In the current issue of Re:locate magazine (Winter 2012), we take a look at how schools have responded to 2012’s amazing summer of sport. We uncovered some inspirational stories from schools around the world; from independent schools in the UK opening up their sporting facilities for the benefit of the whole community to international schools recreating the Olympic opening ceremony flag parade complete with representatives from countries around the world. Sport and sporting facilities in schools are hugely important for relocating families – they offer opportunities to socialise and to integrate into a new community regardless of any language barriers. So, it was with interest that I read the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s response to the government's plans for post 16 exam reform in England. The Alliance is concerned by the exclusion of PE and creative subjects like dance from the proposed EBacc certificate, which is set to replace core GCSEs in schools by 2015.  

It was a bustling and energetic start to the Mondissimo Global Mobility Conference in Paris yesterday where the Re:locate team are exhibiting again this year. The early spring sunshine was beating down on the steps of the conference centre - le Palais Brongniart, a fascinating and beautiful piece of French history and the former Paris stock exchange - as delegates made their way through the doors to what is now fast becoming a major event on the international mobility scene.

Fiona Murchie, managing editor of Re:locate magazine, and I hosted a seminar on the first morning of the event for delegates on the issues surrounding the education and school choices for relocating families and how global mobility professionals can support parents in their search.

On the 1^st March, parents across England found out which state secondary school their child will be allocated from September 2012 on what has become known as ‘National Offer Day’.

Government figures show that in 2011, 79,000 children did not get the secondary school of their choice and nationally, only 84.6% of 11-year-olds received an offer at their first choice. For relocating families applying outside the usual admissions round these figures are likely to cause concern as they could indicate oversubscription in good state schools.

How do parents usually judge which school is best for their child? Word of mouth, local reputation, school visits? These are usually cited by parents as the most powerful routes to finding out what a school is really like. But, for relocating families, these decisions often have to be made with very little local knowledge, so the official facts and figures from school inspection reports and performance tables become vital tools when creating their shortlist.

However, performance tables can be impossibly complicated to decipher and also come with a health warning from many education experts when it comes to using them as a realistic and reliable performance measure for prospective schools.

I have been in the US for over a week, ahead of the WERC Symposium to be held in Denver this week.

I arrived in Boston last weekend. What a great city, cosmopolitan but relaxed. Plenty of open space, easy to walk around, and a fantastic harbour, which lends itself to a more balanced lifestyle for its inhabitants. Boston seems to be buzzing, and, as a hub for consulting services, it has the finger on the pulse of economic recovery. With consulting firms hiring, this is a good indicator that things are on the move.

Having followed the tourist Freedom Trail around the city, passing historic monuments and reminders of huge changes as the US was born, it is worth reflecting on lessons learned over the decades and new alliances as the world continues to shrink.

The moving holocaust monument is a timely reminder of how things can go so badly wrong when freedom is undermined. The value of understanding and respecting other cultures is at the core of mobility and worth remembering as we push the boundaries of international commerce further and further afield.

Moving on to Cape Cod, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take the whale watch trip out of Provincetown. It was a perfect day – calm seas and bright sunshine. My close encounter with three species of whale, the Humpback, Fin and Sei, reminded me of the fragility of our ecosystem and the reliance of these huge mammals on an environmentally friendly world.

From plankton to whales to moving assignees, we have a responsibility to the environment and those coming up behind us in future generations.

I couldn’t miss seeing New England in the fall. The colours were breathtaking and vibrantly intense in the autumn sunshine. Perhaps that is the way to view change, as heralding a glorious future. Lessons learned and new beginnings.

With WERC’s symposium in Denver focusing on Transforming the Future, it is worth stepping back and taking time to view the bigger picture.

I have been in the US for over a week, ahead of the WERC Symposium to be held in Denver this week.

I arrived in Boston last weekend. What a great city, cosmopolitan but relaxed. Plenty of open space, easy to walk around, and a fantastic harbour, which lends itself to a more balanced lifestyle for its inhabitants. Boston seems to be buzzing, and, as a hub for consulting services, it has the finger on the pulse of economic recovery. With consulting firms hiring, this is a good indicator that things are on the move.

Having followed the tourist Freedom Trail around the city, passing historic monuments and reminders of huge changes as the US was born, it is worth reflecting on lessons learned over the decades and new alliances as the world continues to shrink.

The moving holocaust monument is a timely reminder of how things can go so badly wrong when freedom is undermined. The value of understanding and respecting other cultures is at the core of mobility and worth remembering as we push the boundaries of international commerce further and further afield.

Moving on to Cape Cod, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take the whale watch trip out of Provincetown. It was a perfect day – calm seas and bright sunshine. My close encounter with three species of whale, the Humpback, Fin and Sei, reminded me of the fragility of our ecosystem and the reliance of these huge mammals on an environmentally friendly world.

From plankton to whales to moving assignees, we have a responsibility to the environment and those coming up behind us in future generations.

I couldn’t miss seeing New England in the fall. The colours were breathtaking and vibrantly intense in the autumn sunshine. Perhaps that is the way to view change, as heralding a glorious future. Lessons learned and new beginnings.

With WERC’s symposium in Denver focusing on Transforming the Future, it is worth stepping back and taking time to view the bigger picture.

Michael Gove, Education Secretary told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday that the UK had failed to “keep pace with the world's best education systems.”

Mr Gove continued to list evidence to support his claims and went on to explain that the UK has fallen behind in international comparison tables - from 4th to 14th for science, from 7th to 17th for literacy and from 8th to 24th for mathematics.

With Asia Pacific climbing ever higher up the agenda for global movement, Fiona Murchie analyses the key trends that are influencing relocation in, and to, the region.

With China’s tier II–IV cities topping the table of emerging relocation destinations in Cartus’s Mobility Challenges in Emerging Markets survey, and Malaysia, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand also on the list, Asia Pacific is firmly on the global movement agenda, both for seasoned multinational companies and for new companies entering the market.

Talent management is a subject of immense importance in the HR arena, as organisations rely upon the attraction, development and retention of talent for economic success. However, understanding how talent management operates across the world is a complex business. Sue Shortland reports on the findings of the Brunel University research project Global talent management: a review of emerging countries.

The CIPD defines talent management as "the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement, retention and deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organisation". This definition is wide, encompassing the spectrum of HR activity.

Not surprisingly, on a global level, talent management has different meanings in different parts of the world.

Few global organisations can claim a vision as compelling as Save the Children's, or greater challenges in delivering their objectives. Ruth Holmes reports on how inspiring leadership and vibrant talent management processes are ensuring the charity - which won the Best Relocation Strategy/Policy category at the Re:locate Awards 2010/11 - realises its strategic ambitions.

International children's charity Save the Children UK employs over 5,500 people in 27 countries. Its 'No Child Born to Die' campaign is currently the public face of its activities, which encompass sustained programmes on health, education and hunger elimination, as well as the often high-profile emergency response. The sheer diversity of its challenges - cultural, resources and situational - makes resilient, committed leadership essential.