This week, ISA celebrated Kinderboekenweek! Kinderboekenweek is an annual celebration of children’s literature throughout the Netherlands. Lovers of literature, art, dance, and music join together to celebrate Dutch authors and illustrators of children’s books for ages 2-10 and activities are organized throughout the country in schools, libraries and bookstores.

What a great week it was. Once again, the ISA Librarians teamed up with the Dutch and PE departments to share the Kinderboekenweek festivities, following this year’s theme of environment, animals and having fun outside. Students took part in many fun activities, including assemblies, listening to Dutch guest readers in library lessons and reading and performing a short play of the Kinderboekenweek book Egalus.

For the grand finale, students have been learning the theme song Gi-ga-groen in Dutch, complete with the dance moves in some PE classes. The video was played at the end of Friday’s assembly, and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to sing and dance along!

As an international community, Kinderboekenweek is a fun way to honour our host country and get to know some local customs. Thank you to everyone who participated, donating their time and effort to the celebrations a great success.

Last week, Natasha Devon, a mental health, inclusion and diversity campaigner, visited ISA to talk to the community about wellbeing as part of the school’s first-ever Wellbeing Awareness Week.

ISA is committed to highlighting the importance of leading a balanced life, and students at ISA learn to make informed choices, manage challenges and set priorities, all valuable life skills to prepare them for their next steps. To start the new school year with this in mind, Debbie O’Hara, our Adult Learning Coordinator, organised a wellbeing week for our community to highlight the importance of staying aware of our mental health and overall wellbeing. She invited Natasha to engage with the community through various sessions over the course of the week.

Natasha held workshops for students in grades 5-12 on a variety of topics, including stress and anxiety, social media and regulating our relationship with technology and exam preparation and study skills that nurture our mental health. In addition, Natasha also discussed body image with the parent community and hosted a staff session on wellbeing, self-care and the importance of setting boundaries.

Reflecting on her week at ISA, Natasha said: “all the audiences I spoke to were really engaged and enthusiastic. I’m really happy to have been invited to the school and hope the messages resonated. I’ll be sending follow-up resources to ISA staff so key themes can be reiterated throughout the academic year.”

Wellbeing week was an opportunity for our community to reflect on and reevaluate their own wellbeing, self-care and mental health practices. Debbie said: “Inviting Natasha Devon to speak to our ISA student, staff and parent communities started important conversations about wellbeing and mental health. We help build a community of care when we engage in shared experiences on topics that speak to our values and beliefs. We also deepen our commitment to creating a culture of thinking when these engagements enlighten us collectively.”