At a Glance: Partners with the AEFE (network of French schools abroad) / FIS a Sustainable Development School / Le Petit Journal
I just returned from a 2-day meeting with the Heads of all the French schools in the Asia Pacific region. As a new head of school, this was a great opportunity to meet colleagues from a range of countries and a set of schools, diverse in terms of size and profile, some of which also offer the International Baccalaureate, as FIS does. It was also a perfect time to meet with the directors of the AEFE from Paris and Singapore and express our renewed and mutual commitment to the strength of our partnership under a new model.
The priorities of the AEFE were described to us as follows:
- Safety (risk-preparedness in an increasingly dangerous world)
- Quality control (homologation or accreditation)
- Attractiveness (making French education attractive in a competitive environment)
- Life of the network (ensuring schools’ participation in a number of network events, such as the week of French schools in the world: note that FIS does indeed participate in most initiatives that were mentioned)
- Expansion (President Macron requested that the number of students in accredited schools double by 2030)
As you can see, we can locate our school and our interest in many, if not each of these priorities. I am especially happy to report that FIS, its students and its teams are recognized in the network for their contribution to the life of AEFE schools. Of note is our standing as the first school in the region to receive the distinction of being a level 3 Sustainable Development School (EFE 3D), including thanks to the work of our parent-led sustainable development committee. Our Sustainable Development Film Festival, which was a pilot last year, will now continue as a multi-school action within AEFE this year, still led by FIS.
It was also reassuring to see that the main challenges we face are also faced by most schools in the region: supporting our children after a long period of disruption; meeting the needs of a diverse population of learners, many of whom have French or English as second languages only; recruiting, retaining, and training a talented team of teachers in a context of higher risk associated with leaving abroad; remaining financially viable in the long-term; etc.
On another note, Le Petit Journal published a profile and interview which our French-speaking parents might be interested in reading.
I wish everyone a wonderful and restorative week-end, with two more weeks to go before our school’s fall break.
