Dear NABSS member.

On behalf of the NABSS executive committee I would like to welcome you to the 43rd NABSS annual conference.

Due to the current restrictions, it has been necessary to organise this conference in a remote format.

We have programmed our annual meeting for the representatives of our schools on Friday 5^th March and we are delighted to confirm that, prior to the meeting, there will be welcome addresses from Hugh Eliot the British Ambassador to Spain and Alejandro Tiana, the Spanish Secretary of State for Education.

The second part of the conference, on Saturday 6^th March, will give the opportunity for participants from all our member schools to enjoy four inspiring keynote presentations. While we will not be able to meet each other in a conference room as in past events, there is at least the advantage that a larger than ever proportion of staff from our member schools will be able to participate.

At our 42^nd conference last year, just prior to the national lockdown, we optimistically, or perhaps naively, assumed that the pandemic would be over before this year’s conference. We may regret having been naïve, but we will never regret being optimistic and the focus of this year’s conference is also very much one of optimism. All of our schools have faced a steep learning curve over the last year in adapting to these special circumstances. We now want to look at the benefits of that learning going beyond the pandemic and to see how we can emerge from this crisis reinforced and improved.

In setting this up, as always, we enjoyed the support of a number of organisations. We are grateful to the examination boards, Cambridge Assessment International and Pearson Education for their contributions to this conference. We are also delighted that Paul McGee and Nicola Morgan have been able to join us. Both of these were recommended by their own success in previous editions of our annual event.

A number of exhibitors have also agreed to participate and hence broaden the scope of this conference, as well as supporting it financially. Information about their products or services will be provided in between the meetings and workshops. We thank them for their continued support.

I would also like to thank ACADE and Hatton Events for the organisation behind the scenes and, last but not least, the members of the NABSS executive committee for all their work this year, not only in setting up this conference, but for the many ways they have helped to support our schools.

I hope you find valuable inspiration at this conference and that you enjoy the event, from the comfort of your home or place of work, and that soon we will return to actually meeting and sharing our ideas.

Adrian Massam

NABSS executive committee president.