Student ambassadors heading to New York for UNICEF Summit

Held this year from 11 to 17 July, student ambassadors at the Summit will demonstrate how their schools have made progress in addressing the SDGs as part of Nord Anglia Education’s annual Global Challenge.

Hosted at Nord Anglia International School New York (NAIS NY), students will join workshops, seminars and debates, including speaking opportunities at the UN’s High-level Political Forum (HLPF). There is also a Model United Nations event, a trip to the UN Headquarters in New York City, and much more.

“We have been thrilled to have Nord Anglia students around the world learning about the SDGs and taking positive actions in their schools and communities year over year,” said Shannon O’Shea, Team Leader: Public Partner Advocacy and Visibility Section, UNICEF.

At BISB we engaged in the SDGs by organising activity days related to each of the global goals. 

For Peace Justice and Strong Institutions, we planned a number of activities.

It was announced in Tutor Time that it had been decided to give the Year 12 Student Leaders more responsibility so they would be acting as prefects at break-time and they were able monitor behaviour and give debits. However, it wasn’t announced that they had been instructed, to punish students unfairly. They punished them for breaking rules when they were obviously following the rules thereby highlighting how important it is that we have clear rules in our institutions that individuals are not able to abuse for their own profit or entertainment.  We had an assembly to explain the Global Goals and explain the morning's tasks. The process was a big success and they were suitably outraged! Following the assembly they went to their tutor groups and they had 2 activities to do with a reasonable amount of independence. Each class had a trial case to look at that they explored and they needed to decide if the trial that they have been given was fair and if not why not. The students then formed into small groups of 2-4 and made a presentation, poster, short film, poem, song, newspaper article, comic book story or any other form that they thought appropriate to explain the importance of Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions - they could choose to think about all three areas or just choose one and it was entirely their choice. The work produced was of an excellent and thought-provoking standard.

For the Education SDG we had a separate day where everyone saw a Powerpoint. Following this they were asked to do the following:

• In groups of 3 or 4 draw a large outline of a person and think about what qualities and characteristics an educated person might have. Write these within the outline of the person. 
• Draw a big circle around the drawing of the person to represent the world. Discuss what the qualities and characteristics of a world full of educated people would be and write these down. 
• They then had to think about the opportunities that could open up as a result of getting a good education. They had to come up with a list of 5 opportunities to share with the class and add these to their picture.
• They then brought their creations to the Theatre where they shared their ideas in a terrific discussion with lots of great ideas and points. We had a great discussion and they were really enthusiastic and passionate. 

We have also had two students in Year 8, Sebastian and Greg,  run a project to collect pens for a local school to enable disadvantaged learners to access school and we had a discussion activity run by our Summit attendees for all of our Year 10s once a week in Tutor Time.

“The Nord Anglia Student Summit in July is an excellent opportunity for students to share their ideas and efforts to leaders at the United Nations during the annual High-level Political Forum, where different stakeholders meet to share ideas and assess progress on the Global Goals,” Shannon added.

“This year is the most ambitious yet, where students will be participating in various sessions and events at the HLPF as well as showcasing their creativity on what the SDGs mean to them through art and activism,” she said.

For the MUN, held over two days at NAIS NY, students will act as representative of different nations and debate resolutions. This year, three students will act as Deputy MUN Chairs alongside our main MUN Chairs from New York University.

For the HLPF, eight articulate student panelists have been chosen to speak onstage to audiences at this United Nations side event. They will be part of two panels sharing how they are taking steps to make the world a better place through the SDGs. These panelists have been chosen as a joint decision between NAE, UNICEF and the World’s Largest Lesson. At the start of the HLPF event, one Nord Anglia student has been specifically asked to launch a piano donated by Sing for Hope to UNICEF to tie the arts and the global goals together.

Also, during the HLPF, winners from Nord Anglia’s Global Campus Visual Arts competition will be showcased as a part of an Arts Exhibition at the United Nations. This allows our students to promote what NAE is doing to tackle the SDGs and to network with government and UN officials as they admire our students’ artwork.

Last but not least, two NAE students have been asked to present at the ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations as a part of governments’ voluntary national reviews. This will be held in the iconic General Assembly Hall.

Following the HLPF, a glamorous Gala dinner will be held at The Juilliard School to allow students to celebrate their accomplishments during the week. There will also be awards given out to students for their efforts during the MUN.

Grigory K. and Hyeokjun K. from Year 11 have been selected to attend the summit. In order to be chosen, they had to put together proposals for activities that would support the SDGs and then lead those activities. They were selected from a strong group of applicants and we are sure that they will do us proud. We are also very excited that Hyeokjun has been chosen to be the Deputy Chair for the MUN (Model United Nations) and we know that he will be an excellent ambassador for BIS Bratislava. 

Stay tuned to our website and social media for more updates on the NAE-UNICEF Student Summit.

Learn more:

• Read more about UNICEF
• Read more about the 17 Global Goals here.
• More information on the High Level Political Forum can be found here