Internationalism and Global Awareness

 

On Sunday, 21 October, after much anticipation and hard work, we finally left for Tokyo, Japan. We arrived at Heathrow airport at around 1pm, where we were all very excited to finally set off! We boarded the plane and settled in for the long-awaited flight, which was a tiring 11 hours but worth every minute to start our World School adventure!

After we collected our bags at Narita airport, we were greeted by the wonderful staff and students from Kanto International High School, the founding member of World School. While we waited for a bus to take us to Katsuura, our home for the majority of the trip, we met some of the delegates from Russia, Canada and France and, despite the jet lag, spent a few hours getting to know each other.

When we arrived we had all of the Kanto staff waiting for us with welcome signs! We were shocked with how enthusiastic they were when we got off the bus, but greatly appreciated such a kind and warm welcome. We met our new room-mates at dinner and, after lots of excited conservations, finally headed to bed for a much-needed sleep.

The first full day flew by! Breakfast was a very animated occasion as it was the first time all of the delegates were together; it was great to meet everyone and start sharing information about our lives and countries. During the opening ceremony we heard speeches from the World School organisers; Natsuki Kitayama, Marian Rosenstiel and James Harman, Principal of Kanto International High School. We then took a photo of everybody outside together and played some ice breaker games to introduce ourselves to everyone. After lunch, we started our country presentations in which each delegation presented on their country and the food and waste situation in it. These were very interesting and allowed us to see the similarities and differences in our cultures and homes.

On Wednesday the country presentations continued. After lunch, we had an excellent talk from our keynote speaker, Mr Koichi Takahashi, the President of the Japan Food Ecology Centre about how the centre works and how they are tackling food and waste in Japan. The rest of the day was spent getting to know our new friends more, and packing for our 4 day trip to Tokyo.

 

After months of preparation, Ellie, Asha, Holly and Miss Laming finally embarked on their World School 2017 journey to Australia.

Following a jam-packed 24-hour stopover in Dubai, they made the 14-hour flight to Brisbane, where they were met by the welcoming committee of St Paul’s School. After a short stop at St Paul’s they jumped on a coach to Noosa North Shore, where they spent the next 5 nights. 

It was a brilliant, albeit busy, first week! Miss Laming started her days at 5.30 by running to the beach with staff from Finland and Australia, while Ellie, Asha and Holly were kept busy from 6am until 11pm every day! The days included painting boomerangs, paddle boarding, rock climbing, raft building and mountain biking. They also spent a day at the beach, where the delegates were kept busy, practicing life-saving techniques shown by the team at Noosa Surf Club, playing games, swimming through the surf and exploring the shops.

Ellie, Asha and Holly gave their country presentation during the first week too, presenting with great professionalism, as well as humour. This year, each country was given two ‘Global Design Challenges’ to present on, revolving around the theme, ‘The Future of Food and Water’. It was fascinating to find out different perspectives on global challenges and was also a brilliant opportunity to learn more about each country. The delegates worked incredibly hard throughout the Forum to create solutions to the challenges, and produced some amazing results by the end.
The Invicta delegates also put on a fantastic performance, with the help of Katie Mason (one of the 2016 World School delegates) as their choreographer. Performance night was a wonderful way to share and immerse themselves in the cultures of others, and each and everyone's warm reception to every performance made the experience greatly enjoyable!

From Noosa, after an excellent day petting kangaroos and koalas at Australia Zoo, the delegates made their way to Brisbane, where they met their wonderful host families. The days that followed were spent sightseeing, working at St Paul’s and Queensland University of Technology, and showcasing Invicta and the UK on Booth Day. 
The last day came around all too quickly. The teams presented their solutions to the Global Design Challenges to a panel of experts and discussed what they could bring back to their schools and implement successfully; Asha, Holly and Ellie all did a terrific job! 

The traditional tree planting ceremony was held in the afternoon, followed by the farewell ceremony, dinner and party in the evening. The day was full of emotion, but the delegates have already started planning when and where they will travel to visit their new friends!

The UK delegation would like to thank Jon Andrews, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at St Paul’s School, Dr Paul Browning, Head of St Paul’s School, and Daryoosh Matsudaira, World School Director, for making it such a memorable event. St Paul’s were brilliant hosts, organising an outstanding programme, including a range of activities and wonderful excursions. An awful lot of work goes into the Forum, and the whole team, staff and students, truly made it an event the delegates will never forget.

  

After months of preparation and an eleven and a half hour flight, the World School 2016 Delegates finally arrived in Japan.  Evie, Michalina, Katie-Louise and Mrs Brewster were met at Narita Airport in Tokyo, by the welcoming committee from Kanto International School. 

The theme for World School Forum 2016 was “Food and Culture”. Students made presentations about their school, local area and discussed traditional and modern foods of their country. Each delegation has to comment on solutions to the modern food issue of convenience vs. health. When the Invicta students give their presentation, they were articulate, professional and had clearly done their research.

A variety of visits, cultural activities and hard work followed in the next two weeks. Michalina and Evie had the opportunity to take part in a traditional Mochitsuki preparation ceremony, bashing wet rice with wooden mallets! A chop stick lesson caused much excitement but the Invicta Girls had already been practising. Not a grain of rice was dropped! The group visited Asakusa Sensouji, one of the few areas in Tokyo left standing after WW2. It is a special place with temples, gardens and prayer spaces. A visit to the Tokyo Metropolitan Office was another highlight with speeches, lots of bowing and exchanges of presents. The students were particularly impressed with the visit to the Kikkoman Soy Sauce Factory.

The girls experienced a four day home stay, where they had the opportunity to live with a Japanese family and experience their food and life.  The girls also enjoyed the Kanto School Festival, where they were able to showcase, UK, Kent and Invicta. As the theme of the forum was “Food and Culture”, they had brought traditional foods such as Christmas Pudding, Christmas Cake, tea and shortbread. Edward, the Invicta World School mascot also put an appearance! It was interesting to talk to visitors about Invicta, traditional British foods and the Royal Family. Many believed that English people regularly had tea with the Queen!

On Performance Day, the girls were a little nervous as they took to the stage dressed in Union Jack leggings and T-shirts. Congratulations to Katie-Louise who choreographed the dance mash up of famous British pop songs from Queen through One Direction and The Beatles.

The last few days of World School saw the students splitting into groups to discuss convenience, heath and culture as related to “Food and Culture” based on months of research. The result was a number of “Calls to Action” which would bring solutions to the issues identified. The issues and solutions were endless and thought provoking as each student brought a different international perspective to the discussion.

After an emotional farewell dinner with speeches, presentations and promises to keep in touch, the UK delegates left for the airport, tired but happy that they had been excellent ambassadors for Invicta.

 

On Monday, 19 October, Rosie Ebsworth, Claire Tipton and Erin Withey, travelled with Miss Coston to Italy to represent Invicta, and the United Kingdom, at the World School Forum 2016. Twenty other nationalities from as far Australia and the USA travelled to Busto Arsizio, just outside of Milan, to discuss the topic ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’, which was the same theme as Expo 2015 being held in the city centre.

Initially, we spent time at Lake Garda to get to know the other delegations, before travelling back to Busto to meet our host families and work in our partner school ITC Tosi. Part of the experience was a cultural performance, in which Rosie, Erin and Claire took the audience on a musical journey across the UK, singing songs made famous by English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish artists. Another element was booth day, where we shared our cultures with each other and the Italian public. We were very excited to welcome the students and staff from the Invicta World School delegation of 2014, Harriett, Summer, Zoe and Mrs Brewster, who had also travelled to Italy. Mrs Monika Hartwell, who instigated Invicta’s involvement in World School also visited us on this day.

Our delegation were split into three groups, each group conducting a ‘mock trial’ relating to the topic of the Forum; meat consumption, land grabbing and cosmetically perfect food.  Each side had a prosecution and defence, with a jury of experts ruling who won.

Although it was an exhausting 12 days, we were all really sad to leave. World School is an amazing and unique experience, where you have the opportunity to learn about so many cultures and, indeed, to learn more about your own. Invicta Grammar School are looking forward to the World School Forum 2016, which will be held in Tokyo, Japan on the topic of ‘Food and Culture’.

Well done to Rosie, Erin, Claire and Miss Coston for representing Invicta on the World Stage and for being true ambassadors for the school.

 

The Invicta Grammar School delegation to the World School International Forum 2014, have returned safely back to school after their visit to Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU,) Vladivostok in Russia.

Year 12 students: Zoe, Summer and Harriet with staff member Mrs Brewster, attended this prestigious event which had the theme: Environment: Clothing. Tradition and Innovation. They took part in workshops, seminars, performances, fashion shows and presentations based on this theme. The organisers had also arranged for cultural activities such a performance of a Russian Ballet, a Russian Cultural Festival and Russian folk dancing and singing. During the two week visit, the delegates had the opportunity to visit Vladivostok City and the Children’s Centre “Ocean” where elite Russian children attend for three weeks of the year. The students felt that one of the highlights of the visit was a four day homestay with a Russian family.

21 schools from countries such as Indonesia, Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Macau and France took part. The students have made lasting friendships, gained a better knowledge of their different cultures, become more tolerant of each other and have returned with a new viewpoint on the world. Together, they have broken down global boundaries and grown together to become part of the 2014 World School Family.

The delegation would like to thank the Russian World School Team and Kanto International School in Japan for all the organisation, planning and hard work that made this forum such a success. It was an experience that students and teachers will never forget. We now looking forward to World School 2015 which will be held in Milan in Italy.