On a bright sunny autumn day, we were treated to a taste of what an international education looks like today with the promise of what educating generations of young people equipped with knowledge and resilience brings to the world. Fiona Murchie reflects.Barnaby Sandow, head of ACS Cobham, warmly welcomed guests from across global mobility and local property agents and shared his journey as its head and as a parent, in the hope it resonated with the audience and the kind of globally mobile families they work with every day and the conversations and choices they need to make. He described how ACS International Schools invited 80 STEAM partners to take over Thorpe Park for the day.They bused ACS pupils there to help with the event and invited 10,000 local primary school children from surrounding primary schools and covered the national curriculum and STEM through experiential learning, what they hadn’t been able to cover due to the pandemic. Our children, he said came back into school feeling like different people, they walked taller because they appreciated their purpose is about making our community a better place.Also centre stage at the relocation event was an inspiring presentation on the exciting technology and learning available to all pupils at the school from two and a half year olds upwards to the young adults taking their place in higher education or the world of work.It was also an opportunity to meet the Deans of Admissions, from Cobham, Hillingdon and Egham and to take a tour of the Cobham campus which included the boarding facilities and sports complex as well as teaching facilities and a new early learning centre under construction.

School group with charitable goals

The school group set ambitious charitable goals in 2018 with its overall charitable aim to advance education. These include facilitating one million hours of student opportunity and 30,000 hours of teacher opportunity, both by 2025. Now, in year three of the five-year strategy, activity has already accrued 779,680 hours of student interaction and 67,519 hours of teacher training.ACS International Schools has also launched a bursary scheme to offer financial assistance to local students with a desire to make a difference in the world but without the financial means to attend the school group. In total, 78 students have been allocated places in the last five years, totalling an investment of £5 million.Tim Cagney, chief executive at ACS International Schools, said: “The last five years have certainly been a time for reflection. While we navigated the pandemic, we have also been able to grow our influence in the area of supporting our communities and meaningfully fulfilling our commitment to making a positive global impact through education. This has been realised through educational initiatives like the unique event, STEAM 2022, and our bursaries, which form a key part of our charitable remit. This five-year milestone only fuels our determination to continue shaping a brighter future for all generations to come.”ACS International Schools has raised funds since its establishment to support a wide range of campus development projects, teaching and learning programmes.Cagney added: “Our buildings and campus environments play an important role in shaping the experiences and aspirations of not just our students but those from partner schools too; every child deserves to be inspired. Through campus focused fundraising projects, each of our UK campuses have reaped the benefits of new buildings. At Cobham, through Project Tomorrow, our students are enjoying the new STEM Innovation Centre, to encourage careers in STEM. At Egham, Project Inspire has enabled the development of outdoor teaching and learning hubs to foster collaboration, creativity, health and wellbeing. While at Hillingdon, students are able to enjoy a new auditorium so they can polish their skills in performance thanks to Project Shine.” Relocate Global's, managing editor was inspired by STEAM 2022 which aligns with the objectives of global leaders to support the young talent of the future to flourish and build a better world with sustainable workplaces and growth around the world. Read the article here and join our digital Internation Education & Schools' Fair throughout November for parents, employers and global mobility professionals.

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