COBIS Report (Summary)

Summary Report Jerudong International School, Brunei 17-21 October 2022

2 GUIDE:

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3 CONTENTS COBIS COMPLIANCE OVERVIEW 1.0 SAFEGUARDING AND SAFER RECRUITMENT 2.0 STUDENT WELFARE 3.0 FACILITIES 4.0 GOVERNANCE 5.0 ETHOS AND VALUES 6.0 BOARDING

COBIS PATRON’S ACCREDITATION OVERVIEW 7.0 LEARNING AND TEACHING 8.0 LEADERSHIP IN THE SCHOOL 9.0 COMMUNICATION 10.0 EXTRA-CURRICULAR, ENRICHMENT AND ENGAGEMENT

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COMPLIANCE OVERVIEW Jerudong International School, Brunei is compliant with all of the standards set forth by The Council of British International Schools that enable it to be a member of the organisation.

STANDARD

STATUS

1.0 SAFEGUARDING AND SAFER RECRUITMENT The school places a high priority on the safeguarding of students and staff, including child protection, and the safe recruitment of appropriately qualified and experienced staff.

1A STANDARD The school recruitment process is fair, thorough and transparent and applies to all appointments consistently

1B STANDARD All staff within the school including volunteers and supply staff meet high standards of child protection and the safeguarding of students

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5 STANDARD

STATUS

2.0 STUDENT WELFARE The school provides a safe and supportive environment for all young people.

2A STANDARD The school provides a pastoral structure that meets the needs of all students and promotes their personal development

2B STANDARD The school has provision for the physical and mental health, and safe supervision, of all students to allow them to flourish in the school environment

2C STANDARD The school ensures that through positive behaviour management students are supported in their learning and safety

2D STANDARD The school ensures that off-site activities are appropriate and safe

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3.0 FACILITIES The school provides all students with access to an environment conducive to learning and that keeps them safe.

3A STANDARD Accommodation supports the learning needs of all students

3B STANDARD The site provides a secure environment for students, staff and visitors

3C STANDARD The fabric of the school provides an effective and safe working environment

3D STANDARD Overall facilities meet the needs of all students, including those with additional educational needs and/or a physical disability

STATUS

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STATUS

4.0 GOVERNANCE The school’s governors work to support students and to provide strategic direction for the school.

4A STANDARD All governors / proprietors meet all the requirements for adults with access to young people reinforcing the importance of safeguarding within the school

4B STANDARD Measures are in place for governors to register interests and to manage any conflicts of interest

4C STANDARD There are written procedures / protocols for the remit of the work of the governing body

4D STANDARD There is appropriate support for new governors

4E STANDARD Governors have a commitment to their own training and development

4F STANDARD The governors provide records of meetings and decisions which show evidence of active and committed governance The profiles and contact details for the governors are available to parents along with key policies

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STATUS

5.0 ETHOS AND VALUES The school has an evident British educational ethos, is outwardlooking and promotes international mindedness.

5A STANDARD British educational ethos and values are at the heart of a holistic approach to learning and to the development of learner qualities

5B STANDARD The school has an outward-looking perspective promoting its values via a wide curriculum and through opportunities to develop awareness of other cultures and global issues as far as this is permissible within the host country

5C STANDARD The school teaches the majority of subjects through the medium of English

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STANDARD

STATUS

6.0 BOARDING The school in its provision of boarding provides a high level of care for students promoting their health, emotional well-being and educational progress.

6A STANDARD The school has taken appropriate measures to ensure the health, safety, well-being and happiness of boarders, taking into account their age and gender

6B STANDARD Staffing and facilities are designed to allow boarders to flourish educationally

6C STANDARD Boarders are able to communicate with parents or guardians

6D STANDARD New boarders are inducted successfully and supported as they join the boarding community

6E STANDARD Meals meet the needs of boarders

10 6F STANDARD There is an appropriate range and choice of activities for boarders outside teaching time, including sufficient free time each day

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OVERVIEW OF ACCREDITATION STANDARDS

STANDARD

7.0 LEARNING AND TEACHING The school recognises that their core business is teaching and that the quality of this helps to define the school. The school celebrates and supports the development of highquality learning and teaching for all students and encourages positive attitudes to learning.

COMMENDATIONS JIS is to be commended for: • • •

• •

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the breadth of curriculum choice, allowing bespoke learning pathways for JIS students the commitment to enriched learning experiences and the provision of facilities and resources to support them the quality of relationships between staff and students which promotes enthusiasm and engagement in learning staff professionalism and their growing commitment to a culture of sharing best practice the tracking and intervention strategies which are in place for students, as well as their high level of selfreflection the school’s successful drive towards sustainability, which is wide and far-reaching

12 The curriculum at JIS is broad and balanced and is regularly adapted and reviewed to ensure it continues to meet the changing needs of all students. Facilities and resources are rich and add joy and potential to curriculum planning. All stages and subjects are valued as part of a holistic learning journey.

Highly supportive relationships for learning between students and staff, both formal and informal, are a great strength.

Teachers across all sections of the school know and understand their students and clearly enjoy doing so.

In Early Years classes, good use is made of the existing facilities to provide a rich environment for children to explore, play and develop. Continuous provision incorporates a free flow between both indoor and some outdoor spaces and children are able to direct their own activities independently. Fuller use could now be made of the outdoor environments for childinitiated learning. A greater element of child-directed learning is now planned for the Junior School at age-appropriate levels.

Middle Years students follow an enriched English National Curriculum, enhancing provision in line with the school’s holistic outlook. Upper Years students take iGCSE followed by A Level, the IB Diploma or a BTEC course. This broad range of provision allows students to choose the pathways most suited to their own needs and aspirations. A large team of specialist university and careers advisors guide students with their applications to higher education worldwide. Their effectiveness is evident in the range of top universities to which they gain admission.

An overwhelmingly inclusive approach to supporting the needs of all learners is modelled by the skilled and active EAL and learning support teams. Very effective use is made of Learning Support Assistants in the Junior School as they help specific children to remain on task and achieve success.

Teaching Assistants also effectively engage children in their learning and feel much valued by the school.

In Early Years, informal conversations at snack times reinforce content learnt earlier in the day. Teachers’ encouraging manner engages children in familiar routines and extends these to a next step. There are many examples of creative and

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13 differentiated activities in Junior School lessons, although more able children - or fast finishers – are not always challenged to extend their thinking. Clear success criteria are used to push learning forward, especially where the initial learning intentions have been well understood.

In the Senior School a high level of success in external examinations, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic, is indicative of the progress students make. Teachers across a range of subjects build material around identified knowledge or skills gaps and break down complex ideas through realworld examples. Students are clear about their starting point, learning goals and the tools needed to reach them. They especially appreciate opportunities for collaborative learning.

However, there is also some variability in the consistency of structured and signposted learning.

The leadership at JIS has a clear vision for professional learning and growth. Since 2020, the aim has been to move the professional culture from traditional appraisal to one of classroom-focused individual growth, celebrating and utilising internal expertise. Individually set focus areas and a coaching approach are opening up discussions on professional practice and contributing to a more ‘open door’ culture. Learning walks, for example, are now carried out to highlight and share best practice. The full introduction of the new programme was delayed by the pandemic but is now on a solid foundation.

In the Junior School, the monitoring of learning is evidenced in the use of standardised data, supported by formative assessments. Shared planning and practice are also evidenced within most year groups. The new post of curriculum leader for learning and teaching is intended to identify and share good practice in child-directed learning. In the Senior School, collaborative planning takes place within some but not all teams. A number of Middle Years subjects have embarked on major curriculum reviews, especially valuable when there is liaison with Junior colleagues to ensure progression across stages.

The approach and expectation of the JIS marking and assessment policy emphasises low-stakes assessment.

Individual teams create their own policies in the spirit of this.

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14 Members of the SLT overseeing assessment are committed to adding value to the system, streamlining where appropriate so that data can be presented in a manageable form.

The Early Years team is continuing to re-develop their assessment policy in the light of the 2021 changes to the EYFS framework and with the additional complication of nearly two years of online learning. In the Junior School, expected areas of learning and progress are mapped out in each subject. Term 3 PTE and PTM assessments are benchmarked against UK data.

These have also identified areas of pandemic-related deficit, such as attainment in writing, for students in years 1-3.

Students take an active role in their own next steps identification. Verbal feedback in the classroom is typically positive and supportive, although not consistently challenging.

There is less evidence of effective written feedback.

In the Senior School centralised systems of data tracking and intervention sit alongside a calendar of ‘data drops’ in SIMS, but assessment practices vary considerably. Focused and formative feedback is visible on written work in some subjects, other map progress against the grading system in the Middle Years. Some emphasise the analysis of exam results, while others introduced their own assessment systems, such as Google Classroom. Students must therefore access a wide range of different platforms and trackers across subjects.

The school has a voracious appetite for data, for analysis of this data and feeding outcomes into action plans. Such a volume of data and its associated processing adds substantially to staff workloads. Both subject and senior leaders express enthusiasm that the opening up of classrooms and sharing best practice will lead to greater consistency in assessment, marking and feedback. A review of some of the platforms, and a focus on those which are likely to make the greatest impact on students’ learning, might now be appropriate.

Students throughout the school present as enthusiastic and engaged. They value their JIS community of fellow students and staff, appreciate the varied and numerous opportunities open to them and love the family feel and friendly rivalry created by the House system. The JIS values of challenge, respect and inspire change can be seen threaded through school life. All students were universally polite, welcoming and unfailingly

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15 helpful towards visitors. There was an air of exuberance round the school and an enthusiasm for conversation.

Junior School students are keen to point out that ‘struggling means you are learning’ and that making mistakes is a prerequisite for learning. They are keen to share their learning with visitors and speak enthusiastically about what they have achieved. Senior School students especially value the wealth of enrichment opportunities and the House system. Relationships with teachers are highlighted as underpinning the JIS ‘family feel’. Students speak of their enjoyment of lessons where learning is framed as a challenge, mystery or problem to be solved. They are motivated by creative enquiry. However, they also mention some variation in the quality of teaching, noting that not all lessons are clearly structured.

Students regularly reflect on their learning. They appreciate the formative ‘journey matters most’ feedback they receive and notice the way improvement is rewarded at JIS - ‘you don’t have to come out on top; it is more important to be further along in your own journey’. JIS students are connected to the world around them and identify with the school’s mission of making a critical difference to the lives of others.

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STANDARD

8.0 LEADERSHIP IN THE SCHOOL The high quality of leadership, at all levels and different areas, guided by the educational ethos and values of the institution, creates the conditions in which students, staff and the school can thrive and develop.

COMMENDATIONS JIS is to be commended for: •

• • •

the total commitment of the Principal, SLT and staff to the well-being of students and ensuring this is at the forefront of all school planning and operations its unflinching commitment to being a beacon of excellence, locally and internationally, throughout the challenges of the pandemic and beyond the clarity of overall school vision of leaders at all levels and the way this shapes their aims and actions the way the students seize opportunities to take on a wide range of leadership positions and make such a positive contribution to their school

Well-being is at the heart of all that happens within the school and is strongly promoted by all levels of leadership. The pastoral director has strategic responsibility for students’ well-being and leads a very strong team who ensure that pastoral, medical and emotional care are closely interwoven. There is also a collective commitment to staff well-being: staff feel valued and supported, although there is no one person with overall responsibility for their well-being on behalf of the SLT. The six overarching school aims are well known and understood and are displayed around the school. They are also prominent on the website, which boldly states that ‘our mission saves lives’. The Polio Points donations towards the vaccination of a child in the developing world literally does save lives and is termed the ‘teaspoons of

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change’, their contribution to the well-being of others.

Pastoral care and well-being in the Junior School lie predominantly with the class teachers. Together with support staff and the leadership team they ensure that every student is able to enjoy and grow. In the Senior School well-being is overseen through the highly effective House system. The bonds between students allow them to celebrate differences and achievements and to look out for each other independently of staff.

The school leadership provides both opportunities and curricular time for well-being matters, including the weekly ‘Friday One’ and student driven themed assemblies.

Collectively these guide students to make positive decisions to stay healthy and safe.

The vibrant CCA programme also makes a profound impact on overall well-being: staff give so much time, thought and energy so that students can flourish.

Leadership at all levels has extremely high expectations and is committed to improving and enriching the educational experience of all students. The Principal and SLT lead by example and are involved in all aspects of school provision. This enables them to see and enjoy, at first hand, the extent of engagement by students and staff across academic, pastoral and co-curricular activities.

Development planning is aligned with the vision of JIS as a sustainable beacon for excellence - focused on community, curriculum, campus and capacity - enabling students and staff to challenge themselves, respect others and inspire change. The school is already moving from achieving to sustaining excellence, whilst remaining true to its core values.

There are defined line management responsibilities with relevant job descriptions so that there is clarity in accountability. New responsibility posts have recently been established as the school emerges from the pandemic. Leadership within the pastoral and co-curricular areas is particularly clearly defined and effective. JIS managed the pandemic extremely well, frequently seeking feedback on virtual schooling and responding swiftly to changing circumstances and regulations.

The JIS Strategic Vision clearly explains how the core values of ‘Challenge Yourself’, ‘Respect Others’ and ‘Inspire Change’ map on to the six School Aims. There is high ambition in its stated commitment to the pursuit of excellence, and to being a selfevaluating and self-improving school. Charitable giving is at the heart of this vision and ensures that there is a global outlook in terms of service, as well as a commitment to the regional and local community. Students learn that they genuinely can make a difference to the lives of others.

The Principal and SLT are unstinting in their dedication to the JIS community and are held in the highest regard by students, staff and parents. Staff also view the SLT as

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very supportive in terms of both their professional development and their personal lives. Their sensitivity in managing challenging situations, as throughout the pandemic, made a profound difference to many.

Boarding at the school is again flourishing after a challenging time throughout the pandemic. The boarding houses are very well managed by the House staff, with overall responsibility rotating between them on an annual basis. However, the appointment of someone with overall, longer-term, responsibility for boarding would assist the further development of boarding provision.

Students are frequently consulted through a range of forums so that their voice plays a significant part in shaping school life. They comment on how well they are listened to and how open the school is to their initiatives. Elected members of the student councils, from year 6 upwards, organise a wide variety of events, help to set schoolwide targets, such as goals for sustainability, and play a leading role in organising Well-being Week in October. They appreciate the trust the school places in them and are passionate in their endeavours to give back to the school and wider community.

In addition to the student councils there are subject ambassadors, House captains, leadership roles within sport, music and drama and positions within groups coordinating such initiatives as environmental action. Student leaders are particularly proud of the social events they organise and how these help new students to settle into JIS and to make friends. Years 12-13 are also able to follow the Ivy House Award, a leadership programme built around seven transformational leadership and life skills.

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9.0 COMMUNICATION The school communicates effectively with parents to keep them informed and to support the progress of their children.

Parents have the opportunity to be actively engaged in the life of the school.

COMMENDATIONS JIS is to be commended for: • • • •

the quality and range of school communication with parents the comprehensive nature of the school’s reporting procedures and practice their approachability and their swift, helpful responses from staff at all levels to parental queries school leaders and the admissions department for ensuring a warm welcome and positive induction of new families

Parents very much appreciate the effort made by the school to ensure reliable and consistent communication of a high quality.

They are complimentary about the range of communication channels for students of different ages, together with the variety of expertly produced information booklets, online information, social media postings and letters from the Heads of School.

Junior parents particularly appreciate Seesaw and the value of Firefly. Information in Mandarin on the website, with a WeChat QR Code, is especially helpful to parents of boarders. When challenged about information overload, most say that this is no more than a minor irritant rather than a serious concern.

There is a well-established annual calendar of reports for students of all ages. It is also a system which continues to evolve,

20 such as the move in Junior School from a focus on attainment grades to one on behaviour for learning, teacher comments and next steps. Parents from both the Junior and Senior schools state that they are kept well informed of their children’s progress and appreciate of this. In addition to formal reports there are a wide range of information sessions in relation, for example, to curriculum developments and subject choices.

Parents welcome the arrangements for parent-teacher meetings and confirm that teachers are happy to see them at other times if additional conversation is required. At secondary level students are able to attend with their parents, an excellent practice.

Patents also express their appreciation of the way JIS had adapted to online meetings during the pandemic, mentioning both their efficiency and privacy, and the debate continues as to how best to adapt meetings to the post-pandemic context.

Parents are highly complimentary about the school’s senior leaders. They also appreciate the visibility and approachability of teaching and administrative staff, who are always prepared to discuss students’ progress or other issues. They are aware of appropriate routes to contact key personnel responsible for their children, particularly the class teachers and house staff. Queries are answered in a timely manner and responses are helpful and effective. While there is a formal stepped complaints procedure, this is rarely used as issues are diffused before they escalate.

There is detailed and readily accessible admissions information on the school website. The admissions department has a clear and well-established procedure clearly set out in a flow chart, together with a set of helpful FAQs. There is a focus on open and honest communication with parents, with a strong awareness of the significance of school selection and the need to listen to, and understand, them. There are also opportunities to arrange individual visits to the school and to attend Open Days, as well as induction events. Pre-joining information and communication for new families were also described as comprehensive and helpful. Meticulous attention is paid to the assessment of students’ language needs and to their placement in the most appropriate class. An appropriate range of policies is available to parents online.

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10.0 EXTRA-CURRICULAR, ENRICHMENT AND ENGAGEMENT The school offers a wide range of clubs and activities and charitable, community and global opportunities which exemplify and strengthen its educational ethos and values, promote good health and well-being and, through the active, ethical and purposeful engagement with the outside world, enriches learning and the development of learner and human qualities.

BEACON STATUS JIS is to be commended for its exceptional provision for students of all ages through: •

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the quality and breadth of CCAs on offer that enrich the experience of both students and staff and to which students respond with enthusiasm and the highest levels of participation the school’s dedication to charities with both local, regional and international perspectives which create a service culture for all within the community

The provision of Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) and enrichment opportunities is a remarkable aspect of school life. Students very much appreciate the broad range of activities on offer and participation levels are extremely high. The aim is to provide a holistic, inclusive range of activities and enriching experiences which will enable students to become responsible global citizens, committed to contributing positively to the community and a sustainable world. The school is highly successful in meeting this aim across its whole community.

22 The four main service areas are sport and exercise, creativity and the arts, service and enrichment. There is a wealth of activities within each area and the school monitors participation both on an individual level and also overall. Students make new friends, discover new interests, achieve in areas they had never considered and lead activities they are passionate about.

The CCAs could not happen without the highest level of commitment from staff, with virtually everyone contributing to its programme and to the many trips and visits. So many become involved because ‘they are well organised, the students love them and they are genuinely enjoyable to run’. Staff enjoy the teamwork and take great pride in the range and quality of activities offered.

JIS has an extensive programme of games and sports as well as of physical and therapeutic exercise. Sports teams compete with other schools in Brunei and at the elite standard some also compete at national level. Over 50 activities may take place on a single evening in which students can both participate, officiate, lead and demonstrate their sports skills. Although the pandemic impacted on external fixtures, the school has been resourceful in developing internal competitions, such as the highly successful Phoenix leagues.

The performing arts at JIS are varied, vibrant and inspirational.

This is particularly evident in the ‘magical musicals’. These regular and elaborate productions reflect the talent, energy and infectious enthusiasm that staff and students put into them.

Failing to ‘think big’ is certainly not a feature of dramatic life at JIS and the students benefit from creative and ambitious leadership.

In the Junior School there is a choice of over 70 extra-curricular activities each term, with something for all ages. These span all four service areas and include karate, Eco-JIS, ballet, recorder club, mini-medics, Lego builders and scouts. Senior School students have a similar range of options which are supplemented by academic and general interest clubs such as the Model United Nations, debating for public speaking, girls who code, mathletes and robotics. There are far too many to list and few schools can have such a range of options which the students are able to enjoy on a weekly basis.

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23 The school runs one of the largest Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award schemes in Asia. Over 450 students participate at either bronze, silver or gold level. The high number of pupils engaging with the scheme and the correspondingly high staff commitment are evidence of their belief in the value of the award.

With so much happening a great deal of coordination is required and this is extremely well managed by SLT through calm, supportive and clear direction. All staff know what is expected of them and agree to make compromises so that the demands on students are fair and balanced. Post pandemic, as more and more events are added to the already busy calendar, the school may have to say ‘no’ more frequently.

The school is committed to student engagement with the world outside its extensive campus and has many active projects in the local region and internationally. All are aligned with the school vision and aims, most notably the Polio Points referred to previously.

Students participate in many community projects, both in school such as Pusat Ehsan, which supports the special needs community in Brunei, and outside school such as the Green Brunei Tree Planting initiative, International Coastal Clean Up and the Youth Empowerment Summit. This year, with greater freedom for travel and interaction with others, students will again be able to give back to community through for example, their Cambodia project.

The Eco-JIS teams play a central role in making the school environmentally sustainable and in raising awareness of the fragility of our planet. Junior Eco-JIS work includes their Earth Week with activities such as tree planting, a green market and a rainforest zen-den. There are similar themes in In the Senior Earth Week, so that the whole community is made aware of the global impact of mankind on the planet. This message is reinforced through the Green Phoenix newsletter.

The Outdoor Discovery Centre (ODC) space is dedicated to carbon offsetting in response to greenhouse gas emissions from school buses and international flights. The one-hectare plot was formerly barren and desertified. Students have advanced

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24 sustainable development via reforestation of the plot and climate change awareness via carbon offsetting. For example, ODC teams run composting workshops and sell top quality compost at community events.

The Borneo Project is JIS initiative with a regional focus on underprivileged communities. Before the pandemic, this initiative supported the Dusun community in a remote village located in central Sabah. In collaboration with Camps international, the students camped locally and helped the people from this remote area.

The Model United Nations is a popular activity which helps raise awareness of the international political backdrop and gives students valuable experience in debating, presenting and negotiating. These aims are also reflected in the annual UN World Peace Day activities.

The variety of activities on offer is remarkable. They are well summarised by the statement of purpose of enrichment: “To enable our students to become active, self-confident, responsible global citizens, committed to contributing positively to the community and a sustainable world.” The school does exceptionally well in making this a reality for all students.

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