AGIS Conference 2026 Potsdam

Working Together To Support Learning

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9:00am CEST

AGIS Librarians Working Group: Best practices in school libraries

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST

Join us for a day of connection and creativity at the AGIS librarians’ pre-conference! This event is all about bringing school librarians together to share ideas, experiences, and challenges unique to our international school settings. Many of us work solo in our schools, so this is a wonderful chance to exchange stories, pick up fresh ideas, and be inspired by one another. Come ready to chat, collaborate in small groups, and take home new strategies to help your students thrive.

Draft schedule (subject to change!)
10:00 - 10:15
Welcome
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch
10:15 - 10:30
Ice Breakers
13:30 - 14:30
Success Stories
10:30 - 11:00
New Tools
14:30 - 15:30
Breakout Groups
11:00 - 11:30
Book Sources
15:30 - 16:30
Book Talks
11:30 - 12:30
Challenges
16:30 - 17:00
Wrap Up

Session Outcome(s)

Connect and build community – Meet other AGIS librarians and strengthen our professional network. Together, we can turn isolation into collaboration and support.
Share ideas and best practices– Exchange tips, resources, and experiences on everything from library management and literacy programs to sparking student curiosity.
Solve challenges – Explore real-world issues faced in international school libraries and uncover creative solutions through lively group discussions.
Be inspired – Pick up new ideas for using technology, promoting reading, curating collections, and linking the library to the curriculum.
Grow professionally & confidently – Engage in meaningful conversations that boost confidence and reaffirm the impact of our work.
Collaborate across schools – Open doors to future partnerships, joint projects, and shared initiatives—like the Sora eBook Consortium or Battle of the Books collaborations.

Speakers

Elaine Smith

Librarian, Extended Essay Coordinator, Franconian International School

Librarian and Extended Essay Coordinator

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST
0.237 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

Full-Day Workshop

Audience Whole school for educators
Subject Transdisciplinary

9:00am CEST

EAL Working Group Pre-Conference

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST

0.245

This pre-conference aims to continue the development of a support network among EAL teachers in AGIS schools, building on the foundations in last year’s AGIS preconference and the monthly online meetings. It will offer the platform to exchange effective practices, strategies, resources and systems that enhance support for our English language learners and teachers. EAL working group members will contribute to shaping the topics and sessions featured at the AGIS Pre-Conference 2026.

Speakers

Courtenay Comiskey

Secondary EAL / I&S, Grade 6 Lead Teacher, Leipzig International School

to be added later

Mirjam Strauss-Paris

to be added later, Munich International School

To be added later

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST
0.245 Am Luftschiffhafen 1, 14471 Potsdam

Full-Day Workshop

Audience Whole school for educators
Subject Language Learning

9:00am CEST

NEASC 4Cs model

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST

Full-Day Workshop, School organisation and infrastructure; Teaching pedagogy/methodology

Audience Whole school for educators
Subject Transdisciplinary (teaching pedagogy & Methodology)

9:00am CEST

Student Support Full-Day Conference: aligning student support practices through different frameworks, requirements towards student-centred approaches and biopsychosocial model

Friday September 18, 2026 9:00am - 3:45pm CEST

Lake View Room

This full-day workshop introduces the biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977) as a unifying framework to align counsellors, learning support teachers, school psychologist, nurses, progress leaders, and leadership across. Participants will explore how biological (health, neurodevelopment), psychological (cognition, emotion, identity), and social (culture, family systems, peer context) factors intersect to influence learner agency, wellbeing, and academic access.
The workshop explicitly addresses how to plan within the school and support all stakeholders, integrate documentation requirements, access and inclusion arrangements, safeguarding expectations, and external accreditation standards of each country/region into one coherent process, through cross-divisional case analysis and systems mapping, participants will design aligned referral pathways, case meeting protocols, and documentation templates that meet multiple frameworks while maintaining a learner-centred approach and keep the standards regulated from both the educational and local frameworks.

The structure of the full-day session should be based on the following timeline:
08:30-9:00 Welcome Coffee
9:00-12:45 Morning Session
Holistic education
The biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977) and ICD 11
Ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner) and developmental neuroscience
Mapping IB constructs (Learner Profile, ATL, agency, inclusion) onto biopsychosocial domains
From “support service” to “whole-school ecosystem”
12:45-13:45 Lunch
13:00-15:45 Afternoon Session
Sharing of resources and co-planning
Case studies

References
Engel, G. (1977). The biopsychosocial model. Science.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (Ecological systems theory).
Immordino-Yang, M. (Affective neuroscience and learning).
IB publications: Learning Diversity and Inclusion in IB Programmes, Access and Inclusion Policy, Approaches to Learning, and safeguarding guidance.

Speakers