British Council's ISA Project Day in Tiruchi school

The event helps children learn about various cultures

Children of Sivananda Balalya representing various States at the food mela organised as part of the International School Award in Tiruchi on Tuesday.

Delicious dishes from each State were displayed and the trademark attire of each State was modelled by students of Sri Sivananda Balalaya for the ISA Project Day organised in the school on Tuesday.

International School Award (ISA) by the British Council is a benchmarking system that accredits schools as having an outstanding level of support for nurturing global citizenship in young people and enriching teaching and learning. It encourages schools to collaborate with overseas schools to create a great learning experience for students through various pedagogy practices.

The ISA project day at Sri Sivananda Balalaya was held on the theme “food mela” and “global comparison of clothing”.

The aim of the project is to put an end to narrow minded approach of “just being patriotic towards one country and ignoring the culture of other countries”, according to S. Selvi, vice-principal, Sri Sivananda Balalaya, the co-ordinator of the project.

The project was implemented through various activities throughout the academic year but Tuesday was the day which focussed on bringing together all schoolchildren, she added.

While the morning session focussed on the “food mela”, the afternoon session was for “global comparison of clothing”.

Seven projects on the following topics: food, clothing, numbers, transportation, herbs, language and anti-colonial movement in India and China, were divided among classes 1 to 10. Each class was allotted a particular State or country: classes 1 to 7 were allotted States of India, while classes 8, 9 and 10 were allotted China, Japan, and Switzerland respectively.

The children, clad as the natives of each State or country, prepared charts and models and displayed the food, culture, monuments, and things of importance about the chosen location.

A Skype interaction between students of the school and students in United Kingdom, Thailand, and Bahrain was organised.

Students of class 8 interacted with Mandela Dieuvion, a student from Africa who is currently pursuing a microbiology degree in Bishop Heber College. They exchanged information on herbs and vegetables used in recipes in each other’s countries. To provide a global comparison of clothing, the schoolchildren participated in a ramp walk to showcase the ethnic attire of each State.