It’s been a remarkable year for the CIS community, filled with new initiatives and significant changes. Read our reflections as we celebrate the great strides we're taking forward together.
Well-being
CIS is committed to well-being
CIS educates and supports universities and international school communities to address student well-being and child protection challenges through our services and resources.
Just as student mental health difficulties are often hidden, abuse and violence are frequently un-detected. At CIS, we purposefully foster open discussion with our members and have invested to increase the knowledge of our staff to consider the role we all have in keeping students safe and supporting their well-being.
We work to ensure our higher education communities can safeguard and support their students, both as they transition from secondary school to higher education and throughout their life at university. Together with a team of global experts, we provide training, resources and support to our university and school members.
Mental Health & Well-being Workshop
Our Mental Health & Well-being Workshop unites our school and university members to learn critical steps to protect and support the well-being of their students. With a particular focus on international students, the workshop brings together mental health and intercultural competence training, it looks at how to work with students to co-design whole-institution approaches to well-being, how to support students through different types of transition and how to proactively identify students who are struggling at an early stage.
Anyone working with students will find this workshop provoking and eye-opening, gaining important personal and professional insights into some of the more challenging aspects of student mental health and well-being.
Related content
Read more about child protection and student well-being on the blog.
The prevalence of AI is accompanied by safeguarding concerns facing international schools around online harms. Online sexual extortion is one of these concerns. We’ve outlined seven key actions to prevent and respond to online sexual extortion yourself or when supporting those affected by it.
Jane Larsson reflects on three new realizations that emerged from our 2024 CIS Global Forum, including the digital transitions students experience when they head to higher education.
In October 2024, the International Taskforce on Child Protection (ITFCP) gathered at the U.S. Embassy in London for two days of substantive discussion on key initiatives related to safeguarding and child protection through international education.
School safeguarding specialist, Leila Holmyard, explains how identity-based harm and the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion intersect with child protection and safeguarding. She also shares student feedback and how schools can take action to support and protect them.
There’s been huge progress over the past 10 years in the ways we protect and safeguard children in our care. However, international schools still face significant child protection risks, and mitigating them can be difficult. Jane Foster, a specialist in managing allegations, outlines eight key priorities for schools.
How do schools and universities support international students in their post-secondary pathways? What are the associated challenges? What does success look like? Read highlights from our research and common questions we receive.
Explore practical strategies to broaden definitions of success and support diverse post-secondary student pathways through innovative counselling programmes, alumni engagement and more.
'I often hear from those who wish to achieve a sense of belonging for every student but are worried that their initiatives will inadvertently stoke division or backlash within the community.' Learn more from Dr Emily Meadows and see how her framework can help you and your school.
The international education world was rocked by the revelation of child abuse by a trusted member of the community in 2014. Existing policies and practices within international education were insufficient to effectively protect young people in international schools from exploitation and abuse. A global collaboration took action to move from reactive to proactive safeguarding.
This blog draws from the CIS Model: Whole-School Approach to Safeguarding and shares how schools can take a comprehensive approach to protecting children from risks related to the use of generative AI. It's packed with links to resources and guidance.
An essential part of Dan Furness' role is answering our member questions about safeguarding and well-being. Low-level concerns is a common topic. Here's some guidance.
How do schools celebrate all post-secondary pathways in ways that protect student mental health and well-being? It can be tough to balance celebrating student achievements while also protecting their data and plans and being mindful of those students who are yet to receive application outcomes or must make tough decisions. Here are some suggestions for schools.
How do international schools maintain high-quality records of safeguarding and behaviour concerns while protecting and upholding students’ right to privacy and secure data protection? The International Task Force on Child Protection invites international school colleagues to contribute to a survey on practice in this area.
‘Every generation's experience of youth is different. And ours is framed by social media.’ The quote is from a speech by a 14-year-old keynote speaker at a Childnet Safer Internet Day event in 2023. It makes it clear that young people have a unique experience to share. It's vital that we promote student agency and include their voices in our work to ensure they have the skills to navigate the online world safely, especially in the context of a rapidly changing tech world.