Local Community Engagement - International School Basel

Building Strong Local Connections

At ISB, fostering relationships with our local community is a key priority. We actively engage with local associations, clubs, and individuals, and encourage our students, parents, and teachers to participate in community activities and events.

Charity, Service & Environmental Actions

CHARITY AND SERVICE WORK

Bikes for Refugees

Christmas Gift Drive

We organise an annual Christmas Drive to donate gifts to the OESA Refugee Center, to distribute at their children's Christmas Party. Senior School Students from the Service Club organise a "Giving Tree Drive" and collect clothes/jackets for OESA.

Students also collected and donated clothes to OeSA, the Spendenraum and local brockis.

Find out more about ISB supported charities.

Food Drive

Food Bank

Football for Change

Run4Life

Red Cross Bake Sale

SWISS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Clean Up Day

Abfall Challenge

We are partnering with the Primarschule for a long-term clean-up campaign of our Fiechten Campus and the surrounding areas. Each week, a different class from either the Primarschule or ISB will collect trash around the campus. We will take a picture each week to post on a shared bulletin board. Our goal is for the weekly amount to be reduced as people take more pride in their school and surroundings.

Bike to School / Work

Anlasses SolarButterfly

The Big Plastic Count

ISB Students and Staff participated in the Swiss Big Plastic Count. ISB joined many other schools and individuals in Switzerland to make a real difference for a plastic-free future. In partnership with Plastic Free Campus and Greenpeace, we tallied the amount of plastic used in one week. The goal is, with the results, "push for a strong and ambitious global plastics agreement in the current UN talks."

Collaborations & Partnerships

COLLABORATION WITH BASELland (BL) authorities

Bike training with BL Police

Road Safety with BL Police

Privatschulen Beider Basel

Use of our Aesch Parking lot

Participation in Swiss forums

Zonta Awards

In March 2024, we hosted the "The Young Women in Public Affairs" Awards ceremony organised by Zonta Club Basel and Zonta Club Liestal. These awards recognise young women for their commitment to volunteerism, volunteer leadership achievements and dedication to empowering women worldwide. Congratulations to ISB Grade 12 student Justine T. who received the 1st Prize, and to Emilia Amieda Mehmed from Berufsfachschule KV Basel.

Swiss Math Känguru Competition

SGIS Youth Wellbeing Ambassadors

SGIS Pride Conference

Villars Symposium

ISB has been participating in the Villars Symposium for several years now. We send 4 students, who engage in workshops around environmental sustainability, economics, and leadership training. They collaborate with members of the international community and network at the event. This year, we had our highest number of applicants at over 20. After an interview process, 4 students attended and are in the process of planning ways to incorporate their learning at ISB.

Partnership with Local Clubs and Associations

Orchester Reinach

ISB's Director or Performing Arts, William Norris, is the new conductor of Orchester Reinach, an amateur chamber orchestra in our local Gemeinde. He directs weekly rehearsals with the ensemble and has his first concert with the group on Sunday, 25 May 2025. (Additional concert dates are already scheduled for November 2025 and May 2026.) A few members of ISB's parent/teacher community have also joined the orchestra.

After-school local activities

Our ISBx after-school programme offers a wide-range of activities run by local clubs, associations and individuals, including ballet, robotics, photography, cooking, sowing, arts and crafts, Zumba, etc.

We have started a new partnership with the Bartolomé Soccer Academy to coach our Football Academy and with the Allschwill Basketball Club to coach our Basketball Academy. Both activities will take place on the Aesch Campus and be available for ISB students and local Primarschule students.

Sinfonieorchester Basel

ISB partners with Sinfonieorchester Basel, whose musicians provide expert coaching to instrumentalists at International School Basel during Instant (Symphony) Orchestra projects. Our students are also given exclusive access to Sinfonieorchester Basel rehearsals. Members of the Sinfonieorchester adjudicate the two annual ISB Music Competitions.

Find out more about ISB Music Programme.

Docathon Competition

In collaboration with MAD Travel (Make a Difference), four ISB students from Grades 9 and 10 collaborated with the community organization Ma Basel to produce a documentary highlighting its impactful work. As part of an online documentary course, the students received professional feedback from filmmakers and presented their film at the Changemakers Conference, where it was featured alongside projects from around the world.

Local Events

Basel Stadtlauf

Basel Frauenlauf

Participation in local Festivities

Baselland Fasnacht Parades

Our Junior School students participate in the Aesch Kinderfasnacht (Kids Carnival). Some grades actively take part in the parade, while others attend as spectators to enjoy the music, performance and of course the sweets!

Grades 7-8 attend the Reinach Parade and Grade 6 attends the Aesch Parade, to fully experience a local tradition that is a key event in the Baselland calendar.

Grade 6 students in German class were invited into the vehicles from the main parade in Ettingen and driven to the local primary school where they participated in a 'confetti battle' with local students.

This provides a wonderful opportunity to learn the local traditions and connect with the community during the carnival festivities, which have an enormous importance in the Basel region.

"Wie klingt Basel?"

“Wie klingt Basel?” (“What does Basel sound like?”) is an educational project being organised by Sinfonieorchester Basel. A choir of approximately 250 upper primary school students from the Basel region will learn and perform fourteen songs (in fourteen different languages) in the Stadtcasino – accompanied by Sinfonieorchester Basel – in March 2024. 38 members of the Grade 4-5 Choir will participate in this event.

850 Years Reinach

European Youth Choir Festival

PROMOTING LOCAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

ISB premises used by local associations

Sunshine Committee

ISB Public Events

Social Events

Each year, we organise two events open to all, and we actively promote them around our neighbourhood. The Winter Market in November and the International Festival in June provide wonderful occasions for the locals to visit our school and connect with our community. We invite local vendors to participate and sell their products to strengthen local community engagement.

Find out more about ISB public events

Music and Drama Performances

Most of our student concerts and performances are open to all, especially the locals living nearby the school. These are mostly organised on our campus, although some take place in the city centre of Basel, in iconic places such as churches.

Find out more about ISB Performing Arts programme

Local Guest Speakers

Safety and Security

Each year, we invite a representative from the Basel Police Department to talk to MS and SS students about youth responsibility and crime prevention. A separate similar presentation is organised for their parents as well on these topics. As part of their Wellbeing class, Grade 9 students receive a talk about substance use and the law by a representative of Baselland Polizei, a youth crime worker.

Careers

Our University Counselling department partnered with our Community Association's local network to invite a variety of professionals in for a lunchtime presentation to students. These were well attended, and covered a range of professions in the Basel region. We will build on this next year and continue to expand opportunities for local professionals to connect with our students.

Find out more about ISB University Counselling

Culture

Field Trips & Language Learning

Trips Around Basel

Cultural Visits

Environmental/ Sustainability Visits

Facilities visits

Town visits

Grade 6 German students visited Aesch Dorf. They walked around Aesch village to map out the main street to use in their summative assessment. Grade 7 students visited Basel to collect fieldwork data to provide evidence for research to which Basel represents and promotes to a global consumer culture.

The Grade 5 students went on a walk in the Kaltbrunnental area to observe the interactions between the 4 components of Earth: the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. This hands-on experience will help deepen their understanding of how these elements connect and affect one another.

The Grade 3 students visited the Reinach Warenmarkt to see what is being sold & bought, how items are displayed, and customers were encouraged to purchase the goods. This is in relation to the Market they have going within the JS Winter Market afternoon.

Scientific visits

Trips Around Switzerland

Thun

Grade 6 Students visited the Thun Castle as part of their investigation into the Global Middle Ages, with research projects focused on the medieval period in Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. This trip provides a comparison and contrast of life and culture in medieval Switzerland. Students participate in tour modules focusing on different aspects of medieval life, such as food, hygiene, childhood, and law. In addition, students participate in a 2-hour workshop that includes writing a script, weaving, and chain mail fabrication.