Enhancing Teaching Excellence at BBSG

At BBSG, we firmly believe that an outstanding teaching team is the cornerstone of quality education. This belief drives our T-CAP (Teacher Competency Advancement Programme), a comprehensive professional development initiative that goes beyond traditional training to create an evolving, collaborative learning community.

From Needs to Action:

A Growth System that Responds to Everyday Teaching

Last May and June, through school-wide surveys and focus group interviews, the T-CAP team conducted an in-depth study of teachers' authentic development needs. The findings revealed several key areas where teachers most urgently sought improvement.

• Practical applications of AI in teaching

• Neuroscience and educational psychology in practice

• Student emotion recognition and management

• Classroom management and student engagement

• Subject-specific training

• Data-driven teaching and assessment

Meanwhile, our Senior Leadership Team strategically prioritised "student safeguarding" and "middle management development" for this academic year’s professional development, synergising bottom-up and top-down approaches.

Based on feedback and strategic guidance, a two-day annual T-CAP training was conducted on August 18-19. The programme covered multiple modules, including AI unit design, classroom management, emotional regulation, CLIL methodology, data-driven teaching, and leadership development - truly embodying our principle of "from teachers, for teachers."

Trainer Team:

Internal-External Collaboration for Innovation

The training brought together external education experts and internal specialists, ensuring each component offered an international perspective with local relevance:

External Expert Team:

Dr. Xuexin Zhang (PhD supervisor in Psychology, Fudan University) - PADD Class: A Neuroscience-informed pathway to classroom reform

Ms. Huihui Yu (Chief Counselor, Baiyun Psychology Hospital) - Recognising and regulating student emotions

Mr. Stone Kuang (AI Prompt Engineer) partnered with Mr. Johnny Guo, BBSG STEAM Lead - AI-empowered unit/project design workshop

Ms. Maodao (Cambridge-certified trainer) collaborated with Ms. Emma Tan, BBSG STEAM teacher and Head of Boarding - CLIL strategies: accelerating progress for EAL learners

SLT members and subject experts, including Dr. Arnett Edwards, Ms. Julia Li, Mr. Jakub Peciak, Ms. Amy Loveday-Hu, Ms. Jingjing Jiang, Dr. Gert Grober, Mr. Jayeshkumar Pandya, and Mrs. Leanna Elmes, led workshops on leadership and specialised sessions for primary, secondary, and kindergarten education. Several workshops featured internal facilitators who collaborated with experts on pre-training preparation, provided school-based case interpretation and teaching transformation support during training, and organised practical implementation afterwards, ensuring content relevance and strategic implementation.

An engaging "Best Teaching Practice" voting session was also incorporated during the training. All academic and academic support staff were divided into eight subject groups, breaking grade-level barriers to promote interdisciplinary exchange. After group discussions, each team nominated 2-3 representatives to share one strategy in a precise one-minute presentation. All participants used an electronic voting system for real-time evaluation. The top ten teachers with the highest votes received the "T-CAP Best Teaching Practice Award." 

This segment encouraged teachers to transform training insights into actionable, replicable teaching strategies, bridging the gap between knowledge and practice. The group collaboration and cross-subject sharing helped build a "teacher learning community," enhancing team identity and professional belonging.

Authentic Feedback:

High Satisfaction and Learning Enthusiasm

Post-training feedback was very positive:

• Over half of the workshops achieved an NPS (Net Promoter Score) exceeding 70, reaching   “excellence” level; all workshops achieved “good” status

• Frequently mentioned keywords in feedback included: “practical, professional, inspiring, energising, beneficial”

Many teachers shared:

I learned numerous practical emotion management strategies that I can immediately apply in my classroom.

The PADD teaching method and AI tools have given me completely new perspectives on instructional design.

I want to implement these communication strategies to build better teacher-student relationships.

Beyond Training:

"Practice-Oriented Learning Groups" in Action

"Practice-ready Study Groups” was also launched to encourage teachers to form research communities around practical teaching challenges, including:

• Case studies and student work analysis

• Microteaching and situational role-play

• Professional book clubs and teaching innovation workshops

Each group receives dedicated funding and digital collaboration tools, ensuring learning translates into visible results.

Teaching Quality Assurance:

From Observation to Evaluation

T-CAP ensures continuous improvement in teaching quality through multi-dimensional mechanisms:

• Systematic classroom observation:
  From senior leaders to school section heads, from academic directors to subject leaders, completing quantitative classroom observations and feedback each semester; all teachers have observation and peer learning targets.

• Teaching demonstrations and discussions:
  Regular school-level and school section-level demo classes and seminars.

• Termly quality assessment system:
  Two school-wide teaching reviews mid-term and end-term, forming a teaching-assessment-feedback-optimisation loop.

Teacher Growth: 

Our Most Profound Investment in Education

"When we learn together, we create something far greater than the sum of our parts - a community where every individual, educator and student alike can flourish."

—— Dr. Arnett Edwards, Honorary Executive Supervisor, Benenden Schools (China)

"Teaching is about creating conditions where students use their minds well. Supporting teachers’ growth is our deep commitment to educational quality."

—— Ms. Louisa Shen, BBSG Chinese Principal and Person in Charge of T-CAP

At BBSG, we stand firm in our belief: Supporting teacher growth means supporting every child's future. T-CAP is more than a programme - it's our solemn commitment to continuously invest in teacher development, build learning communities, and maintain educational excellence.

It is excellent teachers who create excellent teaching.

It is continuous growth that illuminates a brighter future.