"Practical Pedagogies" believes the best training is delivered by practising teachers, sharing effective and creative real-world strategies and resources at an affordable price.
Four successful Practical Pedagogies conferences took place between 2015-2024 at the International School of Toulouse, France and at St. George's British International School Cologne. At each event, teachers from all over the world delivered upwards of 100 sessions in a vibrant, friendly and enriching event over two days. Lunches, refreshments, and evening gaterings provided social opportunities for carrying on the conversations with old friends and new acquaintances.
We hope that the next conference in October 2026, once more in the International School of Toulouse, will be the biggest and best so far. Session proposals are invited as from January, an initial programme will be drawn up in February, and delegates will be encouraged to purchase their tickets from March onwards.
If you are willing to share your experiences and expertise, why not submit your proposal straight away?
Join our team of workshop leaders - click here to submit a workshop proposal!
We’re delighted to be welcoming Ian Gilbert to Practical Pedagogies as our keynote speaker for 2026!
For over thirty years, Ian Gilbert has played a part in shaping the education practice of many thousands of teachers and the school experience of many thousands more children and young people.
Once described by the IB Magazine as one of its 15 most influential ‘education visionaries’, Ian is an educational speaker, entrepreneur, innovator and award-winning author, editor and publisher with a unique perspective on education across five continents.
Apart from being in demand for his keynotes and workshops that are always challenging, entertaining, eye opening and practical, Ian has also written several best-selling titles including Essential Motivation in the Classroom and Why Do I Need a Teacher When I’ve Got Google? both published by Routledge where Ian is also a newly appointed Series Editor.
He is also the man behind the ‘Thunks’ phenomenon, beguilingly simple little questions designed to make children’s brains hurt that grew out of his work on Philosophy for Children.
Originally trained as French teacher, he went into teaching in order to work with young peple on thinking, creativity, motivation and success skills – skills he wishes he had been taught when he himself was in school. Whilst running extra-curricular classes in helping his students use their brains more effectively, he was approached by a colleague who helped him set up a company as a vehicle for his work and to take it to a wider audience.
That company, Independent Thinking, has since become a fixture of education life in the UK and beyond, quietly reassuring educators, school leaders, students and their families that there is always another way. This unique organisation works as a platform for world-class speakers and practitioners to share their expertise, creativity, integrity and their passion with colleagues in all sectors and phases of education across the UK and internationally.
Currently based in Finland where his wife is the principal of the International School of Helsinki, Ian has lived and worked in mainland Europe, Asia, South American and the Middle East as well as the UK and has seen the international education world from the inside as an educator, speaker, parent and, of course, bag carrier to his wife.
It will be an interactive workshop that explores how French grammar can be taught playfully and meaningfully in primary classrooms (Grades 1 to 5). Participants will participate in a carousel of hands-on grammar activities focusing on key areas such as articles, sentence structure, verbs, and adjective agreement. I will also try to include practical differentiation strategies to support mixed-ability learners using movement, visuals, and oral interaction. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use ideas to make grammar engaging, accessible, and communicative.
Session Leader: Joanne Alcock
Primary French Coordinator, The International school of Toulouse
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: French Grammar
From computational thinking to artificial intelligence, empowering learners through stories
Stories offer a powerful way to teach computational concepts, including artificial intelligence, by placing them into fun and engaging contexts. When ideas such as algorithms, decision-making, pattern recognition, or AI systems are embedded within imaginative story worlds, they become easier to understand and more meaningful for children. Characters help bring abstract concepts to life, allowing children to explore choices, consequences, and problem-solving in a playful way. In this hands-on workshop, we will explore theory behind this approach through practical activities, examples and discussions.
Session Leader: Yasemin Allsop
I’m a former primary school teacher and computing lead with ten years of classroom experience, and I’m now an Associate Professor in Primary Education at the UCL Institute of Education. I love finding creative ways to support children’s learning, especially through play, and technology. I’m also a children’s book author, a big believer in learning through stories. I love dogs and have a little Rottweiler girl called Shadow.
Engagement by Design, Not Distraction: Strategies to Foster Student Agency and Learning Responsibility
This session explores the power of Inductive Guided Inquiry to design learning that prioritises student thinking and promotes agency. By shifting the ‘heavy lifting’ to the learner, we ensure that engagement leads directly to deep and enduring understandings. Educators will step into the shoes of the learner to experience inductive strategies firsthand. This space allows participants to feel the shift in motivation and agency, and consider how they may adapt their experience back in their classrooms. We will look at the role of guiding questions in scaffolding from factual knowledge to conceptual understanding Key Takeaways: Leveraging guiding questions to lower cognitive noise and sharpen focus. Practical strategies that enhance engagement
Session Leader: Rukiya Alwi
Year 6 Teacher at The International School of Geneva. I am an International Baccalaureate Educator Network - Workshop Leader and School Visit Team Member. I have recently qualified as a certified trainer for Erickson and Lanning 'Concept-Based Inquiry' Teaching. I have worked in different parts of the world, with experience as homeroom teacher, PYP Coordinator and Vice Principal.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Inductive Approach to Guided Inquiry
This will be a practical workshop. Participants will be introduced to Marzano's researched-based steps to mastery of content-based/academic vocabulary. Using an example that I have done with my students, they will be guided through each step with hands-on activities at each stage. I will also share additional resources (activities, games and templates) that I use and these will be takeaways for the participants too. The workshop would be useful for any teacher, primary or secondary, wishing to improve their students' level of academic success, but particularly for teachers working in an international environment who teach ELL students. And the lucky participants will get to play with Play-Doh!
Documenting Learning: The Power of Re-visiting and Making Thinking Visible
What - A practical session exploring documentation as a transformative pedagogical tool that supports effective learning opportunities for groups and individuals. We will explore the four key practices that drive this process: • Observing: Stepping back with curiosity to ask, "What is going on here?". • Recording: Ways to fill in memory gaps and see from new perspectives. • Interpreting: Taking a research stance to inquire into children’s thinking and make meaning together. • Sharing: Engaging learners and families to build collective knowledge and make thinking visible. Whether you are teaching 3-year-old
Session Leader: Estelle Ash
Simon Gregg – G4 home room teacher & Maths Coordinator
Estelle Ash - K3 home room teacher & Early Year Coordinator
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Reflective Practice and documentation
This session explores how student action inquiry can be intentionally designed to develop changemaker skills such as agency, collaboration, ethical decision-making, perseverance, and reflection. Grounded in real classroom practice, it demonstrates how visible thinking routines can be embedded at key stages of inquiry to make student thinking, planning, and learning visible and assessable over time. Participants will experience practical structures that support learners to identify issues they care about, investigate them deeply, plan and take meaningful, age-appropriate action, and reflect on impact. The session emphasises purposeful, student-led action that is sustainable, transferable, and applicable across subjects and year levels.
Session Leader: Berna Aslan
PYP English Teacher
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Research and Inquiry, Sustainability in Action, Sustainable Development Goals
Using resources from the Institute for Humane Education and Compass Education, this session will allow participants to travel through the Solutionary Framework to understand the process of solving real-world problems. Along the way, participants will practice using a number of systems thinking tools to provide perspective and leverage points for solving real-world problems. Participants will walk away with a tool box to support them to teach systems thinking to any age group, in any subject.
Session Leader: Kathryn Berkman
Kathryn Berkman began her journey as a teacher after graduating from the University of San Francisco, focusing on social justice and multiple intelligences in math education. She is in her 13th year as a middle school teacher, working at Munich International School. As an International Solutionary Coach, Kathryn is keen to build synergies with educators globally.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Systems Thinking + Real-World Action
How can mathematical learning be harnessed to support the solutions to real-world problems? In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to be creative as we co-design mathematics units, for multiple grade levels, that address real-world problems. Examples: food waste, discrimination, recycling, health.
Session Leader: Kathryn Berkman
Kathryn Berkman began her journey as a teacher after graduating from the University of San Francisco, focusing on social justice and multiple intelligences in math education. She is in her 13th year as a middle school teacher, working at Munich International School. As an International Solutionary Coach, Kathryn is keen to build synergies with educators globally.
This session considers how schools can uphold academic integrity amid generative AI and digital change. Drawing on higher education discipline work and national-level integrity projects, it offers practical guidance for teachers and leaders. It argues that integrity is learned through curriculum, routines and shared language, with clear expectations for pupils and parents, including the role of AI. The session explores identifying misconduct through professional judgement rather than detection tools, responding in ways that support learning and trust, and redesigning assessment to value process, judgement and authenticity in an AI age.
Session Leader: Miles Berry
Professor of Computing Education, University of Roehampton
Format: Seminar | Audience: Secondary | Theme: AI / technology in education
This hands-on workshop guides international school teachers through the craft of building useful bots for classroom work. You will create a custom GPT, explore retrieval augmented generation, and shape teaching resources with accessible no-code and vibe coding tools. We will look at how to shape tone and behaviour, then test each method through examples rooted in everyday teaching. The session offers clear approaches that help teachers design assistants that support planning, feedback, and pupil inquiry, as well as interactive teaching resources. You will leave with working prototypes, a grounded sense of what these tools can offer, and patterns you can adapt across subjects.
Session Leader: Miles Berry
Professor of Computing Education, University of Roehampton. Curriculum and professional development consultant.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: AI / technology in education
Cognitive Acceleration is more necessary now than ever
The workshop will explain what Cognitive Acceleration programmes are is and why this approach is still completely as relevant today as it was in the 1990s. It will also explore the need to match the readiness of students to the cognitive demands of the curriculum to allow students to flourish and meet the new challenges of systems thinking and multi causal events happening around them. The methodology will be explored in interactive lesson simulations and allow teachers to bridge this approach to their own curriculum and the thinking challenges needed for deep understanding, application and complex problem solving.
Session Leader: Alex Black
Owner of ABC-Learning Educational consultant for Teacher Development. Special areas of interest are how to develop deeper, creative and critical thinking in Teachers and Students. Supporting Schools in thinking curriculum implementation and aiding teachers in carrying out Action research.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Science and Mathematics
Interactive Workshop: Getting to Know How Our Students Think
This workshop is especially relevant for primary and secondary science teachers seeking actionable strategies to understand and address their students' cognitive readiness. Drawing from the principles of David Ausubel, on the critical role of the learner's prior knowledge, this session will equip you with practical tools for assessment and instruction. We will explore the utilization of tasks, based on Piaget and his clinical interviews, to gain valuable insights into your students' current cognitive development and thinking processes. We will demonstrate and practice tasks, such as those related to spatial reasoning and volume/heaviness, that can be easily used in your classroom. Learn the importance of matching cognitive demand to the student and discover practical, evidence-based methods for achieving this alignment in your daily teaching. This will help maximize meaningful learning and improve student outcomes.
Session Leader: Alex Black
Owner of ABC-Learning Educational consultant for Teacher Development. Special areas of interest are how to develop deeper, creative and critical thinking in Teachers and Students. Supporting Schools in thinking curriculum implementation and aiding teachers in carrying out Action research.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Science Primary and secondayr
Effective differentiation in an A to E grade maths classroom with in-class student support
In this session, we share a range of very practical teaching and learning approaches for organising, and resourcing to best ensure all students' needs are being met in the maths class with the subject teacher as the lead and the student support teacher in a support role. We would like to share strategies that have worked for us so that the highest attainers are being stretched, those working at the expected levels for their age are progressing well, and the students requiring support are working on accessible and appropriate materials to ensure they leave school with the key mathematics they will need in the rest of their lives.
Session Leader: Oliver Bowles
Head of Maths and Student Support Coordinator at the International School of Toulouse
Debate Me! : How to plan, teach and assess a range of debate styles in the secondary classroom to challenge higher level speaking skills (MUN and Mock Trials)
The focus of the session would be the mechanics of planning, teaching and assessing a range of debate styles, using resources to demonstrate how this would work in a classroom and how to adapt it for their classes. This would be suitable for beginner or experts in the classroom. The structure of the workshop would be : • A brief introduction into the different types of debate styles (Ladder debate, British Parliamentary, Model United Nations, Mock Trials) and show why these kinds of speaking activities provide so many opportunities for students to improve and build different aspects of their analytical and speaking skills • Walk through a basic lesson plan and unit of work and how to introduce this into a SOW in either a Literature or Non-Fiction subject class (can apply to History as well) and how to start building these skills with debate games with students • Have teachers plan and prepare their own Mock Trial or MUN debate (depending on which is more popular with the group) and walk through the process using real materials and topics/inspirations I’ve used before in class (Jack the Ripper, Modern Slavery and Reparations, Immigration, The Importance of being Earnest) • Explain how to assess these debates, showing grading scales and teacher feedback sheets and how these and easily be adapted to other international grading requirements • Plenary : What literature, non-fiction titles, plays or real-world debate topics would fit this format in their classrooms right now? The kind of teacher that would find this useful would be secondary English teachers with students that have a high speaking level or want to move from B2 in C1 speaking activities or History teacher who want to incorporate more active analytical skills into the classroom. Debating in a classroom is a very flexible activity that students love to engage with and can be used in so many ways to get them thinking, planning and arguing about a topic they find exciting. This has many applications in the classroom and can be the catalyst for many students to finally solidify their speaking ability. Teachers who attend my workshop would take home with them : • Lesson plans and resources that can easily be adapted to their SOW with differentiation and SEN support, along with assessment sheets
Session Leader: Catherine Burgess-Wilson
IGCSE English Literature Teacher in Paris, previously teaching CAE teacher and LV1 LLCE Anglais Monde Contemporain (BAC). Teacher for over 10 years, in England and France, of English and History, previous Coordinator of Debate Team at Ecole Massillon
The Art and Agency of "Unbuilding"
Cultivating Cognitive and Emotional Growth through Destructive Play
Targeting Early Years and Primary practitioners—especially those in outdoor education—this 60-minute workshop reclaims "destructive play" as a vital inquiry-led process. Moving beyond "chaos," we explore "Unbuilding" as a gateway to STEM foundations, motor refinement, and emotional regulation. Using the Outdoor Laboratory as a natural setting for large-scale discovery, we examine how “Breaking, Bending, and Blending” fosters student agency and divergent thinking. Attendees will engage in hands-on "unbuilding" stations and gain a toolkit of low-cost, high-impact materials to facilitate intentional deconstruction. Leave with the pedagogical evidence to advocate for this essential "messy" play.
Session Leader: Sarah Burnham-Slipper
Early Years Curriculum Lead and Outdoor Learning Teacher.
Teacher at the International School of Dusseldorf since 2018 - working as an outdoor learning teacher and heading the Early Years Curriculum.
Prior to that worked in the UK as a Pre-School Manager and Forest School Leader.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Early Years Play
We spend so much time considering the feedback that we give to students, and continuously updating our feedback policies – but is it really worth it? In this session, Nathan will explore the difference between active and passive feedback, illuminating the issues with feedback that can be found in most contexts, before moving on to provide attendees with a range of strategies that will ensure that feedback is used effectively within their own context. Suitable for teachers of all experience levels and working in all contexts.
Session Leader: Nathan Burns
Nathan Burns, the UK’s leading metacognition expert, supports schools and organisations nationwide. A former Head of Maths and author of three books, he now delivers high-quality metacognition PD and maths training, sharing insights online as Mr Metacognition.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Feedback
Approaches to Embed Oracy and Metacognition in the Classroom
In his popular talk, Nathan explores two key areas on everyone's lips – oracy and metacognition. This session begins with an exploration of theory for both areas – what are they, and why do they matter so much? The session then moves on to explore a wide range of approaches, alongside examples, that can be developed in a number of different context and age phases. Don’t miss out on this popular session!
Session Leader: Nathan Burns
Nathan Burns, the UK’s leading metacognition expert, supports schools and organisations nationwide. A former Head of Maths and author of three books, he now delivers high-quality metacognition PD and maths training, sharing insights online as Mr Metacognition.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Oracy
How Teachers’ Mental Frameworks Affect Pedagogical Quality
This workshop of 60 minutes is the result of a gathering data on How Teachers’ Mental Frameworks Affect Pedagogical Quality. Based on these results and the application of adaptive concepts from yoga psychology (Patanjali), we will identify the factors that are influencing current and potential future patterns of thinking, emotion, or behaviour which are impacting teachers’ level of energy, humour, motivation, and productivity and observe how these are interconnected. We will explore the Components of the mind and their relationship with our actions and hold one group activity (case studies, teachers will analyse their experience by reflecting, evaluating, and reconstructing to draw meaning). The workshop will clarify the understanding of the roots factors that affect teacher’s daily mind. The workshop gives the tools to teachers to learn how and what to choose for a better result for themselves and how to respond and not to react which is a major key for a balanced state of mind. Participants will understand the importance of achieving a balanced state of mind and his positive impact on the environment. This workshop is unique, being a fragment of a larger training program created by a teacher for teachers, based on yoga psychology and philosophy, an innovation that contrasts with other teacher well-being programs.
Session Leader: Cecilia Burtica
• Cecilia Burtica has a Ph.D. in Philology. She had taught for the last 16 years French A and B in different IB schools in the Midlde East. She is a SSST French tutor since 2011.
• She is mother of 3 children’s.
• She is also poet, writer, translator, literary critic, curator, conferencier and had publish 20 books in 5 different languages.
• She is the founder of Mind Connection Hub which is a French association where she shares knowledge regarding mental processes and consciousness to develop a better approach, mastery and self-fulfilment through the arts, sciences, literature, psychology, philosophy, and yoga.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: What is a balanced teacher ?
Learning Languages through Immersive Worlds: Creating Authentic Communication through Process Drama
This workshop is designed for language teachers who want to create more opportunities for authentic oral communication, student-led learning, and meaningful, AI-resistant writing. Process drama is a teaching approach in which teachers and students collaboratively create and explore a fictional world through improvised roles and evolving situations and encounters, without a script or final performance. Drawing on classroom-based action research in ESL settings, this workshop offers a concrete picture of how process drama can be planned, facilitated, and adapted by teachers new to the form. Participants will experience key strategies such as teacher-in-role, group roles, and reflection, and will explore how process drama invites students to think critically in a fully embodied way—making decisions, negotiating meaning, and reflecting through action—while generating rich, experience-based writing tasks that support spoken interaction and are difficult to outsource to AI.
Session Leader: Sam Caravaglia
English as Foreign Language Teacher
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: EFL Teaching
WoLLoW@ ma new approach to primary/easly secondary language teaching in a multilingual world.
‘WoLLoW, World of Languages, Languages of the World, is a languages course designed by experienced teachers for pupils aged between 7 and 13. It is not about learning a language but learning about languages, not only the languages we teach, but the languages the pupils already know. The programme, developed over the last five years, provides 120 complete lessons, from the days of the week in Urdu to braille, from the Greek alphabet to sign language. They can be taught, by specialists or non-specialists, as the language curriculum itself or alongside the teaching of a language. The seminar will show how the lessons generate curiosity, understanding, oracy, dialogue, mutual understanding and prepare pupils for future language study.
Session Leader: John Claughton
Co-founder WoLLoW, World of Languages, Languages of the World, former Chief Master, King Edward's School, Birmingham, TES Independent Schools Lifetime Achievement Award 2016.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Language teaching
Embedding the Supercurricular: How to run a successful TEDx Youth event and club at your school (Primary or Secondary, or both), and how to embed a club into the fabric of the school.
I would like to deliver a workshop on how to set up a successful TEDx Youth club and event in a school. The participants would take part in some of the activities I have created for the students; I would share the resources, structures and tips I have developed over 7 years of doing this at schools; but I would also want to share how you can activate many other clubs, students and teachers in the school to embed the club into the curricular and culture of the school, so that the final event is a real coming together of the entire school community.
Session Leader: Sam Cocksworth
Head of English, St. George's, The British International School, Cologne; TEDx Youth Organiser; Stand-up Comedian
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Extracurricular
Have your cake AND eat it: Using "careers focus" to raise academic attainment.
The increasing focus on ‘Careers in the Curriculum’ can be ‘yet another thing’ to shoehorn into an overstretched time budget. This session explores practical ways to ensure that careers work enhances academic focus rather than threatening it: - Skills game – ice-breaker/getting delegates into subject specialisms (5 mins) - Reflect on the potential of careers focus (10 mins of theory) - Identifying the CBI Employability Skills (Future Fit, 2009) in your subject! (interactive small groups based on specialisms of delegates – 15 mins + 5 mins feedback) - Strategies to build career focus into existing learning goals (examples from practice: 3 examples of 5 mins each + 5 mins feedback/discussion) Ideal for all secondary subject leads/teachers
Session Leader: Evelyn Corney
Careers Director, Cranbrook School, Kent.
Over 20 years of classroom experience teaching secondary history including 10 years as UCAS adviser in Kent Grammar School; recently trained as Careers Lead (Warwick University PGA Careers Leadership, Distinction); wrestling with the 'implications of refreshed Gatsby' has convinced me of its potential!
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Careers in the Curriculum
From Monolingual to Multilingual: Practical strategies for supporting multilingual learners in English-medium classrooms
What if the languages your students use outside the classroom were the key to stronger learning inside it? International school classrooms are full of multilingual learners, yet many still operate as if everyone were monolingual. This practical, hands-on session supports teachers to explore simple, effective ways of using students’ languages to enhance learning, inclusion, and engagement. You will see what translanguaging looks like in real classrooms and leave with concrete strategies, planning ideas, and examples that can be adapted for learners of all ages and stages.
Session Leader: Eowyn Crisfield
Teacher, Author, Researcher, Applied Linguist, Founder and Academic Director of the Oxford Collaborative for Multilingualism in Education, Honoray Norham Fellow, University of Oxford
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Multilingualism, Inclusion
Designing Transdisciplinary Units that Build Agency and Inspire Action
Many units of inquiry integrate subjects but do not yet lead to authentic student agency or meaningful action. This session shares practical strategies for designing concept-driven, transdisciplinary units that empower learners to take ownership of their learning and apply it beyond the classroom. Participants will explore how to align central ideas, key concepts, approaches to learning skills, assessment, and action opportunities within the Primary Years Programme. Case studies from upper primary classrooms in France will illustrate student-led exhibitions, community projects, and design challenges. Learning objectives include: • aligning curriculum elements intentionally • embedding student voice and choice • designing authentic action
Session Leader: Sara Davies
I am a Primary Years Programme educator and coordinator based in Bordeaux, France, with over ten years of international teaching experience. I specialise in designing concept-driven, transdisciplinary units that integrate student agency, action, and well-being across the curriculum. My work focuses is on aligning approaches to learning skills, inquiry, and inclusive classroom communities to improve engagement and outcomes for diverse learners. I leads curriculum development, teacher training, and whole-school planning initiatives, and regularly facilitate collaborative professional learning to support sustainable Primary Years Programme implementation.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Designing PYP units if inquiry
How to Spot the Four Types of Worry in Your Classroom
This practical and engaging session helps all educators better understand how worry and anxiety can present in the classroom. Participants will learn how to recognise four common types of worry responses in children and identify behavioural and emotional signals. The session introduces compassionate, practical, and playful strategies that can be implemented immediately to support emotional regulation and classroom well-being. This is a gentle introduction to guiding you towards nurturing self-confidence, self-esteem, self -compassion and self-efficacy.
Session Leader: Karen Dawson
Coordinator of drama/wellbeing at Kaleidoscope Bilingue Primary School.
Creative expression coach - Owner of small business, Pibrac
Creative Coach, Trainer & Facilitator with extensive experience supporting children and adults in multicultural environments. Specialising in life coaching, mindfulness, drama-based learning, and personal development
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: well-being
We live in interesting times: a world where social media rewards outrage over accuracy, speed over reflection, and identity over truth. Public discourse is increasingly polarised and simplified, trust in expertise and evidence is eroding, and powerful tools now generate convincing information we neither fully understand nor control. This workshop asks how we can think objectively under these conditions. It examines how misinformation spreads, introduces “epistemological allies” who inform and inspire, and offers practical strategies for resisting confirmation bias, simplification, and the weaponisation of certainty. This talk is aimed at anyone interested in critical thinking, from primary through to the final two years.
Session Leader: Michael Dunn
Founder of theoryofknowledge.net, TOK coordinator at Brewster Madrid. I've been an international teacher since 2001, and have worked in Colombia, Peru, and Spain - as well as in the UK. I have delivered workshops at schools all over the world, most recently, Romania, Turkey, and New Zealand. My approach to TOK is to base it on the principle of 'authentic critical thinking', making it deployable to any student, regardless of subject, age, and programme.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Critical thinking
The Space After Assessment: Turning Time, Freedom and Curiosity into Meaningful Learning
Post-exam time offers a rare opportunity: space, flexibility and students who are ready to think differently. This session explores how schools can design engaging, purposeful post-exam enrichment programmes that go beyond “filling time”. We will explore how to balance freedom with structure, how to design enrichment that remains intellectually demanding, and how trips, speakers, workshops and collaborative projects can be woven into a meaningful whole. The session will be useful for teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders responsible for enrichment or curriculum planning. Attendees will leave with practical strategies, planning questions and adaptable models they can use to design post-exam programmes that students value and remember.
Session Leader: Lucy Evans
Ignite (Post-Exam Group) Coordinator, Teacher of History & FPE at Dragon School, Oxford (UK)
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Enrichment/cross-curricular programmes
In this interactive session, we will explore how wordless books promote conceptual understandings, spark deep thinking, and naturally connect to the IB Learner Profile. Participants will examine how wordless books provide meaningful opportunities for translanguaging, allowing students to draw on their full linguistic repertoire, while also offering authentic moments to teach ATLs explicitly, including communication, thinking, and social skills. Join us to experience practical strategies and classroom applications that transform wordless books into powerful tools for inquiry and inclusive learning. Please bring your laptop, feel free to bring a wordless book with you.
Session Leader: Ali Ezzeddine
Trainer / Consultant - IB Lead educator
An educational consultant and trainer in various educational fields, he has extensive experience in education. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English. He loves children's literature and has authored several stories. He visits many schools for training, consultation, or simply to share his writing with children.
Deep Talk: strategies for facilitating discussions which make students think deeply about science
Transforming learning in the science classroom into a well-connected schema requires thinking deeply about new concepts and interrogating those ideas until connections are made with existing scientific understanding. One of the most effective ways of achieving this is to build a culture of discussions requiring students to challenge their understanding and to think deeply about the ideas that they are learning. This workshop will model simple and effective techniques for integrating meaningful classroom discussions into lessons and building a culture of sharing thinking in the classroom. The aim of this session is to equip teachers with easy to implement techniques to take away. This session is suitable for all teachers.
Session Leader: David Fairweather
Head of Science at Verbier International School, Switzerland. IB TOK examiner.
Practical Phonics – High-Impact Games for Engagement and Progress
This session will focus on practical, classroom-ready phonics games that improve engagement, reinforce grapheme–phoneme correspondence, and support blending and segmenting. I will share a curated selection of games I have developed, adapted and successfully used over many years. These approaches are informed by professional phonics training undertaken while teaching in Manchester, UK, combined with extensive classroom practice in a bilingual setting. Participants will experience and participate in high-impact games for whole class, small group and intervention teaching, adaptations for bilingual and EAL learners, strategies for embedding vocabulary teaching within phonics sessions, and ideas requiring minimal preparation.
Session Leader: Hannah Ford
EYFS teacher and Language Coordinator, British Section, Lycée International, Saint Germain-en-Laye
I've learnt my times tables but I don't know them!
Many primary aged pupils have "learnt" their times tables, usually to get through some sort of test. In reality, the pupils don't know their tables or understand how multiplication works. Pupils moving on into secondary school struggle with this aspect of the maths curriculum. The secondary curriculum does not allow additional time to directly teach or recap this key skill, therefore, pupils are hampered when solving word or two step problems involving multiplication (and division). During this workshop, delegates will hear about Liz's latest research and outcomes of and NCETM research project on multiplication in UK primary and secondary schools. Delegates will have the opportunity to experience several multiplication games & activitie.
Session Leader: Liz Gibbs
Liz is an independent mathematics consultant working with UK and international schools. She has a wealth of primary mathematics experience and knowledge. As a published author, editor and script writer her experience goes beyond the classroom. Liz also keeps in touch with current practice through working with her local maths hub, running several research and innovation projects (mental maths, SEND and supporting learners in early secondary) Find out more here. www.thebusylizzie.co.uk
All teachers know that reasoning and problem solving is more complex than merely answering an equation. Why do pupils struggle with reasoning and problem solving? And how can we help our class? In this workshop delegates will examine recent EEF research into metacognition, where teachers are encouraged to solve a problem in front of the class, while thinking out loud. This supports and develop learners into more confident mathematicians. The seminar will look in more detail at the EEF research and how it can be easily put into practice in the primary classroom.
Session Leader: Liz Gibbs
Liz is an independent mathematics consultant working with UK and international schools. She has a wealth of primary mathematics experience and knowledge. As a published author, editor and script writer her experience goes beyond the classroom. Liz also keeps in touch with current practice through working with her local maths hub, running several research and innovation projects (mental maths, SEND and supporting learners in early secondary) Find out more here. www.thebusylizzie.co.uk
Format: Seminar | Audience: Primary | Theme: Mathematics: reasoning and problem solving
Pattern blocks: a key mathematical resource for every age group across the primary phase
Pattern blocks are geometric shapes, usually found in the early years department of most schools. However, this humble and reasonably priced resource can be used to support the learning of many key aspects of mathematics, such as problem solving, calculation (all four operations to 3 decimal places), nth term, fractions, percentages, ratio and proportion and so much more. As one of my five key resources, I’m never in a school without them. This will be a practical workshop full of tried and tested activities to promote mathematical learning across the primary phase.
Session Leader: Liz Gibbs
Liz is an independent mathematics consultant working with UK and international schools. She has a wealth of primary mathematics experience and knowledge. As a published author, editor and script writer her experience goes beyond the classroom. Liz also keeps in touch with current practice through working with her local maths hub, running several research and innovation projects (mental maths, SEND and supporting learners in early secondary) Find out more here. www.thebusylizzie.co.uk
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Mathematics: models and images in mathematics
Milestones that matter: planning small steps that build real mathematical competence
A practical session on using milestones to plan small steps that build understanding, fluency and reasoning, rather than just covering content. We will look at how to identify the milestone that matters in a sequence of learning, how to choose representations that make the maths visible and how to design practice that shifts pupils from knowledge to application through problem solving. We will also consider the language demands of each step and simple ways to build mathematical talk so pupils can explain and justify their thinking. Participants will leave with a usable planning scaffold, sample prompts and a set of quick checks for spotting when pupils are ready to move on.
Session Leader: Adam Gifford
Independent Maths Consultant
I am an independent mathematics education consultant working with schools and organisations in England and New Zealand. I have over twenty years’ experience as a teacher, school leader and adviser, with a focus on curriculum design, classroom practice and professional learning. I was the series editor for the primary Maths – No Problem! resources used in both the UK and New Zealand. My work focuses on structured approaches to teaching that support problem solving, mathematical language and deep understanding.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Mathematics / Curriculum design / Problem solving
How to connect with students and build a classroom of cooperation and contribution.
This session aims to share Positive Discipline tools to help teachers better communicate with students while being kind and firm. Moreover, this workshop empowers teachers to build strong, respectful connections with students while creating calm, consistent classroom routines. Positive Discipline is grounded in Adlerian principles, participants will explore practical tools that foster mutual respect, and a sense of belonging.
Session Leader: Chrysanthi Golfinopoulos
Chrysanthi has been working at the International School of Düsseldorf since 2013. She's the EAL Department Head and teaches grades 6, 7 and 8. Moreover, she holds the role of Positive Discipline Senior School coordinator where she has been training and certifying her colleagues in Positive Discipline in the Classroom since 2021. Furthermore, she works with parents at International School of Düsseldorf by holding Parenting in the Positive Discipline Way workshops. She is originally from Montreal, Canada and has been teaching internationally since 1999.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: SEL activities and classroom management
When Students Understand the Assessment: Practical Tools for Assessment-Capable Learners
How do we help students stop waiting for feedback and start owning their learning? This interactive workshop explores practical ways to build assessment-capable learners in inquiry-based classrooms. Participants will examine teacher moves that make learning goals clear, define quality, and turn feedback into action. Through hands-on activities and classroom examples, teachers will work with ready-to-use tools including success criteria, learning progressions, and conferencing prompts. Designed for primary and lower secondary teachers, this session delivers strategies that strengthen student agency and learning that lasts.
Session Leader: Rebecca Goswell
PYP Coordinator, International School Leader, Supporting school growth through inquiry, coherence and change.
From Surveillance to Support: Trust-Based Observations That Grow Teachers
How can middle leaders raise teacher capacity without checklists or compliance? This interactive workshop explores trust-based observations and cognitive coaching as practical tools for professional growth. Participants will examine how observation becomes a shared learning process and how coaching conversations build reflection and trust. Through role-play and simple protocols, leaders will practise observation lenses, coaching questions, and feedback structures they can use immediately. Designed for middle leaders in primary and secondary settings, this session supports leaders responsible for developing teachers through collaboration rather than evaluation.
Session Leader: Rebecca Goswell
PYP Coordinator, International School Leader, Supporting school growth through inquiry, coherence and change.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Leadership
Yes, Everyone Can Read That Novel: UDL Strategies for Multi-Level, Multilingual Literacy
Reading novels can enrich classes by allowing students to engage with authentic language in culturally responsive lessons. Universal Design for Learning can give us strategies to allow a diverse group of students to access and read the same novel. In many mixed-level classrooms, ELLs or students with SEN often end up either reading novels that are too easy for them intellectually, or falling behind while reading the novel the rest of the class is reading. This workshop will showcase several Universal Design for Learning strategies that will allow a diverse group of learners to engage in a collective novel study.
Session Leader: Rebecca Gulka
Director & Teacher, Teaching With Class, providing English Literacy Lessons and Special Educational Needs support for English Education in France.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Literacy, UDL
What I've Learned from Coaching Kids with ADHD: UDL Strategies for Inclusion
Tired of trying to put everyone in the front row? 30 extra minutes on tests not cutting it? Universal Design for Learning gives us real, actionable ideas that work with the brains of students with ADHD - not against them. Our students with ADHD deserve real equity, not bandaid accommodations. This workshop will start to close the gap between recommendations from psychologists and the practical realities of a classroom, with strategies developed in partnership with Educational Psychologists .
Session Leader: Rebecca Gulka
Director & Teacher, Teaching with Class, delivering Literacy Education and Special Educational Needs Support in English in France
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Inclusion, UDL
From Planning to Practice: Using Language to Build Understanding Across the Curriculum
This presentation focuses on planning practices that allow students to learn language, learn through language, and learn about language in every subject area. The participants will explore ways to build background knowledge, increase structured oral interaction, and support comprehension by explicitly attending to syntax. Through intentional planning, the goal is to ensure all learners can access, engage with, and communicate complex ideas across the curriculum. 20 mins - Intro and active engagement: Language as a vehicle for learning (oral communication, morphology, syntax) 20 mins - Strategies for building effective planners (interactive) 20 minutes - Exploration of planning models (interactive)
Session Leader: Alina Guzganu
PYP EAL Teacher
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Planning / Literacy across the curriculum
Inspiring Emotionally Healthy Boys; From Stereotypes to SEL Success
This session explores innovative approaches to social-emotional learning (SEL) that specifically support boys’ emotional development, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Challenging outdated assumptions and pervasive stereotypes, participants will engage with creative, movement-based, and relational strategies that foster empathy, identity, and connection. Through evidence-informed practices and school case studies, attendees will examine the social and cultural forces shaping boys’ emotional lives, including peer dynamics, humor, and societal pressures. Participants will leave with three practical SEL strategies—ready to adapt and implement in their classrooms—to enhance engagement, promote emotional accessibility, and cultivate a culture of belonging that supports all students, not just boys.
Session Leader: Nick Haisman-Smith
Executive Director and Co-Founder
The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning
Nick Haisman-Smith (he/him) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, where his work explores SEL and educator belonging. He is a facilitator, consultant, keynote speaker, and author who has partnered with hundreds of schools and organisations worldwide.
Nick works with educators and leaders as a facilitator of professional learning and program development, helping schools build shared language, coherent systems, and daily practices that make belonging, wellbeing, and equity visible and sustainable across whole communities.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Boys, Wellbeing, Mental Health, SEL
Building Restorative Cultures: Proactive and Responsive SEL-Aligned Restorative Practices
This practical session equips school leaders and educators with strategies to sustainably integrate SEL and restorative practices across K–12 communities. Drawing on real-world case studies and IFSEL’s evidence-based Restorative Practices Ecosystem, participants will explore how SEL skills—like emotional regulation, active listening, and perspective-taking—support both proactive community-building and responsive relationship repair. Attendees will leave with actionable tools, frameworks, and confidence to embed restorative practices in daily school life. Participants will experience rituals, reflection strategies, and SEL-based interventions, and begin designing their own Responsive Restorative Practices Choice Board to strengthen connection, accountability, and belonging for students and staff alike.
Session Leader: Nick Haisman-Smith
Executive Director and Co-Founder
The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning
Nick Haisman-Smith (he/him) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, where his work explores SEL and educator belonging. He is a facilitator, consultant, keynote speaker, and author who has partnered with hundreds of schools and organisations worldwide.
Nick works with educators and leaders as a facilitator of professional learning and program development, helping schools build shared language, coherent systems, and daily practices that make belonging, wellbeing, and equity visible and sustainable across whole communities.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Restorative Practices, Behaviour, Wellbeing, SEL
Belonging by Design: Building Flourishing Adult Cultures in Schools
This interactive session equips school leaders and educators with practical strategies to strengthen teacher belonging as a foundation of adult SEL and school culture. Drawing on research, teacher narratives, and real-world examples, participants explore how intentional design, shared language, and supportive systems build trust, connection, and professional identity. Through hands-on activities and case studies, participants leave with clear tools to elevate teacher voice, align values, and foster inclusive, resilient school communities that support both educators and students.
Session Leader: Nick Haisman-Smith
Executive Director and Co-Founder
The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning
Nick Haisman-Smith (he/him) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, where his work explores SEL and educator belonging. He is a facilitator, consultant, keynote speaker, and author who has partnered with hundreds of schools and organisations worldwide.
Nick works with educators and leaders as a facilitator of professional learning and program development, helping schools build shared language, coherent systems, and daily practices that make belonging, wellbeing, and equity visible and sustainable across whole communities.
Beyond an Initiative - Practices to embed social and emotional learning (SEL) and wellbeing into all teaching and learning, and make it stick!
Transform SEL and Wellbeing from “another initiative” into a fully embedded, energizing part of school culture. This interactive workshop dives into leadership practices, real school stories, and practical tools that make SEL and wellbeing sustainable and equity-rooted. Explore how to frame SEL as core to teaching and learning, integrate it across subjects, and build a shared, whole-community approach. You’ll leave with adaptable resources—lesson ideas, planning templates, case studies—and clear strategies to lead lasting SEL integration in your context. Expect a session filled with creativity, connection, and inspiring takeaways that strengthen your commitment to meaningful, joyful SEL.
Session Leader: Nick Haisman-Smith
Executive Director and Co-Founder
The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning
Nick Haisman-Smith (he/him) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, where his work explores SEL and educator belonging. He is a facilitator, consultant, keynote speaker, and author who has partnered with hundreds of schools and organisations worldwide.
Nick works with educators and leaders as a facilitator of professional learning and program development, helping schools build shared language, coherent systems, and daily practices that make belonging, wellbeing, and equity visible and sustainable across whole communities.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Wellbeing, SEL, Mental Health
Design Out the Stress - Using SMART work design to boost wellbeing and performance for both staff and students
This interactive workshop introduces SMART work design as a practical way for teachers and leaders to reduce stress and improve how work actually feels day to day. Participants begin with a short self-assessment to pinpoint key sources of pressure in their own role, before working with school-based scenarios to better understand the conditions that commonly lead to overwhelm. Through discussion and hands-on activities, participants develop targeted, high impact solutions that won't add to their load. They leave with a personalised plan and the confidence to apply SMART principles not only to their own work, but also to the design of student learning experiences that support the same outcomes of enhanced engagement, enjoyment and balance."Beth Southern
Session Leader: Steph Hawkins
Steph Hawkins is the founder of Well Well Well. She works with schools to reduce unnecessary pressure and redesign the experience of work so that staff and students can thrive, without burning out.
Her work is grounded in two decades of teaching and leadership experience across schools in the UK and Singapore, giving her deep insight into the realities, pressures and possibilities of international education.
She brings this experience together with applied training in positive organisational psychology, leadership and wellbeing, ensuring her work is both evidence-informed and immediately practical for school settings.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Wellbeing
Wellbeing in Education: What's Changing, What's Working, What's Next? (co-presenter: Nick Haisman-Smith)
This facilitated conversation brings together current insight from contemporary research and lived experience to explore how staff and student wellbeing needs are evolving and what is genuinely making a difference in practice. Drawing on participant perspectives, short case studies and facilitator expertise, the session examines approaches that have improved wellbeing in meaningful and sustainable ways. Designed to be highly engaging, the session invites reflection, dialogue and shared learning across roles and contexts. It closes by highlighting what is giving educators hope, offering grounded insight and practical inspiration for the future.
Session Leader: Steph Hawkins
Steph is a trainer, facilitator, coach and Founder of Well Well Well. She works with schools internationally to strengthen staff wellbeing by translating wellbeing science into everyday practice, with a particular focus on how leadership, job roles, expectations and ways of working are designed.
Drawing on two decades of experience in educational leadership and a Masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology, her work supports schools to develop approaches that are sustainable, systemic, realistic and built to last - strengthening wellbeing, engagement and connection for all.
Nick Haisman-Smith (he/him) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Bristol, where his work explores SEL and educator belonging. He is a facilitator, consultant, keynote speaker, and author who has partnered with hundreds of schools and organisations worldwide.
Nick works with educators and leaders as a facilitator of professional learning and program development, helping schools build shared language, coherent systems, and daily practices that make belonging, wellbeing, and equity visible and sustainable across whole communities.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Wellbeing
Educating students to discern between 'good' and 'bad' information
Recent developments in digital technology and civic attitudes to truth have meant that students are drowning in a morass of distorted and inaccurate information. They not only access sites spewing out lies, hate and fear, they often share and spread such information through their own social media activity. Secondary education needs to take account of these changes, and provide students with the intellectual tools and practical examples to discern between good and bad sources of information. In terms of examples, the workshop focuses primarily on the teaching of history in secondary schools, but the content should have some relevance to teachers of other social studies subjects and to anyone interested in 'the truth problem' in society.
Session Leader: Terry Haydn
Emeritus Professor of History, University of East Anglia, formerly Head of History, Burnage High School, Manchester. Author of Learning to teach history in the secondary school. Website terryhaydn.co.uk.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Digital and information literacy
Leading with Positivity to Transform the Learning Landscape
Positive Leadership is more than a mindset; it is a high-impact transformational and instructional tool. This session will provide an insight into how the use of positive language and approaches can boost student engagement and performance, improve behaviour and transform the learning landscape within a school.
Session Leader: Wietse Hendriks
PYP Coordinator and Homeroom teacher at GIS The International School of Monza, Italy.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Leadership/Culture
We teach who we are. What are the values, behaviours and beliefs that your students learn from you?
What are your core values, behaviours and beliefs and how can you align your teaching with them? Using reflective tools, this seminar will explore how we choose to communicate, nurture relationships, design our lessons, present ourselves and manage behaviour are all ways in which we teach who we are. Aimed at educators of all ages, at any stage of their career, humour will be a strong element in this session as it is a core value of the presenter. The reflective tools may also prove useful not only for further personal development but also for in school training purposes.
Session Leader: Jane Hoatson
Independent Education Consultant. Former teacher trainer for the British Council and KS3 English language and literature teacher in International and State Schools in Italy.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Personal professional development
Developing academic vocabulary with multilingual learners.
Gain insight into challenges faced by EAL learners Experience strategies that help students acquire and use academic vocabulary Understand the difference between communicative and academic language and why the distinction matters in a CBTL environment. Reflect on how to apply these strategies in your classroom
Session Leader: Alison Hobden
Grade 4 Primary Teacher at Munich International School, formerly Head of Primary School EAL at UWC in Singapore.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: EAL, multilingualism, academic language
Strong from the Start: Tier 1 Strategies to Support EAL Learners in the Primary Classroom
The focus is on intentional classroom practices that can be embedded into everyday teaching across subjects. Aiming to help teachers: Identify common language barriers EAL learners face in mainstream classrooms Implement Tier 1 strategies that improve access to curriculum content for all learners Build confidence in adapting instruction without “watering down” learning
Session Leader: Alison Hobden
Grade 4 Primary Teacher at Munich International School, formerly Head of Primary School EAL at UWC in Singapore.
Mixed Mega Maths- how to weave joy into your primary maths curriculum through inquiry based lessons.
This session will help teachers explore effective teaching strategies to use every day in their maths lessons. It will focus on trialing some of the strategies and will encourage open dialogue between professional educators. Teachers will leave with positive, concrete ideas to try out as soon as they return to school. These will include: Six-a-day Mixed Mega Maths Maths talks Strategy talks Differentiated practice Visual thinking routines
Session Leader: Emma Rachel Holland
Year 5 classroom teacher and PYP coordinator at the H-Farm International School, Venice, Italy
Journal Clubs: Grassroots CPD for busy teachers and leaders.
Co-presented by Emma Wilkinson.
Journal Clubs have emerged and evolved over the last few years, and can create a solid basis for research-informed professional development in schools. We will explore a template for creating engaging and impactful dialogue and show how they can be woven into a whole-school approach. Our workshop will model a mini-Journal Club and provide you with the resources you need to create your own training experiences on any scale, from enhancing subject knowledge to departmental or school-wide events. The format can be used to add depth and critical debate to any type of teacher or leadership training and has applications in any classroom for learners. This session is for anyone, including beginner teachers, interested in contributing to professional development in their school. Everyone attending this session will be provided with a Journal Club starter pack.
Session Leader: Louisa Horner
Learning & Development Lead for CATS Global Schools and NPQ Delivery Lead for UCL’s Institute of Education.
Louisa has taught for over 20 years across UK and international programmes, specialising in History, Sociology and the Extended Project. She has worked extensively in initial teacher training and early career teacher development in the UK and enjoys delivering guest lectures and organising training visits for international teacher qualifications. Since 2014, Louisa has held a number of leadership responsibilities including designing and delivering professional development across schools. She is a qualified level 7 coach, shapes and coordinates NPQs both in the UK and globally and facilitates ILM coaching qualifications.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Professional development
Make your feedback count: Successfully embedding metacognitive skills.
Co-presented by Emma Wilkinson.
Metacognition has been widely advocated so we will critically review the research, including misconceptions, and illustrate easy ways to integrate deep thinking into regular cycles of assessment and feedback. Our templates are tried and tested, with tangible results that go beyond student grades. We will explore the impact on students’ capacities for decision-making, independent learning and making a successful transition to university. These straightforward activities support students to reflect explicitly and meaningfully and can be woven seamlessly into any subject lessons to generate deeper thinking skills. This session is for all classroom practitioners, and leaders with responsibility for teaching, learning and assessment. Everyone will receive a resource pack, including guidance on embedding metacognition in multilingual, multicultural classrooms.
Session Leader: Louisa Horner
Learning & Development Lead for CATS Global Schools and Delivery Partner Lead for UCL’s Institute of Education.
Louisa has taught for over 20 years across UK and international programmes, specialising in History, Sociology and the Extended Project. She has worked extensively in initial teacher training and early career teacher development in the UK and enjoys delivering guest lectures and organising training visits for international teacher qualifications. Since 2014, Louisa has held a number of leadership responsibilities including designing and delivering professional development across schools. She is a qualified level 7 coach, shapes and coordinates NPQs both in the UK and globally and facilitates ILM coaching qualifications.
Why Play Matters - Making a Case for Prioritising Play in Schools and Beyond
Discover the transformative role of play in children's lives. "The Power of Play." This engaging presentation will explore the barriers to children’s play and highlight how play fosters children's well-being, creativity, confidence, and lifelong learning. Join us to explore innovative play practices and celebrate the joy and importance of play in your school setting. Session Outcomes By the end of this session, participants will: 1. Understand the Essential Role of Play Gain insight into why play is fundamental to children’s emotional, social, cognitive and physical development, and how it supports wellbeing and learning across all age groups. 2. Identify Key Barriers to Play Explore the current challenges limiting children’s opportunities to play—both in and out of school—and reflect on how these barriers can be addressed in your setting. 3. Recognise the Impact of Positive Play Environments Learn how inclusive, engaging and well-structured play environments promote creativity, cooperation, resilience, and a sense of belonging. 4. Discover Practical Strategies to Champion Play Take away a range of innovative, evidence-informed approaches and playful ideas that can be embedded in daily practice to enhance children’s play experiences. 5. Feel Inspired to Lead a Play-Positive Culture Leave feeling energised and equipped to advocate for the power of play within your school or organisation—and to inspire others to do the same.
Session Leader: Therese Hoyle
Director of Positive Playtimes
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Playtimes and lunchtimes
An Introduction to Positive Playtimes – a practical workshop exploring how to create safe, inclusive and joyful school playtimes.
In today’s pressured educational climate, play is not a luxury—it’s essential. This interactive and energising workshop introduces a practical framework for transforming your school’s playtimes into vibrant, inclusive, and enriching experiences. Drawing on the best-selling resource 101 Playground Games, you’ll explore fun, easy-to-implement games that boost children’s social, emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. You’ll also discover how to create engaging play zones and promote a culture of purposeful play. This hands-on session will leave you inspired and equipped with ready-to-use strategies to make your school’s playtimes more joyful, structured and meaningful.
Session Leader: Therese Hoyle
Director Positive Playtimes
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Playtimes and lunchtimes
Unleashing Student Thinking through Concept-Based Inquiry Mathematics (co-presenter: Silvia Semana)
Imagine a mathematics class where thinking mattered more than memorizing. What if procedure-heavy instruction was replaced with a concept-based, inquiry-driven approach that places understanding, exploration, and student thinking at the center? This session will show how rich inquiry questions, grounded in deep conceptual connections, can spark curiosity, deepen understanding, and shift the cognitive focus from the teacher to the learner. It will provide educators with strategies to empower students to think like mathematicians, fostering greater ownership and agency among learners. Walk away with practical tools and powerful insights to transform your mathematics classroom!
Session Leader: Jessica Humble-Crofts
Jessica Humble-Crofts - Curriculum Coach and Education Consultant
Jessica Humble-Crofts is an experienced international educator, consultant, and coach who works with educators worldwide to develop innovative Concept-Based curricula. As a certified independent Erickson and Lanning Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction Trainer, Jessica has led workshops worldwide, presented keynotes, and facilitated a global professional learning community to cultivate best practices in Concept-Based Inquiry. She is one of the lead curriculum developers for The CBI Mathematics Project and has been involved in its development, implementation, professional development, and support. Jessica is the science specialist for the CBCI Institute and has successfully developed and led several professional development courses for Professional Learning International. Drawing on her extensive classroom experience in both middle and high school, Jessica is passionate about designing transformative learning experiences for learners.
Silvia Semana - Quality Assurance Lead for Teaching and Learning at the International School of The Hague
Dr. Silvia Semana is an experienced international educator and leader specialising in formative assessment, concept-based inquiry, and innovative teaching practices. Currently serving as CIS Coordinator, she will transition into the role of Quality Assurance Lead for Teaching and Learning at the International School of The Hague – Secondary Division. In this capacity, she drives strategic initiatives in school improvement, student agency, and professional learning. Holding a PhD in Education, her research focused on teaching practices that support students’ self-regulation of learning. This foundational work continuously informs her approach to embedding formative assessment and concept-based inquiry across the curriculum.
We're Learning Shakespeare in Latvian?!: A Practical Toolkit to Multilingual Literary Pedagogy
Monolingual literature instruction is singing its swan song. In an increasingly multilingual world, pedagogy must adapt to the students in front of us. What does effective teaching look like when students do not share a single dominant language? Which routines level the playing field without compromising rigor, and help students build connections across cultures and texts? Drawing on a year in a translanguaging-informed literature classroom, I share practical techniques that work across proficiency levels: from students new to analysis to advanced multilingual learners. The result is an adapted syllabus for teaching literature beyond a "one-canon" model.
Session Leader: Benjamin Ibrulj
IB English, Literature, Philosophy, and TOK teacher; Extended Essay coordinator at International School Strasbourg
Format: Seminar | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Literature class/Translanguaging/Techniques/IB MYP
Change the Task Not the Text: Supporting Critical Thinking in a Multilingual World
The aim of this session is to provide teachers with zero-low prep strategies to incorporate engaging interpretive activities into their classes using texts that are hyper-authentic to students. This session will be geared towards secondary language teachers who will walk away with tools to implement the following Monday. Teachers who are interested in learning about comprehensible input strategies will benefit form this workshop.
Session Leader: Maria Issenchmidt
English Acquisition Teacher, George Washington Academy, Casablanca, Morocco
10+ years teaching French (United States and Türkiye) and English (France and Morocco).
Designing a school curriculum focused arounf Technology and Ourdoor Learning
My school is designed around two embedded strands: Education Technology and Outdoor Learning. This drives improvement across all areas of school life. This seminar, for all, will share how both strands are woven throughout the curriculum as the core offer, not bolt-on extras. The carefully planned focus on soft (power!) skills within these strands, to prepare learners for their future education, work and life in general, is the main ambition and outcome. I will also explore how these approaches could form the basis for a whole-school model at a greater level, plus what we'd do differently without the constraints of national curriculum and external accountability.
Session Leader: Matt Jessop
Matt Jessop, Head Teacher at Crosthwaite C.E. Primary School, Lake District, England. National award-winning school for Education Technology and Outdoor Learning. Passionate advocate for enriched curriculum approaches that prioritise the whole child.
Small Steps, Real Impact: Agile Workflows for School Improvement
Session aim To support teachers and middle leaders in leading teaching and learning projects more effectively by using simple, agile workflows that increase clarity, momentum, and impact without adding unnecessary bureaucracy. Session content This session explores how agile project management principles can be adapted for school based teaching and learning initiatives. Participants are introduced to a practical five phase workflow for managing projects from definition to completion, with a focus on building shared understanding, clear roles, realistic timelines, and regular feedback loops. Session outcomes By the end of the session, participants will • have a clear, adaptable workflow they can apply to teaching and learning initiatives in
Session Leader: Russell Johnston
Deputy School Director, Head of Secondary School, NPQEL, NPQSL Facilitator, NEASC Accreditation Visitor, COBIS CPML Facilitator
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Project management
Curiosity in the classroom: Practical strategies to interest, inspire and inform learners.
Curiosity is a powerful driver of learning. The desire to discover, question, and understand. While promoting curiosity in the classroom is a worthwhile goal, it can often feel abstract and challenging to embed in practice. In this workshop, Kate Jones will explore how teachers can turn the concept of curiosity into concrete classroom strategies. The session will share practical ideas to spark interest, intrigue, and engagement across all key stages and subjects. Attendees will leave with evidence-informed, actionable approaches to help foster a culture of curiosity that supports deeper learning, motivation, and long-term understanding and lifelonh love of learning .
Session Leader: Kate Jones
Senior Associate for Teaching and Learning at Evidence-Based Education and best-selling author.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Curiosity/Teaching and Learning Techniques
More Than Clumsiness: Understanding and Supporting Developmental Coordination Disorder in the class room (co-presenter: Gaelle Podbury)
This workshop helps teachers better understand Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and how it impacts students beyond “clumsiness” or handwriting difficulties. Through a brief simulation and classroom examples, participants explore the hidden cognitive and physical effort required for everyday school tasks such as writing, organising materials, participating in PE, and keeping pace in lessons. The session focuses on inclusive, low-effort classroom adjustments that support independence, reduce frustration, and maintain high expectations—without lowering academic standards or teaching to a diagnosis.
Session Leader: Subha Kuijper
Student Support Coordinator, International School of Toulouse
Explicit Is Inclusive - Making the Hidden Language of School Visible (co-presenter: Sam Housley)
The hidden curriculum is everything students are expected to understand, interpret, and act on without being directly taught. It’s not written in the lesson plan, but it strongly affects access to learning. Tips and strategies to take away to use in an inclusive classroom.
From Concepts to Action: Hands-On Science Learning in the Classroom
This session explores a concept-based approach to teaching science from lower to upper elementary. Educators will engage in hands-on experiments, investigations, and discussions to see how concepts emerge naturally. Participants will explore strategies such as sorting, categorizing, naming, and using inductive approaches to guide students’ conceptual understanding. Through reflection and practical application, teachers will gain ready-to-use techniques to design engaging, inquiry-based science lessons that foster curiosity, deepen understanding, and can be immediately implemented in their classrooms.
Session Leader: Moran Kwak
Tashkent International School Grade 4 teacher, Have taught various grade levels from preschool to grade 5, IB workshop leader, CBCI certified trainer, Global Schools Advocate
How to Design Thriving Spaces Through Strategic Curriculum Planning
We are a leading global education design consultancy, dedicated to revolutionising learning environments. Our vision is to seamlessly integrate nature and functionality, crafting dynamic spaces that inspire innovation. Through a deep understanding of cognition and a commitment to design excellence, our team enhances the learning experience, fosters student well-being, and creates lasting positive impacts on communities worldwide. Do you have an idea that you would like to implement or are you looking for a solution to a problem? Our session at Practical Pedagogies 2026 will focus on how you can strategically bring about a change in your school through effective curriculum design and embed this through the biophilic design of your spaces.
Session Leader: Joanne Ladds
I am an educational consultant and learning space designer with two decades of experience in the education sector. With a lifetime devoted to learning, my work shows an unwavering dedication to creating thriving educational spaces. As a consultant, researcher, and speaker, I am a valued member of the Noble+Eaton team.
I am passionate about educational change and dedicated to creating strategically designed and inclusive learning spaces. My approach is deeply rooted in evidence-led and pupil-centric methodologies that foster growth and encourage all students to thrive.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Curriculum Design
Practical Entrepreneurship: A Structured Ideation Method for Any Classroom
Practical Entrepreneurship: A structured ideation method for any classroom This session introduces a simple, classroom-ready ideation method inspired by entrepreneurship education and applicable across a range of subjects. Participants will experience a structured play-based activity where they work in small groups to solve a real-world social, economic, or environmental problem using randomised prompts. The method can be implemented within a single lesson, a full day, a week-long camp, or extended across an academic year. Using the same core framework in different formats, the approach consistently develops adaptability, perseverance, problem-solving, and student agency.
Session Leader: Aurel Tamas Maracsko
Founder, Meliora Solutions. IBDP Teacher, AQA Examiner, Educational Change maker in the business of ideas.
When students move directly from a source to product, it can result in a patchwork outcome. This session introduces a hands-on method that forces students to consider how pieces of information from different sources fit together before starting a final product. This method turns the abstract concept of organization into a visual and kinesthetic task. By treating pieces of information from a variety of sources as moveable building blocks, students learn to group data by subtopics. The approach requires physically manipulating notes, forcing a pause where students synthesize information. In addition, this process can help to clarify the student’s voice and makes in-text citations a natural part of the process rather than an afterthought.
Session Leader: Kristin Maurer
Middle School Coordinator, Teacher of English Language & Literature + Social Studies
I am originally from the USA, but have been teaching at International Schools around the world since 2011. My career in education has taken me from the Americas to Asia, and Europe. Though not currently at an MYP school, my experience working within this framework has helped to shape me into the educator I am today. The me from 10 years ago shied away from teaching research, but thanks to some amazing librarian colleagues, I now confidently embrace teaching research with enthusiasm.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Research Skills
Empowering Global Citizens: Service Learning and Character Building for a Just and Joyful Tomorrow
Description: In an era marked by rapid change and uncertainty, fostering the development of compassionate, resilient, and globally-minded individuals is essential. This session will explore how service learning and character-building initiatives can empower students to become active contributors to a just and joyful future. By embedding self-awareness, empathy, and innovation into educational practices, we can cultivate the qualities that young people need to thrive both academically and in their broader communities. Attendees will gain practical insights into integrating service learning into their curricula, strengthening students’ sense of purpose, and nurturing the values of citizenship, social justice, and sustainable change. This session will be of particular value to educators and leadership teams seeking to build a culture of empathy and engagement, where students are empowered to make a meaningful impact on the world. Join us in shaping future global citizens who are ready to navigate an uncertain world with hope and resilience. Outcome: By the end of this session, participants will have a deeper understanding of how to effectively incorporate service learning and character-building initiatives into their educational practices to empower students as global citizens. Two key takeaways include strategies for designing impactful service learning projects that foster empathy and community engagement, and methods for integrating character-building activities that cultivate resilience, self-awareness, and social responsibility. Participants will leave with practical tools to adapt these strategies to their own school or community context, enhancing their students' ability to make meaningful contributions to a just and sustainable future. Whether you're looking to strengthen your school's global citizenship initiatives or refine your approach to nurturing the qualities that help students thrive in an uncertain world, this session provides actionable insights for increasing the impact of the IB in your classroom and beyond.
Session Leader: Aurelia McNicol
IB, IGCSE, MYP and IMYP teacher in languages as well as MYP Coordinator and Assistant Principal Academics at Ecole Internationale de Genève
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Service as action for all year groups
Building Empathy, Belonging, and Joy Through Story-Based Positive Pedagogy
Positive pedagogy reminds us that learning begins with belonging, emotional safety, and being seen. This interactive session invites primary educators to experience how empathy can be intentionally taught as part of everyday practice. Drawing on primary classroom experience in an international context, the workshop explores storytelling as a powerful tool for emotional understanding and perspective-taking. Participants will engage in practical routines that use strength-based language, curiosity, and reflection to support wellbeing, behaviour, and learning. Gentle use of media and AI is introduced as a reflective mirror, helping children consider voice, fairness, and representation. Teachers will leave with realistic, ready-to-use strategies to foster empathy, joy, and resilience. Suitable for beginners.
Session Leader: Leena Merikallio
Academic Principal at the Um Nasser Finland Preschool in Bahrain
A Pedagogical Approach to Curricula for Sport, Physical Activity, Health and Wellbeing.
(Designing, Delivering and Developing sporting curricula that is grounded in pedagogical principles).
Providing teachers with evidence grounded, transferable, principles and strategies for planning and delivering practical disciplines in an educationally impactful fashion. The session will hinge around the purposes, content, methods and evaluation of sport and physical activity in educational settings. The session will utilise accessible theory, real world examples through visual and auditory stimuli, frameworks for thinking and scenarios to consider. It would likely suit those with more experience and potentially responsibility for a whole department or the wider experience of pupils not just those they directly teach.
Session Leader: Jack Moran
Director of Sport at Bradford Grammar School since 2023. Part-time PhD student at Moray House, School of Education and Sport, Edinburgh University. Area of study is curriculum based approaches to Sport, Physical Activity and Talent Development. Qualified as a History Teacher in 2016 from Durham University. 10 years in Education teaching History, PE, leading rugby and now sport in schools.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Planning and delivering your sport and physical activity curriculum through a pedagogically informed lens.
The pressure kick: preparing students to land the shot with affective skill practice
Have you ever watched a decisive moment unfold under immense pressure? A penalty kick to win a World Cup final. A last-second free throw. A drop goal with the clock in the red. These moments are beautiful not just because of skill, but composure. Students face similar moments in exams. Like athletes, they practise and build knowledge, but something is missing. Professional players also receive psychological coaching to manage pressure and perform at their best. In this session, I share practical ways I prepare students for exams by developing affective skills, drawing on sports psychology and wellbeing philosophy. We often teach practice and knowledge — but do we teach mental strength?
Session Leader: Tom Murray
Background in History, now teaching MYP English Language and Literature at Košice International School (KEIS) in Slovakia. Author of The Onion Classroom (just launched).
This hands-on workshop is built around doing real high-quality maths tasks—not just talking about them. Participants will experience a carefully selected set of rich inquiry tasks that work in PYP classrooms: low floor, high ceiling, multiple pathways, and a natural route into reasoning and justification. For each task, we’ll zoom in on the teaching moves that make it land: how to launch without over-scaffolding, what to listen for, how to select and sequence student strategies, and how to guide the class toward clear mathematical conclusions while keeping the inquiry alive. We’ll also look at common pitfalls (tasks that look “rich” but collapse into answer-getting) and the small adjustments that protect the thinking. You’ll leave with a ready-to-teach task pack (plus facilitation notes) you can use immediately—across a range of ages—with clear connections to conceptual understanding and inquiry-based teaching in the PYP.
Session Leader: James Myklebust-Hampshire
Founder of Sembl and former PYP Coordinator and homeroom teacher.
Making Group-work Work: practical ways to empower groups of students to work and learn together.
Group work should build independence, not chaos. In this highly practical workshop, you’ll learn a simple “Group Project System†that helps students plan properly, share the load, and stay on track—without the teacher becoming the project manager. You’ll leave with ready-to-use mini-lessons to explicitly teach collaboration and project skills, plus student-ready tools including a planning sprint and Kanban board that turns “we just started†into clear tasks, roles, and next steps. Ideal for teacher-led projects and student-led inquiries.
Session Leader: James Myklebust-Hampshire
Founder of XFocus, a project management system for student-driven learning.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Group Work / Projects
Eco schools: integrating sustainability in schools (co-presenter: Yui Yoshinari)
This will be a joint session with another colleague Samantha Orchard. We will introduce a few small quick practical ideas on making students involved in sustainability, then a presentation on what we have done at International school of Toulouse so far for eco schools and a round table to finish off to share and exchange ideas.
Session Leader: Samantha Orchard
Curriclulum Leader for Business at the International School of Toulouse
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Eco schools
Sensitive and Controversial History in the Secondary Classroom: approaches utilising Korea as a case study.
This workshop supports secondary history teachers in navigating sensitive and controversial topics in the classroom through practical, adaptable strategies. The session begins by defining what constitutes “sensitive” and “controversial” historical content and invites participants to reflect on how these topics arise differently across school contexts, student populations, and community expectations. Using Korea from 1937–1945 as a focused case study, the workshop models practical approaches for teaching histories involving colonialism, war and historical trauma. While the content focus is specific, the strategies presented are intentionally transferable to other regions, time periods and subject areas.
Session Leader: Lexi Oudman
IB and IGCSE History Teacher at Rotterdam International Secondary School, the Netherlands.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Controversies in the classroom
From Silence to Substance: Designing powerful Oracy moments that drive Inquiry
Inquiry-based learning depends on learners being able to think, question, and make meaning together. Yet in many classrooms, talk is either limited to a small group of confident speakers or reduced to surface-level participation that does not lead to deeper understanding. This workshop invites educators to explore how intentional oracy design can transform classroom talk into a powerful driver of inquiry, reasoning, and learner agency. This engaging, practical, and classroom-ready workshop focuses on the small but significant pedagogical decisions teachers make when designing and facilitating talk. Rather than presenting a collection of strategies to be “implemented,” the session positions oracy as a learning condition that must be deliberately designed, modelled, and revisited. Drawing on inquiry-based learning, visible thinking practices, and the work of James Nottingham on cognitive challenge and learning pits, participants will explore how purposeful talk can move learning beyond comfort and into productive struggle. The session begins with a short, interactive oracy experience in which participants take on the role of learners. This provocation is designed to model the kind of talk that supports curiosity, reasoning, and collaborative sense-making. Without relying on theory-heavy input or slide-based instruction, the experience becomes a shared reference point for reflection and analysis. Participants will then use a practical Talk Lens Tool to unpack what made the oracy experience effective. This tool supports educators in analysing talk through questions such as: Who is speaking and who is not? What kind of thinking is being invited? How does the structure of talk support or limit cognitive challenge? How safe do learners feel to take intellectual risks? These reflections connect directly to James Nottingham’s work on the importance of creating learning environments where students are challenged beyond the surface level, encouraged to wrestle with ideas, and supported through uncertainty rather than protected from it. Building on this analysis, participants will examine everyday classroom moments that commonly involve talk—such as provocations, reflections, transitions, and formative assessment opportunities. Working collaboratively, they will redesign one familiar moment to intentionally: • Increase cognitive demand and depth of reasoning • Move learners into productive struggle rather than superficial agreement • Amplify student voice while maintaining clear structure • Support quieter learners and multilingual students • Foster agency, curiosity, and collective meaning-making Particular attention will be given to early years and lower primary contexts, including strategies for non-writers and emergent speakers. Participants will explore how oracy can make thinking visible even when written language is limited, and how talk structures can evolve as learners develop confidence and independence. The workshop emphasises that high-quality talk is not dependent on age, subject, or curriculum, but on thoughtful pedagogical design. Throughout the session, participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own comfort zones as educators. Drawing on Nottingham’s concept of learning pits, the workshop highlights how teachers can intentionally design talk moments that invite challenge, uncertainty, and cognitive conflict—while still providing the support learners need to move forward. Rather than avoiding struggle, participants will explore how oracy can become the bridge that helps learners navigate it. This workshop is suitable for both educators new to inquiry and experienced practitioners. Beginners will gain clear structures and practical tools for designing purposeful talk, while experienced educators will be invited to deepen and refine their practice through reflection, redesign, and collaboration. The session does not focus on any specific national curriculum or education system, making it relevant and transferable across international contexts and school settings. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with: • A clearer understanding of oracy as a driver of inquiry and cognitive challenge • A practical framework for analysing and designing classroom talk • At least one redesigned oracy moment ready to use immediately • Increased confidence in facilitating talk that is inclusive, challenging, and meaningful Above all, this workshop offers a collaborative space for educators to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with the power of talk as a catalyst for learning. In moving from silence—or noise—to substance, participants will leave better equipped to design oracy moments that truly matter in inquiry-driven classrooms
Session Leader: Penelope Pareja
Educational Consultant for PD. PYP teacher, phonics expert and Learning Advocate for Learning Pioneers
"Starting the Journey: Building a Whole School Approach to DEIB" (co-presenter: Henriette Teuchler)
This session will explore how one school began its journey toward a whole-school approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). Participants will learn about the key strategies and tools that helped lay the foundation for a more inclusive school culture, including the use of surveys to gather community feedback, inclusivity walks to assess the school environment, and a deliberate approach to building trusting and respectful relationships. Through shared resources and actionable insights, attendees will gain practical ideas and inspiration to initiate or strengthen their own DEIB efforts.
Session Leader: Alison Pattinson
Alison Pattinson; Head of Primary, IBEN Programme Leader, an educator for over 30 years and working in International schools for 17 years
Henriette Teuchler; Whole School Wellbeing Counsellor, Registered Nurse, have worked in International Schools for 19 years.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)
Better History - Using AI to help students develop more effective thinking about documents.
Can AI help students develop better historical thinking skills, instead of replacing them? The National Archives has been working with high school students to investigate large collections of documents using AI to develop their enquiry skills by developing a better understanding of how to formulate and undertake historical investigations. This session will demonstrate the approach taken and the benefits achieved in using AI to develop student understanding of source-based enquiry and historical interpretation. It will be a hands-on practical exploration of how AI can enable students to work effectively with document collections for enquiry-based learning and show that AI can improve thinking, rather than replace it.
Session Leader: Andrew Payne
Head of Education & Outreach
The National Archives of the UK
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: History / AI / Document-based enquiry skills
Play-based learning is often associated with early years practice - but it was never designed to stop there. In this session, Hayley Peacock explores how Playoneering protects and evolves playful, enquiry-led pedagogy as children move from EYFS (0-5 years) into Key Stage 1 (5-7 years) and beyond. Drawing on lived practice from award-winning schools and settings, Hayley will unpack how meaningful learning can remain rigorous, purposeful and child-led without sacrificing curriculum expectations. She will explore how play evolves rather than disappears, how structure can be used intelligently, and how enquiry, agency and deep thinking can be sustained in the primary years. This session is ideal for educators and leaders who want continuity, coherence and confidence in their pedagogy - ensuring children don’t lose curiosity, creativity or joy as academic demands increase.
Session Leader: Hayley Peacock
CEO & Founder of Hayley Peacock Education.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Play based learning in early years
Using A.I. to help develop students’ historical rigour using sources
The foundation of this session is based on the fact that A.I. image generators are often 'unreliable narrators' of history, filled with anachronisms and bias. This session will show how to transform these flaws into a powerful teaching tool by looking at evidence-based activities centered on critiquing A.I.-generated historical images (e.g. Mansa Musa's court). This session will help elevate students' source analysis by using A.I. inaccuracies to practice detecting bias and challenging interpretations and develop historical rigour by cross-referencing A.I. outputs with primary sources (like Ibn Battuta for Mansa Musa's court).
Session Leader: Jack Pettitt
AAHT, T&L, history teacher
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: History, A.I.
Élémentaire, ma chère grammaire… Pour une approche vivante du cours de langue française.
Élémentaire, ma chère grammaire ! Sous les traits d’Onoma Holmes, linguiste-investigatrice, je reprends le dossier de la grammaire, trop souvent traitée comme une scène de crime pédagogique. Ma méthode, la « Grammaire étymoludique », s’appuie sur les sciences cognitives et l’étymologie pour lever le voile sur l’arbitraire des règles. Elle est destinée à tout enseignant intéressé par le sujet , en particulier aux enseignants de primaire (qui ne sont pas toujours linguistes) et de collège. Testé et éprouvé en classe, ce protocole "étymoludique" remplace l'étiquetage passif par la déduction active et la méthode. En 60 min, je partage des outils de terrain immédiatement transférables pour transformer les élèves en véritables détectives du sens.
Session Leader: Isabelle Pigeard de Gurbert
Enseignante de Français (Bac & IB) et de TOK, IBEN verification visit Member, examiner. Former IBDP and EE coordinator.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Pédagogie et enseignement de la grammaire française en cours élémentaire, moyen et en collège
Another brick in the wall? Breaking down subject barriers with creative geography.
This session explores creative ways to teach geography by linking it with music, art, history, and global issues. From protest songs and visual storytelling to the Ice Man, famous refugees, climate change, and the New Silk Roads, discover how interdisciplinary approaches make geography engaging and relevant. The session also highlights how Hans Rosling’s Factfulness, Gapminder, and Dollar Street can be embedded to challenge stereotypes, and to build numeracy into the geography classroom. Colleagues will leave with practical ideas to inspire curiosity, deepen understanding, and break down subject barriers.
Session Leader: Matthew Podbury
Head of Geography at the International School of Toulouse.
Author of www.geographypods.com and www.ibgeographypods.org
Games and Drama activities into teaching languages (mother tongue and modern foreign language).
During the session, we will be discussing the importance of using short fun activities to introduce/revise a topic. Then, I will be sharing with colleagues several games and short Drama activities we can use in class when we teach languages as a mother tongue or a foreign language. The idea is to try the games during the session to make the session practical.
Session Leader: Emmanuel Renou
Teacher of French and Drama, Grade 6-8 Coordinator.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Languages (mother tongue & foreign languages) / Learning / Introduce or Reinforce a new topic
Reimagining Primary Mathematics with Concept-Based Inquiry
This session reimagines mathematics teaching by shifting from traditional, procedure-heavy instruction to a concept-based, inquiry-driven approach. In this interactive practical session, teachers will experience Concept-Based Inquiry first-hand and explore strategies to deepen students’ agency, flexible thinking and mathematical understanding. Through experiencing Concept-Based Inquiry themselves, teachers will come away with: - Practical strategies for balancing inquiry with the development of mathematical fluency - Ideas for structuring mathematical inquiry throughout a unit - Approaches to make maths learning more inductive and giving students more agency
Session Leader: Patrick Renouf
Independent Maths Coach & Consultant
https://www.patrickrenouf.com/
Patrick Renouf brings 25 years of K–5 teaching and coaching experience and a passion for Concept-Based Inquiry to transform how children and teachers experience mathematics, especially meaningful as a former “maths trauma” sufferer. Patrick loves supporting teachers in bringing learning to life and facilitating workshops that spark lasting change.
Known, Loved, and Valued: A Strategic Framework for Belonging, Engagement, and Student Success
Duration: 60 minutes Audience: School leaders, pastoral leaders, inclusion leads, heads of year, senior leadership teams Format: Interactive presentation with reflection and discussion Overview Across education, we increasingly recognise that academic success is inseparable from students’ sense of belonging, identity, and connection. Yet many schools struggle to move beyond isolated initiatives towards a coherent, sustainable approach that ensures every student is truly known, loved, and valued. This workshop introduces a strategic, whole-school framework designed to embed belonging, inclusion, and student agency into the daily life of a school — without increasing workload or reliance on ad-hoc interventions. Drawing on leadership experience across multiple secondary schools, the session will explore how schools can create cultures where students feel seen, supported, and motivated to engage and succeed. Rather than presenting a checklist or programme, this session focuses on leadership thinking, structural alignment, and cultural levers that enable schools to build belonging intentionally and at scale.
Session Leader: Julie Richardson
Regional Director of Community Schools, Trust, London.
Julie Richardson is an experienced educational leader with over two decades of experience in secondary education. She has served as Headteacher in two 11–18 schools, leading significant and sustained school improvement, including curriculum reform, strengthened safeguarding and SEND provision, and the development of high-performing Sixth Forms. Julie is currently Regional Director at Community Schools Trust, where she supports Headteachers across multiple schools to drive strategic improvement, develop leadership capacity, and embed forward-thinking approaches to curriculum, assessment, digital technology, and workload reduction.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Belonging, Identity and Student Engagement
A Pedagogy of Engagement: Attention, Instruction and the Misconceptions That Undermine Learning
This workshop explores the need for a Pedagogy of Engagement grounded in cognitive science rather than entertainment. Drawing on Dylan Wiliam, Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, and research on attention (including Blake Harvard’s work), the session reframes engagement as sustained attention to learning. Through modelled classroom examples, participants will examine what engagement is and is not, identify common misconceptions and “lethal mutations,” and reflect on how instructional choices shape attention. Teachers will leave with a clearer understanding of effective, evidence-informed practice and practical strategies to design lessons that secure attention to result in learning.
Session Leader: Nicola Robinson
Senior Deputy Head at St Lawrence College Kent (Lead for Teaching and Learning, the Curriculum and Staff Development).
Passionate about professional development - have a Level 7 Coaching/Mentoring qualification and have FCCT (Chartered College) status.
Originally a Research Biochemist in Big Pharma who transitioned to teaching in 2012 - a deep interest in authentic action research and evidence-informed practice.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Student Attention and Engagement in the classroom.
This session introduces practical tools that help teachers plan learning engagements that scaffold student thinking and make it possible to assess understanding on an ongoing basis. The session also looks at how these same tools can be shared with students, so they understand what they are working towards, can monitor their own understanding, and know how to adjust their work without waiting for the teacher to step in. The ideas explored connect assessment, understanding, and self‑regulation in simple, workable ways. Teachers will leave with tools they can use immediately to support students in becoming more confident, self‑regulated learners.
Designing Inquiry That Leads to Conceptual Understanding
In this session, participants will explore what it looks like when inquiry leads to conceptual understanding. Through classroom examples and case studies, participants will examine how guiding questions can be used to scaffold student thinking from factual to conceptual, helping students articulate what they understand by the end of an inquiry. By the end of this session, participants will… * Recognize how different types of guiding questions support different kinds of thinking * Explore how case studies can be used to help students make connections and articulate their understanding. * Leave with at least one practical idea they can apply in their own classroom to support students in articulating understanding
Rationale and Context Schools increasingly aim to prepare learners to understand complexity, interdependence, and the consequences of their actions. The revised Primary Years Programme (PYP) reflects this shift through explicit references to systems, patterns, interdependencies, sustainability, and ethical decision-making across transdisciplinary themes and subject guides. Translating these ideas into everyday planning and classroom practice can remain challenging. Educators benefit from clear structures and practical approaches that make complex systems visible and manageable so that inquiry moves beyond surface-level exploration toward deeper understanding and responsible action. This workshop is designed for educators interested in exploring systems thinking and strengthening its application within curriculum design and classroom learning. Session Description This workshop explores how systems thinking can strengthen coherence, conceptual understanding, and meaningful action across learning contexts. Participants will examine how systems, cause and effect, and interdependence are explicitly developed within the Primary Years Programme through transdisciplinary themes and the social studies and science subject continuums. The workshop introduces a range of practical systems thinking tools that support the analysis of patterns, structures, perspectives, and consequences within real-world situations. These tools help educators and learners move beyond observable events to deeper understanding of underlying influences and ethical implications. Participants will engage in collaborative analysis, visual mapping, and guided reflection. Strategies will be shared for early years through upper primary settings. The focus remains on simple, transferable practices that can be immediately applied in local school contexts. Learning Outcomes Participants will: Identify explicit opportunities for systems thinking within curriculum frameworks Use structured tools to analyze patterns, relationships, and underlying influences in learning situations Apply strategies that support perspective-taking and ethical decision-making Strengthen planning for conceptual understanding, coherence, and learner agency Gain developmentally appropriate approaches to nurture systems thinking across age groups Workshop Structure and Engagement The workshop models inquiry-based professional learning and includes: Reflection activities to activate participants’ prior knowledge of systems in their own schools Guided analysis of curriculum excerpts to identify embedded systems thinking Small-group exploration of authentic classroom or community scenarios Collaborative systems mapping to examine relationships, impacts, and consequences Peer dialogue and synthesis discussions to support shared understanding
Session Leader: Youssef Sayah
PYP Coordinator/ Systems Thinker and concept-based learning advocate/ Global Schools advocate and instructional coach
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Thinking Skills
How to teach metacognition and make a difference to learning
Teaching metacognition has been shown to be one of the most powerful ways to improve pupils' learning, helping them to remember, and apply learning in new and more challenging tasks. Metacognition can also help teachers improve learning behaviours in the classroom. This session will explore what metacognition is, how it can be incorporated into day to day teaching and offer some practical take-away tools for teaching metacognition in the classroom. Teachers will learn about the research evidence for metacognition, and how metacognition can improve learning outcomes, resilience and perseverance and learning behaviours. They will explore when and how metacognition can be built into lessons, and the power of metacognitive modelling.
Session Leader: Sarah Seleznyov
Associate Headteacher, School 360
Sarah has been teaching for 30 years, across primary and secondary schools in the UK. Over the last four years, she has been involved in setting up School 360, an experimental state primary school in London, which seeks to offer an education of the head, heart and hand in equal measure.
Sarah has been a Lead Teacher on the Let's Think project for 15 years, specialising in a metacognitive approach to mathematics for early years and primary ages. Sarah has also worked on numerous action research and teacher development projects with a particular focus on innovation in teaching and learning. These have included projects in the UK such as Rethinking School, and internationally, including in Hong Kong, Korea, Latvia, Finland and Kazakhstan.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Metacognition (cross-curricular)
Assessment of Thinking Skills: helping pupils progress in Maths and Science
A trend in many international curricula for some decades has been to develop thinking skills. Experience shows that this is most productively achieved when teachers have well validated but also easy to use formative assessment tools to reveal the progress students have made and help plan next steps in teaching. This knowledge also allows teachers to adapt and respond to student thinking based on good evidence. This workshop introduces robust, tried and tested tools to assess the thinking of your students and thus help them progress. This is largely based on the work from a 4 year Erasmus project called Assessment Companion for Thinking Skills. https://letsthink.org.uk/resources/assessment-acts/ The workshop will explore two tools, one in the context of Science and one Maths. You will come away with a deepened understanding of student thinking and practical experience of using these assessment tools. Co-workshop lead: Alex Black
Session Leader: Sarah Seleznyov
Associate Headteacher, School 360
Sarah has been teaching for 30 years, across primary and secondary schools in the UK. Over the last four years, she has been involved in setting up School 360, an experimental state primary school in London, which seeks to offer an education of the head, heart and hand in equal measure. Sarah has been a Lead Teacher on the Let's Think project for 15 years, specialising in a metacognitive approach to mathematics for early years and primary ages. Sarah has also worked on numerous action research and teacher development projects with a particular focus on innovation in teaching and learning. These have included projects in the UK such as Rethinking School, and internationally, including in Hong Kong, Korea, Latvia, Finland and Kazakhstan.
The Power of Ongoing Assessment (co-presenter: Jessica Humble-Crofts)
This workshop explores the power of ongoing assessment as a driver of meaningful learning, rather than an end-of-unit event. Structured around short inputs, classroom examples, and participant reflection, the session models formative practice throughout. It focuses on practical, classroom-tested strategies such as clarifying and using learning intentions and success criteria, low-stakes checks for understanding, and feedback that informs next steps in real time. The workshop is particularly relevant for primary and secondary teachers seeking to strengthen responsiveness and student agency. Participants will leave with adaptable tools they can apply immediately to make learning more visible and impactful.
Session Leader: Silvia Semana
Silvia: Quality Assurance Teaching and Learning, International School of The Hague, CBI Mathematics Curriculum Developer, Educational Consultant
Note: Jessica will submit her bio in another submission we are presenting together
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Formative Assessment
As international schools grow increasingly diverse, educators are seeing more students who are both multilingual and neurodiverse. These learners bring unique strengths, perspectives, and challenges to the classroom. This workshop explores the intersection of multilingualism and neurodiversity, providing practical, research-informed strategies and examples of resources to create inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive.
Session Leader: Amelia Sevilla Martin
Additional Educational Needs Teacher and Head of Sustainability at the International School of Monaco
Empowering Futures: Youth as Co-Creators of Global Citizenship
This workshop is designed for secondary teachers working in curriculum design, pastoral care, and character education. It explores how student empowerment can transform global citizenship from a curriculum aim into lived experience. Drawing on student-led initiatives and international partnerships in Nepal, including enterprise challenges and service learning, the session examines how young people act as co-creators rather than recipients of education. Participants will reflect on the shift from student voice to student partnership and explore practical strategies for embedding co-created global learning within their own school contexts.
Session Leader: Rupal Shah
English Teacher and Charity Coordinator at Dubai College
Format: Seminar | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Citizenship/student voice/ whole school community
From Tasks to Transfer: Strengthening Mathematical Understanding through Concept-Based Inquiry.
This workshop invites teachers to step into the role of a student and experience a concept-based inquiry mathematics lesson first hand. You will engage in "doing", discussion, reasoning and problem solving. Experience how carefully designed guiding questions and tasks shift the heavy lifting back to students. Putting the joy back into mathematics! Key takeaways will be applicable to other subject areas.
Session Leader: Michelle Simpson
Educational Consultant and Workshop Leader for Professional Learning International
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Mathematics
This workshop will explore how to address some of the linguistic challenges of studying science subjects at post-16. It will focus on the use of : instructional verbs (e.g., calculate and describe) modality (e.g., would and might) reference (e.g.,what do this and it refer to?) the clause (e.g., main and subordinate) dense nominal groups (e.g., the direction of the magnetic force that acts on the moving electrons in the wire as a consequence of the current) calculate, describe Modality would, might Reference what do this and it refer to? The clause main and subordinate Dense nominal groups the direction of the magnetic force that acts on the moving electrons in the wire as a consequence of the current
Being Known Matters: Visibility, Voice and Safeguarding
Being Known Matters Visibility, Voice and Safeguarding Safeguarding is most effective when it is built into daily structures, not activated only in moments of concern. This workshop focuses on how schools can operationalise visibility, student voice and emotional literacy as practical safeguarding tools. Participants will work with three implementation frameworks. First, a Belonging Audit that examines adult advocacy, access to leadership, informal spaces and reporting systems. This provides a clear diagnostic of where relational strength exists and where students may be less visible. Second, Student Connection Mapping. Using a structured cohort template, participants will identify patterns of peer connection, adult attachment and participation. This approach ensures relational data informs safeguarding reviews alongside attendance and behaviour. Third, the Open Session structure. The Open Session is a facilitated, timetabled forum embedded within tutor or pastoral time. It follows a consistent routine: emotional check in, guided reflection prompt, structured sharing and adult containment. Clear norms govern listening and confidentiality. The adult models precise language and ensures balanced participation. The purpose is to develop confidence in expression, practise respectful dialogue and normalise help seeking before concerns escalate. Drawing on the work of Professor Marc Brackett, the session demonstrates how explicitly teaching students to recognise, label and regulate emotions strengthens communication, self advocacy and timely disclosure. Emotional literacy is treated as a safeguarding capability rather than an additional wellbeing initiative. Participants will leave with practical templates, a clear Open Session model and defined next steps for embedding visibility and voice within existing safeguarding systems.
Session Leader: Kate Sommerville
Head of School,The International School of Torres Vedras
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Inclusion/Safeguarding
Approaching EAL support strategically: From arrival to assessment and achievement.
This session will explore three important stages of working with EAL learners from arrival to assessment to achievement I will explore what it means to be EAL, how long the process of learning English can take and how best to assess and monitor the progress of your EAL cohort. KEY THEMES What does an effective new arrivals process look like? When should we assess learners? How does support differ according to proficiency level? What does it look like to be at different levels? What are common barriers to learning we should plan for? SESSION AIMS I will take delegates on a whistle-stop journey of all things EAL and examine how a robust and strategic, whole-school approach is the key to success for all. I am happy to do 2 sessions
Session Leader: Beth Southern
EAL consultant and specialist leader of education for EAL (SLE), UK
Format: Seminar | Audience: Whole School | Theme: EAL/Multilingualism
Curriculum for Wales (launched in 2022) places a responsibility for curriculum making (rather than curriculum implementation) on schools and teachers. Through the ‘Camau i’r Dyfodol’ (steps to the future) project, colleagues from UWTSD and the University of Glasgow have been working with and alongside teachers as they explore the opportunities and challenges that this brings. One of the key ideas that is emerging is the idea of the curriculum being ‘worthwhile’ for the learners. In this workshop, Dave will explore some of the background, some of the examples from the project and some advice for colleagues who might be thinking about their own curricular choices.
Session Leader: Dave Stacey
Head of Initial Teacher Education at the University of Wales Trinity St David
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Curriculum
In light of the current cultural spotlight being shone on 'oracy', this session aims to unpack the definition of this term, illustrate why it is so important, and equip practicioners who attend with practical strategies they can take back to their classroom. Many education theorists have suggested that no deeper learning can take place without a student first being able to verbalise their thinking: how do we make time in the classroom for this articulation to take place? What should they be talking about? Not just a buzzword, this session argues that talk is the key to unlocking more perceptive, more detailed and more confident written responses.
Session Leader: Hetty Steele
Head of Drama and Head of Year 8 at Bradford Grammar School. Author of 'How to Get a 9 in Shakespeare' (https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-get-Shakespeare-Hetty-Steele/dp/1915261287). Current PhD student at Kings College London.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Extended written responses/ Essay subjects
The Transformative Impact of Personal and Creative Writing on Teachers and Students
In an age dominated by AI and social media, how do we stay connected with our humanity, develop the capacity for reflection, confidence, wisdom, articulacy? This interactive workshop demonstrates the power and impact of the act of writing, psychologically and academically or professionally, for both students and teachers. It illustrates the success of recent initiatives, and how readily it can be incorporated into the classroom. It models a group activity: discussion of samples of writing; time for the participants’ own writing (no requirement to share); and reflection on ways to take this 30-minute exercise forward in the participants’ own educational communities. Suitable for anyone.
Session Leader: Elizabeth Stephan
Former Head of English and Drama at St Johns’s International School Belgium; Senior IB teacher at Hockerill Anglo-European College Uk. IB Examiner, workshop leader and author of three books on IB Liiterature
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Writing
As the title suggests, this session will take one story book and use it as a starting point for a variety of activities suitable for the primary languages classroom (aged 5-11). We’ll explore how to make links with learning across the primary curriculum including geography, science, art and PE, recycling language and knowledge, and supporting language development by linking with literacy strategies such as Talk for Writing and Voice21. Participants will be encouraged to bring a book that they have/would like to use in this way, and to share their ideas too. Although the session is approached from the perspective of a primary Spanish teacher working in England, ideas are not restricted to one language and can be widely applied.
Session Leader: Lisa Stevens
Languages and International Coordinator at two contrasting state primary schools in and near Birmingham, England.
A passionate advocate for creative primary language learning integrated into the curriculum and the value of global links and the international dimension.
Consulted for BBC, British Council, Rising Stars and more. Wrote Mi Madrid series for BBC Schools Radio
Moderator of the Languages in Primary Schools (LiPS) Facebook group
Website ¡Vámonos! (lisibo.com)
This session will be a fast-paced, idea-packed exploration of practical strategies to make history lessons more engaging, enquiry-driven, and effective. Participants will discover how “Escape the Room” scenarios and “History Mysteries” can spark powerful student investigations, alongside fresh approaches to reading, note-taking, essay-writing, and meaningful roleplay. The session will also showcase simple decision-making and strategy games, tools for prioritisation, categorisation, and analysis, and techniques for strengthening teacher-led lectures. Attendees will leave with creative homework ideas, dynamic debating and discussion methods, and inspiring ways to teach through images and mapwork, as well as opportunities for cross-curricular collaboration with other departments.
Session Leader: Russel Tarr
Curriclulum Leader for History at the International School of Toulouse, author of ActiveHistory.co.uk and ClassTools.net
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: History
A longstanding dichotomy in Western thought distinguishes emotion from cognition and, traditionally, privileges reason. This separation has shaped educational practices, often reinforcing hierarchical structures that marginalize the emotional dimensions of learning. However, research in affective neuroscience demonstrates the interdependence of emotion-based and cognitive neural processes (Immordino-Wang, 2016). Moreover, emotions are not universal, rather they are shaped by cultural contexts, influencing how students (and teachers) express and regulate emotions in learning environments. Recognizing the role of emotions in learning offers the possibility of designing more effective learning environments that enhance cognitive engagement while contributing to social justice by fostering inclusive and equitable classrooms. At The Bridge, Wellington College’s centre for research, learning and teaching, we have developed a workshop for classroom practitioners that deconstructs the relationship between emotion and cognition. The workshop explores modes of communication and pedagogical approaches to dealing with conflict, contributing to a classroom climate of positive communication and mutual understanding – essential elements of an education for peace - especially in diverse classroom settings. Drawing from research on the pedagogy of discomfort, we aim to help educators develop a more nuanced understanding of both verbal and non-verbal communication (teacher-student and student-student) in order to create inclusive classrooms that challenge dominant narratives and foster critical engagement. Fundamental aims of the workshop include: • Critically reflecting on how one’s personal and social identity informs pedagogical practices, curriculum and course development; • Communicating effectively and productively with students on the impact of identity constructs on the classroom environment • Creating inclusive classroom environments that draw intentionally and positively from the diversity of the student population to support learning and critical thinking; • Implementing innovative pedagogical practices and approaches that promote intercultural learning and constructive dialogue around difficult topics. In this session we will briefly outline the content and structure of the workshop. Subsequent discussion may explore challenges in fostering inclusive dialogue and collaboration on ways to adapt these approaches to different cultural and educational contexts. Through this exchange we aim to further refine this professional learning programme to better support international schools in their efforts to advance an education for peace and social justice.
Session Leader: Karen Taylor
Head of Educational Research, The Bridge at Wellington College (UK)
Karen Taylor currently serves as Head of Educational Research for The Bridge at Wellington College and Affiliate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. Prior to arriving in the UK, Dr. Taylor was Director of Education and the Institute of Learning and Teaching at the International School of Geneva and Associate Professor in Practice at Durham University’s School of Education. Over the course of her career, she has taught or worked in a range of well-respected institutions of higher learning and secondary education in the US and in Europe. Her research interests include eighteenth-century French pedagogical writings, global citizenship education, intercultural learning, inclusion and plurilingual education.
Format: Seminar | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Emotion and Cognition in the Classroom
A short demo lesson illustrating how to make music and movement relevant in other subject areas (in this case Science) with an emphasis on shared concepts such as space, time and energy. The session will start with some brief theory and background on concept-based inquiry and Dalcroze Eurhythmics, as teaching methods to engage students and promote deep understanding and foster greater brain activity, stimulating the neural networks. Participants will then try out some of the activities and then finish with a debrief and reflection activity.
Session Leader: Kathryn Templeman
Director of Teaching and Learning, Aarhus International School
CBCI Trainer and Consultant
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Science/Interdisciplinary
Making My Connection Count in the Classroom is a 60-minute interactive workshop exploring how meaningful connection can transform behaviour, learning, and wellbeing in classrooms across the world. Drawing on trauma-responsive practice, neuroscience, and real classroom experience, this session helps teachers understand behaviour as communication and see connection as a powerful teaching tool rather than an “extra.” Participants will reflect on their own connection style, learn simple, culturally transferable strategies to build safety and trust, and leave with practical approaches they can apply immediately—regardless of age group, country, or education system. This session is inspiring, reflective, and deeply human, reminding educators that connection is not soft work, but essential work.
Session Leader: Hannah Thomas
Director of Connection
counts .
Training and support to educators helping make connections counting in the classroom . Supporting schools to be curious around behaviour and more trauma responsive
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Behaviour
Various challenges for everybody (primary students, secondary students, staff) and all areas (sports hall, classroom, outdoor). > To develop teamwork and collaboration in a group to achieve a common target (the concept of being a team). > To encourage communication and organization. > To make choices and group decisions (be open-minded) > To explore the roles in a group, and leadership. > To be caring. > To be reflective.
Session Leader: Florence Tomas
PE teachers / PYP programme (Primary)
International School of Toulouse
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: PE / Class group / Staff / Communication / Teamwork / Organization
Hexagonal Thinking: Making Conceptual Analysis Visible in Language and Literature Classrooms and Beyond
This hands-on and practical workshop explores hexagonal thinking as a lively way to move students beyond surface-level analysis and into big-idea thinking in language and literature classrooms (and beyond). Suitable for teachers of all experience levels, the session models classroom-ready activities that strengthen critical thinking, communication, and assessment-aligned analysis through talk, movement, and visual organization. Participants will see how hexagonal thinking supports equity and inclusion, scaffolding complex ideas and academic language for multilingual learners without lowering cognitive demand. Teachers will leave with adaptable templates and strategies they can use straight away, across a wide range of curricular contexts.
Session Leader: Anca Toma
Experienced IBEN & MYP/DP teacher of Language Acquisition, Language & Literature, and TOK. Head of World Languages & ELL at Tashkent International School, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. TEDxTIS Youth Licensee and Organizer.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Secondary | Theme: Thinking, Communication, Collaboration - English LL and beyond
“Meet Me in the Middle” - Using Story as the ‘Common Third’ for Life’s taboo topics in the classroom
“Meet Me in the Middle” - Using Story as the ‘Common Third’ for Life’s taboo topics in the classroom As schools worldwide emphasise emotional literacy and resilience, teachers are looking for safe, structured, age‑appropriate methods to discuss topics children may find difficult to approach. This includes supporting pupils who may be navigating a wide range of losses - bereavement, family separation, divorce, displacement, incarceration of a loved one, or the loss of home, community and stability. Children attending international schools often face additional challenges, such as moving frequently between countries, adjusting swiftly to new school cultures, and continuously adapting to unfamiliar surroundings. This session introduces a powerful, research informed approach: using story as the common third - a shared, depersonalised space where children and adults can explore sensitive topics together without fear, pressure or exposure. The Common Third, drawn from social pedagogy, describes the moment when practitioner and child meet around a shared activity or object. In this workshop, that shared object is story. By inviting students to "step inside the story," we provide a psychologically safe space that allows them to examine challenging topics like loss, change, uncertainty, identity, and trauma - from a comfortable distance. This distance allows children to project, wonder, question and empathise without feeling personally scrutinised. It helps teachers lead empathetic discussions with enhanced confidence and clarity. Bibliotherapy - the intentional use of literature to support emotional understanding and wellbeing provides the practical framework for this pedagogy. By reading carefully curated books, children are introduced to characters who face various types of loss, such as losing a loved one, going through parental separation, experiencing migration or displacement, having a family member imprisoned, or missing familiar places, friendships, and cultural connections. These narratives help pupils recognise their own feelings, normalise emotional responses and develop the language needed to support themselves and each other. Bibliotherapy promotes emotional literacy, empathy, and a supportive classroom culture for discussing sensitive topics. This workshop will equip delegates with practical tools they can use immediately in both primary and secondary settings. Participants will explore a selected range of stories including picture books, short stories, graphic novels and YA fiction. Adaptable discussion prompts, reflection exercises, and techniques for guiding sensitive conversations will accompany each text. Teachers will leave with a clear understanding of how to select appropriate texts, how to scaffold conversations and how to create a supportive environment where pupils feel able to talk, listen and connect. The session will additionally address safeguarding protocols, the establishment of appropriate emotional boundaries and emphasise the significance of trauma-informed practice. Delegates will gain confidence in navigating challenging moments, responding to disclosures appropriately and ensuring that story based work enhances - not replaces - existing pastoral systems. By the end of the workshop, participants will walk away with: • A concise overview of the ‘common third’ and its impact on classroom discussions. • A toolkit of bibliotherapy informed strategies for exploring sensitive topics. • A diverse booklist spanning primary and secondary age groups. • Ready to use activities that build empathy, emotional literacy and peer support. • Increased confidence in facilitating safe, structured conversations around significant life experiences. This session invites educators (working at every level) to step inside the story, meet their pupils in the middle and discover how shared narratives can open doors to understanding, connection and emotional growth.
Session Leader: Alka Townend
Facilitator: Alka Townend, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Sussex; former English Education Lecturer and Teacher Educator across three London universities; former EDI Director at the Sussex School of Education and Social Work; active researcher into the power of stories in the classroom. Trained loss therapist for children and young people.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Literacy/PSHE/
Unlock Engagement: How to Build Escape Rooms for Every Subject
Session Outcomes: 1. Application Strategies: Attendees will explore real-world applications of interdisciplinary educational escape rooms in MYP Projects, IBDP Theory of Knowledge (TOK), and group subjects, supported by educator insight and academic literature. Takeaway strategies will include preparatory lessons (prior to the escape room), interdisciplinary puzzles (e.g. English and Math) and reflection activities, 2. Designing: Personalized Escape Room Template Participants will design a customizable escape room framework that aligns with a particular AtL and their curricular needs. By the end of the session, they will have a structured template that can be adapted for various subjects and learning objectives, for immediate classroom u.
Session Leader: Pamela Usai
IBEN Member
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Interdisciplinary, Differentiation
Artificial Intelligence and the History Classroom: A SWOT Analysis
Artificial Intelligence is now an inescapable part of everyday life inside and outside school. This session will include a brief outline of how AI works and an assessment of the potential problems it represents for all educators. However, the main focus will be on the potential positives of AI for History and Humanities educators, with practical approaches, resources and a broad schematic plan for integrating AI positively and purposefully into the education of our young people.
Session Leader: Ben Walsh
Trust Lead for History, Author, Examiner and Trainer, Assoc VP of Historical Association (England)
Transdisciplinary ≠ Everything at Once - Teaching for Transfer
This workshop helps teachers deepen their understanding of transdisciplinary teaching by addressing the misconception that it means including all subjects in every unit. Through discussion and practical examples, teachers explore how effective transdisciplinary learning is driven by conceptual understanding, purposeful subject use, and transfer, rather than subject coverage. The session emphasises intentional planning and supports teachers in distinguishing meaningful connections for integration, while valuing both transdisciplinary and stand-alone teaching.
Session Leader: Jacqueline Williams
Head of Year - Curriculum/PGCE Mentor
An accomplished educational leader with expertise in teaching, curriculum design, instructional mentorship, and professional development. My career has evolved primarily within International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) schools. I actively serve in the IB Educator Network. I am committed to education for sustainable development, aligning learning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Passionate about mentoring educators and schools, I promote excellence in teaching and curriculum design. I am fluent in English, French, and Spanish, and have spent most of my life in Switzerland.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Primary | Theme: Transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning
Mini whiteboards: Incorporating mini whiteboards to make lessons interactive and engaging.
The focus of my session will be students using mini whiteboards in lesson, from starter questions , mini whiteboard quizzes, bingo, drawing diagrams and play dough models.
Session Leader: Yui Yoshinari
Science teacher and CIS accreditation coordinator at the International school of Toulouse. I also run the secondary STEAM and eco schools club.
Format: Workshop | Audience: Whole School | Theme: Classroom teaching (can be adapted for any subject)
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Workshop proposals are invited as from January 2026 from teachers willing to share their expertise and experiences.
If you want to go to a truly global International Education Conference then this is the best one to go to. It is well priced and provides opportunities to grow your Professional Networks with some really genuine and inspiring teachers. There are different education systems to see and rich conversations to be had from around the globe. The organisation for presenters and attendees is excellent including the facilities, food and time to meet and greet. It was the most worthwhile conference I have ever attended and I'll be returning this year with some super excited teachers from Australia!
Kathryn McGilvray
Managing Director, eLearning Educational Solutions, NSW Australia
Practical Pedagogies ranks highly as one of the best conferences I have ever had the opportunity to attend. It was such an honor to be invited as a presenter and to join the many other thoughtful educators who were also asked to present. The conversations that developed during my session and the others I attended were deep and meaningful. The nuts and bolts of the conference itself, including meals, transportation, and on-site organization, made the event stress-free and fun. I absolutely recommend this conference to any educator interested in a thought-provoking, international learning experience.
Brian Mull
Innovation and Learning Design Coordinator, Trinity Episcopal School, New Orleans, USA
The learning experiences were immediately applicable to my teaching approaches. Still to this day, I infuse these strategies into my instructional designs of face-to-face, blended and online courses. I truly valued the face-to-face professional networking opportunities with like minded educational colleagues that I had once only known met as online Twitter education friends. The opportunity to extend these in-depth conversations complimented with new teaching and learning experiences in a collaborative setting was so valuable to me as an educator.
Naomi Harm
Technology Leadership Specialist / Senior Strategic Education Manager, United States
An incredibly wide ranging, thought provoking and - most importantly - useful conference. As an international teacher it was particularly useful to meet and chat with other overseas teachers face-to-face. In terms of the conference sessions, everything I attended delivered something that either I could implement in my classroom or that got me to reflect more critically on what I already do. The huge range of available sessions meant I could mix a focus on my subject area with some of the broader conceptual sessions that took place.
Scott Allsop
Head of Humanities, @BSB_Humanities, Bucharest, Romania
The Practical Pedagogies conference is like no other because it brings together educators from across the globe. It offers a eclectic mix of thought provoking, practical and inspiring workshops, led by an equally varied selection of people who have effective teaching and learning slap bang in the middle of their thoughts. It has formed a vital part of my CPD, and I defy anyone to attend and not be challenged and changed.
Lisa Stevens
MFL teacher with a passion for creativity and technology, Director of Lisibo Ltd, UK
The Practical Pedagogies conference stands out from the other conferences due to the unique set up of having fellow conference members providing the sessions. These sessions are relevant and provide hands-on techniques that are useful for all teachers of any age. The family-like atmosphere created by Russel allows all conference members to socialise and interact with fellow educators from around the world. The money saved on this very affordable conference can then be used on the pub crawl where the truly deep pedagogical discussions take place!
Jesse Bywater
Leader for Learning, Harbour International Primary School, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
