning and Life Beyond School

28 February – 1 March 2017 Colombo, Sri Lanka

School leaders cannot change students’ prior attainment but they can have a huge impact on their future success. John Hattie’s work in Visible Learning (2003) has shown conclusively that after the student’s own character then teacher effectiveness has the largest influence on student attainment. The school leader has the capacity to influence teacher recruitment, teacher professional development in their school, look for international partnership opportunities, and create a culture of reflective practice. This conference will hear from a variety of contemporary approaches at a system or individual school level that have helped optimise teacher effectiveness.

How students learn, what they should learn and how we recognise and reward that learning are widely debated and often politicised topics. The conference will hear about new research into the learning process, new approaches to defining learning outcomes and innovative approaches to assessment.

The final theme that we will explore is life beyond school. The best schools offer more than just academic excellence to their students, they also provide opportunities for students to develop as future leaders and citizens, with all the skills needed to live, work and prosper in the 21st century. The conference will hear from school leaders who have pioneered imaginative programmes in their schools to help student development.

WHAT’S ON OFFER?

The conference will consist of a mix of keynote speeches, plenary papers, panel discussions and shorter paper presentations. The conference will enable policy makers, school leaders and academics to collaborate together exchanging ideas, experiences and policies. Download the Schools Now! 2017 full programme.

Watch it Live!

Speakers

Dr Saad Bin Saud Bin Majed Al Fuhaid

He is the deputy minister of private education, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He has been associated with educational reform and development since the last 32 years. He completed many educational and economic feasibility studies, and assisted in preparing the national strategy to support education in Saudi Arabia which was commissioned by UNESCO.

Laurie Forcier

She is a Director in the Office of the Chief Education Advisor at Pearson, leading its global thought leadership series, "Open Ideas" and has nearly 20 years of experience in the education sector.

Toby Salt

He is the Chief Executive of Ormiston Academies Trust, a not-for-profit, incorporated company and charity, formed in 2008 to manage academies sponsored by Ormiston Trust. Toby has worked in a variety of education leadership roles, most recently as Executive Head of a federation of three schools. In 2000 he was appointed by the Prime Minister as Director of the Department for Education Innovation Unit to lead innovation projects in education.

Hans Billimoria

He works with The Grassrooted Trust on Sexuality & Relationship Education, and also prevention of intimate partner and gender based violence in Sri Lanka. Hans has a BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Madras Christian College, and an MPhil in Ethics & Philosophy from the University of Dundee.

Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq

He is the Founder & CEO of Roots Millennium Schools, Pakistan and CEO of a non-profit organization 'Change - in Education' working in support of 'Public Private Partnerships' across education and thus scaling 'Sustainable Development Goals' SDGs 2030' and today he has successfully reformed more than 200 government schools across various districts, provinces and rural communities in Pakistan.

Jamie Kirkaldy

He is the Head of Teaching and Learning Support at Oxford International AQA Examinations. Before that, he was Head of English at Cheney School in Oxford and a member of the school’s Senior Leadership Team. He has more than 10 years’ experience in education and his role focuses on supporting schools and teachers in the delivery of new curriculums across all subjects.

Saira Waseem

She serves as the Head of School, The City School (Model Town Link Road campus). She has a Master's in Economics, and has worked in the field of Education for over 15 years.

Shammas Zia

He is the principal at Pakistan Academy School Kuwait and focuses on his team's professional development, active learning in the class room, engaging the community. extra and co-curricular activities of students.

Sister Muna (Lilia) Al-Nemri

Muna was assigned to be the principal of the Rosary School-Marj Elhamam, one of many Rosary Schools in the Arab world. She has been able to lead the school into becoming one of the most successful academically as well as socially in the country.

Ghazala Sajjad

Ghazala is an enthusiastic and experienced counselor, who has been with Generation's School for the past 23 years. She has initiated many projects to enhance teaching and learning at work, including an online onsite induction with a flipped classroom approach for novice teachers.

Raed Brahedni

He works with Cambridge International Examinations as Senior Manager for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Raed works to build relationships with schools, key educational institutions and government authorities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as well as strengthening ties with our long-term partners in the region.

Tamir Ismail

He is the UK Qualifications Academic Manager at British Council Egypt, where he is responsible for designing and delivering a training provision for teachers of the 120 PSGN schools across that country.

Rebecca Picton

She is currently working as Regional Schools Programme Manager for South Asia, having worked on British Councils programmes for schools for 9 years, including the very successful DFID-funded Global School Partnerships programme and the British Council and DFID co-funded Connecting Classrooms programme. She holds an MA in (international) Social Development from the University of East Anglia.

Nasir Nazir

He is the head of schools programme, British Council Pakistan. He joined the British Council in 2005 and have experience of working in information services, exams, youth & society and education sectors. Currently heading the Schools and Connecting Classrooms programme and working closely with provincial school education departments and private school network in Pakistan.