SIS NewsSwitzerlandSpring 2016 Internationality

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Design concept: dezember und juli gmbhConcept, editing: Susanne MeiliPhotos: Giona Bridler, Palma Fiacco, Teams at SIS schoolsPrinting: Edubook AGCirculation: 2.450

March 2016

The SIS Swiss International School is a private day school offering continuous education from kindergarten through to secondary school. Designed to fulfil the educational goals of Swiss as well as internationally mobile families, the SIS programme is centred on consistent bilingual classroom instruction and peer experience in German and English, culminating in a diploma with Swiss and international university entrance qualifications. Our teaching philosophy is non-ideological, but founded on clearly defined core values. SIS operates schools in Switzerland, Germany and Brazil. SIS Swiss International School is a joint venture of the Kalaidos Education Group and the Klett Group.

Kalaidos unites educational institutes offering compulsory and college level education as well as vocational education, advanced vocational training and higher education and university programmes. As an education group, Kalaidos has its own methodological-didactic competence centre, an educational media house and owns companies that specialise in internal educational concepts. As a partner of people in all stages of life as well as of companies of all sizes and sectors, Kalaidos offers adequate, goal-oriented and efficient educational services that are tailored to the customers’ needs.

With its 56 companies at 34 locations in 14 countries, the Klett Group is one of the leading education-dedicated enterprises in Europe. Its portfolio encompasses everything from traditional text books to state-of-the-art interactive learning aids; from specialist literature to the classics. The Klett Group has established itself as the leading private provider of educational and continued education services.

Table of Content

Editorial _4

Website 2.0 _5

International News _6

News _7

On Learning _10

The SIS Educational Concept _11

Das SIS-Bildungskonzept _12

Alumni _13

SIS Basel _14

SIS Männedorf-Zürich _16

SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz _18

SIS Rotkreuz-Zug _20

SIS Schönenwerd _22

SIS Suhr _24

SIS Winterthur _26

SIS Zürich-Wollishofen _28

SIS Zürich _30

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Editorial

Dear readers

Coined only in the late eighteenth century by the British jurist and philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the term “international” has become indispensable to our vocabulary in today’s globalised world. Whether it be in sports, politics or other aspects of society, we commonly use the word international when talking about things that relate to two or more nations or that reach beyond national boundaries. At SIS Swiss International School, internationality is at the core of everything we are and do. It is also one of the recurring central themes of the SIS Educational Concept. One of the eight principles comprised therein is our maxim “International Education – Local Insight”.

Ever since its beginnings with one bilingual class in Basel in 1999, the SIS group has used this slogan in promoting bilingual education in Switzerland, Germany and Brazil. The foundation for our schools’ international outlook is laid by the SIS community, which is made up of students, parents and teachers from various backgrounds. Last year, SIS Switzerland employed more than three hundred pedagogical and administrative staff from over thirty countries. Since our teachers are all native speakers of either German or English, it is no surprise that the top four countries of origin were Switzerland, Germany, the UK and USA. While such a multinational school community provides the perfect environment for fostering an awareness and openness towards the wider world, we would also like our students to graduate from SIS with a strong sense of their origins.

The aim of enabling our students to lay down roots in the local community while at the same time equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to meet the challenges of the international professional world is also part of our educational concept: SIS students can obtain both nationally and internationally recognised university entrance qualifications, which offers them a wide range of possibilities to continue their studies at home or abroad. Additionally, our students participate at both national and international benchmarking tests on a regular basis, and they usually achieve very good results. Their overall average score regularly exceeds benchmark values, which confirms the effectiveness of the bilingual immersion method practised at our schools. Read more on last November’s Klassencockpit results on page 7 of this issue.

Internationality at SIS has many facets: with more than 3.000 students in three countries, our teachers and students have access to an invaluable platform to exchange views and experiences across national borders. Unified by consistent quality standards and structures, each of our schools has its own identity, shaped by the personalities and cultures that make up its community. The following pages of this SIS News give you the opportunity to explore for yourselves how internationality is lived at our various SIS schools in Switzerland.

Kind regardsDr Ursula Gehbauer Tichler, CEO

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Website 2.0

Neuer Internet-Auftritt der SIS Swiss International SchoolSusanne Meili, Unternehmenskommunikation

Weil unsere Website www.swissinternationalschool.ch schon etwas in die Jahre ge-kommen war, haben wir sie einer Frischekur unterzogen. Das Ergebnis kann sich sehen lassen: Pünktlich zum Frühlingsbeginn kommt unsere Website in einem modernen und aufgeräumten Look daher. Heller Hintergrund, grössere Schrift, mehr Farben und mehr Bilder und Illustrationen laden ein, sich über unser Angebot zu informieren.

Selbstverständlich haben wir auch die Benutzerführung verbessert. So können unsere Leserinnen und Leser jederzeit erkennen, wo auf der Seite sie sich befinden. Wenige Klicks führen sie jeweils zur gesuchten Information.

Die Eltern unserer Schülerinnen und Schüler finden Informatives, Administratives und teil-weise auch Amüsantes zum Schulalltag im geschützten Elternbereich und haben somit das Wichtigste gebündelt an einem Ort zur Verfügung.

Jedoch die mit Abstand grösste Neuerung der Website ist das responsive Design. Das bedeutet, dass die Inhalte je nach Bildschirmgrösse skaliert, anders positioniert oder ent-fernt werden. Es entsteht ein Layout, das sich dynamisch an die Auflösung des Endgerätes anpasst und eine optimale Benutzerfreundlichkeit bietet. Ob die Nutzer sich also am PC, Notebook, Tablet oder Mobiltelefon über die SIS und ihr Angebot informieren, das Erschei-nungsbild der Website bleibt über alle Bildschirmauflösungen konsistent. So finden sie sich auch nach einem Gerätewechsel mühelos zurecht.

Machen Sie sich selbst ein Bild und informieren Sie sich über uns und unser Angebot auf www.swissinternationalschool.ch

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International News

The majority of our schools and SIS Swiss International School as a whole are continuously growing. Therefore, ongoing work on our structure and processes is key to successfully managing consolidation and expansion. Moreover, we want to make the most of the advantages and opportunities offered by the SIS group – benefits that arise because our individual schools collaborate and do not operate in isolation. SIS will put more emphasis on the collaboration in the following areas:

International Sports DayWe wish to make each school’s membership of the SIS group more visible and tangible. To this end, we would like to offer more activities that extend beyond the walls of the individual schools and transcend borders. The starting point is our international sports day, the SIS Cup, which will be held annually. Twelve SIS teams with students from grades 5 and 6 have registered for the 2016 SIS Cup; among them are teams of the SIS schools in Basel, Schönenwerd, Rotkreuz-Zug, Zürich, Winterthur, Männedorf-Zürich and Zürich-Wollishofen. Four teams from Germany and a Brazilian team from SIS Rio de Janeiro will also participate. The 2016 SIS Cup will be held on 13 and 14 June in Basel, and it will include various types of sports such as floorball, streetball, running, speed-climbing or chess. The 2017 competition will take place at SIS Stuttgart-Fellbach in Germany.

Best Essay AwardStudents in the final year of our colleges in Zürich, Basel, Stuttgart-Fellbach and Rio de Janeiro will have the chance to compete for the 2016 Best Essay Award. The three best final papers of the extended essay, which students have to write as part of the IB Diploma Programme, will be honoured. The extended essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, culminating in a 4.000 word paper. Students can win a week-long stay in Rio de Janeiro (if an essay from Germany or Switzerland wins), or a week-long stay in Germany or Switzerland (if an essay from Brazil wins).

Overall Number of SIS Students Exceeds Three ThousandIn daily classes and school activities at SIS, students are not numbers. Nevertheless, the current total number of students at all our schools gives reason for celebration. With the new school year in Brazil starting in February, more than three thousand students attend our schools. With around 1.400 students at SIS Switzerland, 850 in Germany and 750 in Brazil, we have reached enrolment figures that were once in the distant future. Starting in 1999 with four students at SIS Basel, we have come a long and a successful way indeed.

Growing in such a way, we have good reason to go about the future with self-confidence and optimism. It is this sense of optimism and solidarity that all of our schools want to instil in their students when they organise charity events on a regular basis. The SIS group management would like to seize this opportunity to support the charitable contributions implemented by our schools. Therefore, we will donate an amount of three thousand Swiss francs to a children’s home in Brazil that is supported by our school in Rio de Janeiro in the context of International Baccalaureate social projects.

Stronger TogetherAmbros Hollenstein, Group Chief Executive Officer

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News

SIS Switzerland

KlassencockpitEach year, students from grades 3 to 9 take part in the Swiss Klassencockpit benchmarking tests. These tests serve the purpose of understanding the effectiveness of teaching and learning in our schools, identifying areas for improvement and measuring students’ achievement against others.

The first round of tests took place in November with students achieving an overall average score that was 13.8 % higher than the control group. With this pleasing result, we look forward to the second round of tests in May.

SIS Basel

Award of DistinctionSIS Basel had its second full school evaluation in November 2015. A group of both national and international SIS school leaders, together with the CEO and the person responsible for pedagogical quality development at SIS Switzerland, visited more than twenty classes and evaluated everything from classroom practice and staff management to communication, logistics and administration. In line with the outcome of the parent questionnaire, which was filled out before the evaluation started, the results were overwhelmingly positive. This resulted in the school being awarded with the prestigious Award of Distinction, the highest honour bestowed internally.

SIS Männedorf-Zürich

Christmas Songs and LanternsIn November, the whole community of SIS Männedorf-Zürich came together for the annual Räbeliechtliumzug (a parade of children carrying lanterns carved from turnips). The beautiful lights of the parade were accompanied by hot punch and soup. At the Christmas event, the children sang songs from different countries and “Funpictures” were taken with the whole family.

Juggling the NumbersIn February, SIS Männedorf-Zürich dedicated a whole week to mathematics. The children discovered the many facets of mathematics and learned how they are relevant in our daily life.

SIS Rotkreuz-Zug

Christmas: A Special EventAt the time of writing, we have just celebrated the end of year festivities with our annual Christmas Fest. This year, we had the pleasure to view an entertaining musical from kindergarten, carols and some dynamic rhythmic pieces using traditional and not so traditional instruments. In a few weeks, our secondary class will take part in its first inter-school ski camp with SIS Basel.

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News

SIS Schönenwerd

New Team LeaderWe would like to welcome Ora Melles as the new team leader of SIS Schönenwerd. Since joining SIS, she has worked with different age groups in a variety of classroom settings. Ora believes that positive teacher-child interaction is critical to students’ success and appreciates the SIS international community, which offers her and her students an authentic, welcoming environment to express themselves as individuals and creatively approach problem solving.

International Story Telling EventsThere are over thirty different nationalities represented at SIS Schönenwerd. In cooperation with the Parent Association, several times a year, students in primary intro, first and second grade listen to stories read in different languages by a parent volunteer. The children watch in fascination and quickly recognise rhymes and patterns in the story.

SIS Suhr

Visit of an AlienMuch to the excitement of all children, there is a visitor at our Kindergarten. It is Wuppi, the little Alien, who has been sent to earth by his father in order to improve his listening skills. Together we do a listening training, which starts with simple sounds, continues with rhymes and ends with syllable exercises. We are looking forward to many adventures with Wuppi.

SIS Winterthur

Dealing with Academic PressureSIS Winterthur recently held its annual parent evening. The theme was “Academic Pressure, How Much is Enough?”. Dr Paul Decker presented relevant research findings and shared his clinical experience working with children and adolescents.

Annual Writing CompetitionThe students are currently completing their pieces for our annual writing competition. This year’s guest author and judge is Ulla Neumann.

SIS Zürich

Change in School ManagementBridgett Grubenmann handed in her resignation from the school management team effective per end of the winter semester. Unfortunately, she fell seriously ill shortly after. We would like to wish her a full and rapid recovery. Katarina Guggenbühler has taken over as ad interim head of Kindergarten and lower Primary until the end of the academic year.

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News

SIS Zürich-Wollishofen

Award of DistinctionAfter last year’s internal school evaluation, our team is proud to be the first SIS school to have achieved the SIS Award of Distinction. After a lot of hard work over the last few years, our team is pleased to have their work recognised through this award. The continued commitment to excellence by our teachers and staff is further reinforced by the overwhelmingly positive feedback received from the parents in the evaluation process.

Change in School ManagementOur principal, Michael Peter, will leave SIS Zürich-Wollishofen at the end of the academic year. However, he will remain a part of the greater SIS team as he will head the new SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz campus starting from the 2016/17 academic year.

SIS Brazil

MYP Accreditation in Rio de JaneiroThe SIS Swiss International School in Rio de Janeiro has been accredited by the International Baccalaureate Organisation to offer the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). With this, the school in Rio has become the second in Brazil to offer all three IB programmes, a further achievement in our mission to provide high-quality international education to our students in Brazil.

PYP Accreditation in BrasíliaSIS Brasília has been accredited to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP) to preschool and primary school students, and thus becomes the first in the Brazilian capital to do so.

SIS Germany

SIS Germany is growing steadily; around 870 students are now attending our schools in Friedrichshafen, Ingolstadt, Kassel, Regensburg and Stuttgart-Fellbach.

SIS FriedrichshafenShortly before the start of the new academic year, SIS Friedrichshafen moved into its new schoolhouse in the Fallenbrunnen area. Staff and students now enjoy the newly renovated facilities: well-lit classrooms, various specialist rooms, their own sports hall, the impressively airy cafeteria with a view of the Swiss alps and the pleasant outdoor area.

First Graduating Students at SIS Stuttgart-FellbachAt the end of this academic year, the first students of SIS Stuttgart-Fellbach will take their Abitur and IB exams. Some of these students started in grade 5 in 2008 and were therefore amongst our very first SIS students in Germany. We are very proud to have watched them grow into successful, reflective and open-minded young adults.

Preparing for the Abitur and IB at SIS Ingolstadt and SIS RegensburgThe students at SIS Ingolstadt and SIS Regensburg are also growing up fast: this academic year, grades 11 and 12 started the first qualification and preparation phase for obtaining the German Abitur and, optionally, the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma.

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On LearningOn Learning

Professional Development and the

SIS Educational Concept

The SIS Educational Concept underpins all that we do, and therefore has a direct influence on the teaching and learning at SIS Swiss International School. We stand by the immersion method, give equal value to German and English, differentiate to cater to learning needs, and use varying modes of teaching and technologies to ensure our students can meet with success in our bilingual world.

To support teachers in understanding, aligning with, and actively promoting our school concept, SIS has developed a professional development programme that is attended by teachers every year. This programme focuses on three main areas: the induction of new teachers into SIS, the implementation of SIS curricula, and the upskilling of teachers in various pedagogical areas as defined by company goals and school needs. Teachers are obliged to attend five professional development days per year.

Special attention is given to new teachers at SIS with a full day workshop taking place in Zürich before the academic year begins. On this day, new teachers are introduced to our educational concept and taken through our specially designed curricula and methods of teaching. It allows our new teachers to identify with SIS at an early stage and, consequently, makes the transition smoother.

All teachers gather in Zürich for a company professional development day in September. This day allows our college teachers to attend courses that will enhance their teaching in the classroom, whilst our kindergarten and primary teachers attend an introduction course on the latest SIS curriculum that has been developed. SIS curricula are based on, and mirror, our educational concept. Each one represents the equal value given to German and English, allowing teachers to work together and complement each other, thus strengthening students’ transfer of knowledge and skills between languages. The bilingual curricula also support our immersive method, differentiation, and encourage student questioning and self exploration.

Following the introduction day, two half day workshops are conducted in schools for our kindergarten and primary teachers to consolidate the learning and receive deeper inputs.

A highlight of the year are our two company professional development days held in Basel each November, where all our teachers from Switzerland and Germany come together. Here, our educational concept is promoted with over 45 courses offered in German or English. Such topics as internationality, bilingualism, refined teaching methodologies, new technologies and courses on latest pedagogical research are offered. Over the two days, the sharing of knowledge and resources between schools and teachers is promoted, building on a cornerstone of our educational concept: a strong network.

Performance through diversity is another mainstay of our educational concept, and our professional development programme promotes this in every way. Our next curriculum, ICT, will enhance this further as we look at how modern technology can support the teaching and learning in the classroom.

Janet Meister, Chief Quality Officer

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Bilingual ExperienceEnglish and the national language play equal roles in school communication – in the classroom and in all parts of day-to-day school life. As a result, children learn to express themselves naturally and confidently in both languages.

Independent and Value-Centred ApproachThe teaching philosophy at SIS Swiss International School is non-ideological, but founded on clearly defined core values. We strive to embody the values we seek to impart to our students: honesty, appreciation, personal responsibility and integrity.

Day School CommunityTo meet the needs of modern families and working parents, our day school offers a structured and challenging programme with classroom instruction with fixed hours, lunch, supervised homework hour and additional supervised periods and courses.

Performance through DiversityThe varied, stimulating environment of SIS Swiss Inter national School supports students in achieving excellent academic performance, while allowing them to take enjoyment and pride in what they learn. Our teachers hail from diverse backgrounds and deploy a range of teaching and learning methods.

International Education – Local InsightThe SIS community of students, parents and teachers is made up of a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. We offer students a diverse and engaging school environment that simultaneously fosters an awareness of the wider world and a relationship to their immediate environment.

Continuity from Kindergarten to CollegeSIS Swiss International School offers a single unified learning concept – from kindergarten to primary school, to secondary and college level. Because we cater to all education levels (sometimes even under the same roof), we can facilitate a seamless transition from one stage to the next.

National and International Recognition For students at college level, we offer targeted preparation for the national high school diploma (Matura). At the same time, they have the opportunity to complete the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, a globally recognised university entrance qualification.

Strong NetworkThe SIS network ensures consistently high quality standards, as structures and processes at our facilities are evaluated, developed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. Additionally, our international organisation provides teachers and students with a platform to exchange experience and insights across borders.

Our students and their learning needs are at the heart of our efforts. In our educational concept, this is put into practice by taking into account the following eight aspects:

The SIS Educational Concept

Strong Network

National and International

Recognition

Continuity from Kindergarten to

College

Performance through Diversity

Day School Community

Independent and Value-Centred

Approach

Bilingual Experience

International Education – Local Insight

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Gelebte ZweisprachigkeitEnglisch und die jeweilige Landessprache sind gleichberech-tigte Um gangs- und Arbeitssprachen in Unterricht und Schul-leben. Die Kinder lernen, sich in beiden Sprachen natürlich und selbst verständlich zu bewegen.

Unabhängig und werteorientiertDie SIS Swiss International School ist politisch, weltanschau-lich und konfessionell unabhängig. Ehrlichkeit, Wertschät-zung, Eigenverantwortlichkeit und Verbindlichkeit im Tun  – dies sind Werte, die uns wichtig sind und die wir weitergeben möchten.

Ganztägige SchulgemeinschaftWir stellen uns auf die Anforderungen eines modernen Fami-lien- und Berufslebens ein und bieten ein verlässliches und anspruchsvolles Ganztagsangebot mit Unterricht in Block-zeiten, Mittagstisch, begleiteter Hausaufgabenstunde und zu-sätzlichen Betreuungszeiten und Kursen.

Leistungsorientiert durch Vielfalt Das vielgestaltige und stimulierende Umfeld an der SIS er-möglicht es den Schülerinnen und Schülern, eine hohe Lern-leistung zu erbringen, an der sie Freude haben und auf die sie stolz sein können. Lehrkräfte aus verschiedenen Lehr- und Lernkulturen zeigen unterschiedliche Zugänge und Lösungs-wege auf.

International ausgerichtet – lokal verankertDie Schüler- und Elternschaft wie auch das Kollegium der SIS Swiss International School sind international zusammenge-setzt. Wir bieten den Kindern eine viel fältige und lebendige Schulgemeinschaft, die den Blick für die Welt öffnet und sich zugleich den Nachbarn nicht verschliesst.

Durchgängig vom Kindergarten bis zur HochschulreifeDie SIS Swiss International School bietet Bildung aus einem Guss. Mit Kindergarten, Primar-/Grundschule, Sekundar-schule und Gymnasium in derselben Institution – teilweise sogar unter einem Dach – ermöglichen wir gut abgestimmte Übergänge von einer Bildungsstufe in die nächste.

National und international anerkanntUnseren Gymnasiastinnen und Gymnasiasten bieten wir eine zielgerichtete Vorbereitung auf die nationale Hochschulreife (Matura). Gleichzeitig haben sie die Möglichkeit, mit dem International Baccalaureate (IB) einen weltweit anerkannten Hochschulzugang zu erwerben.

Stark im VerbundDas Netzwerk der SIS Swiss International School gewähr-leistet einheitliche Qualitätsstandards. Die Strukturen und Prozesse an den Schulstandorten werden laufend evaluiert und weiterentwickelt. Der Verbund ermöglicht Lernenden und Lehrenden Austausch über die Landesgrenzen hinweg.

Die Lernenden mit ihrem Lernbedürfnis stehen im Zentrum unserer Bemühungen. Dem tragen wir in unserem Bildungskonzept unter den folgenden acht Aspekten Rechnung:

Das SIS-Bildungskonzept

Stark im Verbund

National und international

anerkannt

Durchgängig vom Kindergarten bis zur

Hochschulreife

Leistungsorientiert durch Vielfalt

Ganztägige Schulgemeinschaft

Unabhängig und werteorientiert

Gelebte Zweisprachigkeit

International ausgerichtet – lokal

verankert

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Alumni Page

Gaining New Understandings

I was born in New Zealand and attended school there until I was 14 when my family decided to move to Switzerland. I didn’t take school very seriously in New Zealand; I enjoyed some subjects, but mostly thought school was about meeting friends and socialising, and convincing my teachers why I didn’t think the homework was worth doing.

Coming to Switzerland with no German to speak of, let alone French, and entering the school system at the secondary level was definitely a challenge! My sister and I attended the local school who were initially reluctant to take us, but did provide us with support. I remember reading German children’s books with my father after school to learn simple sentence structure, and being so exhausted after sitting in school the entire day just trying to understand something.

After immersing myself in German for a year at the secondary school, I began to realise I had no chance to get into the Gymnasium without French as well. That’s where SIS Zürich came in. With English counting as one of the entry exam subjects, I did a crash course in French; attending night school and a French camp, I managed to scrape through the entrance exam allowing me to continue my schooling there.

I realised I had to get into gear with language learning, so I continued with night school and tried to improve my grades. I remember opening a history textbook and seeing a sentence that was half a page long in complicated German. I thought all was lost until I realised my classmates didn’t understand a lot of it either, even with German understanding!

SIS Zürich gave me the option of studying for the IB, the Swiss Matura, or both. As I wanted to stay in Switzerland and continue on to university, I chose the Matura option. With this incentive, I pulled myself together and my effort paid off as I graduated second in my year group with an average of 5.2.

What I really enjoyed at SIS was the immersion of English or German in classes, coupled with the freedom of language outside of the classroom. Everyone spoke what came naturally to them, and everyone understood when I would suddenly switch from English to German and back if the right words weren’t coming. I feel this acceptance is a mentality we should try and incorporate into everyday life.

Since graduating from SIS and beginning my studies at university, I have had the opportunity to work part time in promotions and event management. With this job I’ve travelled to many different cities in Switzerland, using French, German and English wherever I go. I’m so glad to have had the experience of a bilingual school that appreciates the importance of language. Although my French is still a bit rusty, I enjoy speaking the local language wherever I am.

One of my favourite classes at SIS was Pädagogik, Psychologie & Philosophie. This class inspired me to learn more and think about a career working with people. Consequently, I am now in my second year of psychology at the University of Zürich, and I really enjoy the variety of lectures, although exam time is always very stressful. I’m excited to see where this path takes me, be it in Switzerland, New Zealand or a fantastic new country to discover.

Stephanie Meister, SIS Zürich Bilingual College Graduate 2014

Stephanie Meister

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SIS Basel

Diwali Celebration at SIS BaselAndrew Wulfers, Principal

On November 16, our school campus turned into Little India for a day. The occasion: Diwali  – the Hindu festival of lights. It is during this time that the victory of light over darkness is celebrated as well as the good over evil, and hope over despair. It is also the time when knowledge over ignorance is celebrated, making it the perfect celebration for the SIS Basel.

Early in the morning on November 16th, families were greeted in the entrance hall with beautifully detailed rangoli designs, which had been painstakingly laid out over the weekend by a dedicated group of Indian mothers with an inclination for artistic greatness. One could immediately tell there was more going on then mandalas, though. Many students, teachers, and parents were dressed in traditional Indian garb and the colours flowed freely throughout the school.

Our colourful Indian mothers visited many of our classes, introducing the students to a plethora of different Indian handicrafts like Diwali cards and lanterns, moulding and painting diyas. Together, the mothers and the students were also creating rangoli designs out of lentils and rice, and making Henna tattoos. It was certainly a sight to behold.

The main event was being held in the upper gym hall, which had been transformed into a veritable Indian market for a day. Through many different stalls and a short film, the students were introduced to Indian culture, clothing, different festivals, and of course the story of Diwali. While the kids watched the film, teachers were treated to traditional Diwali snacks and a cup of Chai. Everyone received a beautiful handmade Diwali gift at the end of the tour.

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Later in the afternoon, many of the Indian families worked together to create a delicious smorgasbord of curries, sauces, rice dishes, and other delectable delights. To those who crave a slightly spicy palate, this buffet could not be outdone. Students, parents and teachers alike lined up to taste the flavour of India. Everyone absolutely loved the food and it quickly disappeared within the hour.

Diwali Day at SIS Basel is in its infancy. With such a large and vibrant Indian culture within the school, we will be sure to create even greater spectacles in the future. With Bollywood dancing classes fully underway as part of the after school programme, next year’s festival will be the biggest and most exciting ever. Obviously, it can’t be orchestrated without the continuing help of all of our Indian families, who were friendly and forthcoming enough to share with us their beautiful cultural heritage.

A great day was had by all, and we are already looking forward to next November when, once again, the festival of lights will descend upon the SIS Basel and illuminate our hearts and minds with the greatness that is India.

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SIS Männedorf-Zürich

Leo und seine Eltern entdecken den Platybus

Leo«Seit ich in die SIS gehe, hat sich vieles für mich verändert. Vor drei Jahren hätte ich nie gedacht, dass ich mich einmal fliessend auf Englisch unterhalten könnte. Zwischenzeitlich war ich zweimal in London und bin dort vom Hotelpersonal gefragt worden, ob ich aus Amerika oder Australien komme.

Ich habe Freunde aus Kanada und England und lese viele englische Bücher. Man merkt sehr, dass die SIS eine internationale Schule ist, denn alleine meine drei Englischlehre-rinnen kamen aus Amerika, Australien und Kanada. Es gibt viel mehr Kinder aus dem Ausland, und es überrascht niemanden, wenn ein Schüler nach Hong Kong oder Amerika auswandert. In meiner früheren Schule waren alle Freunde aus der Schweiz. Ich finde es toll, Sachen über andere Länder herauszufinden. Vor allem dann, wenn sie mir ein Freund erzählt. Ich wusste vielleicht, wo und was Toronto war, doch jetzt kenne ich die Stadt praktisch in- und auswendig. Die SIS Männedorf-Zürich hat mit ihrer Internationalität und Zweisprachigkeit viele Vorteile.»

Tanya Moser, Mutter von Leo«Als wir unseren Sohn bei der SIS anmeldeten, waren die gute Erreichbarkeit, der zwei-sprachige Unterricht und das Konzept der Ganztagsschule, wie in vielen Ländern üblich, wichtige Entscheidungskriterien. Begeistert haben meinen Mann und mich dann die Ge-spräche mit der englischen Schulleiterin sowie die Weltoffenheit und Herzlichkeit der Leh-rer. Hier stehen die Stärken der Kinder und nicht ihre Schwächen im Vordergrund.

Ich schätze die regelmässigen News der SIS über das aktuelle Geschehen oder Vorankün-digungen, immer auf Deutsch und Englisch. So bin ich informiert und habe zusätzlich die Möglichkeit, als Nicht-Native-Speaker meine Englischkenntnisse zu verbessern.

Besonders gut gefallen mir die Schulveranstaltungen. Im Sommer wird das Ende der Pro-jektwoche gefeiert, im Herbst freuen sich die Kinder auf Halloween und den Räbeliechtli- Umzug und der Weihnachtsanlass im Dezember ist immer sehr schön. Die Bräuche und Lieder der verschiedenen Herkunftsländer von Schülern und Lehrern prägen diesen Abend besonders stark: Eines der für mich schönsten Weihnachtslieder stammt übrigens aus Neuseeland!»

Familie Moser, ihr Sohn Leo besucht die 6. Klasse

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Daniel Moser, Vater von Leo«Die Lehrpersonen, die ich bis heute kennenlernen durfte, haben alle im Ausland gearbei-tet oder sind gerade dabei, im Ausland zu arbeiten, weil für sie die Schweiz das Ausland ist. Bei den Schülern trifft man eine ähnliche Vielfalt an. Kinder, die (noch) wenig Deutsch verstehen, weil sie bis vor Kurzem an einer ganz anderen Ecke auf dieser Erde gewohnt haben, spielen mit einheimischen Kindern, die selbstverständlich Englisch mit ihnen spre-chen. Diese Dynamik aus Spiel, Spass und Schule ermöglicht das Lernen von Sprachen, die in einer globalen Welt Grundvoraussetzungen sind. Und so habe ich als Vater nicht schlecht gestaunt, als mir mein Sohn, der vorher kein Englisch sprach, drei Wochen nach seinem Start an der SIS Männedorf-Zürich seinen ersten Aufsatz vorgelesen hat. Der Text war auf Englisch, wenn auch stellenweise phonetisch, und er handelte von einem Platybus, ein Wort, das ich erst einmal nachschlagen musste. Es heisst Schnabeltier.

Ein weiterer Aspekt der Internationalität ist der stete Wechsel von Schülern und Lehrper-sonen. Die SIS schafft es, dass die Kinder sich geborgen fühlen und Nestwärme erfahren. Schon nach dem ersten Tag an der SIS Männedorf-Zürich sprach mein Sohn von ‹seiner› Schule.»

Diesen Aufsatz schrieb Leo in der 3. Klasse.

Leo Moser

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SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz

“Exposure to multicultural beliefs is advantageous to all teachers and students. It encourages open-mindedness and empathy, and there is room for growth in knowledge, confidence and creativity.” Priscilla Bitton, Primary Teacher SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz.

«Das zweisprachige System bietet Kindern und Lehrpersonen eine gute Möglichkeit sich interkulturell auszutauschen und dabei wichtige und unterschiedliche Werte der heu-tigen Welt kennen- und schätzen zu lernen.» Manuel Brunner, Primarlehrer SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz.

Two teachers, two languages and a shared belief in the benefits of bilingual education and cultural exchange – even before the first student has crossed the threshold of SIS Swiss International School’s newest location in Pfäffikon SZ, teaching partners Priscilla Bitton and Manuel Brunner seem to agree on the main advantages of being part of a school community in which students and teachers from different cultures and backgrounds live and learn together on a daily basis. Together with principal Michael Peter, who has successfully headed SIS Zürich-Wollishofen for the past five years, the two primary teachers will take on the challenging task of establishing SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz in the Swiss education market.

From the academic year 2016/17, SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz will offer preschool education for five-year-olds as well as the primary grades 1 to 4. From August 2017, a new campus will offer an ideal learning environment for preschool, primary and secondary school. Both Manuel and Priscilla are motivated by the fact that they will be able to help develop the school from the very beginning. In Priscilla’s words: “I am very excited to join the founding team at SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz. It is a rare opportunity that one gets to contribute from day one and observe a school grow.” Both teachers have plenty of teaching experience in an international setting: Manuel previously worked at SIS Tamins-Chur, and Priscilla can look back on thirteen years in primary education at an international school in Zürich.

In line with SIS policy, the teaching team at SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz consists of a native speaker of German and a native speaker of English. This not only guarantees that the two languages play equal roles in the classroom and in day-to-day school life, but coming from diverse teaching and learning cultures, Priscilla and Manuel can draw on a wealth of different methods and tools to show their students a variety of ways to approach and solve problems. At all SIS locations, different types of learners are able to profit in various ways from their teachers’ different backgrounds and repertoire, and this will be no different at SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz.

Building on Strong FoundationsLuzia Schoeck, Assistant to the CEO

Manuel Brunner

Priscilla Bitton

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Born and raised in Switzerland, Manuel has completed the teacher training college in Chur and will be responsible for the German half of everyday school life at SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz. He is looking forward to discussing different ways of teaching with his new colleague, which, as he hopes, will broaden his horizon and provide him with new impulses for his own teaching. Priscilla, on the other hand, will be responsible for the English parts at the new school. As a British citizen who was born in Malaysia and grew up in Spain, Priscilla has been exposed to different languages and cultures from an early age. Having been brought up bilingually herself, she knows about the advantages, but also the problems that students might encounter: “Through my own personal experience, I have been made very aware of the difficulties students may have learning English. This has helped me develop my teaching and address all the different learning styles within a class.”

Of course, the new team at SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz will not have to start from scratch. Being part of the SIS group with 15 schools in Switzerland, Germany and Brazil, they have plenty of well-established resources and structures to fall back on. Supported by the SIS community and the carefully developed bilingual SIS curricula, Priscilla and Manuel are well equipped to help their students build bridges between languages and cultures and open their minds to whole new worlds. We wish them the best of luck for their journey!

Principal Michael Peter with two little helpers at the ground breaking ceremony for the new campus.

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SIS Rotkreuz-Zug

Festival of Light

When I look back upon my primary school years, the memories I hold most precious are those of special events, school trips, sports days and school productions. School events, for example, I could enjoy and share with family and friends forever after. At SIS Rotkreuz-Zug, when planning our units of inquiry, we ensure that we incorporate special events into our programme. In preschool, one particular unit encompasses this philosophy with many special events: “Festivals of Light”.

“Festivals of Light” is a wonderful unit through which we embrace the cultural diversity of our student body, integrate into our local community and celebrate the many festivals which occur during the dark autumn and winter months.

The best way to motivate children to learn is through providing authentic experiences. Therefore, we invited parents into school to share their experience of light festivals from their culture. We had a parent from India arrive with her daughter in traditional dress to share their experiences of Diwali. Together, they showed artefacts including diyas, the traditional Diwali lantern. They also made a large rangoli pattern using coloured powder with the class. A mother from Japan came into school and showed a power point of Japan with photographs of her family participating in a celebration of light. She showed traditional lanterns, demonstrated origami and gave each child a treat bag full of Japanese snacks. We also had a parent tell a story to the children about the origin of the Swiss festival of Räbeliechtli.

As part of our celebration of Räbeliechtli, we invited parents into school to help their child carve the traditional lantern from a turnip, which proved to be fun, but challenging! Later that evening, the kindergarten class joined the children from the local community schools in a lantern parade around the town. There was great anticipation as the church bells rang out, the street lights were extinguished and the band began to play. The children walked around the parade route, lanterns glowing and singing their Räbeliechtli song, whilst parents joined the parade or watched from the side lines.

Sarah Warner, Kindergarten Teacher

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As a finale to this unit, we collaborated with the primary intro class to put on a winter show, performing a musical called “Shine, Star, Shine” in front of friends and family. This was warmly received by all and marked the beginning of our whole school Christmas concert. The students showed great confidence and enthusiasm to entertain our guests, and we are sure it helped bring to life the meaning of Christmas.

This unit was not only full of learning opportunities, but it celebrated internationalism and cultural diversity. It was a unit to be enjoyed by students, teachers and parents alike. These events, I’m sure, will be remembered for years to come.

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SIS Schönenwerd

International Education

Remarkably for a small school, 32 different nationalities co-exist at SIS Schönenwerd. If Marcel Proust, the French novelist, is correct, and “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new lands, but in seeing with new eyes,” then our school is uniquely positioned to create an international community by not only educating our pupils about the world, but by encouraging them to engage with it through their peers and their peers’ experiences.

The opportunities that our student and teacher body, combined with our curriculum, provide are nearly endless. It is up to us to make the most of them, using all the means at our disposal.

For example, when the days grow dark in December, our community explores the holidays that revolve around light: Diwali, Hannukah and Christmas, to name but three. By sharing traditions and songs, photographs and recipes, we are encouraged to reflect on questions such as: why might there be commonalities? Where do our practices overlap? What do we share?

Of course, traditional texts and the internet contribute a great deal to our understanding of our journey, both as individuals and as a community. Each of the nationalities is represented by a country, be it large or small. Primary and middle school students at SIS Schönenwerd use Google Earth to “visit” their own and each others’ countries. At first glance, all the continents look similar: a bit of dark brown, light brown, blue. But as students zoom in, detailed information emerges. For example, the students examine varying topographies and understand the particular vegetation of the area.

Story-telling plays an important role as well, for humans require a narrative to make sense of their selves. At first, children work with the narratives they are given, and then they begin to build their own. Providing a strong basis and, consequently, a springboard for individual narratives is an essential part of education, and that is why we invite parent volunteers to share stories in languages other than German and English with our youngest students. In a welcoming space, heaped with mattresses and pillows, children watch and listen carefully to expressive readers. It is astonishing how quickly they recognise rhymes and recurring words in a story, repeating them out loud, in unison with the others, creating “international” moments that lay the foundation for any number of possible narratives to be constructed later in life.

Ora Melles, Vice-Principal

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An in-depth look at personal narratives sheds light on fundamental commonalities among peoples around the world. By recognising that individuals of different civilisations and their personal stories share similar universal values, murals of lives are created. These reflections lead to a collective of stories that foster intercultural discussions and sensitivities, which are essential in developing personal narratives. For example, in an upper primary school assembly, students were asked to reflect on their “way to school”. Following a short activity, they watched “On the Way to School”, a documentary film by Pascal Plisson, which follows the long and difficult journeys to school of four children from Kenya, Morocco, India and Argentina. The students sat mesmerised, observing the heroic journeys of these kids their own age in faraway countries from eating breakfast, discussing fears and hopes to finally walking to school. Interestingly, several times students mentioned that their way to school was just as long as the one of the child in the film; however, in each case, a classmate immediately stated that to only compare the time travelled would be unfair as the two trips are of a completely different nature. These are examples of interactive journeys that are shaping future critical thinking skills and creating memoirs.

Such “International Education”, combined with a rigorous, but supportive study of the traditional disciplines, offers today’s students the world of tomorrow – without ever leaving Schönenwerd.

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SIS Suhr

Spielen, entdecken, singen –

in Englisch und Deutsch

Unsere Kinder leben in einem zusammenwachsenden Europa. Die globale Vernetzung weist den Fremdsprachen eine andere Bedeutung im Bildungsgang zu. Jeder Einzelne muss zunehmend bereit, aber auch dazu fähig sein, sich in einer Fremdsprache aus-zutauschen und zu verständigen. Bei weltweit fallenden Grenzen müssen Fremdsprachen gleichsam zu Zweitsprachen werden. Die Menschen müssen bilingual denken und kom-munizieren können. Der zweisprachige Unterricht im Kindergarten eröffnet den Kindern eine grosse persönliche Chance. Kleine Kinder lernen eine zweite Sprache in der gleichen Mühelosigkeit wie die erste. Mehrsprachigkeit hilft auch, Toleranz für anderssprachige Menschen und Kulturen zu entwickeln.

Es ist immer wieder erstaunlich, wie die Zweitsprache an der SIS Swiss International School ins Alltagsleben eingebettet wird. Die Kinder lernen zu verstehen, indem die Leh-rerin ihre Äusserungen geschickt durch Gestik, Zeigen oder Vormachen unterstützt. Den Kindern bereitet es Vergnügen, eine Geschichte in einer anderen Sprache zu hören, auch ohne sie sprachlich zu verstehen. In der sprachlichen Entwicklung spielen häufig vorkom-mende Wörter eine wichtige Rolle. Sie werden von den Kindern früh verstanden und spon-tan verwendet. So geht die Zweitsprache mehr und mehr in den sprachlichen Alltag über. Die Kinder beginnen spontan, für ihren Tagesablauf wichtige Dinge auch auf Englisch zu sagen, wie zum Beispiel: «Can I sit neben dir?» oder «I don’t like Gurken.» Oder wenn die Kinder zusammen Familie spielen, hört man Fragen wie: «Bist du my sister?» Auch tauchen englische Wörter spontan auf, wenn die Lehrerin eine Frage auf Deutsch stellt: «Was gibt es heute zu essen?» – «Cauliflower!»

Die Art, wie die neue Sprache gelernt wird, ist von ausschlaggebender Bedeutung. Es sollte möglichst kontextualisiert geschehen. Damit ist gemeint, dass die Kinder die betref-fenden Vorgänge schon aufgrund ihrer Situation verstehen. Sie nutzen ihr situatives Ver-ständnis, um sich die Sprache zu erschliessen. Es ist sehr wichtig, dass die sprachlichen Handlungen visuell unterstützt werden. Das Gesagte wird durch Gesten begleitet. Eine weitere Möglichkeit ist, auf das Benannte oder auf Bilder davon zu zeigen oder mit dem Bezeichneten zu hantieren. Einen hohen Lerneffekt erreicht man, wenn man mit den Kin-dern ihnen vertraute Spiele in der neuen Sprache spielt. Ebenso förderlich ist es, wenn die diversen, sich täglich wiederholenden Aktivitäten von den entsprechenden sprachlichen Begriffen begleitet werden. Solche Aktivitäten liefern den Kindern das, was sie zur Ent-schlüsselung der neuen Sprache brauchen. Den Kindern werden dabei keine Fähigkeiten abverlangt, über die sie nicht ohnehin verfügen. Denn genau diese Aufgabe, neue Wörter zu lernen oder noch nie gehörte Redewendungen zu verstehen, müssen die Kinder tagtäg-lich auch in ihrer Muttersprache bewältigen.

Daniel Fluri, Schulleiter

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Für die Sprachwissenschaftler ist das Kindergartenalter der ideale Zeitpunkt, den ersten Kontakt zu einer Fremdsprache herzustellen. Von der Entwicklung her beschäftigt sich das Gehirn zu diesem Zeitpunkt nämlich ohnehin mit Sprachenlernen. Der frühe Kontakt mit einer Fremdsprache fördert die geistige Entwicklung und das Kind kann auf spiele-rische Weise erstaunliche Lernleistungen vollbringen. Kinder, die zweisprachig aufwach-sen, sind sich generell bewusster über Sprache. Sie sind kreativer, wenn es um Lösungen von bestimmten Problemen geht. Sie lernen, flexibel zu denken, und suchen alternative Lösungsmöglichkeiten. Sie versuchen, sich gut auszudrücken und sich stärker in ande-re hineinzuversetzen, die nicht so gut verstehen wie sie selbst. Die Kinder besitzen ein besseres Gespür für andere Kulturen. Der Umgang mit einer anderen Sprache macht den wissbegierigen Kindern viel Spass. Ein Kind, das zwei Sprachen spricht, ist schöpferischer und bringt bessere intellektuelle Voraussetzungen mit, eine weitere Sprache zu lernen.

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SIS Winterthur

Reflections on Internationalism at SIS Winterthur

“We become not a melting pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” Jimmy Carter, American President 1977–1981, Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002.

As I reach the end of our grade 3 theme on the ancient Romans and their enduring art works, Jimmy Carter’s reference to a beautiful mosaic resonates with me. It sums up beautifully the situation in our school, not only in regard to the children and their families, but also regarding the diversity of our staff.

To get a better understanding of our “beautiful mosaic” at SIS Winterthur, we asked our teachers to reflect on their experiences of working in a culturally diverse international environment. Enjoy reading their responses:

What positive experiences have you had working with staff of many different nationalities?“My colleagues have given me a unique insight into their culture. I used to have only a vague knowledge of places like New Zealand, Scotland and Bern, but now I have a real connection to those places. I am particularly intrigued by the differences in our languages. I really enjoy playing around with that. We also learn a lot from each other. We can draw on best practice from a wide variety of teaching backgrounds, and everyone is dedicated to keeping themselves and the school moving forward.”

“Every country has a different sense of humour and some new colleagues do not always know how to react to the banter in the staff room or to the amusing pseudo- or nicknames given to them by older staff members. For me, it is really gratifying to see the friendships that develop among them and the high level of solidarity and mutual respect we have in our team. I think we really enjoy each other’s company, even though we are a very diverse group. I feel extremely fortunate to be part of such a positive atmosphere.”

“I have developed a greater desire to travel to countries that had, for the most part, been excluded as possible holiday destinations. This has been as a result of sharing experiences with fellow colleagues of living in, or travelling through, these countries. India means more to me now than just good curry.”

Liz Coupland and Kate Nash, Primary Teachers

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“I guess learning how to ‘read’ others has been a positive. What is deemed, for example, socially, professionally or educationally acceptable by some nationalities could be frowned upon by others. This fosters a great deal of tolerance, acceptance and understanding in a workplace and provides a wealth of knowledge (some of which is filed away for later use) and moments of laughter. Through informal interactions, anecdotes, recipes, upcoming performances, dining establishments and weekend adventures are shared. Bringing together people of different nationalities allows for a greater diversity in what is shared.”

“Of course, enjoying some friendly banter during international sporting events is always great, especially if you are in support of the winning individual or team.”

“I feel working with people of various nationalities helped me to really understand the core of what and I how teach. Because of the different perspectives and methods, the common and essential content became clearer.”

What challenges have there been working with staff of many different nationalities?“In the beginning, I underestimated the differences between the teaching and working cultures of the staff. It was really important to be clear about where we needed common ground and to outline our mutual expectations. Even among the English speaking staff, there were significant differences. At the same time, the school has its own culture that is very strong. Also, many of us have been with the school for a long time. That really helps when new members of staff join. Another big challenge has been to keep the balance between English and German. It has been great to have a German speaker join the leadership team. Previously, there were only English speakers, and it was not always easy to keep a balance, especially because the German speaking teachers all speak excellent English.”

“Depending on the nature of the staff’s background in education, potentially, there could be clashes with regards to best practice. Coming from different educational systems, having experience with particular methods and not being open to ‘new’ ways of doing things can create cracks in the cohesion of a staff.”

“Understanding people has been a challenge. When the first person from New Zealand joined our team, I had to ask her to repeat what she said weeks on end – and it was my own language!”

As you can see, our colourful SIS mosaic is made up of individuals, each with their own story and perspective. It is in working side by side that together we create an enriching atmosphere with hearts and minds ever open to undiscovered ideas and new experiences.

With grateful thanks to SIS Winterthur teachers for their contributions.

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SIS Zürich-Wollishofen

Holiday Club at SIS Zürich-Wollishofen

During the holidays, we run a themed club from Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. In this instance, we had two weeks and decided that “Around the World in 10 Days” would be a fitting theme.

With such a variety of nationalities within the school – of children and staff – we wanted to take advantage of this collective knowledge and expertise of our native countries and share our insights with the group.

Being an international school in every sense of the word, it was a delight to share and learn about so many different places, their languages, books, music, customs, flags, traditions, animals, clothes, food, games, geographical locations, famous landmarks and so much more.

Each day was structured in the same way: one supervisor would start with a short interactive presentation about their native country with the children also contributing greatly. We used white boards, flip charts, laptops, projection screens, prints, hand-outs, traditional clothing, musical instruments, national anthems and even food during the presentations. We then split into smaller groups for a fantastic array of activities organised by the supervision team relating to that specific country.

Our lunch menu was from the country we were “visiting” that day; the excursions were also tied in to the country of the day. The children shared their own insight and experiences, often bringing objects or food in from home. At various points throughout the day, we were outside for organised games.

In the first week, we travelled through Hungary, Brazil, Russia, Senegal and England. In the second week we travelled through Egypt, France, India and Italy, before finally returning back to Switzerland for a party.

We chose these specific countries to offer as much depth as possible according to both the native lands of our supervision team and the places we had lived in. Some members of the supervision team are dual nationals and were able to introduce more than one country. The countries also represented a number of countries that most of the students recognised and could relate to – along with some places that were completely new and exciting.

Harry Bose, Head of Supervision

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The theme really highlighted the enjoyment of embracing different cultures whilst also being proud of and interested in our own backgrounds.

In contrast to normal class time, the children in the holiday club work and play together in mixed age groups. This helps to grow friendships and to build the confidence of our students: the younger children learn not to be afraid and to enjoy the help and guidance of older children; the older students, on the other hand, learn to look after and take responsibility of the younger ones. We often get positive feedback from parents about this, too, especially from those with children in kindergarten.

It was a joy to see the children really open up to the theme – most noticeably when the quieter children could express themselves with confidence and authority when talking about their own country and engaging with the group.

Another very nice aspect of the holiday club experience was that children who were naturally reluctant to try new foods emboldened themselves to try (and enjoy) totally foreign tastes.

One of the excursions was to Zürich Zoo to see the animals, birds and reptiles from Brazil and South America. We also took a boat trip down the lake to Thalwil and enjoyed the stunning views of snow-capped mountains, played on the pirate ships and had a traditional Swiss grill.

Our feedback was extremely positive; everybody enjoyed themselves a great deal. It was such a successful and enjoyable theme that staff and children alike would definitely recommend it!

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SIS Zürich

Our Own Little United Nations

Working in an international kindergarten is like working in a mini-model of the United Nations in many ways. The UN has a mandate to “prevent conflict; help parties in conflict make peace; peacekeeping; and create the conditions to allow peace to hold and flourish.”

A kindergarten teacher does much of the same. Like the UN, there are many different characters that make up our class. There are politicians (if you give me some of your cake, I will play with you on the playground), interpreters (he says he has to go to the bathroom!), peacekeepers (ok, you can have a turn first with the Lego, I will wait) and lawmakers (don’t take all my play dough, if you do you can’t play with me anymore!).

And similarly to the people working at the UN, children in an international atmosphere must learn to negotiate, compromise, problem solve, and adapt to an ever-changing environment. They must learn to do this while navigating different languages, differing personal needs, clashing personalities and varying group interests. The children have to learn to wait their turn, make group decisions, join together for activities, try to understand one another and accept that they won’t always get their way.

Sometimes, decisions need to be made for the sake of peace and unity of the group as a whole. Also like the UN, we cover issues such as peace and security (taking turns and not using our bodies to solve our problems), climate change (even though it’s sunny, it’s still winter and you have to wear warm clothes outside), human rights (it’s not okay to take her water away from her, please give it back), humanitarian and health issues (time for hand-washing children), gender equality (girls can play with trucks and boys can play with dolls, too), governance (who is going to be our library helper today?), food production (let’s plan a trip to a local farm to see where milk comes from), and more.

Tanisha Jesseau, Kindergarten Teacher

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However, the one big difference between us and the UN is the effective and swift way in which problems are actually solved in a kindergarten. We don’t need weeks, months and years. Conflict is usually resolved within seconds. This is because children have very pressing matters at hand, and that is to make friends, play, have fun and get along. Kindergarten children learn quickly how to accept help, take advice, make decisions, apologise, and then get on with their business – the business of joy. Play, laughter, fun and friendship are always at the centre of all conflict resolution. An international kindergarten is an excellent example of multiculturalism working at its best, as the happiness of the group as a whole is very important. Now, if only the real UN could make our world leaders go back to kindergarten, think how different things would be!

www.swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Basel

SIS Swiss International SchoolErlenstrasse 15CH-4058 BaselPhone +41 61 683 71 40info.basel@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Männedorf-Zürich

SIS Swiss International SchoolSeestrasse 57CH-8708 MännedorfPhone +41 44 921 50 50info.maennedorf@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Pfäffikon-Schwyz

SIS Swiss International SchoolEichenstrasse 5CH-8808 Pfäffikon SZPhone +41 55 415 44 00info.pfaeffikon@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Rotkreuz-Zug

SIS Swiss International SchoolSuurstoffi 41cCH-6343 RotkreuzPhone +41 41 757 57 11info.rotkreuz@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Schönenwerd

SIS Swiss International SchoolSchachenstrasse 24CH-5012 SchönenwerdPhone +41 62 312 30 30info.schoenenwerd@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Suhr

SIS Swiss International SchoolReiherweg 2bCH-5034 SuhrPhone +41 62 842 97 07info.suhr@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Winterthur

SIS Swiss International SchoolTechnoparkstrasse 18406 WinterthurPhone +41 52 202 82 11info.winterthur@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Zürich-Wollishofen

SIS Swiss International SchoolSeestrasse 271CH-8038 ZürichPhone +41 43 399 88 44info.wollishofen@swissinternationalschool.ch

SIS Zürich

SIS Swiss International SchoolSeidenstrasse 2CH-8304 WallisellenPhone +41 44 388 99 44info.zuerich@swissinternationalschool.ch

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