Last Thursday, we hosted the UK’s first ever #edutweetup – an informal opportunity to discuss International Education within the UK.  And, despite the typically miserable British weather, we were very pleased to welcome along a number of leading lights within the education and relocation space, including representatives from Gabbitas Education, Humphreys Education, School Guidance Education Consultancy, and  International HR adviser. 

Given the vast expertise in the room, there was plenty of discussion and debate to be had.  Topics ranged from the IB curriculum at large – what it offers students at each stage and suggested areas for improvement, to more specific conversations around its impact on the student’s confidence vs. the national curriculum, the potential for incorporating emotional intelligence, and the positive impact of integrating children from all backgrounds and abilities into one classroom. Furthermore, from a global perspective, we were very interested to hear people’s views on the increasingly onerous regulations associated with relocating families, the influx of cultures that previously made up a small proportion of the UK’s international community and Britain’s reputation as a global educator. 

It was a great opportunity to meet and share insights with likeminded people and is something that we will certainly be looking to repeat in the near future – if you would like to be informed directly of upcoming events, get in touch via @icslondon.

Lastly - a huge thanks to all those who braved the rain and made it along.

As part of one of the core components of the IB Diploma programme, students must complete 150 Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) hours. Earlier on this month, eight Diploma 1 students travelled to Ghana to complete the Service component of their CAS hours. ICS Travel and Learn has worked together with World Challenge, an organisation that provides educational expeditions in the developing world with the purpose of teaching life skills and developing minds outside the classroom. This was a unique opportunity to really help to facilitate our students’ personal growth and aid in the expansion of their view of the world and how other people live.

During their time in Ghana, the students worked with the Sabre Charitable Trust; this charitable organisation seeks to build a better future for school children in the area. Sabre works with the Ghanaian government to help deliver its promise of education for all, to all the schools in the KEEA district of Ghana. The project the ICS students were working on was located in Elmina in the KEEA district, approximately three hours west of the capital; Accra.

The Diploma students main task during their visit was to assist with the renovation and decoration of the staff common room - previously experiencing problems with a leaky roof.  In addition to this, our students were involved in preparing walls, painting and fixing broken concrete paths to name but a few tasks. Alongside the physical work, our students were also involved in a number of extracurricular activities with their Ghanaian counterparts - such as English conversation practice, reading and sporting activities. 

Whilst on this trip, the Diploma students kept a video diary of all their experiences in Ghana and the insights they have gained.

We hope this trip will be something that our students will always remember as a vital element of their time in the ICS Diploma programme.

By Joanna Cooper - IB Diploma Co-ordinator

This week was our Home Languages event and we were delighted to welcome over some students from our secondary school to help us celebrate!  Students from Spain, Saudi Arabia, Angola and Kazakhstan came in some of our classes and shared books in their language with our primary students. Parents also came in to school to share songs and stories.

‘Students made many connections between words for different foods in Greek and Arabic’ Andy Year 2 teacher

‘My brother read a story to us. It was very good to have my brother in my class’ Pablo Y1

‘I enjoyed teaching them words in Arabic. They were really good!’ Bashayer secondary student

‘I was like a giant to them!’ Ignacio – secondary student

Year five also interviewed parents and  secondary school students about their experiences of migrating to UK. This formed part of some authentic inquiry into their Unit about internal and international migration. 

 ‘Mario did really well. We learned that Angola is a country in Africa’ Obeye Y5

‘Interviewing the secondary school students helped very much’ Jessica Y5

Parents came into Nursery and Reception class to help their children make models of their houses in their home country. This linked in with their Unit on homes around the world.  The children loved having their parents in class with them and it was a great opportunity for parents to share in their children’s learning experiences. 

‘We were building all different houses. We even played a game!’ Sara N/R

Many students brought in food to help celebrate the event. Many thanks to everyone who shared some delicious cakes and snacks.

‘I liked the Arabic cakes’ Bjargey Y2

‘The children were delighted to bring in snacks form their home country’ Mandy Y3 teacher 

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this another memorable day for our students!

To see more photos of the celebrations, please visit ICS on Flickr.

Katherine Tyler, Language Co-ordinator

The NAACE Conference and ICT Impact Awards Event this weekend was inspiring and allowed me to promote ICS and some of our innovative use of technology. I passed on our information regarding the Flipped Classroom Approach to one colleague who attended the conference via Twitter.

This was picked up by NAACE who re-tweeted the link to our "Flipped Classroom" blog post to their 3393 followers (educators and educational policy makers at all levels)!

By Dr Katya Toneva, Director of ICT

On Monday 5th March, ICS in corporation with the TRAID Charity organised a Fairtrade afternoon. Students had the opportunity to learn more about Fairtrade, and theoretical trade organisations working towards a more equal world. 

Through different workshops we examined various questions such as:

Why trade should be fair? 

How individuals can be part of a fair trade chain? 

Which products come via Fairtrade and why should we buy them? 

During the Practical Upcycling workshop run by TRAID we explored creative solutions to reduce waste of clothing through sewing, making and mending. The students enjoyed redesigning and remaking their old clothes so that they can still be worn.

There was also a Fair Trade Screen Saver Designer Competition for students interested in ICT and the winning entry, by Arthus Vielvoye (MYP4), will be used onschool PCs. 

The most popular workshop was the Fairtrade Lunch Option - Making Fairtrade Food. Students in this workshop discovered healthy and Fairtrade food options and also baked a cake made of mostly Fairtrade ingredients - it was very nice!

Another important workshop was the Banana Split Role Play Game, where participants discussed how products travel from their original country to the shops of London. The aim of this game was to understand and act out the roles of  a farmer, a plantation owner, a shipper, a ripener and supermarket in the trade chain.

Students and teachers spent a great few hours together enjoying the activities and learning about Fairtrade. We all look forward to the next Fairtrade event at ICS!

Today, March 1^st, marks World Book Day! And this week at ICS we have been celebrating World Book Week with a variety of activities, including:

1. Storytelling workshops:

We had a professional Storyteller visit yesterday and run workshops with a large number of our pupils. Students learnt about the nature of oral storytelling, listened to some stories and participated in a variety of activities.

2. Raising money for Readathon

We are also participating in a Readathon to raise money for unwell children. As part of this students are being sponsored to read every day this week.  The results of our fundraising should be out in a week or so, so watch this space.

3. DEAR (Drop Everything and Read):

DEAR is a brilliant scheme and one which really helps to recognise and promote the benefits of reading.  Therefore, in order to celebrate this, every day this week the whole school has ground to a halt for ten minutes of dedicated reading.

How have you been celebrating World Book Week? 

In three weeks time, pupils from our Secondary School will be competing with tens of thousands of other people from schools, colleges and workplaces across the UK, in the country’s biggest environmental competition - the Climate Week Challenge.

Kicking off on Monday 12 March, 80 pupils from our Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme Preparation classes will take part in the Challenge which aims to get as many people as possible to come up with creative ideas to help the environment. An all-star judging panel including autumn watch’s Kate Humble, adventurer and TV presenter Bruce Parry and Spooks’ star Sophia Myles will decide on the most creative entries.

The Climate Week Challenge is open to everyone and teams of 4 to 6 people compete within age categories although everyone is given the same core challenge. The Challenge is only revealed at 9am and teams have until the end of the day to submit their entry. Winners will be announced on Monday 26 March.

Orsolya Kekko, Environmental Officer at ICS Secondary said: “The Climate Week Challenge is a great chance for pupils to put their classroom learning about climate change into practice. The challenge is an engaging and useful way for our pupils to continue learning about the effects climate change is having on our planet and also an excellent opportunity to develop strategic thinking about the potential solutions. We cannot wait to find out what the exact task will involve.”

We are all incredibly excited about the upcoming challenge, and will be keeping an eye on the campaign both here on the blog and via our Twitter account.

Good luck to all involved! 

Today we are celebrating International Day, an anticipated event, very much at the heart of our philosophy. International Day at the International Community School celebrates a multicultural, multilingual school community and focuses on the values we hold to be key in international education while anchoring the concepts of 'international mindedness'.

Students have chosen to interpret their degree of connectedness with international citizenship using various media.  Exploring aspects of their lives they have conceptualised through debate, interactive games, video, personal and collaborative presentations.

Students will look at themes such as what makes them happy, how traditions are reinterpreted transnationally, architecture, music and dance as well as the impact of the internet on human interaction.

The day comprises of three sections:

1. Parent / Teacher workshop: How can we develop the values and skills of 'international mindedness' in our school to inform our school mission statement?

2. Student led presentations and interpretations.

3. Cultural activities including craftwork, poetry, dance and sport.

Photos from the day are now available here.  

The MYP Coordinator comments on the mission of the International Day and shares his perception of the event:

A Diploma Programme student shares his perception of the event:

When it comes to the IB, we are all aware of the various facets and precepts involved...but what better way to bring those messages home to your students than to incorporate them into the daily school environment?  

That’s exactly what the United World College of South East Asia has done.  A group of 13 visionary schools, the United World College very much places experiential learning at the heart of its curriculum.  So much so, they have broken the IB messages free of the classroom notice board and policy document in favour of the walls, floors and pillars of their school – they are now literally part of the fabric of the school! 

Over the past eight years, the IB Heads World conference has become a staple event for IB school Heads from across the globe – which is where I come in. In keeping with the nature of the conference, the events are held in each of the key IB regions in turn – Asia Pacific, the Americas, EMEA and this year, much to my delight, Singapore (IB Asia Pacific). With the conference theme - “The Adventure of Leadership”, and a number of inspirational presentations and talks from the likes of Monique Seefried, and Kavita Ramdas, there was certainly plenty to look forward to!

And when such great minds collide, what better place to host the event than in Singapore, and more specifically the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel? Built on reclaimed land, the hotel is a truly stunning spectacle and one which is really representative of the country at large. Safe, clean and non-corrupt, Singapore has recently been defined by the World Bank as the “best country in the world” to do business and has become one of the world’s most developed countries in less than 50 years. A remarkable feat and one which really serves to bolster the importance of strong leadership and inspiration in driving success – a key tenet of this year’s conference.

So far, so impressed – but what about the talks themselves?

Kicking off the opening ceremony was Professor Sugata Mitra of the University of Newcastle. A really thought provoking lecture in which he discussed his extensive research across India – little known fact; it was his book “Q & A” which inspired the Blockbuster that was Slumdog Millionaire. By placing computers in the walls of a number of Indian villages, Professor Mitra has been investigating the basic premise that groups of children can teach themselves, a learning process which the internet has made even more profound. A very inspirational talk but with some challenging findings which we were all left pondering; is there a role for education, for teachers, for schools? Do schools and formal education actually slow down learning? Food for thought!

For any educational leaders with an eye on the future, I'd definitely recommend attending. 

Philip Hurd, Head of School, International Community School