International Work International School Award Accreditation in:-

July 2015, December 2018, July 2021 and July 2024 Achieving the International School Award for the fourth time in July 2024 is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our entire school community. Over the past years, we have fostered strong, meaningful partnerships with schools across the globe, providing our pupils with unique opportunities to connect with peers from different cultures and backgrounds. These collaborations have enabled our pupils to broaden their horizons, see beyond the confines of our classroom and local community, and develop a deeper understanding of the world. Through these international  exchanges of work, our children are growing into global citizens, embracing the school values of ambition, courage, resilience, respect, and kindness. By engaging in projects that encourage collaboration, problem-solving, and cultural appreciation, they are not only expanding their knowledge but also building the character and skills needed to thrive in an interconnected world.

Mrs Baggett was delighted to be presented with the school award in a celebration of 25 years of International School Award at The Houses of Parliament in January 2025.

International Work and Links with other local and international Schools for re accreditation in July 2024

As a school, we have close links with three other international schools;

• Panchshil School, Rajkot, India
• Huafu Primary School, Shenzhen, China
• Jean Rostand, 64 Rue Doyens Albert et Pierre Bouzat,  35700 Rennes.
   

We have collaborated on a number of projects as part of the International School Award work and look forward to continuing this work.

Our International Projects over 2023 and 2024 were :-

• British Sign Language Work across school
• Bastille Day celebrations - Understanding the importance in French history and celebrating this as a school with our partner school
• Holi Festival - understanding the importance of this festival and celebrating this as a whole school with our partner school
• Yoga and wellbeing - recognising the wellbeing benefits of Yoga in school and celebrating this with our partner school
• Undertaking a nativity spoken and sung in French
• Year Six - pen pal exchange with our partner school across a year sharing video greetings and work and written postcards and letters.
• International Art and Culture work - clubs, and events and visitors into school

Pen Pal Work in Year Six

Year six have enjoyed the activities to help them get to know their pen pals in France this year.

They have sent a power point sharing all the different spaces in our school. They have recorded video messages and sent postcards to their pen pals.

Celebrating the Hindu Festival of Holi  with our partner school in India

Our children have been learning about Holi, the Hindu festival of spring and colour. Across school, they focussed on showing their learning in different ways. In Nursery, they had an amazing morning painting their faces and decorating t-shirts, Year Three used paint to create their own Holi tee shirts.

Across school, we  sent messages of happy Holi to our friends at Panchshil School.

Holi is a Hindu festival that celebrates spring, love, and new life.

Some families hold religious ceremonies, but for many Holi is more a time for fun. It's a colourful festival, with dancing, singing and throwing of powder paint and coloured water.

Holi is also known as the "festival of colours".

When is Holi?

Holi marks the arrival of spring and the end of winter. It is usually celebrated in March.

How is Holi celebrated?

On the first night of Holi, people light bonfires and throw roasting grains, popcorn, coconut and chickpeas onto them.

The next day, people of all ages go into the streets for fun and paint-throwing. Everyone gets involved!

Hindus have fun by smearing each other with paint and throwing coloured water

Christmas Nativity in French

The Key Stage Two children took part in a nativity, where they shared the Christmas story in French. Year 3&4 took on the narration learning all their lines well. All children across Yr 2 - 6 sang 5 songs in French. It was great fun but quite challenging.

Celebrating Bastille Day at Monkhouse

We celebrated Bastille Day in our primary school as part of our commitment to fostering global understanding and cultural awareness among our pupils. With strong links to our partner school in Rennes, France, we believe it is important for our children to learn about significant international events and traditions. Bastille Day, a key celebration of French history and culture, provides an excellent opportunity for our students to explore the values of freedom and unity, while deepening their appreciation of the diverse cultures around the world.

British Sign Language

Each year on 23 September people celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages, to recognise the importance of sign languages around the world.

The aim of the special day is to remind big companies, worldwide organisations and global governments of the importance and significance of sign languages.  According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide.

There are over 300 different sign languages and over 70,000 deaf people in the UK have British Sign Language as their first language.

In our school, we have some children with hearing difficulties and want to help them be included.

We have introduced a sign language club which is open to children across the year. In addition, we have learned to sing and sign several songs as a whole school.

MfL Les Olympiques des Animaux 

Year Three and Four children joined in the workshop to take on the role of the characters from the show. They spent some weeks preceding the show, learning the lyrics from the songs. Their favourite songs were the Olympic song ( Respect, Amitié) and saute, secoue which was like a rap.

Year 2, 5 &6 joined Year Three and Four in watching the show.  Although the show all in French, the children were able to follow this through their french learning as well as from the visual cues given.

We all had such good fun.