This is the ISZL Experience

This is an extraordinary week of learning across ISZL.

From our youngest learners engaged in Week Zero, to Middle and High School students participating in Personal Development Week, to our Grade 12 students looking towards life beyond ISZL through Futures Week, our students have been learning in many different ways. They have embraced new experiences, encountered different people and places, tested themselves, and discovered more about who they are and what they are capable of.

Written by ISZL Director Barry Dequanne

At ISZL, our vision is to turn learning into action. This week has been a powerful expression of what those words mean in practice.

Turning learning into action is not a particular programme, trip, or event. It is part of the learner’s journey at ISZL. It happens when knowledge and understanding are applied, when curiosity leads somewhere new, when students make choices and experience their consequences, and when they are stretched beyond what is familiar or comfortable.

Kurt Hahn, one of the pioneers of experiential education, wrote about the importance of nurturing in young people “an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit … and above all, compassion.”

We have seen all of that this week.

For some students, learning has meant travelling away from home, experiencing another culture and navigating unfamiliar surroundings. Along the way, students have discovered new things about themselves and one another, formed new relationships, found their voice, and experienced the kind of shared moments that can shape a community.

For our Grade 12 students, it has meant looking towards the future and considering the possibilities and choices ahead. For our youngest learners, it has unfolded through exploration, creativity, collaboration, physical challenge and play. Throughout Week Zero, learning has taken students from the forest to the athletics track, and into the worlds of art, science, design and performance.

And sometimes these moments of learning are subtle but profound.

At our Primary Athletics Day this week, I saw tremendous joy and a sense of accomplishment. I also saw some tears. For a child who desperately wanted to win a race, not winning can feel enormous. Learning to experience that disappointment, manage the emotions that come with it, congratulate someone else, and then step forward again is an important part of growing up.

That, too, is turning learning into action. And we look forward to hearing and celebrating many more stories of learning, growth and discovery from this special week at ISZL.

Our vision is to create opportunities for students to stretch themselves further and achieve more than they believe possible. We often associate being stretched with accomplishment. But it also means encountering uncertainty, disappointment and challenge, and gradually developing the confidence and resilience to respond.

That is what has been so powerful about this week. Across different ages, places and experiences, we have seen our students putting their learning into action and continuing their journey towards becoming more curious, capable, compassionate, and confident young people.

This is the ISZL learning experience, and it has been inspiring to see it come alive this week.

A special thank you to our ISZL professional team who have made this week possible. Behind every PDW journey, Futures Week experience, and Week Zero opportunity is an extraordinary amount of planning, care, flexibility and teamwork. Many colleagues have stepped forward in ways that students and families may never see, including leading trips, adapting plans, supporting individual students, covering for one another and simply doing whatever is needed. These contributions are an important part of what makes experiences like this possible, and they are deeply appreciated.

Barry Dequanne
Director