Cognita recognises educational excellence with its 2017 Awards
At our Global Education Conference 2017, we recognised the schools and their leaders who have demonstrated exemplary performance, leadership and educational excellence in the last 12 months.
The winners of the 2017 awards are:
Cognita Education Award 2017
Australian International School, Singapore
Australian International School (AIS) has built a positive track record for academic outcomes. The school has strong results across both the Higher School Certificate (HSC) of New South Wales and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, recording its best ever HSC results last year and an exceptional university acceptance rate. 2016 also marked the first year of students at AIS taking the IGCSE examinations.
Instituto GayLussac
Instituto GayLussac has recorded continuous improvement in its academic results, securing its impressive place in the top 30 schools in Brazil with its highest ever score on the ENEM, the national examination for university entry in Brazil.
The school has also launched an exciting new Cambridge International bilingual programme for middle years students and been a driving force behind a new teacher exchange programme in Cognita – an innovation to benefit our entire global group.
Southbank International School
Southbank International School students at both the primary and senior phase demonstrate that all aspects of the Cognita Education are taken seriously and intentionally planned for in a rigorous and exciting way. A surprise OFSTED inspection in May 2017 saw the school achieve Outstanding in every respect. This is reflected in their exceptionally high International Baccalaureate (IB) results and graduate destinations to the world’s leading universities.
Cognita Way Award 2017
Colegio Manquecura Ciudad del Este
Colegio Manquecura Ciudad del Este has excelled with energised leadership from Carmen Vera, a truly inspirational leader who builds strong relationships with the whole school community, especially with parents.
The school was also one of two schools to pilot Scratch, the programming system developed by MIT to foster children’s creativity, reasoning and collaborative working. Ciudad del Este’s experience was so successful that it has now been rolled out to Cognita schools in the rest of the Latin America region.
Stamford American Hong Kong
Stamford American Hong Kong opened a new school with 350 children in August this year. Karrie Dietz and her team have since delivered an amazing education experience for the students and it is a truly engaging environment for staff as well.
The school has fully embraced the Cognita Way through initiatives they have created and shared with colleagues across the group such as #CognitaWay on Twitter.
Milbourne Lodge School
At Milbourne Lodge School, high standards permeate all asp
ects of school life. It is a school with a long history and clear tradition, with pupils who progress to some of the best independent schools in England, including Eton this year.
Judy Waite leads with passion and creativity and in May 2017, Milbourne Lodge achieved an Outstanding rating in all categories in their inspection. This is a school that is driven to meet the needs of its pupil and parent body and always looks outward to recognise any way possible to improve.
Outstanding Achievement 2017
Marcos Barros, Director of Education, Cognita Chile
Marcos Barros devotes his time and passion for education to creating innovative programs to benefit all schools, such as CAMPUR, the comprehensive programme to develop Life Skills that is in place in all our schools in Chile. Under his leadership, the Chilean team has developed a unique tracking system which has enabled its schools to implement a truly innovative approach to personalised learning.
Eric Sands, Superintendent, Stamford American International School Singapore
Eric Sands has been recognised for his overall “energised leadership” of Stamford American International School in Singapore.
In the past year, Eric has been a key player in the successful opening of the new Early Learning Village in Singapore, a joint campus for Australian International School (AIS) and Stamford. Designed specifically for children aged 18 months to six years old, it is a world-first in terms of scale and provision in Early Years education.
Heather Bell, The British School of Barcelona
Heather Bell is an exceptional leader of The British School of Barcelona‘s Sitge
s campus. Heather has led a revolution at the school, providing measured and decisive leadership to create a progressive teaching and learning environment. The school has a vibrant and excited learning community which the children, staff and parents are all very proud of.
Educator of the Year 2017
Simon Camby, Group Director of Education
Simon Camby has been instrumental in taking Cognita’s global community of educators forward, taking a collaborative approach focused at all times on creating the best educational opportunities for the students in our schools.
Commenting on Simon’s award, Cognita Chief Executive Chris Jansen said: “Simon is held in high esteem by everyone in Cognita – and within the education sector more widely. Simon’s integrity and unrelenting pursuit of quality are a real asset to Cognita, as demonstrated this year through his contribution to our Education Advisory Board (EAB) alongside Sir Kevan Collins, our EAB Chairman.”
Congratulations to all of the 2017 winners on these well-deserved accolades.