Jerudong International School (JIS) welcomes 1670 students from 55 nationalities daily, a truly international community with a Bruneian heart! International Day is an amazing opportunity, held each year, to encourage students to develop as a global community and celebrate each other’s nationalities, cultures, customs and languages.
The celebrations on Wednesday saw the participation of His Royal Highness Prince ‘Abdul Wakeel and Her Royal Highness Princess Ameerah Wardatul Bolkiah, the children of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
This year, International Week focused on the theme of ‘Teaspoons of Change’ and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Students were challenged to make a small personal choice, decision or action that contributes to a positive impact on people or the planet. We can double our impact as global citizens by not only thinking about doing good for others but also by considering the indirect impact of our everyday choices and actions.
The International Day celebrations commenced with a parade by the Junior School students dressed in their national costumes followed by an assembly at the Foyer of the JIS Arts Centre. Participation in dressing up in their national costumes for International Day required students to donate a minimum of $2 to start their own ‘Teaspoon of Change’. All money raised on International Day will be donated to charities supported by the School. JIS is proud to have been able to contribute to worthwhile causes, that has made a significant difference to the students involved.
The Junior School parents play a tremendously important role in the way in which the Junior School students celebrate this day. The parents prepared and set up wonderful, educational and colourful displays about their home countries. The students enjoyed visiting the different stalls, playing games, tasting traditional food and learning about their friends' home countries. The countries represented at the stalls in Junior School were Australia, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Canada, Nordic (Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland), Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia-Ireland, India, Japan, Kuwait, Myanmar, Mexico, Mozambique, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, South Africa/Zimbabwe, Thailand, Turkey, UK, USA and Venezuela. It was wonderful to see the Junior School community play such a vital role. A number of embassies also supported the parents with their stalls too.
The Senior School students started their day with a one hour session on ‘Internationalism’ and what it means. At break-time, a number of the senior students took advantage of the time to visit the Junior School parents exhibition! Principal Mr Sheehan, wearing a vibrant UK Union Jack jacket was delighted to meet so many from the community.
At lunchtime, the senior school students enjoyed a mini cultural festival, hosted and organized by the Upper Years Council. This included cultural dances and singing performed by senior school students. Both the Junior and Senior School students were entertained by a Nepali dance troupe wearing colourful traditional costumes, from Hornbill School. In addition, the RBAF Pipe band marched and played several pieces of music. They drew great applause with the skill of their music and also the skill of the Drum Major throwing the baton. Both acts gave a fantastic performance and Jerudong International School is extremely grateful to both for joining us today to celebrate International Day.
Senior students also enjoyed a variety of food from The Potato Habit, Fratini’s Restaurant, The Currypuff Factory, Kyna Popsicle, CASBAH London Kebab, Pizza Hut & Dairy Queen, Sugar & Spice, Fuel’d BN, and Don Churros & Turks. The school onsite caterers - Serikandi and Grazestar also created additional special items on their menus to join in with the International theme.
In the afternoon, the Music department hosted an International Day performance themed “Music from Around the World”. This included a performance from the Junior School choir who sang the ASEAN song they recently performed at the opening of the 41st ASEAN Agriculture and Forestry Conference. The Asian Languages Department together with 30 Year 12 student performed a traditional piece of music from Kelantan in Malaysia. The International Day performances showcased a culturally diverse list of songs which the Head of Music Performance, Mr Nicholas Smith explained each piece before the performance so the student audience could learn and understand why it had been chosen to celebrate this special occasion.
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