St Paul's The British School of Sao Paulo, Brazil

I was fortunate to be asked to return to St Paul's the British School of Sao Paulo for their 1st open EDUCATION CONFERENCE in late March. It was my privilege to participate with an outstanding group of presenters and a thoughtful and engaged group of participants.

The group spent 2 1/2 days working with Mark Church [ Making Thinking Visible ], Jenny Mosley [Quality Circle Time], Dylan Wiliam [Formative Assessment],  Carol Ann Tomlinson 
[Differentiated instruction] and myself, as well as a talented group of Brazilian presenters.

One special aspect of the conference was the opportunity for each presenter to spend a minimum of a 1/2 a day with each presenter. The conference was consequently a culmination of the learning taken from each instructor. Though our topics differed as a group, the presenters offered reinforcing messages.

The conference proved to be an inspiring and sustained learning experience for those who participated. The staff who planned the event from St Paul's did an outstanding job.

Further information about the event can be found at the following link.
http://www.stpauls.br/template_related.aspx?pag_id_page=83

AASSA QUITO Equador

At great group of educators from throughout South America gathered in Quito for the AASSA Conference in early March. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with those pictured for two days.

During this time we managed to create our own professional learning community. We identified compelling issues, debated the potential for creating learning communities in our schools and discussed the possibilities and challenges we each face. By the conclusion we had formed a strong bond which I believe proved inspiring and rejuvenating for those involved.

Quotes from the participants reflections :-

"Far exceeded my expectations. An outstanding example of facilitation."

"Most of what we did had specific and real application in my work as a school leader."

"I really appreciated you asking us what we wanted to get out of the conference and how your tailored what we did to meet our needs."

"I am walking away humbled by the amazing capable and caring people who choose to dedicate themselves to education."

It was my pleasure to work with this group who all took risks to build a community during the two days. I feel certain they will return to their schools and put to good use the learning we explored.