What does well-being in education really mean? How can we give it a mandate and support it in our school communities? The purpose of this post, the first in a series, is to move the well-being conversation forward and share some practical resources and stimuli. Let’s start at cloud level by looking at concepts and theory.

Our highlights from the CIS Global Forum on International Higher Education Admission & Guidance provide a clear snapshot of the overarching themes and challenges facing the global admissions and guidance community.

Educational visits and outdoor learning play an extremely important role within a school community, enriching the educational programme and helping to develop students’ self-confidence, character, resilience and positive relationships with peers and adults. Jake Wiid explains the importance of an Educational Visits Coordinator role and how it could be a key part of your community.

Checking on the well-being of our students and staff is one of the most important responsibilities of educational leaders, especially when cultural norms and a lack of inclusion and diversity may prevent them from speaking up and asking for support.

Ten CIS schools and universities conducted sessions with their international students to understand better the pressures they face when making the transition from secondary school to university, especially in relation to moving across countries and cultures. Explore the three themes emerging from this CIS project so far.

Imagine the scenario. A 16-year student sobbing in a school teacher’s classroom because on the surface it would appear that he is struggling to cope with the stress of his first semester school examinations. Then you discover that this young man has a known history of anxiety and lost contact with his professional support when he transitioned between international schools and countries. Natasha Winnard gives valuable advice to help schools and educators.

What constitutes effective leadership and ‘leadership by presence’ when uncertainty and crisis management continues to be the order of the day? The unpredictable nature of the pandemic and the lack of previous knowledge have truly tested the mettle of international school leaders. Sudha Govindswamy asked some leaders from CIS member schools to share their approaches and strategies.

We’ve talked a lot about how our community of educators, counsellors and school communities can protect students online.But where do we start when helping students protect themselves online?

What does it look like to purposefully and intentionally 'tackle' racism in schools and universities? How will we hold ourselves accountable to each other and the young people we are educating? Conrad Hughes describes ways educational institutions can ‘decolonise the curriculum’.

The vast response to the 2020 social media initiative ‘Everyone’s Invited’ where students (almost 15,000) can anonymously describe rape and assault within school communities has led to a special UK governmental investigation. We’re republishing this 2020 post with essential guidance to help our community learn more and educate school leadership teams and faculty.

Depending on the identities we hold, the inherent powers and privileges we have, or the ingrained oppressions we endure—the conversations and work on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice require an unquantifiable amount of courage. Read more from Joel Llaban.

How has the pandemic changed how secondary school students worldwide are learning about their university options and defining when and where to enrol at university? Through panel discussions in a recent webinar series, we've gathered a wealth of insights from international school counsellors worldwide.

Schools are expected to take particular care to protect student information as part of their child protection obligations. But what happens when a child moves to a new school? Schools can feel torn between safeguarding the student and protecting the student's sensitive information. We explore legal considerations and share practical tips. 

Resilience has been difficult for many of us this past year. Our competence to both withstand and recover from difficult conditions continues to be tested. We invited Ellen Mahoney and Kristin Daniel of the Circulus Institute to share their ideas and guidance for 2021. 

In a year of deep learning, Jane Larsson tells us that nowhere has her own been more significant than in our work at CIS to examine systemic racism. She learned about trust, or to be clear, "I learned I am not trusted and why." In Jane's latest blog, she focuses on how we first need to earn trust before we can instill it.

The CIS membership community places the student and their needs at the centre of education. Peter Williams takes up the challenge of highlighting a critical aspect relating to the prompt ‘who are the learners?’, bringing meaning to it using three lenses, and shares a rationale for why we need to invest in identity for the sake of all learners.

What does 'charging our batteries' really mean? So often, people take a break from work only to crave something to occupy minds, establish routine and break the monotony. Lee Hole, Head of Secondary School at GEMS International School–Al Khail in the United Arab Emirates describes what to look out for and ways to recharge.

Some safeguarding and well-being risks have increased for many children as a consequence of moving to remote learning. At the same time, the sudden shift to home-based learning and concerns about students’ academic progress has meant that key elements of some schools’ safeguarding and well-being education were paused or weakened. We look at different approaches to terminology, explore challenges, and offer eight steps/solutions that schools can take as we draw on examples from CIS Accredited schools and on the work of experts in this field.

The pandemic has brought uncertainty, loss and hardship to many students graduating from high school this year. We share five ‘big ideas’ emerging in transition programming in the context of the Coronavirus. Plus key findings from a recent survey of 134 high school counsellors across 52 countries, links to research, resources and more.