“World cup of education” as students from across the globe gather for inaugural learning convention

New ideas, world views and future education opportunities will be shared between school students from across the globe this week as part of the inaugural Global Alliance for Innovative Learning (GAIL) Convention to be held in Adelaide.

Hosted by Scotch College Adelaide, the five-day GAIL Convention will bring together more than 50 Year 10 and 11 students from Robert Gordon’s College in Scotland, Prestige College in South Africa, Bo-Ai International School in China, Kristin School in New Zealand, Woodstock School in India and Scotch College in Adelaide.

Students will be exposed to a range of high-level speakers on the theme of “globalisation” and be encouraged to collaborate, develop relationships and help nurture innovation in school learning.

Every student delegate will form one of five teams, each of which will be required to submit a six-minute video that captures the essence of their learning in the course of the week.

To be formally opened this morning by the Premier of South Australia Jay Weatherill, the GAIL Convention will be Chaired by Rotary Club of Adelaide President Francis O’Neill and feature other guest speakers throughout the week, including:

• Senator Hon Penny Wong, Federal Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House
• Hon David Ridgway, South Australian Liberal Leader in the Legislative Council
• Rob Chapman, Adelaide Football Club Chairman
• Bill Spurr, Education Adelaide Chairman
• Gavin Moss, PricewaterhouseCooopers’ Adelaide Managing Partner
• Professor Jock Finlay AO, global expert on ovarian biology from Prince Henry’s Institute
• Professor Pascale Quester, University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor
• Professor Robert Foster, University of Adelaide Associate Professor in indigenous history
• Professor Karen Nelson-Field, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute Senior Research Associate
• Bashar Bagdadi, International Medical Corps Emergency Logistics Manager

Tim Oughton, Principal of Scotch College Adelaide, says the first GAIL Convention has been two years in the making and will provide students from different backgrounds and cultures with unique learning and personal development opportunities.

“The Global Alliance for Innovative Learning is a group of like-minded, leading R-12 schools that while geographically dispersed, share a common vision for education in the 21st Century,” he said.

“We are committed to fostering understanding, intimacy and authentic friendship across the Global Alliance, and we believe that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, which is why we are bringing staff and students together in this way.

“At a more practical level, the Convention will help establish a framework to encourage student exchanges and staff research fellowships in the future, as well as opportunities to collaborate across learning projects from country to country.

“This first Convention really will be an immersion of minds to give senior school students a chance to meet dozens of their international counterparts and foster in-depth discussions and innovative thinking on education and a range of global issues.

“When it comes to learning, we always learn better together than alone.”

ISSUED BY HUGHES PUBLIC RELATIONS: Please contact: Kieran Hall on or kieran@hughespr.com.au

FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact: Abhra Bhattacharjee, Scotch College Director of Advancement, on (08) 8274 4305