Bringing the world to the classroom

The British Council International School Award (ISA) is an accreditation scheme that recognizes and celebrates exemplary practices of internationalism in schools. GIIS Whitefield, Bangalore is proud to have accomplished this achievement by meeting the assessment criteria through the combined effort of the ISA team and students.

The ISA journey for GIIS Bangalore commenced in June 2013 and was a great learning experience for the entire team. An action plan of international dimension was drawn, covering a range of subject areas and age groups. The year’s work of the students was presented as a dossier of evidence for the panel to assess.

The plethora of activities that encompassed students from class 5 to Pre-Primary had an international dimension as mandated by the British Council. ISA provides a framework for schools to develop an action plan and implement international activities throughout the year, and encourages schools to collaborate with overseas schools to create a rich learning experience for students through use of ICT, creative pedagogical practices and real context for learning. Through careful planning all activities that were chosen were linked to the existing curriculum, thus providing for greater enrichment in learning.

Students of class 5 engaged through video conferences with GIIS schools in Singapore to discuss effective ways of Waste Management in both the countries and the impact of Social Media on Education across the world. They also learned how to create a blog for the first time and discussed trends in social media through blogging. Students studied numerous topics ranging from cuisines of different countries to birthday celebrations around the world. Students of class 1 had opportunities to link with Beddington Park Primary School in Croydon, London and Blackshaw Primary in Bolton, UK and share their experiences through an exchange of mails and photographs.

Another enriching experience was hosting an international visitor, Ms. Kathy Browes, Vice-Principal of Taughmonagh Primary School, Belfast, Ireland. Kathy’s visit to GIIS Bangalore was a platform for knowledge sharing and helped us to gain an insight into teaching and learning practices in overseas schools.

The students have learned through these activities to bridge the cultural divide across the world and have joined in to celebrate the wonderful diversity of the human race.

GIIS Whitefield plans to include more activities with overseas schools during the coming year thus helping the students understand the world they live in and become truely global citizens.