World Schools' International Forum
THE WORLD SCHOOLS’ INTERNATIONAL FORUM
The World Schools’ Forum is an exciting opportunity for any young man who wants to make a difference in the world one day. Over twenty schools from over twenty countries from around the world come together for two weeks to discuss matters of international concern through discussion and seminars. They also experience a real cultural exchange by putting on and watching cultural performances and setting up booths that represent, in our case, South Africa and St Alban’s College. They stay in hotels at the Forum itself and also spend a period of time during the stay being hosted by local families. The students who have been selected to attend the Forum will be expected to assist with hosting of students from other incoming exchanges as needed.
The WSF is in a different country every year and usually occurs during October. It is attended by three students and one staff member. The teacher accompanying the students will be selected by the St Alban’s College Executive Committee and will be appointed for a two year period.
Participants will need to pay for airfare to and from the hosting country for themselves and the accompanying teacher. All inland fees, from the scheduled arrival to the scheduled departure, are usually covered by the World Schools organization. All costs incurred for preparation items are divided between the three participants.
Feedback from previous years
WORLD SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL FORUM 2017
The World School International Forum for 2017 was held in Brisbane, Australia. St Paul’s School were the hosts and there were 20 participating countries. During the first week of the forum we stayed at an eco-camp called Noosa, it was a beautiful area. We stayed in chalets in groups of about 5 to 6 people. This gave us the opportunity to get to know our roommates and really start to break the ice.
The theme for 2017 was “The future of food and water”. We were given 5 global design challenges and each country received 2 of these challenges. We had to use these challenges and relate them to the issues that we have in our country. The 5 challenges were waste, commercialisation, agriculture, sustainable access and health risks. We then had to present our findings during that first week and that really gave us insight to each of the countries situation. From there we were divided into 10 task teams and we had to come up with multiple ideas to solve these various issues.
There were many activities that happened during the first week. We learnt a lot about the history of Australia and had the opportunity to paint boomerangs. Mountain biking, stand up paddle boarding, rock climbing and raft building were included in these activities. As well as visiting the Noosa North Shore beach where we participated in a lifesaving course. Later on in the week we also visited the Australia Zoo, here we found out about some of the country’s most incredible creatures, some quite dangerous too.
Moving into the second week of the forum, we were hosted by families from St Paul’s School. Every morning we would travel in and start with task work at about 08:30. We visited the Queensland University of Technology, here we had the opportunity to present our ideas to a panel of experts and see the incredible campus and facilities they had to offer. Throughout the week we did some sightseeing, travelling through the Brisbane CBD and Heading to the top of Mount Cootha where we could look over the whole of the Brisbane City.
Later in the week, each group presented their final solutions to three experts and they could give us feedback on our ideas. That concluded the work side of the forum. After all the fun we had, it was time to say our goodbyes and officially end the forum. We had a tree planting ceremony in the afternoon, dinner party in the evening and the closing ceremony at night.
It was an incredible experience to say the least. The stories we share doesn’t compare to the actual experience we had and the memories we made. The friendships we made and the bonds we have formed will truly last a lifetime and our minds have been opened to different ways of thinking. It is an experience that changes your life and will stick with us for a very long time.