ICS Newsletter Digest — 15 June 2026

🔴 Action items

BSME Network Leader recruitment (Fri 12 June deadline) — deadline has now passed. See item below for reference.

1 action item 14 highly relevant 6 general info

🔴 Action needed

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BSME is recruiting Network Leaders for 2026-27 across four networks: Art & Design Technology, Creativity & Innovation in the Curriculum, English Secondary, and Sixth Form & HE Pathways. Each lead hosts three 60-minute online sessions per year; BSME provides admin and speaker support. Deadline to express interest: Friday 12 June — contact Leila Hamad at BSME. Worth sharing with relevant ICS teachers; the Creativity & Innovation and Sixth Form networks align particularly well with ICS's EdTech and A-level/university pathways focus.
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Google for Education 3

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Gemini in Google Classroom is now available globally — in the Gemini tab, teachers get help creating and adapting resources from learning objectives and can collaborate with Gemini using starter prompts, in all Classroom-supported languages where Gemini is available. Usable across ICS right now; a strong, no-setup CPD focus for teaching staff.
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New Forrester research on Education Plus, Gemini and NotebookLM: a reported 260% ROI, 7+ hours saved per staff member/teacher weekly, and improved outcomes for 72% of users. Useful evidence base for ICS leadership when justifying Workspace/Gemini investment — full report and executive summary linked.
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Gemini Academy (Edu on Air) live sessions offer fast-paced demos and expert training building toward the Gemini Certified Educator qualification; the Edu on Air MENA & Israel webinar series is available in English, Arabic and Hebrew. The Arabic-language sessions are a particularly good regional CPD route for ICS staff.
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Google for Education — June 2026 2

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June newsletter: a Northern Ireland school (EdiS) ran a six-month Gemini for Education pilot with 200+ teachers and reports savings of up to 10 hours per week — strong case-study evidence for Michael's ICS leadership and CPD planning work. New coursework tagging with learning standards plus class analytics is now live for Workspace for Education users, and Gemini in Classroom is now available in more supported languages.
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Education Navigator has been redesigned with 100+ tools and resources organised by role and institution type; Edu on Air MENA & Israel on-demand webinars cover AI in education in English, Arabic, and Hebrew; Global GEG virtual sessions on June 24 and 25. New Dell Chromebook 11 and 14 models now available from $489.
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Canva Education — May 2026 2

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May 2026 newsletter — major launches relevant to Michael as Canva Admin: Learn Grid (Canva's “biggest education launch yet”), plus admin updates including an Investigations Training Guide and Version History 2.0. New classroom features: teacher-locked elements, offline editing, and printing directly from Canva.
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Teaching toolbox: Magic Layers and Live Learning updates, plus a “What's New in Canva EDU: Canva Create Edition” rewatch. App in the spotlight is Light Lab (dynamic, customizable lighting effects), and ready-to-use Earth Day classroom activities are included. Upcoming webinars/training for teams are listed in the full newsletter.
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Canva Education — June 2026 2

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June 2026 newsletter: Restricted Student Commenting is now live with new admin controls and permissions — directly relevant to Michael as Canva Admin for managing student collaboration across ICS. Also includes Microsoft Teams integration, Personal Brand Kits for educators, Chart Generator, Assign workflow upgrades, Decorate My Design, and 3D interactive elements for classroom use.
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Teaching toolbox includes upgraded Sheets tools, classroom video creation resources, Choiceboard Spinner activities, and book cover templates for student-centred learning. App spotlight: Simplebooklet for creating interactive flipbooks inside Canva. Regional event calendars and upcoming Canva Education webinars also listed.
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CIS (Council of International Schools) 3

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CIS has launched a Taskforce on Emerging Technology to develop high-level principles for the responsible, ethical use of AI — covering socially responsible leadership, equity/integrity/transparency, data privacy and well-being. A new briefing, “The fastest growing challenge in education: Emerging technology” (developed with 9ine), helps leaders move from reactive policies to whole-school AI risk governance; the ITFCP will publish AI safeguarding guidance later this year. Directly relevant to Michael's AI policy and EdTech leadership work.
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“Leadership responsibility for AI” webinar series is available on-demand — centred on values-led leadership decision-making rather than tools/prompts. The updated crisis-management briefing “Adapting to new learning environments” adds clearer safeguarding guidance for crisis/conflict/displacement contexts and expanded advice on AI-related risks and online extortion — pertinent for ICS Jordan contingency planning.
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Events & resources: AGM recording now in the CIS Portal; six 10–15 min “socially responsible leadership” staff-meeting conversation starters; Live Member Connection “School to University” on 23 June & 26 Aug; CIS–EARCOS Bangkok and Latin America Bogotá Institutes (18–19 Sept); Prague Global Forum (19–20 Nov). (Note: the Bogotá session-proposal deadline of 28 May has now passed.)
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CIS (Council of International Schools) — June 2026 2

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Upcoming events bulletin: Foundations of Transitions-Care accelerated virtual course runs 6–28 July — registration open now, relevant for ICS pastoral/support staff working with internationally mobile students. Live Member Connections (Guiding Students from School to University) runs virtually on June 23, August 26, and September 24 — included in CIS membership.
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CIS safeguarding workshops: Foundation Workshop (virtual Sept 29–30), International Safer Recruitment Deep Dive (virtual Nov 3, 5 & 10), and Harm Between Students Deep Dive (virtual Nov 24–25). Global Forum in Prague Nov 19–20; CIS-EARCOS Regional Institute in Bangkok Sept 18–19.
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DayofAI.org 5

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New AI Ethics curriculum: “Ethical Use of AI Exploration” has students investigate privacy, misinformation, bias, fairness and plagiarism and co-create class guidelines for responsible AI use; “AI Ethics Debate” runs a structured debate on real-world dilemmas (bias, privacy, facial recognition) from stakeholder perspectives. Both are ready-to-use for ICS digital citizenship / AI literacy across Y7–13 with minimal prep.
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New “AI Literacy Family Toolkit” (co-designed with Common Sense Media): short videos, conversation cards, and simple hands-on activities to help parents/caregivers build AI knowledge at home, with a “where to begin” guide table. Useful for ICS parent communications and complementing the school's AI literacy work.
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Day of AI in the news (Education Week, The 74): a national summer fellowship brings together 50 school leaders and 100 students from all 50 US states to draft a National AI Policy at the Kennedy Institute — part of a wider student-led AI policy movement. The final AI Trivia Time of the 2025–26 school year is now live. (The 27 May “Demystifying AI” foundational webinar — previously flagged — has now passed.)
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Day of AI's June newsletter features a free NSF-funded summer AI Professional Development series for high school educators — two virtual two-day cohorts (July 28–29 and Aug 11–12, 10am–3pm ET) leading to industry-recognised certifications, with a fall Community of Practice continuing into 2026–27; US educators only, but the curriculum and structure are worth considering for ICS CPD planning. Also: Dr Randi Williams' TED Talk, 'The Myth of the Digital Native,' argues educators must help students question rather than simply trust AI — a strong framing for ICS AI literacy and digital citizenship work.
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On-demand 'Demystifying Artificial Intelligence' introductory webinar now available for educators and school leaders — covers how AI works, everyday AI applications, and responsible use; a useful starting-point resource for ICS staff new to AI.
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BSME (British Schools in Middle East) 1

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BSME is recruiting Network Leaders for 2026-27 across four networks: Art & Design Technology, Creativity & Innovation in the Curriculum, English Secondary, and Sixth Form & HE Pathways. Each lead hosts three 60-minute online sessions per year; BSME provides admin and speaker support. Deadline to express interest: Friday 12 June — contact Leila Hamad at BSME. Worth sharing with relevant ICS teachers; the Creativity & Innovation and Sixth Form networks align particularly well with ICS's EdTech and A-level/university pathways focus.
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Seesaw 1

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Sneak-peek product update newsletter from Seesaw EVP of Product: three upcoming AI features — auto-grading “Show What You Know” assessments for Draw and Record responses; YouTube Video Quizzes that pause for comprehension checks (no ads); and Generative Voice adding AI-generated narration to any activity text. Worth noting for ICS teachers and tracking before rollout.
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