THE COMMONWEALTH AT 70: FROM WESTMINSTER TO THE WORLD
One third of the human population (2.4 billion people), 53 countries and over 3 trillion USD of exports – that is what makes up the Commonwealth of Nations today. The signing of the London Declaration in 1949 heralded the birth of the Commonwealth of Nations. Exploring the build-up to this major moment in modern history and the Commonwealth’s development and influence over the past seven decades, The Commonwealth at 70: From Westminster to the World is a thought-provoking and beautifully designed hardback book. In that magnificent monography of 350 pages, two pages are dedicated to our British International School of Zagreb and our founder and Principal Martin-Tino Časl describing his contribution to innovations in education and his successes in sport. It is a great honour if we take into account that only ten schools in the world were selected for inclusion in this publication presentation and our school is the only one selected out of Commonwealth countries! Our Director Tino Sven Časl was a co-author of that text. Researched and written by leading academics, this heavily illustrated publication features archive prints, maps and portraits that detail the story of one of the world’s most important and far-reaching international organisations. The launching of this book was held on 25th June in a very appropriate place - at the Westminster Abbey. Gordon Marsden, MP, the History of Parliament Trust’s chairman, gave a comprehensive account of parliamentary politics in England, then Britain, from their origins in the 13th century. The trust is regarded as one of the most ambitious, authoritative and well-researched academic projects in British history. Royal correspondent Robert Jobson, a co-author of the book, talked about Prince Charles and his connections with the Commonwealth. Stephen van der Merwe, one of the book’s editor, spoke about the difficulty of writing texts for such a demanding publication. Our Principal had the privilege to speak with all of them and also some other distinguished guests from the educational and financial sectors. You can also get a feeling of the atmosphere by browsing through the following photos.
To mark the end of the successful school year our students visited two museums in the center of Zagreb; The Croatian School Museum and the Museum of Illusions on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. An illusionist and tour guide in English took the students around and challenged them with various sensory catching devices. Later, the students went for a short stroll in the town center which was topped off by lunch.
The last Friday of November had the entire BISZ, OŠ Kreativan razvoj and Privatna gimanzija Dr. Časl community our 2nd annual International Day. The purpose of the day was twofold: to promote the culture and traditions of some of the countries that our students come from, and the latter is to raise money for a charity. Classes promoted 13 host countries from all over the world. We raised over 15,500 kunas with all proceeds going to the Special Hospital for Children with Chronic illnesses in Gornja Bistra. The Head of the Hospital, Mr. Mittermayer joined us on the day along with some of the hospital’s patients and volunteers. We are so proud to have helped this amazing hospital which does so much for so many children. Our students sang two songs as a school, ‘Count on Me’ by Bruno Mars, and the classic ‘Hello to all the children of the world’. Supreme vocalist Damir Kedžo made a guest appearance and joined in on the festivities, he sang two of his hit songs. A big thank you to our PTA, students, staff, parents and friends for all their support and we hope to do even better in organizing the 2019 International Day.
We are happy to announce that our new modern state-of-the-art premises and facilities are opening in autumn 2019. Experience top world-class education in Zagreb, Croatia. #BISZ #premiereducation #boarding
Today our school welcomed a very distinguished guest from Russia, Mr. Maxim Poletaev, a very close friend of our Principal. Mr. Poletaev is a Vice-Chairman of Sberbank, the biggest Eastern European bank. He gave a short lecture to our students in which he underlined the value of quality education in a rapidly changing modern society where new professions and occupations demand more and better education. He also described his deep respect for the British educational system and the value it offers to young people in raising their aspirations for their future careers. Finally, to the delight of both audience and visitors, he cut a cake in the shape of the famous Russian Matryoshka doll.
The British International School of Zagreb is excited to announce that we are proud to be within 74 selected schools innovators and pioneers in education in this impressive Cambridge Strategies & Innovation 800 project.
