Round Square News (November 2011)

Round Square News November 2011 - Issue 9

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened the Round Square 2011 Conference

Wellington College, England

INSIDE Over 1,000 students and staff from around the world, had a taste of British school life when they recently attended the Round Square Conference at Wellington College, in England. Opened by her Majesty The Queen, and attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of York and HM King Constantine of the Hellenes and Queen Anne Marie, the conference was also attended by students from 90 schools from around the world and gave students the opportunity to share experiences, work on local

community projects and gain an understanding of other cultures.

Key note speakers included: Karen Darke, Jasmine Whitbread and Colin Jackson. Guests and delegates were invited to reflect on the Conference theme: “Reaching Beyond Our Limits” and this was embodied in many of the activities: the military gun run (demonstrated by the Wellington pupils), a long-distance run, culminating in a run through a lake and many Service and Adventure projects. See pages 4 and 5 for photos of the conference.

Thanks again to the organisers for a superb conference.

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RSIS Project News - December Projects - 2012 Projects

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International Conference - Memories - Musikscool - Africa 2012

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Regional News - Australasia - Europe - Africa - South Asia & Gulf - Amercias

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General News - Clean up the world - The Day for Schools - RSIC 2012 Africa - Governance Matters

RSIS PROJECT NEWS

Gearing up for our busiest season yet!

Liz Gray

RSIS Projects This December we have an amazing SIX Projects going out, with 126 students, 8 parents, Manager 14 leaders and 25 adults taking part! They are all leaving within 6 days of each other so you can imagine how much administration, logistics, last-minute panic and excitement is Round Square going on in our office! The skies will be full of excited participants flying around the Bath, U.K. world, and there are two schools, a village water system, two classrooms and a food storage building just waiting to be built now! Find out how everything goes in our February 2012 newsletter, but in the meantime, here’s a summary below.

Honduras This is the first trip to depart, and it will see 14 students and two adults working closely with Sociedad Amigos de los Niños to build a new food storage room for the centre.

At the moment, all their food is kept in really unhygienic conditions, so the children at the centre get sick and the cooks can’t rely on having the food they need. So our team is going to make a fundamental difference to the centre.

They are planning a fiesta day for the children at the end (usually a noisy, colourful and joyful affair!) and after the Project work, they’re off to the beautiful sandy coast to visit the forests, visit Garifuna communities, shake their bodies to some fabulous local music and enjoy some well-deserved chill-out time on the beach!

Buena suerte a todos!

India This is the second trip to depart, and we have our biggest team for years!

17 International students, 12 Indian students and 4 adults will be going to the community of Katapathar, near Dehradun to work on various Projects in partnership with Doon School. The village is in need of so many things that it’s hard to know where to start, but our group will be helping to build a new classroom, building a new playground for the school, doing community Projects such as re-cycling initiatives, helping to patch-up and build some new paths and roads and generally

immersing themselves in local life. They are stationed in the Himalayan foothills, on the banks of the beautiful Yamuna River and during their break, they’ll be doing some hiking and rafting at Rishikesh. After the work is over, the International team heads off to Agra and Jaipur to spend Christmas visiting temples and forts including the Taj Mahal! Good luck everyone!

Cambodia (Students) We are really

excited to have our first RSIS Cambodia Project this year! We have a team of 21 over-excited students plus 2 adults who are going to join our fantastic team of 2 local Project Managers to work in Prokeab village, near Takeo and build them a school. Yes – a whole school in 12 days! This is the first one-room free school that the community has had, and there is much excitement in the area.

The local community has levelled the ground, bought all the supplies and are readying themselves for the influx of Kenya We have another huge team new visitors! The team are building the going off to Kenya this team – we have school, and also a secure gate and fence 19 International students; 15 boys from around it so they have their work cut out Starehe; 6 adults and one medic! We for them! They are also visiting many are working in partnership with historic sites during the trip, including Starehe, and they have done all the Angkor Wat, and are also doing cooking logistics to enable the team to return to classes and weaving with the local Riandira Primary School where they are community. We are so proud of our going to build a classroom for the Grade team because they have fund-raised 7 year. The school has such poor additional funds to enable them to buy facilities, that they have to squash 80 bicycles to hand out to needy families something like 60 children into a room in their community!! These bicycles will only meant for less than half that help children get to school, and help amount. It’s either that, or they sit land-mine affected families get around outside under minimal shade. So our and do their day to day chores. There is team is going to make a huge difference a bicycle ceremony with local dignitaries and even the TV people on the 19th December, and our group can leave no better lasting legacy than a new school and 80 families with new bicycles!

to this school again this year. They will be camped next to the Tana River, and during their break, will go rafting and will also do home visit surveys locally, and go to a Kenyan church service!

After the work is finished, the International team is going to the Masai Mara Game Reserve to visit Masai communities and do a lot of wildlife viewing!

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Bahati nzuri kila mtu!

RSIS PROJECT NEWS Cambodia (Adults) At the same time as the student group is in Cambodia, there is also an adult group doing a similar Project! We are running a Project Management and Leader Training Workshop for 2 days at the start of the trip for 23 staff (from schools all over the world!) and then 18 of the staff are travelling to Bakot village (about 30km from Prokeab, the student’s Project village) and in 10 days

generosity, but the local Project Managers and community just cannot believe it! The adult group is visiting the student team for the bicycle ceremony on 19th December, and are also having their own ceremony at Bakot too!

Thailand We are very excited about the Thailand trip this year, as it’s the first parent/student Project we’ve ever run! 8 families (one parent and one son/daughter aged 14 to 15) are travelling to Thailand to work with Ban Huay Khanun Sam, a Karen hill-tribe community in the Obluang National

Our fantastic local team of project managers

are going to also build them a new school! The staff have also been outstandingly generous, and raised enough additional funds to purchase 100 new bicycles and 3 chicken-rearing businesses for the Bakot community. Liz has been left speechless by everyone’s

Projects for 2012 We are running four Projects in July and August 2012, and the first three have already been launched! New Projects are running in South Africa and Canada, and we are excited to be returning to our existing Projects in Ladakh and Peru once again! South Africa, Canada and Ladakh have already been launched, and details are on the Round Square website. Peru will be launched in January 2012, once all the final details are in! But it’s going to be a really exciting season and we have already had a number of applications in which is a record for November!!

Project Leadership!

We will be looking for additional Leaders and Deputy Leaders for the July 2012 Projects, and Liz will launch the search in January 2012. So keep your eyes peeled and an email of requirements will be sent to Reps outlining who, and what we are looking for!

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Park in Northern Thailand. They will construct a 2-tank water system which will bring clean water to the community. Working in partnership with the Pakanyor Foundation, the team along with their two leaders will have 10 days in order to complete the work (no mean feat!) and will be staying with different families in the village. They’re going to have a bonding experience that few parents ever get with their children, and at the same time – do some incredible work for the community! After the work is done, they all have a few days in Chiang Mai to visit an elephant conservation Project, and of course get in some last-minute Christmas shopping at the night market!

International Conference 2011

Memories of the Round Square International Conference 2011 Wellington College

After 2 years of careful planning, 1000 delegates from 90 schools around the world converged upon Wellington College for 7 days to be a part of the Round Square International Conference of 2011.

The raw energy of the delegates was truly immense and this, combined with the cultural diversity present on campus, ensured that the week was spent productively with fantastic service and fundraising ideas created and shared by all.

While we enjoyed several stunning and inspirational speeches from our keynote speakers, as well as a visit from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, it was undoubtedly the passionate contribution of the delegates that made the conference special.

It was an enormous privilege for us at Wellington to host such friendly and enthusiastic guests who did not hesitate to get stuck into everything on offer and reach beyond their limits. While the Conference has sadly come to an end, we at Wellington sincerely hope that the close friendships, contacts and bonds forged during the week will continue long into the future.

Tom Mackinnon Chair Student Steering Committee

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International Conference 2011

More memories - Thanks again to organisers of the Conference at Wellington College

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International Conference 2011

Musiksc ool For many of us the highlight of the conference was the Musikscool evening where all delegates recorded a song to raise money for a charity. It was a long and energetic night where we reached beyond our limits in stride with the theme of our conference.

This year we decided to raise £50,000 to help build a childrens disabled centre in South Africa. All the Round Square schools are getting involved and trying to raise as much money as possible.

Using this money, a team of Round Square pupils will build a classroom for the Masoyi Special Care Centre. The centre is run by a lady called Lucy, who discovered a large number of disabled people living in desperate circumstances.

In 2001, Lucy approached the White River Rotary Club for assistance to achieve her dream of building a care centre for the disabled in Masoyi.

Parents were invited to bring their disabled children out into the open and the community was encouraged to accept and become involved with them. The gathering received unexpected support from a 700 strong crowd, the health services and informal supplementary services.

caring for the child, or, as sometimes happens, she locks the child up while she goes out to work. Some children are abandoned altogether, or even tied to trees.

These children need constant supervision, but the mothers, who are often excluded from the community, are unable to seek any form of assistance. Without access to even the most basic needs, health, education, stimulation, therapy and other developmental requirements are not addressed.

It is vital that the centre receives this money so that they can continue to help disabled children. To raise this money we intend to sell our song which we made. All of the schools who attended the conference are our helping to reach the target of £50,000.

There are now between 40 and 60 disabled children who attend the centre regularly, although this is dependent on whether transport is available to bring them. Their disabilities range from cerebral palsy to missing limbs.

In local South African culture there is traditionally a stigma attached to having a “disabled” child. It is common for parents to hide the disabled children away from the community. In nearly all cases the father abandons the family. Either the mother is unable to work because of the burden of

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Here is the link to our just giving website, once you have donated you will receive an email with a link to the video highlighting how much fun we all had as Round Square delegates. http://www.justgiving.com/ roundsquare Please give generously Many Thanks The Wellington Round Square Students

International Conference 2012

RSIC 2012 AFRICA

“No ex istenc

Two Round Square International Conferences are being hosted by the Africa region in 2012 No existence without co-existence is the theme of both the International Conferences Brookhouse School looks forward to welcoming you to Nairobi in Keyna in the month of April for the first of the two.

“We are proud to say 'karibuni' and hope that your experience of the conference from April 2nd to 8th will be one to remember.

Africa today faces great challenges and we hope that you gain in awareness of potential solutions to these issues, through the focus on the conference theme "no existence without coexistence". A week of spirited adventure, meaningful service and lots of fun is in store for all.”

Brookhouse is working enthusiastically to make sure the conference will be one that delegates find inspiring and memorable. Preparations are approaching the final stages and we can expect an unforgettable experience.

As the security concerns appear to be gradually subsiding and the situation in Nairobi remains calm, we can look forward to our visit to Kenya with much anticipation. Visit the conference website: www.rsc.brookhouse2012.ac.ke Round Square International Conference Brookhouse School, Nairobi, Kenya

The theme of the conference has been interpreted in two key ways:Man co-existing with his fellow man: We will examine divides in society that create challenges for harmonious coexistence on the African continent today. One key note panel on ‘governance’ will examine emerging democracy within the African context.

Man co-existing with nature: We will also focus on conservation challenges in Africa today, with a particular focus on the competing needs for land between man and animals in Africa.

Our theme will be reflected throughout the conference in the topics for our key note panels and speakers, through our service and adventure day activities and through the cultural events the delegates take part in.

Adventure and Environment Delegates will get a taste of the adventure that can be part of daily life in Africa; they will be taken away from the urban environment of Nairobi for one day and night so that they can experience first-hand the excitement of the African bush.

Delegates will be divided into three groups. One group will visit the William Holden Wildlife Foundation Education Centre which is dedicated to preserving vanishing and endangered species. A second group will visit Savage Wilderness Camp and participate in white-water rafting, kayaking and team building activities.

The third group will visit Crescent Island where they can walk amongst the wildlife in a unique setting on Lake Naivasha.

Cultural exposure Delegates will be given a taste of African culture through both song and dance. During our carnival night, students will learn and perform

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e with out c o exis

tence”

traditional African songs and a Maasai market will exhibit African crafts. Our barazza groups honour great Africans in a variety of fields of endeavour, including poets and writers, sports heroes, political leaders and environmentalists.

Service There will be many different activities for service day, all very ‘hands on’ experiences, including groups visiting our various community partners in Kibera, one of the largest informal settlements in the world. Activities will range from working with children in a home, school or orphanage; an environmental project, such as planting trees or recycling; and physical projects that involves building, creating or decorating an environment.

Brookhouse students and staff are looking forward to providing you with a truly memorable African experience and we believe that through your participation you will impact positively on the lives of many.

Sawubona!

Penryn College, South Africa looks forward to welcoming the Global Round Square family to the second African International Conference in October 2012. (Arrival: 26 September - Depart: 2 October).

Together with Brookhouse (April conference) we hope to bring awareness to the many difficulties that Africa, as a continent, faces. Our theme “no existence without coexistence” will confront these social and environmental issues and in so doing inspire future generations to conquer these challenges. Experience a unique week in the Lowveld – from sunrise to sunset and beyond……

REGIONAL NEWS - AUSTRALASIA

A busy weekend of being together!

In September, students from Regent’s Pattaya Key Stage 3 visited The Triamsuksa Nayai Am school in Chantaburi. Their students, also known as the Thai Tims are part of a foundation established in the school called The Good Child Foundation, created by Paul Lennon whose 9 year old son was born with Down syndrome. No Thai school would accept him until this one eventually agreed. Paul wanted to prove that having a child with down syndrome in the class was not a disadvantage, it was actually an advantage as it taught the children that people are different and that they all have to work together. The school then started accepting more Down syndrome children.

Paul and his wife started teaching the students Glasgow Celtic football songs, and thus they have now become famous through the world singing their songs on YouTube. On their visit, the Regent's students got to watch the Thai Tims perform one of their well known songs “I Just Can’t Get Enough”.

for Father Ray Children’s Village. There were many groups including students, teachers, parents and Regent’s Community Partners performing various musical pieces.

The event started with a rendition of the Thai King’s Anthem and a welcome speech from Father Peter, who works at Father Ray Children’s Village. This was followed by the whole school orchestra and whole school choir singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in five languages to represent our school’s international spirit and community. After that there were many fantastic performances including songs from our staff, gap staff and students. We could also enjoy instrumental items from Mr. Clarence, the Korean Flautists and the Primary Glee Club. The first half ended with the Key Stage 1 choir singing a very adorable version of Shakira’s Waka Waka.

Then later on in September, the Thai Tims joined The Regent’s School for Clean up the World, where together with a local Wat Pai Nern Payoum school our three schools cleaned up 2 local beaches and got to know one another through working together for a good cause.

The day continued with a wonderful event- Picnic in the Park for Peace, a fantastic school event hosted at the Fr Ray Children’s Village. The aim of this event was to mark 10 years since 9/11 and to promote peace through music and togetherness and to raise money

Armidale Junior Conference

The Armidale School would like to extend a warm invitation to all Round Square schools to their 2012 Junior Conference which will take place 11-15 April 2012.

They are very close to having a live website up which will house all the usual info, conference fee and program details, etc. The target age is 12-14 year olds. “We look forward forward to hosting a very 'hands on' and stimulating conference” said Mrs Anna Barnier, Headmaster's Secretary.

The Armidale School Locked Bag 3003, Armidale NSW 2350 , Australia

The second half proceeded with more fantastic performances; it opened with the Regent’s Choir and the Thai Tims singing the now infamous One Single Voice, to which everyone was keen to sing along to. The grand finale was a group performance where everyone joined in singing “Imagine” by John Lennon. Just as it got dark guests lit up the sparklers and floating lanterns and filled the night with beautiful lights.

That weekend, not atypical to Regent’s Pattaya reminded everyone how much can be achieved by working, singing or simply being together.

Written by Joshua Whitcombe, Grace Joo and Sally Jeo

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Visit the website for further details http://rsc2012Junior.as.edu.au

REGIONAL NEWS - AUSTRALASIA

Fiji Adult Project - 2011 The third Fiji Project for Adults took place and proved to be another wonderful success. The group of 19 were all linked to Australian RS Schools Ivanhoe Grammar School, Radford College, Ballarat Grammar School, Westminster School, Geraldton Grammar School and St Philips College.

We all gathered in Nadi for the mandatory meet and greet and briefing before we headed off to roll the sleeves up and get to work.

We work in a very remote and spectacularly beautiful jungle village called Namuamua – a real highlight is the longboat ride through the Navua Gorge with its waterfalls and rapids.

Participants are homestayed with Namuamuan families and while accommodation is incredibly basic the warmth and care of the families makes it very easy to look straight passed that.

This year’s project was to revitalise the kindy, which before we arrived was an unattractive and poorly maintained concrete building with very little in the way of educational resources. It took the group about half a day to get into

top gear but once we did, the transformation started taking place with remarkable speed and efficiency.

The group dynamics were quite outstanding – with everyone finding their niche and small group leadership roles clearly established dependent on skills required and tasks undertaken. It was most satisfying and at times very educational to be able to work alongside some very committed and skilled locals who really are the masters of compromise as they always need to make do with the limited resources at their disposal.

Of course it wasn’t all hard work, there was plenty of fun with the families, swimming in a pristine river, trekking to a fantastic waterfall, riding a billi billi, sampling kava, enjoying the heavenly Fijian singing and sometimes just some time to relax. There was a great game of netball between the Fijians and the Aussies with the locals winning in a close game.

If you are interested in getting involved in an Adult Project why not consider coming in June/July 2013. (sadly plans for 2012 had to be abandoned) . Please e-mail Rod Summerton if you would like to receive more information.

Special thanks to a wonderful group of people for a job really well done – and a lot of good fun! rod.summerton@ivanhoe.com.au

Don’t Hang the Rangs Is it true that the Sumatran Orang-utan is rapidly approaching the tipping point past which its extinction becomes imminent? Is it true that it will be the first of the Great Apes to become extinct? Well……not if we can help it!

A group of students from Plenty Campus of Ivanhoe Grammar School in Melbourne have recently started an action group to do something about this. They are being led by two Year 11

students – Jessica Darmanin and Jessica Stojanoski and the name chosen for their group is “Don’t Hang the Rangs”. The group has two focuses as it progresses. The first is to raise the level of awareness within our community of the plight of the orang-utan and the links to rainforest destruction and the unnecessary, unethical drive to increase the production of palm oil for our consumption. The second is to take direct action by raising funds to help reverse the trend of continued rainforest destruction.

The group has decided to work in partnership with SOS (Sumatran Orang-utan Society), an established Oxford-based action group.

They recently purchased two orangutan soft toys from SOS – adopted as the “Don’t Hang the Rangs” mascots

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and they were named Cocoa and Banana. They inspired the theme for the group’s first fund-raising effort – the SOS Café. Of course that meant that all food and drink sold was somehow related to Cocoa and Banana. Many students actively supported the café, by baking cakes and cookies, working at the café or of course – to willingly purchase the goodies. It was a great success and raised in excess of $AU900. That money is destined for SOS as they can help turn it into the establishment and planting of around 600 trees. Think about that for a moment – that could well be the re-establishment of a small forest!

If you ever wondered just why orangutans are considered to be our closest relatives, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=IFACrIx5SZ0&feature=fvwrel It will leave you spellbound.

REGIONAL NEWS - EUROPE

Felsted Diploma Triangle When we first applied for Round Square membership, a compelling factor that led us to do so was a sense that our existing co-curricular programme was strongly compatible with the Round Square IDEALS. Before we joined the Round Square, we already had the IB Diploma, with its Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) programme, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, with its emphasis on Skills Development, Physical Challenge, Service and Adventurous Expeditions. Therefore, many of the Round Square IDEALS already struck a strong resonance with us at Felsted, especially Service, which appeared as a leading pillar of all three programmes.

Having passed the initial hurdle of becoming a fully fledged Global Round Square school, the time seemed right to explore these overlaps further.

At the same time, we found ourselves wrestling as a school with two other very specific challenges. The first of these was the question of how to develop the idea that co-curricular activities are all part of a single holistic learning experience – that the skills and attitudes students learn during their activities are equally useful in the classroom. The second was a sense that whilst a small minority of our students were signing up for the vast majority of activities, many others were perhaps failing to take proper advantage of the full breadth of our cocurriculum.

This is how we came up with the concept of the Felsted Diploma.

At its most basic level, the Felsted Diploma is a mapping exercise.

Structured around a triangle, it unifies together the ‘buzz-words’ of CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) as three

Tom Vignoles, Deputy Head Co-Curricular at Felsted School

sides of our co-curricular programme.

Each of these is then in turn split into sub-categories, to ensure that all sections of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award are represented.

Where the Round Square IDEALS were concerned, we felt that three of these were easily placed in our triangle.

Service already appears as a category in its own right; after reflection, we felt that we wished to interpret Environmentalism as one possible form of service, in line with the ethos of Round Square Service Projects and our existing programme of environmental service in the local community; Adventure also sits very well with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Expedition and Residential sections, tying in the concept of Round Square Exchanges as well.

That left Internationalism, Democracy and Leadership, aspects which we felt were working on a slightly different plane to the other three IDEALS, as strands that could come into play within virtually any other activity. We therefore placed them as the core elements of our Diploma.

At its secondary level, the Felsted Diploma is a method of getting the best out of our students. We are an allrounder school, with a huge range of co-curricular activities. However, we felt that it was sometimes easy to confuse all-rounder provision with allrounder students.

Whilst we hope there is something for everyone, by no means all of our students are genuine allrounders. Some are especially physical, with major strengths in sports; others thrive on Creativity (incidentally, an aspect which we feel strangely lacks representation within the IDEALS!), having strengths in Music, Drama and Arts; others are none of the above but are caring citizens who like nothing more than making a difference through Service to others.

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And yes, we have many who fit two or even all three of these profiles simultaneously . . . The challenge was to devise a programme that would satisfy the needs of all categories of student.

The beauty of the Felsted Diploma triangle is that it allows students to identify their strengths and weaknesses, giving focus to their cocurricular choices. Thus, a Sport, Music or Drama scholar may understandably choose to locate their activities mainly within one sector of the triangle; however, he or she can be encouraged to access other sectors via their major area of specialism. For example, we now have a group of musicians who are fundraising for the musical charity In Harmony as their nominated Duke of Edinburgh’s Award service project, a win-win situation that allows them to develop their musical skills whilst fulfilling their Community Service requirements. Thus, with the advent of the Diploma, it is much easier to spot which activities can be productively combined, making it possible to focus on quality rather than quantity and reducing the possibility of students becoming overloaded. At the other end of the spectrum, it provides a method of encouraging our more reluctant students to become involved in other areas of school life.

Simultaneously we have also been developing the Felsted Philosophy of Learning (see page 10) also based on a triangular structure, with Parents, Students and Staff appearing at each of the apexes, the Philosophy of Learning identifies the core values and attitudes that we would wish these three groups to adopt in developing learning across all areas of school life. Thus, for students, the qualities identified are Resilience, Resourcefulness, Readiness, Responsibility and Reflection. These are all qualities that may be learned within the co-curriculum and (we hope) subsequently applied within the classroom, and the last of these is especially important: as students complete one level of the Diploma and select their activities for the next, we ...cont’d on page 11

REGIONAL NEWS - EUROPE ...cont’d - Felsted Diploma Triangle invite Reflection not only on who they are now, but also on who they would like to become in future. The parallel triangular structure provides a clear prompt to ensure students connect their co-curricular activities with their learning in general, if also providing one or two of the more subversive members of our community with an easy opportunity for parody!

Tom Vignoles, Deputy Head Co-Curricular at Felsted School would be delighted to answer any questions which you may have about the Felsted Diploma. Contact him by e-mail tjv@felsted.org

He will also be attending the Round Square Conference in South Africa in September 2012 and will be presenting the Felsted Diploma to Round Square at this event.

Finally, the Felsted Diploma is an award system that allows us to accredit and reward achievement in our cocurriculum. Too often, students who have heeded our clarion call to ‘become good citizens’ go unrewarded by the narrow focus on examination results as the be all and end all of modern school life. We felt it was high time to put this right.

Round Square Adventure Race Two teams from Windermere School were entered into this year’s Adventure Race, which was hosted by Gordonstoun School, in the Cairngorms.

The weekend began with a 6-hour drive north to set up camp just outside Aviemore. The excited students were briefed on the race activities before being urged to get an early night as the wake up call was to be at 6.30am.

The day started with breakfast, which was judged for nutritional content, taste and originality. Once the washing up was done, the teams were sent off to their starting points to begin a gruelling day of running, canoeing, mountain biking, running, climbing, orienteering and then more running. A short break was allowed to cook tea, which again was being judged, and then off again into the forest for a couple of hours of night navigation. Bed was very welcome at 11.00pm.

At 6.30am more judging of breakfast, in the pouring rain this time, followed by a forest run/yomp with the end of a hard weekend in sight.

Congratulations to both teams, who worked hard all weekend, earning extra points for teamwork and safety, and eventually finishing 3rd and 5th in the competition.

‘Italy meets South Africa’ Round Square Fundraiser On Wednesday 16 March, Francesca from Windermere School, with the help of her parents, Miss Parry and friends held a charity evening at her family’s Italian restaurant. The aim was to raise money for Tiger Kloof in South Africa.

The evening was a great success and was attended by local residents, local business people and members of the Rotary Club. Guest enjoyed pre-dinner drinks, followed by a four-course meal.

Miss Parry was auctioneer for the evening and did a fantastic job getting the guest to put their hands in their pockets and bid for the great prizes which had kindly been donated.

Overall, Francesca and her team managed to raise and overwhelming £2600 .

Next year the competition will be on home ground...can we bring the trophy back with us?

European Council Meeting is taking place at Herlufsholm Skole January 27-28, 2012 Contact Ann Hansen for more details

E-mail: akh@herlufsholm.dk

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REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA

Chocolate Tuesday Chocolate Tuesday was started by the Round Square girls of 2010 as our way of raising money for the Prince Alexander Fund. It was such a great success last year that we decided it would be twice as successful this year.

It was held in order to raise funds to help the refugees and people of Somali via the Gift of the Givers Organization.

On Chocolate Tuesday, every RS International conference delegate of both 2010 and 2011 as well as RSIS delegates, plus a group of Somaliasupporters were asked to bake at least 25 chocolate goods, such as chocolate brownies, cupcakes and even macaroons. This year’s turnout was well beyond our expectations with about 30 girls baking. Girls managed to bring in twice the amount of goods asked of them.

St Cyprian’s High School hosts their second annual Chocolate Tuesday At both of our lunch times, we sold these ‘chocolatey’ goods in our High School and our Preparatory School Girls of all ages came to buy all the yummy treats and hand over their money to a good cause. This year we had 2 more tables selling goods, and all FOUR tables were a huge success!

This day would not have been possible without the support of all the St Cyprian’s girls and staff, who gave up their lunchtimes to come and support us, and those who baked. We also thank the head of RSIS, Miss Sonia Christian, who got all of us excited and ready for this year’s ‘St Cyprian’s Chocolate Tuesday”!

Lauren Lazo (Grade 11, Head of Round Square 2012) R1760 was raised for Somalia.

Entrepreneurship with a community service thrust Sunshine Centre Association is a Nonprofit Organisation working with children with special needs. These special needs include intellectually delayed, Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism. These are only but a few of the special needs kids they work with.

needs at the Sunshine Centre Association is prams.

As Grade 8 students of St Stithians Girls’ College, we had an Economic Management Sciences project. This project entailed running a business and selling goods on the night of the Spring Festival.

They have 3 branches throughout Gauteng in Elsburg, Soweto and Craighall. The main obstacle most of these children face is not being able to walk, which means one of their main

After this night we all had to pay “charity tax,” which was 20% of our profits. With half the money we raised we had the privilege of buying 10 brand new prams for the Craighall centre. We invited them to our Grade 8 chapel service where we presented Shannon O’Keefe, two kids and a staff member with their 10 new prams.

These brand new prams we have given them will assist them in moving the children around at the centre and on their occasional outings with much more ease and safety.

Jessica Joubert

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Special ‘Thank You’ Event to Celebrate Donors of the StareheFuture Appeal The guest of honor His Majesty Constantine greets the directors of the Starehe Centres Mr. Matthew Kithyaka, Mrs Margaret Wanjohi together with Mr. Graham Van’t Hoff.

StareheFuture is very grateful to Mr. Graham Van’t Hoff and Shell for hosting a fabulous ‘Thank You’ reception attended by His Majesty Constantine and Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie at the Shell Centre, London, on the 20th of October 2011.

The event was organized as a thank you to major donors and supporters of the appeal over the past three years. It also marked the end of the first fundraising stage of the appeal. StareheFuture is delighted to announce that £2.4 million has been raised to date to improve infrastructure and secure lifetime bursaries at the Starehe Centers.

Guests were able to meet with the directors of Starehe, and hear first-hand about the developments at the Centres.

REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA

Saints Trek 2011 by Bianca Biehler and Sian Noble of St Stithians Girls’ College Saints Trek was by far one of the best experiences of our school career! We all arrived at the car park on the morning of the 19th of August 2011.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, with our bags packed and rearing to go. After saying goodbye to our parents, both Boys’ and Girls’ College pupils, excitedly jumped onto the bus for our journey to Stanford Lake College. We arrived later that afternoon, off loaded, unpacked and had a look around.

Stanford Lake College is situated in such a beautiful part of South Africa, right next to a pretty lake and surrounded by forest. We were all so excited to be spending the next few days there!

“Saints Trek was by far one of the best experiences of our school career” For the first week of our expedition we did community service at Glenshiel, a ‘nearby’ underprivileged school. We walked, what sometimes felt like a very long, 3km to the school and another 3km back to Stanford Lake College each day. In the end those walks were all worth it as we transformed the Glenshiel School into a more stable institution for learning, with the help of Mr Msimango, Mrs van Rooi and some of the Stanford Lake College staff members.

After 5 days of hard work we managed to help the school in a number of different ways. We made a vegetable garden with an irrigation system. We transformed the school into a bright, exciting place with newly painted walls and murals.

We provided the principal with his own office, by building and installing partitioning and shelving. We built stairs, a sand pit, as well as a few shelves for the children’s school bags and books and lastly organised the library to ensure the learners can use it when research is needed on any assignments, or to just sit down and enjoy reading a book.

Our biggest reward was when we got to see the happy faces at the sight of their ‘new’ school. They performed songs and dances for us and wished us on our way. This experience was in every way, a worthwhile one and an amazing opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to other people’s lives.

In the evenings we ate lovely meals in the Stanford Lake College Dining Hall, we were all so hungry after a hard day’s work! After dinner we had interesting people come and give talks about forest fires, map work and about the area we were in, which helped us to prepare for the hike and gain a better understanding about our surroundings. We also had one or two nights where we got to socialize and attend the Stanford Lake College talent show, which was very entertaining!

On the following Sunday we started our adventure aspect of the Trek. We set off on a five day hike where we climbed up mountains, climbed down mountains and walked along their bases. We were in one of the most beautiful areas of South Africa, the Magoebeskloef Mountains. We had to pack all of our clothes and food and carry it with us each day. Each night we stayed in huts along the way and

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had an amazing time spent with friends, reminiscing about all of the fun events that had happened that day, telling stories and singing songs. We got to sit under some of the most beautiful stars and swim in majestic waterfalls.

Each day came with a new obstacle, but we got through it and all learnt a little more about ourselves and about one another along the way. We were accompanied by two wonderful teachers Mr Marangoni and Ms Pellisier as well as Rob Thomas, our experienced guide, who made our hike so worthwhile!

A Quote by William Blake reads as follows “Great things are done when men and mountains meet,” which sums up our hike in a nutshell. We were all pushed to our limits and were heavily rewarded by the beautiful scenery, the friendships we made and the wonderful experiences and memories that we will never forget.

Saints Trek, both the hike and community service aspect taught us so much. We came across many obstacles and were pushed to our limits, but we conquered, together. We got to help others as well as meet and interact with new friends and make memories together that we will take with us forever. Saints Trek 2011 was one of the best things that we could have ever done!

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet”

REGIONAL NEWS - SOUTH ASIA & GULF

UWC Staff’s Got Talent!

Art Competition An online art competition was run by Chittagong Grammar School in Bangladesh for all RS school and entries were received from all regions - around 170 in total.

Voting took place by art teachers from all RS schools having 1 vote each.

The global concern Promoting Animal Welfare (PAW) in United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, hosted a Staff’s Got Talent Show on the 9th of September. The aim of the event was to raise money to support and fund a bear sanctuary, which is under construction in Vientiane, Laos. A local Singapore organisation: ACRES was able to obtain the release of the bears from a bear

Winner: Siya Agarwal of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, India

bile farm. Sadly the cruel farming of bear bile is an alarmingly increasing trade in the world. Various brave teaching and non-teaching staff bravely provided a range of acts – some more talented than others and some very hilarious ones! The judges panel was also fully comprised of students, each representing a different part of the school Middle, High and Senior school.

It was a lot of fun and in total, we were able to raise S$2,000 by everyone paying a $5 entry fee!

Every cent of this will be going towards the bear project in Vientiane. As well as this, a group of students will be visiting the cause at the end of March for project week, to establish personal ties with the project in order to ensure its sustainability.

Runner-up (Tied): Kavaya Rurugan from The Indian School, Oman

2nd Runner-up: Noshin Tarannum of Chittagong Grammar School, Bangladesh

Runner-up (Tied): Simran Chawla from The Daly College, India

Special Award: Yashwini Sodhani of Dhirubhai Ambani International

Regional RS Conference Pathways World School, India hosted a Regional Round Square Conference for Juniors from the 10th to the 13th of November.

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REGIONAL NEWS - SOUTH ASIA & GULF

Assam Valley commemorate the birthday of Kurt Hahn To commemorate the birthday of the versatile Kurt Hahn, the Social Service League of The Assam Valley School organised a ‘Free Health Camp’ for their very own support staff and their families residing in ‘Lachit Ville’.

In addition to the resident medic onsite, the camp utilised the services and expertise of three visiting doctors.

Relevant medication followed. Anti Tetanus Serum vaccine was administered to thirty five people with an

effective follow up after a month.

A cleanliness drive was also initiated in ‘Lachit Ville’ and a Community Centre

Technology for a sustainable world The RS conference is taking place in February in 2012 at Chittagong Grammar School (CGS) and has two parts - the first part will be a series of one-day mini conferences attended by their own school students joined by a few local schools. The second part is a regional conference (3rd to 7th February 2012) with around 2 dozen schools from the region and up to a dozen from other regions, plus 100 delegates from grade 11 and 12 at CGS. In total they are gearing for up to 1540 delegates!

The theme this time is Technology for a sustainable world. Each year CGS hosts a conference to highlight relevant issues in a Bangladeshi and global context. In 2010 Environmental Challenges were addressed while in 2011 we looked at Global Inequalities, including economic, social and political inequalities and the MDG’s. In 2012 they are hoping to re-visit some of the issues tackled in 2010 and 2011 within the framework of current technological developments.

with five computers was set up which in turn brought many a smile to the not-so -privileged school going children of

Behzad's New World Behzad from Kabul spent his first weekend in Canada at Niagara Falls. He has a wonderful host family who will look after him on weekends and perhaps during vacation periods.

Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario has made all this possible. Thanks also go to the Round Square association of schools, that put all of us together.

This could be the beginning of a larger Round Square initiative bringing talented students from the developing world to Round Square schools that are interested in broadening their student body.

Often the students from the developing world who have been awarded scholarships (especially those from South Asia) come from the wealthiest 5% of their nation's population, and can't provide an alternative voice at their new schools....because they have been raised and educated in a privileged and elite environment.

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Behzad and friends at Niagara Falls

REGIONAL NEWS - AMERICAS

Appleby College Honours Guy S. McLean We hope that you can join us for a special evening to honour our retiring Principal Guy S. McLean.

Date: Sunday, February 12, 2012 Location: Burlington Performing Arts Centre 440 Locust Street Burlington, ON L7S 1T7 Doors open: 3:30 p.m. with music by the Appleby instrumental ensembles.

Tribute presentation: 4:00 p.m. featuring tenor Michael Schade, soprano Stephanie Domingues ‘07, the Appleby Orchestra and Choir with students, alumni and employees!

Champagne reception from 5:30 p.m. 7:30p.m. featuring the Appleby Jazz ensembles Tickets: $100 per person. To purchase your ticket for this exclusive event, to leave a message for Guy or to make a gift to the GlobalEducation Fund, please visit www.appleby.on.ca/celebration The Appleby College International Conference delegation raised a total of $815.00 for the Wellington Race.

Students and staff canvassed their friends and family for their support, with proceeds going towards The Canadian Red Cross, Horn of Africa Draught Appeal.

David Richardson, Stephanie Mumford, Neil Sachdev, Max Hiby-Durst, Ilijana Parojcic, Jack Cheesewright, Connie Serra.

Lakefield College host the YRS in 2012 Lakefield College School is hosting the Young Round Square of the Americas Conference from April 22 27, 2012. The school is located 160 km east of Toronto, Ontario. The conference Co-Chairs, Ali Webb and Heather Dockrill cordially invite delegations from up to three other Round Square schools, from outside the Americas Region. Each of the three additional delegations may contain a maximum of 7 delegates (e.g. 5 students + 2 staff or 6 + 1).

arrangements for possible preor post-conference opportunities. If interested, please contact Ali or Heather for more details.

Registration deadline is 15th December.

For more details contact Ali or Heather by email: awebb@lcs.on.ca hdockrill@lcs.on.ca

They would also be pleased to offer suggestions or help with

Athenian visited four Round Square Schools Bob Oxenburgh and Matt Zahner, two Athenian staff had the great pleasure to visit 4 Round Square schools with 15 of their students They spent twelve days visiting Germany, Switzerland, a corner of France and four fellow Round Square Schools. Using football (soccer) and basketball as the method of introduction to their RS comrades, the students from Northern California called on Schule Schloss Salem, Landheim Stiftung Schondorf, ICS International School in Zurich and Schule Birklehof.

On the journey, besides a packed schedule of side trips to Mainz, Dachau, Speyer, Strasbourg and Heidelberg, Athenian students were able to compare notes with the students from these four schools as Round Square School members, with a particular focus on environmental stewardship.

A great trip was had by all and we look forward to future opportunities to meet with and work with our allied member schools. Athenian would like to express sincere appreciation and gratitude to our

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hosts and to the Round Square Representatives at each school, Peter Kelnhofer at Birklehof, Dagmar Dietel at Salem, Rob McHarg at ICS Zurich and Damien Vassallo at Schondorf.

REGIONAL NEWS - AMERICAS

Carbon-offset forest You may recall, in 2009, when Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut hosted the Americas Region conference they asked each delegation to fundraise $500 to sponsor a carbon-offset forest.

They met their goal of $10,000, and below you can see photos of the forest from a few days ago.

Elsie Stapf, who is in the photos, is the gap year coordinator and did a great deal to organize the conference.

If you have groups visiting Costa Rica, these forest are close to EARTH University, and they can go and visit them, and perhaps spend a day or two measuring trees and calculating the rate of carbon capture.

This UN applied research project combines environmental education with developing new models of carbonoffset forests, forests that benefit both US emitters and farmers in the tropics.

One of the most valuable timbers in Costa Rica is the cedar tree These trees are 14 months old. That's growth of easily a foot per month. With such growth rates, capturing and storing US

CO2 emissions in the tropics should be one of our options considered for managing our greenhouse gas emissions. With the use of trees like this, we may be able to earn the farmer more money that he can with cattle on the same site.

The Round Square forest, also the same age, has a different design, a fast growing tree combined with a slower growing one. The first produces logs for the farmer to sell, replacing income from cattle, while the latter captures more CO2 in the long run.

They can expect from younger forests (4 years old) to capture an estimated 20 metric tonnes of CO2 per year during the 25-year agreement that they have signed with the farmer.

What is Hotchkiss offsetting with this forest for the next decades?

Four vehicles? A classroom? The headmaster's office? Let's connect the dots to give the project more meaning.

Thanks for your cooperation in sponsoring this project.

Lower Canada College: Help others; discover yourself activities. Teachers followed their lead and also brought in recent best-sellers, which they added to the sale. Together the Junior School community raised $2,155. No better way to "Help others; discover yourself" - this year's all encompassing school theme.

Lower Canada College MontrĂŠal, QuĂŠbec

The Junior School students at Lower Canada College were moved to action when they heard of the drought and the famine in Somalia. Students from

kindergarten through to grade six joined forces, donated gently-used books, and hosted a bilingual booksale as part of their annual Reading Week

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GENERAL NEWS

Clean up the World Dear Round Square Coordinators!

My name is Liisa Toompuu and I am a Round Square Alumni, graduated from The Regent's School, Pattaya, in 2005. In my time as a student, I took part in two Round Square Conferences (a regional and an international one), and this October I represented the Regent's alumni at the conference in Wellington College. After graduating from university, I went back to Thailand to work with Paul Crouch on organizing the 2010 International Round Square Conference there.

Since my year in Thailand in 2010, I have returned to Estonia where I'm from and am currently volunteering for an amazingly inspiring Let's do it!

World Cleanup project that was

International daily news service for schools supports Round Square’s mission Representatives from The Day, an international news service that links the daily news to the school curriculum, were given the chance to exhibit at the recent Round Square Conference hosted at Wellington College.

The Day provides three daily news stories written specifically for classroom use by an editorial team formerly of the Financial Times. The news articles are ideal for use across the school curriculum and also as engaging resource for form times, debating and citizenship.

Jill Shepherd, librarian at Wellington College, UK, said of the service: ‘The Day connects our students with international news in an easy-to-use

started and initiated here in Estonia and has by now spread to over 70 countries around the world. You can read more about it here: http://www.letsdoitworld.org/ It is a project aiming not only to clean up as much of the illegal waste crippling our environment as possible, but also to raise awareness of its existence and its extent for a more long-term impact. So we obviously want as many people involved as possible and are keen for additions to our ranks.

Are you inspired? Are you interested?

Do you want to join or find out more?

You can browse the website to find contacts and information from there, but you can also contact me and I can either put you in touch with existing teams in your country or help you set up one if your country hasn't joined yet. liisatoompuu@yahoo.com This is an action for all ages, nationalities and social groups, the more people we have involved, the more impact we'll have, and we want to leave our footprint on the world!

I encourage you now, if you haven't already, to watch the videos on the Let's do it! World home page (or at the least forward this link and e-mail onto your student environment committees to consider, please).

I look forward to hearing from you, let's do it! ;) Warm regards, Liisa Toompuu Let's clean this world together.

World Cleanup 2012, see www.letsdoitworld.org

way that's designed for schools’. Lucy Widdows, a history teacher at Aiglon College in Switzerland, feels ‘the mix of international news, subject-related issues and general interest topics means that there is a huge variety of useful material available for teachers.’

Since their launch in January of this year, The Day is now used in over 20 countries, and several Round Square members have taken subscriptions.

The Day strongly shares our group’s philosophies of promoting democracy, global citizenship and development beyond the classroom.

Richard Addis, The Day’s founder, believes ‘an understanding of international current affairs helps to improve student engagement, verbal and literacy skills and employability.

Having edited newspapers in the UK

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and North America, I’ve felt that when it came to explaining the world for young people, something was missing.’

The Day currently has a special offer in place for any Round Square school that chooses to take an annual subscription: one extra free term and the sponsorship of another local school in your area.

To subscribe, take a free trial or for more information, please visit: http:// www.theday.co.uk

GENERAL NEWS

Governance Matters Prior to the Round Square International Conference held at Wellington College, Berkshire in October, the Board of Directors of Round Square met. In addition to receiving reports from the Executive Director, RS IS Projects Manager and from the five regions of Round Square around the globe, the Board engaged in beneficial discussion around a range of issues that continue to provide opportunities and challenges for the organisation.

Amongst other things, time was spent considering issues around membership including our continued growth in areas that are under or unrepresented, alumni engagement, fundraising (so as to allow the organisation to be less reliant on subscription income in order to achieve objectives with regards to greater engagement of school communities who are unable to afford full membership of the organisation).

The Board of Directors was able to view the new Round Square website which was launched during the Conference itself and to spend some time considering a draft “futures document” provided by the Executive Director entitled “Vision 2020”. This will

undoubtedly be shared more broadly over the coming twelve months so that membership have an opportunity for input into the organisation’s future direction.

The Board welcomed a new Director – Mr Mike Walton, Regional Representative for Australasia and East Asia – and farewelled the elected Staff Representative, Mr Rod Summerton who finished his threeyear term during the Wellington Conference. His successor, Mr Paul Crouch, will join the Board as the newly elected Staff Representative.

During the Conference itself, there was some beneficial discussion relating to governance and to the possible “academic application” of the Round Square Ideals. Both of these matters will be progressed during the next twelve months and in particular, in regards to the Governance Review, the Annual General Meeting approved six guiding principles which provide the framework to ensure that the future governance of Round Square respects the democratic ideals of the organisation whilst at the same time

Editor: Suzanne Bookless

The President, Board and Secretariat would like to wish all the members and readers who celebrate the festive season, everything of the best.

Advancement & Marketing Assistant

Round Square, PO Box 4371 Bath, BA1 0JD, U.K. Tel: +44 (0) 1225 320 854 E-mail: admark@roundsquare.org Registered Charity No.: 327117

Round Square News Please send you news and photos to Suzanne Bookless for the next edition.

If you would like to see something specific in the Round Square News that is not currently being written about please let Suzanne know.

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providing a modern and flexible approach to allow this dynamic organisation to maintain a governance structure which remains relevant, even as the organisation evolves and changes over time.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held just prior to the Conference at Brookhouse, Nairobi, Kenya in April 2012.

Rod Fraser Chairman of the Board of Directors Round Square

Get Well Soon Round Square would like wish Polly (Sarah Pollitt - of St Philips College, Alice Springs, Australia) a speedy recovery and perfect health thereafter.

Polly has been suffering for quite some time and needs our prayers and God's blessings.