Safeguarding and Pastoral Care are "We, not me"

“The most enjoyable and insightful conference I've ever been to! I feel grateful for having the opportunity to share some ideas we use at Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong to engage our parent community at one of the workshop options. I'm even more grateful for the resources, suggestions and ideas I can bring back with me.” 
Ms. Hayley Wilson, Deputy Head of Senior School  
(Pastoral, Community and Wellbeing) at Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong 

“It made me realize how lucky we are to have such dedicated specialists and professionals committed to changing the landscape of safeguarding in the FOBISIA community and how exciting it is to see this continually growing.” 
Mr. Peter Andrew Lynch 
Assistant Headteacher (Whole School) - Designated Safeguarding Lead & Head of Pupil Safety/FOBISIA Executive Safeguarding Commitee (Region C) 

From May 16 to 18, 2024, the British Vietnamese International School (BVIS) in Ho Chi Minh City was honoured to welcome over 110 leaders, safeguarding officers, and educational leaders from 60 leading international schools in the Asia region at the FOBISIA Safeguarding and Pastoral Care Conference 2024. 

We would like to extend heartfelt thanks to all the speakers, especially Mr. Jonathan Taylor from Online Safety 4 Schools, Mr. Luke Curran, Child Safety Advisor at RMIT University Vietnam, Ms. Soma Sara, Founder and Director of Everyone’s Invited, and Mr. George Peterkin, Director of Mind Your Health, for sharing their valuable insights and expertise with the delegates on topics such as online dangers posed by technology and fostering a sense of belonging within the community. 

The event was vibrant over the course of two days with a series of important workshops and discussions, creating opportunities for delegates to listen, interact, contribute ideas, and share effective practical implementations related to online safety and digital citizenship, building resilient communities, promoting understanding, and equipping necessary skills to ensure that all students, teachers, staff, and parents always feel safe and connected within the school community. 

Two topics, "Safeguarding Practices in Early Years" by Ms. Rebecca Robinson, EYFS Coordinator, and "The Journey to Positive Parenting" by Ms. Khuyen Tran, Senior Safeguarding Lead at BVIS, also garnered much interest from the conference attendees. 
 
The event could not have been successful without the sponsorship of Mind Your Health and the exceptional organisational efforts of Mr. Darragh Shanahan, Primary Deputy Headteacher at BVIS!