British International School of the Year

Brookhouse International School, Kenya

Brookhouse International School in Nairobi, Kenya, is one of only two Round Square member schools in Kenya, deeply committed to the Round Square pillar of internationalism. The school wanted Brookhouse students to think in an international way.

The school's mission statement and philosophy were rewritten to capture internationalism and service for the community around it. The school set up a dynamic citizenship programme which has contributed immensely to a stimulating learning environment for students. Each day, the school community settles into a lesson called "Citizenship", to make its students globally responsible citizens.

During sessions the students actively engage in a variety of activities to help society, with a focus on international responsibility.

Through this initiative, students are aware of their commitment to global responsibility, either through environmental stewardship, commitment to service or through responsible leadership.

The benefits have been substantial: form tutors have developed a close working relationship with their classes, and students find the citizenship lesson a great way to settle for the start of the school day.

Winner: Dulwich College, Beijing

The school works with migrant schools in China through Make a Difference Day (MADD) and Creativity Action Service (CAS). Using the traditional British school house system, students participate in a year-long activity.

Due to the high demand of labour in Beijing, families often have to move from rural communities. Hence migrant communities have to create and manage their own school without government assistance.

Through the CAS, IB students work with migrant schools by providing funding and planning to contribute to the success of the migrant school. The planning is led by the IB student leaders and culminates at the end of the year with MADD, which includes gardening, painting, playing games, music activities, drama, tutoring etc. MADD involves the entire Dulwich student body (Y10-11), and serves as training for the younger students for when they reach the IB portion of their education.

Five migrant schools have been assisted through CAS and MADD over the past four years, touching the lives of over 1,500 Chinese students and over 600 Dulwich students.

The Dulwich students themselves were responsible for raising RMB15,000 per year in funds that directly go towards MADD and its work with migrant schools.

The British School in The Netherlands

The British School in The Netherlands (BSN) serves the international professional community of The Hague. Founded in 1931 with one small class, its open-door policy and academic success has seen the school grow in popularity and size. The school now has four sites and nearly 2,000 students.

Further demand for places required a major investment in an additional campus, which was officially opened in June 2010 by Her Royal Highness Princess Maxima of The Netherlands. The scope of this project required significant ambition from the governing body and SMT; considerable support was needed from Dutch authorities and financial sponsorship was secured from Shell plc.

The investment in this 30,000m² campus was €25 million. There are three buildings on the campus: a primary school for 500 students, a community centre with an adult language college, sports hall, day care centre and offices.

In developing this campus, the objectives were to be environmentally efficient. It achieved the highest score on the GREENCALC scale in all three buildings and there are now several recycling programmes.

The location of the site, closer to the residential area where many families live, has resulted in an increase in registrations: the school has expanded from 157 students to 350.

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