Every day can be seen as a celebration of International Day at the British School in The Netherlands (BSN). Still, International Day is a truly special reminder of the many nationalities, languages and cultures that make up the BSN community – students, staff and families. It has been a much-loved BSN tradition for years and something that is looked forward to every March – a real highlight of the spring term!
A Week of Internationally-Themed Activities
We enjoyed internationally-themed, enriching activities all throughout the week for International Week. Parents kindly volunteered to run workshops and activities for students (Junior School Diamanthorst and Junior School Vlaskamp) – these included creating traditional Chinese paintings, Polish paper cutting, learning about Spanish traditions, and the ‘Great British Quiz!’.
Students also took the initiative to lead workshops for their classmates (Junior School Diamanthorst and Junior School Leidschenveen) – from learning phrases in their classmates’ languages (Chinese and Korean) to making Czechia and Forest School-inspired bead crafts and Aboriginal art. They had tremendous fun trying out new activities and learning new skills!
Cultural lunches were enjoyed with a variety of delicious foods from all over the world, brought in by the students (Junior School Diamanthorst and Junior School Vlaskamp). Students had the opportunity to sample traditional, mouth-watering delicacies such as Kazakhstani shelpek, Nigerian vegetable pie, Polish pancakes, Indian samosas and English scones – what a treat!
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International Day: the Perfect End to the Week
International Day was the perfect end to International Week (18 March for Junior School Leidschenveen, Junior School Vlaskamp and Senior School Leidschenveen, 25 March for Junior School Diamanthorst). It was a non-uniform day for students. Both students and staff had the opportunity to dress in their home country or nationality’s traditional costume or an outfit they felt best represents their nationality or culture. It was such a joy seeing everyone’s colourful international attire!
Raising Money for a Good Cause
There was also a fundraising element to this year’s International Week. Students and BSN families had the option to donate to our appeal for Giro555, a Dutch-based organisation of 11 charities. Money donated to the appeal goes directly to Ukrainian people and families affected by the current conflict. To date, our appeal has raised over €7,000, and we are incredibly grateful to those who have chosen to donate.
A Reminder of What the BSN Represents
International Day and International Week are a wonderful reminder of everything that is at the heart of the BSN: our wonderful community and the rich cultural diversity of that community. They also show us how much fun it is learning about others’ home countries, nationalities, languages and cultures.
A big thank you to our fantastic staff for making the week such a memorable and enriching experience for our students and ensuring every day is International Day! We’d also like to extend a special thank you to the BSN parents who volunteered to share their culture, language, traditions and stories with our students.
We can’t wait until next year’s celebration!
To see more photos from International Week, click below to view the album on Flickr:
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