Calendar

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.

Last day of school before the summer break. We are enjoying all sorts of different outdoor activities.

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.

Our young students had an amazing trip to Zadar, Nin and Biograd. We had an opportunity to visit The Museum of Ancient Glass in Zadar and check the ways in which salt is produced at the Nin Saltworks. Moreover, we enjoyed walking through Biograd's streets and beach while grabbing some ice-cream on our way. After the fun we had in our hotel's pool we headed to Fun Park Biograd, where we were amused by many different rides and attractions.

We had a fantastic trip to Zadar, Šibenik & Kornati.

School life on Friday the 15th of March turned very green as students at BISZ celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. They learnt about the story of St. Patrick and took part in some festivities. Some searched for golden coins around the school gardens, others created lots of Irish symbols such as the shamrock and leprechauns, and our kind cooking staff prepared green cakes with syrup too! #FlashbackofStPatricks #BISZ

Carnival Day has passed and what a day it was as we started off with a parade that included angels, super heroes, sporting icons and other odd characters. Thereafter, our students participated in sporting relays, class games and an outdoor picnic. The sun had opened up the skies so the blankets came out as did the jam donuts and other mingles.

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

“Tis the season to be jolly”, and that is life at BISZ this time of year as we recently celebrated our annual Christmas concert. Parents, grandparents and friends were invited to come and see the joyous songs and dances as presented by our students who were in fine form. It was a great show with songs which included the “12 days of Christmas” through to “Last Christmas”. And we take this opportunity to wish all members of our school community a Merry Christmas, happy holidays and a wonderful New Year.

Thank you for your congratulations on the successful 20 years of our school work. We are especially grateful to the President of the Republic of Croatia.