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We believe that internationally-minded people are globally engaged and value intercultural understanding, to ensure our programme helps develop this we provide opportunities to develop multilingualism and global engagement.

This year, as part of the Grade Five programme of inquiry under the ‘How We Express Ourselves’ theme, students inquired into the idea of artists as activists.

The Primary School German Team has been involved in a diverse range of activities and events throughout the past few years, which have strengthened our connections with the local community. By getting our students out of the standard classroom situations, learning German becomes fun and engaging and offering students unique learning experiences gives us authentic links to the German language. 

ISZL recognises that children need to nurture their multilingual talents to succeed in increasingly global and linguistically diverse environments. Indeed with over sixty different ISZL community languages, ISZL is itself a global community. Its location in the middle of Switzerland, a small quadrilingual country nestled within a plurilingual continent, adds yet another layer of linguistic complexity. 

Our students are not only impacting the lives of many young people in Africa but are also embarking on a powerful and personal learning journey. As always with our service learning programme, the motive behind the student involvement is to nurture self-development, focusing on the essential life skills; leadership confidence, collaboration, initiative, critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability, creativity, imagination and compassionate attitudes. The skill set, always valued, is now critical for success in the 21st century.

Who could have foreseen back 1961, when ISZL opened its doors for the first time, and twelve students connected to the newly relocated Jeep corporation manufacturing plant sat down in their new classroom, that the Canton of Zug and ISZL were entering into a symbiotic partnership, the fruits of which now provides over four-hundred companies and the children of their employees with both a beautiful home away from home and a thriving international educational community? 

At ISZL, in our "Early Years Vision in Action" we describe play as "a powerful vehicle for exploration and learning".  But what do we mean by 'play', why do we value it and what is the link between play and learning?

Consider the future for our current Kindergarten students and what the world will be like when they graduate in the year 2031. Given the technological advances we are witnessing today, any description of our future that does not resemble something out of a science fiction story may likely represent an underestimation of the changes that will impact our lives.

The ISZL Arts Programme is an expression of individual and shared joy within the school community. In the following pages, three families share their experiences of the richness of music, theatre and the visual arts from the primary years right through middle school and into high school.

Together with our four children, my husband Bas and I moved to Switzerland in the summer of 2018. This was our third move in the last eight years. We are a Dutch family and our first expatriation was to Moscow, Russia, where three of our children started school and our youngest son was born.

One of the joys of studying and teaching at ISZL is Zug’s beautiful old town. Students enjoy opportunities in the curriculum to appreciate the local landmarks and history. Early Years Teacher Sarah Osborne uses the ‘How the World Works’ unit to inquire into local architecture and in particular the 13th-century clocktower ‘Der Zytturm’ located in Kolinplatz.