With just under 200 delegates from 35 different countries, the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) Summer School 2011 was our biggest summer school to date!

Held at the University of Greenwich in London, UK, from 25th - 27th July, a wide range of courses and workshops were available to benefit all partcipants; those experienced with IPC, those just starting out and those who simply wanted to come along to find out more.

As always, there were many opportunities to network with new colleagues from around the globe and we were also delighted to be joined by Sugata Mitra (Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University) who gave this year's IPC Summer School keynote speech.

“This is our biggest IPC event of the year and we are really pleased with the huge response” says Steven Mark, Director of the International Primary Curriculum. “We hope you have benefited from these three days, we wish you a fantastic summer and we look forward to working with you next academic year”

Feedback from the IPC Summer School 2011 includes:

• "It has been a fantastic experience. I have been overwhelmed by all that I have learned and how much I have been pushed"
• "Have learnt lots and enjoyed immensely – thank you! Will send other colleagues next year."
• "Wonderful to meet other teachers and leaders from around the world and share good practice"
• "I really enjoyed it. It has made me more motivated and enthusiastic in becoming a better leader at my school" (Participant from the IPC Leaders for Learning Course)
• "It was my first Summer School and I’ll definitely be back!"

Click through the below slideshow to see the great learning, great teaching and great fun.

The first ever IPC South East Asia Summer School took place at St. Joseph’s International (SJI) School in Singapore in March. Delegates from 14 countries including Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Denmark, Nigeria and the UK attended the three day conference which focused entirely on improving learning for primary and elementary aged children.

Louise Grant, Principal of host school, SJI International Elementary School said “We were thrilled to welcome delegates from all over the world and from a huge range of schools; from those new to IPC to those who are seasoned practitioners. The one common element was the incredible enthusiasm of the participants! It was such a privilege to have the chance to meet such dedicated professionals. The IPC team are always such a pleasure to work with. They were so encouraging and helpful and are always incredibly interested in what schools are doing and supportive of our efforts.

“Four of our SJI International teachers participated in the Summer School and they found these three days to be a wonderful learning experience. In the days following the Summer School, they are literally bubbling over with ideas to share with the team and with plans for our next steps in our IPC journey. Their workshop experiences were extremely worthwhile and, through the wide variety of workshop opportunities, all our burning questions were answered.

“Another important benefit of Summer School was the networking opportunities. It is always so rewarding to meet and talk with teachers who are experiencing the same challenges and to share our experiences. We learnt about a group of schools in Jakarta who regularly meet to collaborate and we are inspired to set up our own network with schools in the region. It would be great to explore shared PD to make the most of the IPC trainer’s visits to the region.”

Learning went on as usual at SJI while the conference took place. “The delegate’s experienced everyday snapshots of life at SJI International Elementary School as they moved about the campus to the various workshops,” said Louise. “We hope that for those delegates new to IPC, this gave them an experience of a learning focused IPC school.”

Visiting presenter, Mary Van der Heijden, Vice Principal (Curriculum) of Primary School at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore said “It was a privilege to be part of this excellent conference. I probably had my most inspired group ever; interested, motivated, willing to share, learning focused! The IPC team was perfect, professional and such fun too! I met with my staff tonight and couldn't stop talking about it! Hard to describe fully but all the elements for this conference, were indeed great!”

“This was an important event for IPC,” said IPC Director, Steven Mark. “Our member schools in South East Asia are a hugely valued, dynamic and steadily expanding group and this was an opportunity to bring teacher learning and networking directly to them. The response from the schools was tremendous, both in terms of attendance and enthusiasm and the links they were able to make with other IPC member schools within the region will, I hope, prove to be hugely beneficial. We are looking forward to being able to host a similar conference in this region next year.”

The next IPC Asia Summer School will take place in March in 2012. In the meantime, the IPC UK Summer School will take place at Greenwich University in London on 25th to 27th July.

The IPC Leadership Conference took place at the International School of London in Surrey (Woking) on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th October 2010. The focus of the conference was skills-based learning and we were delighted to welcome leaders from both IPC schools and non-IPC schools from around the world.

On day one, award-winning author Imogen Robertson, world-famous cricketer Alec Stewart, and top-class musician Nigel Mainard inspired everyone with thought-provoking talks about the development of the skills that have made them renowned in their respective fields.

On day two, under the guidance of Martin Skelton (Founding Director of IPC), delegates broke down their learning from the presentations of day one to identify how to support children and teachers with skills-based learning.

The response from delegates was incredibly positive. Lorraine Boyle, Headteacher from De Blijiberg International School in The Netherlands said that the conference was "like a great Christmas present for me!"

140 delegates from schools in 26 different countries took part in three days of great learning, great teaching and great fun during the IPC Summer School at Greenwich University in London in July. Two and three-day courses for all levels of teaching and leading with the IPC took place, as well as celebrations for the IPC’s tenth birthday and for the 1,000th IPC member school.

The pictures show the great learning, great teaching and great fun that went on.

Schools throughout Wales join forces in bid to help children’s learning

259 Headteachers, teachers and Local Authority advisors got together in May (May 21st, 2010) at the brand new, state-of-the-art Glan Usk Primary School in Newport to share their learning with the IPC.

Schools from all over Wales including some from as far as Wrexham attended. “It is phenomenal to see so many schools coming together to share a common focus on children’s learning,” said Jeff Beecher, Headteacher of Glan Usk Primary School.

Vaughn Thomas, Headteacher of St. Andrew’s Junior School in Newport said “We closed the whole school so that everyone from St. Andrew’s including our Teaching Assistants and support staff could attend the conference. The conference has enabled us to highlight some of the great things that have been happening in our school, thanks to the IPC, with other schools throughout Wales. We’re all sharing a curriculum that helps to get children confident, excited and engaged in learning that is relevant and that focuses on developing skills as well as knowledge. We’ve never seen so much enthusiasm for learning from our children than when they’re learning with the IPC. That is rubbing off on the teachers and on our parents. It is a curriculum that is not only helping our children develop the right academic skills and knowledge necessary for their future success but it’s giving our children here in Newport an excellent understanding of their place in the world and of different cultures.”

Huw Jones, Headteacher from Albert Primary School in Penarth; the first school in Wales to introduce the International Primary Curriculum four years ago, was at the conference to talk about how the school has progressed during that time. “Our whole outlook as a school has changed,” he said. “The IPC has helped to transform our approach to children’s learning. Confidence in your curriculum is critical for the success of your children, of your staff and of your whole school and I know we made the right move with the IPC. It’s spot on and our children are proof of that.”

Organiser of the conference was Gareth Coombes, Leading School Improvement Advisor for Newport Local Authority. The council is very supportive of schools that want to use the IPC. “It is certainly a curriculum that reflects the principles of the new Welsh orders, in particular, making the most of learning,” he said. “The National Curriculum for Wales is an aspiration and the IPC provides a mechanism for how that can happen.”

The 2009 ECIS Conference took place in Hamburg, Germany, at the end of November and once again, the IPC Team was delighted to be a part of this exciting event.

Martin Skelton lead a two-day pre-conference session on ‘The Learning Dashboard: Four key assessment and evaluation tools your school needs and how to use them’ and our IPC Director, Steven Mark, followed suit by presenting sessions on International Mindedness and a 2009 IPC Members Update.

The IPC exhibition stand was the perfect place for existing members to ‘touch base’ with the team as well as somewhere for non-members to come and talk to us to find out more. As always, the IPC stand was great for networking and meeting new colleagues from around the globe.

The IPC team has continued to be a great supporter of the WaterAid charity during 2009 and we were delighted to present a cheque for £2,580 to a WaterAid representative at the conference. This fantastic amount must be credited to our IPC member schools who donate a proportion of their annual membership fee to this worthwhile cause.

An additional £625.28 was raised at the conference through our 7th annual ECIS Fun Run, again organised by IPC in aid of WaterAid. A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the run and to those who made contributions on the day.

The fun run ended with a drinks reception at the IPC stand, a chance to unwind after busy days of learning (and running!)

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to visit us at the conference and we look forward to seeing you again soon!

The 2009 IPC Leadership Conference took place at the beginning of October at St Matthew Academy, Blackheath, London. Over 200 participants travelled from over 20 different countries to hear our keynote speaker, Dr. Howard Gardner, discuss three of his key ideas; five minds for the future, multiple intelligences and leadership. The second day of the conference was led by the Founding Director of the IPC, Martin Skelton, who looked at developing Dr. Gardner’s ideas with a particular focus on the International Primary Curriculum.

The most important thing we can do in school is to get kids to fall in love with learning

Howard Gardner, IPC Learning and Leadership Conference, October 8, 2009

The International Primary Curriculum is already ahead with the international approach to learning.

Howard Gardner, IPC Learning and Leadership Conference, October 8, 2009

In education, a leader needs to be wise enough to have a sense of what areas should be maintained and what areas require change - where experimentation is necessary and will be a benefit.

Howard Gardner, IPC Learning and Leadership Conference, October 8, 2009

A good teacher does a lot of observing and tries to give each child what he or she needs at that moment in time.

Howard Gardner, IPC Learning and Leadership Conference, October 8, 2009

At the end of July, The University of Greenwich played host to the 6th Annual IPC Summer School. Over 150 delegates from all over the world were welcomed by the IPC Founding Director Martin Skelton and the event began with a thought-provoking keynote speech from Andrew Cook, Communications and Fundraising Director and Deputy Chief Executive for WaterAid – the IPC’s designated charity.

Delegates participated in a number of courses including New to the IPC, Learning to support EAL Learners and Learning to use the IPC Assessment for Learning Programme. They were also inspired by a group of children from Park Community Primary School who entertained them with their circus exit point. .

As always, the IPC Summer School was a great opportunity for networking and sharing ideas and the annual Summer School barbecue was the perfect chance to unwind with new colleagues. In fact, the barbecue was a particularly special event this year as it was also a celebration of Fieldwork Education’s 25th Anniversary! .

One delegate finished the Summer School with these words “I’ve had a wonderful two days. I feel inspired and excited to teach again. I feel a renewed energy towards the curriculum and can’t wait to get started and put it into action.” .

‘Nine things you must know about your curriculum, including the IPC.’ Our IPC Regional Conference in the Middle East was hosted by Compass International School, Doha in April 2009. Over 80 delegates from 20 different countries came to listen to and engage in learning conversations with like-minded people. It was a powerful opportunity for delegates to reflect and review the curriculum they are using at their schools/faculties, by thinking about the nine areas that the IPC has identified as the key to enhancing learning through the curriculum. Martin Skelton, Howard Marshall, Katie Fitch and Helen Thurston led nine sessions which were described as thought provoking, eye-opening and motivational that debated issues such as a clear focus on children’s and students’ learning, the kinds of children we are helping to develop, an awareness of classroom practices that help children to develop appropriately and how assessment and evaluation supports and informs learning rather than dictates it. Exploring the souks, a trip on the dhow boat and a visit to the Museum of Islamic Arts, were a few of the cultural activities delegates delved into.

The beautiful island of Penang was an idyllic location to host our IPC Regional Conference on 18th – 20th February 2009. A number of international delegates, from a variety of schools, gathered at St Christopher’s International Primary School to be engaged and inspired as part of their professional development. The course offered opportunities for delegates to deepen their understanding of the IPC, to look at the principles of Jim Collins’ ‘Good to Great’ and ways of applying the principles to their own school environment, and to introduce the process of Looking for Learning at their school. The delegates enjoyed sharing ideas in open discussions and were able to plan new ways forward and to work towards a presentation to share with their colleagues upon returning to their school. In the evenings we enjoyed having dinner with staff from St Christopher’s International School at their favourite places in Penang – the Banana Leaf restaurant and sundowners at a beach bar!

The IPC team went in force to the ECIS Conference in Nice. As well as the IPC exhibition stand - where existing IPC members were able to meet and catch up with us and non-IPC schools could come and talk to us - we were involved in many other activities of interest.

IPC Director, Theresa Forbes presented a cheque for £1,570 donated by IPC member schools and the IPC organisation to WaterAid, our official charity for 2008-2009.

We also enjoyed our 6th annual ECIS Fun Run, organized by IPC in aid of WaterAid. Many thanks to everyone who participated in the run and to all those who made contributions to WaterAid as a result of the run. Another £281 was raised on the day as a result! The Fun Run culminated with a packed drinks reception at the IPC stand where everyone was invited to enjoy the first taste of the new Beaujolais.

Theresa Forbes, Martin Skelton and Steven Mark led two pre-conference sessions on Everything that matters about learning and nothing that doesn’t, and conference sessions on:

• The development of the IPC Middle Years

• What’s new in 2008 for IPC members

• A learning conversation

• and Can you be internationally minded if you are 8 years old?

Thanks to everyone who attended and contributed.

As an organisation we strive to keep in touch with the needs, issues and successes of all schools around the world. This year’s ECIS conference was hugely beneficial for our own learning as well as our sharing of experiences and advice.

November 10th and 11th saw more than 100 delegates attending the IPC European Regional Conference hosted by St Aloysius Catholic Primary School in Knowsley near Liverpool, England.

Over the two days, keynote speakers included Hetan Shah, chief executive of DEA, who spoke of the importance of global learning links, and Damien Allan and Elaine Ayre spoke of the education and service provision made for children by the Knowsley local authority. A range of training courses covered key aspects including the IPC Early Years Programme, developing International Mindedness, putting the IPC into practice, and using the IPC Assessment for Learning Programme.

Not only did delegates make connections with other IPC teachers from around the world but they were able to see, first-hand, the IPC in action in a school setting and be inspired by the contributions that the children and staff made to the two day learning programme.

It wasn’t all about work though as we managed to enjoy a memorable night at the Cavern Club with a Beatles Tribute band which saw many people taking to the dance floor.

All in all it was a very successful two days with everybody taking away new ideas, new friendships and great memories.

The IPC Leadership Conference 2008 was hosted by the International School of Geneva. This unique event drew together committed and passionate educators from around the world to consider the learning taking place in their schools whilst also helping shape IPC for the future. International keynote speakers shared their thinking on ‘World Class Learning: What do our children really need to learn?’ Nick Tate lead the way by speaking about the demands of providing the a curriculum fit for the 21st century, Martin Skelton asked the question ‘What does it mean to be interdependent?’ and Lin Marsh looked at the place of Expressive Arts within the Primary Curriculum. On Sunday Marc Prensky asked the question ‘Are we too focused on the past?’ and asked us to consider the impact of technology on children’s learning today and in the future. Vanessa Andreotti spoke about the concept of Internationalism and Sheree Speakman focused on the place of Spirituality in a curriculum fit for purpose. Each speaker also hosted learning conversations with delegates to explore their thinking in more depth and really inspired us to debate our understanding of curriculum; its place now and in the future; leadership and what it entails; cultural transmission and intellectual rights in designing a curriculum. An inspiring and thought provoking weekend for all. We are pleased to announce that our next IPC Leadership Conference will be held at St Matthew Academy in Blackheath, London on Thursday 8th and Friday 9th October 2009. We are delighted that Howard Gardner will be our Keynote Speaker for this event.

On September 24th 2008 the IPC team held a Professional Development Day in conjunction with the Science Museum in London. We are delighted that the museum's Educational Team is keen to support IPC Schools in this way and are able to provide their services at the museum, in schools and through their wonderful resources on their website. Thirty IPC teachers, from the London area, experienced how museum staff can support an IPC Unit and enhance children’s learning through fun, hands-on experiences. The day focused on ‘How Stuff Works’ and covered the science elements of IPC Units that incorporate structures, inventions and materials. The event helped teachers research oportunities for science teaching and learning, both at the museum and through the use of the museum’s resources back at school. As well as having an introduction to what the Science Museum has to offer, the day was also a great opportunity for delegates to share their IPC experiences and ideas. Thanks to everyone who attended and a huge ‘thank you’ to the entire Learning Team at the Science Museum! http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/ Any schools interested in attending a similar event in the future, please contact: Janice Ireland j.ireland@fieldworkeducation.co.uk

For several years now the IPC annual Summer School conference has taken place at the University of Greenwich in London. Keynote speakers included Robin Hammerton, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills who gave an inspiring presentation about curriculum innovation including learning outside the classroom, and Trevor Hawes of Optimal Learning who captivated everyone with his knowledge of brain-based learning. Delegates participated in a variety of IPC-related courses including How to Create an IPC Thinking School and Getting from Good to Great: applying Jim Collins’ Principles to Becoming an IPC Accredited School. Summer School is a great opportunity for delegates to share experiences and ideas with other IPC teachers, head teachers and educators from all over the world, all of who are at different stages in their career; from newly qualified teachers to seasoned leaders, and from schools big and small. Shahnaz Chowdhury, a teacher from St. Matthew’s Academy in London finished last year’s Summer School conference with these words: “It was a fun, exciting, important time with so many positive minds together. Even though it is in the first week of my summer holiday I want to do it again!”