SGIS Newsletter March 2008

Dear Readers,

Fitness for Kids In a society where fast food is fast becoming the “norm”, children are now eating more of it than ever. At present, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that 20% of children in the European Region are overweight, and that a third of these are obese. Physical activity amongst children and adolescents is also low. If no steps are taken to tackle this problem, an estimated 15 million children and adolescents (1 out of 10) will be obese by 2010.
In Switzerland, steps are slowly being taken to educate parents and children about the benefits of healthy eating and exercise habits. Fitness for Kids is an organization that visits schools to educate and inspire children and their parents about the importance of eating healthy, being active, and living with respect and integrity towards oneself and each other, and has been operating in Switzerland since 2005. Fitness for Kids was founded by Franco Carlotto, a Swiss/ Italian who is the 6-time winner of the prestigious Mr. World Fitness Competition. The International School of Winterthur was able to follow Mr. Carlotto in one of his programs when he visited the school recently. The first thing you notice about Mr. Carlotto is his strong physique. At 6'2”, he stands towering above the young students sitting on the floor of the school gym, looking up at him with excited anticipation. He talks to the students about why healthy eating and fitness are so important, and then explains how easy it is to make small changes in their lives that will benefit them in the future. The first thing that he mentions is the “Five-a-day” rule, where children (and adults) should eat at least 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day, and a fruit or vegetable juice can only account for one of those. He then talks about the importance of drinking water and beverages that do not contain sugars, which seems to be quite a good tip, as most children of today tend to favor sodas and sugar-rich fruit juices. Mr. Carlotto then got the students up to do a fun exercise where they had to start by walking around the gym to the Hawaii 5-O theme song, and then every time he blew his whistle, they were to pick up the pace. He then explained how it was important to do at least 60 minutes of physical exercise each day, and that it didn't have to be running or jogging, but that they could do fun things like the exercise they had just done. Mr. Carlotto then also had a few student volunteers to be an example of how to do various exercises.
During the session the children were educated on the importance of eating well and exercising and were handed out with informative information and tips for a healthy lifestyle. A journal was given to each of the children to keep a daily log of how well they follow the Five-a-Day plan. The children will now be filling in the journal until Mr. Carlotto returns to the school for the “Fitness for Kids Check Up” where he will visit the students to see if their attitudes towards both eating healthy and exercising have changed for the better.

New school for Basel

On Friday, September 21 st , the International School Basel AG celebrated the opening of their new campus in Aesch, Switzerland.

With much expansion and growth, the ISB was in need of the additional space to accommodate the thriving Junior School. Between the two locations Reinach and Aesch, the ISB now teaches over 1100 students from 70 different nations.

The new Aesch campus is a modern and sleek structure ideally located off a main thoroughfare, surrounded by a lovely green meadow. The building is “H” shaped with main meeting rooms in the centre and class rooms branching out. The ground floor has a large auditorium, dining room, and library. The upper floors house brightly lit classrooms, purpose built art rooms, computers labs, and air- conditioned exam rooms. Two courtyards serve as a protected entrance at the front and part of a large playground at the rear of the school. The architectural design is one of openness with large windows and extremely wide hallways. The pastel colour choice of blush and creamy yellow enhance the child friendly environment. The classrooms are well designed and appointed with warm colours and furnishings.

If you are unable to attend the upcoming SGIS conference, hosted at the International School of the Basel Region, SGIS members are invited to tour both campuses, should you be in the Basel region. Kindly contact their Communications Officer, Jacqueline Krueger, to arrange a tour.

Building Projects

There are many schools within the SGIS organization who are currently in the process of new building projects. If you would like to share information or plans with SGIS members through this newsletter please send to: elainetomlinson@isoz.ch

Newsletter - Conference Special

Dear Readers,

Last month saw the 18 th Annual conference of the SGIS. As an international school group, we are one of the largest and most active operating in a single country and therefore keen to maintain this small nation's reputation as home to a remarkable concentration of outstanding and innovative schools. Where better to celebrate and enhance the already strong connections between the schools than at the annual conference. Although there was a surprisingly low number of registrations from SGIS member schools this year, numbers were made up from delegates working in non-member schools inside Switzerland and beyond.

Feedback from the delegates has been overwhelmingly positive. A great deal of the success should be accredited to the host school, the International School of Basel. The Director, Mrs Lesley Barron made available both school campuses for the conference and gala dinner. The organization of this was due to the immense amount of work from the school's administration staff, under the leadership of Jenny Dunning and in conjunction with the SGIS Committee. Grateful thanks go to all the people who worked so hard.

The theme of the conference, “Great Expectations” was chosen to reflect the challenging expectations that we confront as educators across many areas of our work, and also to promote a recognition that our own high expectations of others may shape their capacity to realize their potential.

Stirring opening

At the opening ceremony, 130 students from Basel performed three of the songs from “ High School Musical,” which was their current school production. This provided a rousing and colourful opening and was enjoyed by everyone. The choice of songs, “Stick to the Status Quo” and “We're All in This Together,” were a particularly relevant lead in to the plenary session. Congratulations to all the students and their teachers for their time and enthusiasm.

Speakers

The SGIS committee worked hard to offer delegates a line up of excellent speakers.

Dr. Nicholas Tate , Director General of the International School of Geneva set the scene for the conference with his thought provoking opening speech, which outlined the challenges facing schools and educators today.

Grant Wiggins, renowned for his “Understanding by Design” continued after the break with his presentation about how we can achieve student understanding by design, not good fortune.

Marian Shaw, examined the role of team leadership in international schools and later how the interaction of cultures is a growth area across the world and of vital importance to educators, particularly in international schools.

Steve Kraus , from the United Nations opened our eyes to the ongoing world AIDS crisis, in particular the need to educate young people worldwide about the epidemic. The statistics were shocking – the challenge in front of us is huge!

Bill Rogers , entertained us with his tales of how to establish positive leadership for co-operative behaviour with those most challenging of students, and how to establish clear and consistent practices in schools.

The variety of topics posed by the speakers kept the conference delegates focussed and enthusiastic and no doubt many of the ideas and suggestions will have found their way back to staff rooms and schools for on-going reflection and implementation.

The committee would like to thank once again the speakers for their time and expertise and for presenting at this year's conference. If there are any speakers that you as readers might recommend for forthcoming conferences or workshops please feel free to contact the SGIS committee members.

Gala dinner

One of the highlights of this year's conference was the Gala Dinner at the ISB's new school campus in Aesch.

The dinner itself was sponsored by Sodexho, a world wide company providing food services and catering to 4,824 schools in 80 different countries, from nursery schools through to universities and higher education colleges.

In the UK, Sodexho is becoming increasingly involved in educational work concerning food, including pupil committees and theme days in schools. In primary schools it operates “Club Joules,” which is a fun school food club designed to promote awareness of healthy eating habits.

The Sodexho caterers in Basel completely transformed the school aula with their décor. There were table chandeliers and beautiful flowers, which gave a great ambience and the three course menu was superb.

Many thanks to committee member Rhonda Mott-Hill, for her initiative in contacting Sodexho. She is pictured above right with Olivier Mouminoux, General Manager for Sodexho Suisse AG, Zurich.

Villars Vanguard

“It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.”

The evening would not have been the same without the presence of the Villars Vanguard. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for the great music!