International Day has always been a highlight at ISS and this year will be bigger and better as it will be a whole school event. One of the joys of being in such a multicultural environment is the chance to learn about and celebrate other cultures. The International Day celebrations allow us to do this as a community.

The focus of the day will be on deepening students’ international mindedness and intercultural competencies as they engage in a series of hands-on workshops designed by parents and High School students to make the most of the diversity so valuable to the ISS community.

The day will begin with a celebration of who we are and where we come from, as older and younger students from the same country or region lead a Parade of Nations around the school grounds. Carrying their country’s flags and dressed in traditional clothing, the students will gain a sense of not just who shares their own culture across the two campuses, but the many different cultures and backgrounds represented amongst our student body. This will get them thinking about their neighbors and classmates in new ways and new perspectives, and will lead them to want to inquire more into what lays beyond the flags and costumes they see in the parade.

Building on the images created in the parade, students will then spend the morning engaging in a series of intercultural workshops designed by High School students. Incorporating the Learner Profile attributes of Inquiry and Reflection and fostering our school’s mission to be a nurturing and empowering space for all students, the workshops will take students of all ages on a range of journeys, from learning vocabulary, songs or games to creating art pieces or engaging in debates connected to real life issues from different parts of the world. Following the workshops will be a series of multi-lingual Arts performances from Middle School Drama, Music and Visual Art students that show their interpretations of classic stories and compositions from multicultural points of view.

The day will end with a sumptuous International Buffet, in which students and parents from across the two campuses enjoy dishes from all corners of the globe in a relaxed and casual environment of sharing.

ISS’s International Day 2015 promises to be a day of fun-filled learning for all, a day in which we recognize and celebrate our community from as many viewpoints as we have students. Join us to make new friends and think about the world in new ways!

Parents are warmly invited to attend.
Please contact the PTA if you can assist with the preparation for the International Food Fair.

The timetable for the day is as follows:

INTERNATIONAL DAY

8:00-8:10 Attendance

HS – Benches on Field | MS/ES in homerooms

8:10-8:50 HS/MS International Day Activity in MS homerooms | ES Homeroom International Day Activity

8:50-9:00 – Students assemble in country rooms

9:10 – Country groups begin walking to staging area in ABC order (teachers given time to come down)

9:30– 2 students begin the parade and carry the International Day Flag up to stage and say a welcome

9:40 – Parade of Nations

10:20 – Head of School welcome

10:30-10:50 – Morning Snack (All students pack their own morning snack)

HS/MS in MS homerooms | ES in homerooms

11:00-12:00 – ES/MS Classes visit Art Performance/Workshop based on rotation schedule

11:00-12:00 HS Students setting up Classrooms

12:15-1:15 ES/MS Classes visit Intercultural Workshops based on 15 min. rotation schedule (5 min transition time included)

12:15-1:15 – PTA/Assigned Teachers setting up International Food Fair

(Parents can start earlier if need to)

1:20-2:15 – Lunch

ES Upper Playground (basketball court)

MS/HS Tent

1:20 -G5 students take K1 and K2 to buffet first

1:30 – G1-G4 go to buffet

2:25  – Dismissal with parents or buses

Parents must check in with class teachers and let them know if child is leaving with them.

We look forward to seeing you here for a wonderful celebration of our community.

For more info, please visit our International Day page.