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Welcome to our Summer 2020 Newsletter!
UK Education Guide announces partnership with Westwin
UK Education Guide and Westwin (formerly Microsoft China) are proud to announce their official partnership which will enable Chinese to more easily research and select the best UK boarding schools for their children.
UKeducations.cn will be launching on 1 October 2020, it has been designed to revolutionise how Chinese currently enrol into UK schools, making the process more efficient, more transparent and less expensive.
UK Education Guide will continue to promote its existing services outside of China and will be increasing its marketing spend year on year by 100%, again. UK Education Guide will handle all the referrals from UKeducations.cn.
To request the brochure about how to feature your school on both sites-UK Education Guide and UKeducations.cn, please visit www.ukeducationguide.com/westwin/
UK Education Guide in the News
Helping boarding schools stand out in a Covid-19 world?
So how can schools enhance their offer to make sure they do thrive in this new world? An increased and continued focus on IT seems a good place to start. The rush to move learning online has produced fantastic outcomes for some schools that have really embraced the challenge and met the demands of sceptical parents who were uncertain that schools would be able to offer a valuable online education for their children. blog.thepienews.com/2020/07/boarding-schools-pat-moores/
How UK Boarding schools have adapted their pastoral care during the pandemic?
In this article for ST Magazine we asked schools about how they have coped with ‘doubling up’ on pastoral care provision, recognising some pupils remained in the UK and many more returned home? We also asked how the provision has been tailored to recognise the different needs of pupils remaining in the UK and those who have returned home? studytravel.network/magazine/news/2/27636
Best practice in welcoming international students to the UK
In this article we look at some of the recent tensions in the international education market and highlight some innovative and practical approaches to help international students to feel they are valued and to provide them with important connections to home. www.ambleglow.co.uk/best-practice-in-welcoming-international-students/
School news
Cardiff Student Wins Prestigious Lexden Award
Buraq Ahmed, a student at Cardiff Sixth Form College, has been awarded the Independent Schools Association Lexden Prize, which is given to the most outstanding student chosen from the organisation’s 528 schools.
Burgess Hill pupils Jessica and Emily Help Refugees with 24 Hour Run
Sussex schoolgirls Jessica Farrant and Emily Shapton have raised over £1,300 for Choose Love / Help Refugees by running a mile every hour for 24 hours. Friends Jessica, a student at Burgess Hill Girls and Emily, a student at Uplands Community College, met through their love of the triathlon. Both girls compete for Sussex Tristars. The day started at 8am and participants had to run a mile on the hour for the next 24 hours, finishing at 7am the following day.
Ellesmere College student takes second prize in National Chaucer writing competition
Ronan Phillips – Year 12 - won a £150 cash prize for himself and a further £500 for the library at the College. The Canterbury Tales Writing Competition 2019/20: ‘Hopes and Dreams’ was the third annual competition for youngsters aged between five and 18 inspired by Chaucer - generally considered to be the father of the English language and our greatest medieval poet.
Millfield students raise £10,000 during COVID-19
Students at Millfield in Somerset have raised a total of £10,000 for UK charities including the Somerset NHS Foundation, MIND UK, CALM and St Margaret's Hospice during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money has been raised individually and through the school’s House programme by students taking part in fundraising events all over the world. Initiatives have included; making and selling PPE masks, baking cakes & taking part in a virtual Glastonbury Road Run.
Bishopstrow College Supports Syrian Refugees with Online Programme
Earlier this year, Bishopstrow College converted its preparation-for-boarding programmes to online delivery. Bishopstrow was then approached by Richard Verity who had taken a sabbatical from McKinsey’s during which he had spent time at the Shatila Camp in Beirut, Lebanon. Richard was keen to provide educational opportunities for some of the Syrian children, above and beyond the education being offered by the Alsama Teenage Centre within Shatila. Fortunately, and as a result of the College’s new online provision, Bishopstrow has been able to help Aseel (15), Hadeel (14) and Lujain (14) who live in the Shatila camp- all want to become doctors, so they can help families back home in Syria.
Aseel, Hadeel and Lujain are grateful to Bishopstrow College for giving them a full scholarship to pursue their studies. Alsama (www.alsamaproject.com) is currently raising funds for Syrian refugees like Aseel, Hadeel and Lujain whose families have been affected by the consequence of the Beirut explosion. For further details, please visit: www.givey.com/alsamalebanon
International Education Round-up
What's wrong with this year's IB scores?
Nearly 175,000 students around the world took the IB qualification this year. The IB final exam in May was cancelled but the IB never released any information on the algorithm, or on how students' predicted grades would be used to create final grades. (The predicted grades are used by colleges to provisionally admit students until their final scores are available.)
...In Hong Kong, the number of students earning perfect scores dropped by one-third, compared to last year's grades, according to The South China Morning Post. In India, lower-than-expected grades are causing widespread distress, according to The Times of India.
www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/07/13/algorithm-used-ib-scores-year-blamed-students-low-marks
Chinese students turn away from US universities with Britain the big winner
It was a tough decision for mainland university graduate Zancy Duan to give up her coveted place at a US Ivy League school. Duan, from China’s eastern province of Zhejiang, had been admitted by Cornell University as a candidate for a master’s degree, along with admissions from several other American schools. But at the end of April, with the coronavirus pandemic at its peak, she rushed to apply for European universities. Britain surpassed the US for the first time as year as their (chinese students) preferred overseas study destination, according to a report by the Beijing-based New Oriental Education & Technology Group, an overseas study agency also famous for its English teaching.
www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3093614/chinese-students-turn-away-us-universities-britain-big-winner
OfS (Office of Students) eyes tougher student protection as ‘market exits’ likelier
England’s regulator (OfS) has called for stronger powers to protect students enrolled at institutions that are at risk of financial failure because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Office for Students is consulting on changes to registration conditions that would give it the powers to force an institution it deemed ‘at risk’ to put in place ‘a market exit plan’ approved by the regulator. This could include forcing the institution to continue to teach existing students before closing or enabling students to make complaints and apply for refunds or compensation.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/ofs-eyes-tougher-student-protection-market-exits-likelier
Meanwhile, there has been a Govt U turn on GCSE and A Level results
With the government rejecting the algorithm being used by exam watchdog Ofqual in favour of teacher predicted grades. At time of writing around 450,000 pupils were still awaiting the delayed results of their BTec qualifications. Heads said it was incomprehensible that changes were being made this late.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53843148
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