The Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference has more than 135 schools in CISC across eight countries and the number is growing. In total, CISC schools educate more than 40,000 pupils from nursery age through to 18. Its 30th CISC Conference will be held in Glasgow later this week on 16-17 January at the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Glasgow. The conference is taking over the whole hotel for this first time. A strong programme of speakers is planned on the theme of wellbeing, including Dame Alison Peacock, Chief Executive of the Chartered College of Teaching and Professor Sir Harry Burns, former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland and professor of global public health at the University of Strathclyde.
There’s an excellent TEDx talk in which Professor Burns outlines how chaotic and difficult experiences in early life can profoundly effect physical wellbeing in later years. He also explores how a cycle of alienation that affects whole life circumstances can arise from policies that exclude children from schools, rather than dealing with their behavioural issues there and then.
Any theme of this nature is something we are deeply interested in. To understand a child it is necessary not only to understand their academic achievements but their whole life experience. Perhaps it is no surprise that much of our investment effort in our school management information system Engage, in areas like our Daybook, has been to enable the confidential and effective recording of holistic information so that teaching and other staff can adopt a completely personalised approach to each pupil or student.
Professor Burns’ keynote and the other presentations scheduled will no doubt be keenly anticipated by all delegates, including Kieran Millar and Ben Johnston from our team. We look forward to seeing you there if you are attending and meantime here’s some Monday inspiration from that TEDx presentation on salutogenesis – a medical approach focusing on factors that support human health and well-being.