from the TES, 30th October 2009.
With increasing numbers of ‘British Schools’ abroad, including public school sister schools such as Roedean in South Africa, there is an increasing need to protect brand images. The Organisation which represents UK schools abroad has welcomed a set of plans for government approved standards, expected to be announced, which will reassure parents whilst improving the ‘brand’ of British education abroad.
Numbering around 5,300, British style schools have been voluntarily inspected by a range of organisations without a ‘gold standard’ given by an Ofsted-style inspectorate. Institutions meeting the standard will be allowed to publish there reports on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) website. Inspection organisations expected to sign up for the new scheme are likely to include the Independent Schools Inspectorate, who already inspect independent schools in Britain and abroad, along with other private firms offering a similar service.
The Council of British International Schools (CoBIS) has been lobbying the Government for a set of quality assured standards for overseas schools and inspectorates for years. Fiona Rogers, CoBIS general secretary, said “Parents can find it difficult to identify a school that is following the rigorous standards of a British school rather than a school that is just trading on the brand. This is not about imposing regulations, as it is totally voluntary.”
In a letter to CoBIS, read at it’s teachers training conference in Madrid, Schools minister Diana Johnson wrote “We believe these arrangements will allow parents to access good quality comparable and consistent school inspection reports.
The article was not available online at the time of publication.
