What do you do in your position as CQO at SIS?
My work as CQO of the SIS Group involves five main tasks; they are, conducting school
evaluations, planning and preparing teacher professional development, organising the SIS
Leadership Programme, arranging international activities and developing SIS curricula.
What are the key components of SIS’ quality management?
There are three main areas of quality management at SIS at the student, teacher and
company level. The three areas all have equal weighting. In general, this involves students’
performance, i.e. sitting international benchmarking tests and the graduating exams of
the Swiss Matura and the International Baccalaureate, teacher development and school
evaluations.
Why is it important that SIS students participate in
international benchmarking tests?
Students sit international benchmarking tests each year, which help us understand the
effectiveness of teaching and learning at SIS. Analysis of the results allow concrete
measures to be undertaken. Students’ performance has, on average, exceeded the
comparative groups in recent years, which confirms the effectiveness of SIS’ bilingual
immersive concept.
How does SIS assure quality of teaching?
Teachers’ development is an integral part of quality management, with several professional
development days offered each year. These days, coupled with a specially designed SIS
bilingual curriculum, give teachers the opportunity to work closely together and thus
strengthens the teaching quality at our schools.
What happens during a school evaluation?
SIS schools are evaluated approximately every three years. Each school is visited by a
team of SIS leaders who evaluate all facets of school life. A parent survey is conducted,
interviews of faculty, parent and students take place, and there are formal observations
both in and outside the classroom.
Which aspects of quality management do you find the most interesting and why?
School evaluations; they really give a comprehensive overview of where we stand, both
as a company and as individual schools, and allow us to maintain quality standards and
identify areas for improvement.