International Links
Central Foundation Girls School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.
The International School Award encourages and supports schools to develop:
- An international ethos embedded throughout the school
- A whole school approach to international work
- Collaborative curriculum-based work with a number of partner schools
- Year-round international activity
- Involvement of the wider community
For many years at CCFGS, several subjects have incorporated other cultures in their curriculum (e.g.: in art, students learn about the Nderbele people and their art. In drama, year 7 students work on and perform a Kenyan play. And of course, in modern foreign languages lessons, students learn to speak, read, and write in the target language while learning about the cultures). Students also take part in International events such as Write for Rights (https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/write-for-rights/) International Mother Tongue Day (https://www.un.org/en/observances/mother-language-day ) and International Women’s Day (https://www.internationalwomensday.com/ )
Since September 2024, we are going further to help students not only learn about different cultures but develop a curiosity, pride in their own heritage, and a sense of being a global citizen.
The language of the month calendar:
Each month, International Ambassadors (students from year 7 to year 13) actively organise a variety of activities and events centred around one of our students’ languages and cultures (e.g.: storytelling sessions, calligraphy competitions, quizzes, cooking sessions, special menus in the canteen, and many more).
We share news of activities in our CFGS news blog. Click here to share.
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Tuesday 1 April 2025 International Women's Day: A Visit from the Met Police CFGS welcomed the Met Police to celebrate International Women's Day on 12th March this year. Students were introduced to the many job roles and careers that women hold at the Met Police and learned about the career journeys and experiences of ten different female officers as part of a carousel of talks.
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Wednesday 26 March 2025 LGBTQ+ Poetry Event This LGBTQ+ History Month, our staff and students came together to celebrate the power of poetry! They each selected a meaningful poem to read aloud at our special Poetry Event, sharing words that inspire, empower and reflect the diverse voices of the LGBTQ+ community.
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Wednesday 26 March 2025 Fundraising Appeal: Transform the Girls' School's Sixth Form We’re Transforming Our Sixth Form Spaces—And We Need Your Support! At Central Foundation Girls’ School Sixth Form, we’re on a mission to create an inviting outdoor and rooftop space where students can socialise, relax, and recharge.
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Tuesday 7 January 2025 Tower Hamlets Education Awards 2024 We’re proud to have celebrated 185 incredible students at the Tower Hamlets 2024 Education Awards
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Thursday 12 December 2024 Creative Careers Takeover Day at The Courtauld Gallery Our Year 12 Art & Design students spent the day ‘taking over’ the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House.
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Tuesday 26 November 2024 Celebrating Arabic Month! This month, we celebrated Arabic Month with a series of exciting activities that showcased our love for the Arabic language and culture.
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Thursday 21 November 2024 Empowering Voices: Our First Exchange with the Rotary Club of Kinoni Our Female Lead Ambassadors, students from Years 10 to 13, have started an inspiring exchange programme with students from Uganda’s Rotary Club of Kinoni. The session featured music and dance performances from Ugandan students and a video-recorded piece from our students. Assistant Headteacher, Mr Catherine led a discussion on Violence Against Women, followed by a student exchange on female empowerment, where both groups explored challenges and solutions in their respective countries.
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Monday 18 November 2024 From Parliament to the Classroom: Emily Thornberry Inspires CFGS Students Students from Central Foundation Girls’ School recently had the exciting opportunity to visit Central Foundation Boys’ School and meet Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, as part of their Citizenship and Politics curriculum.
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Friday 15 November 2024 The Rising Lioness: In search of Beauty by CSC On the 15th of November, some parents and children (27 people) from Bangla Club and Year 10 Bangla classes travelled to Rich Mix cinema hall despite it being so dark to watch a Bangla drama called "A Rising Lioness: In Search of Beauty", a powerful dance drama directed and choreographed by Adity Roy, founder of Adity Dance CIC, a UK-registered organisation which challenges conventional notions of beauty.
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Tuesday 8 October 2024 Black History Month Concert: A Celebration of Culture and Unity In celebration of Black History Month, the Music Department presented a concert filled with a variety of music from different cultures.
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Tuesday 17 September 2024 A Day at Morgan Stanley The Computer Science department took 30 Year 9 students to Morgan Stanley Investment Bank at Canary Wharf.
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Monday 22 July 2024 CFGS receives Artsmark Gold Award 2024 Central Foundation Girls’ School received professional support and training throughout their Artsmark journey and developed partnerships with networks and venues including Tower Hamlets Artist Teacher Network, The Half Moon, Whitechapel Gallery and National Theatre.
Exploration of languages and cultures in lessons:
As part of the language of the month calendar, teachers in various subjects include the language/culture celebrated within their lessons.
A group of teachers and teaching assistants are also working on implementing translanguaging practices in lessons for students to see their knowledge of their home languages and cultures as resources that are valuable academically. This innovative approach is currently being trialled out in Modern Foreign Languages, maths, Science, and Religious Studies.
International Partnerships:
In science, year 7 students are part of a global project that helps them learn about environmental issues in different countries around the world. They share and discuss the environmental issues they see in their daily lives with students in our partner schools based in Spain, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh.
A group of students from year 10 to year 13, our Female Lead Ambassadors, are partnering with the Rotary Club of Kinoni (in Uganda) to discuss Female empowerment in both countries and globally.
All of the students studying Spanish at KS4 and several classes in KS3 are taking part in pen pal projects with schools in Spain, Argentina, Panama, and Mexico, which allow them to improve their language skills, connect with children in Spanish-speaking countries, and discover their culture.
Exciting events happening this year (2024-2025):
At CFGS, we want to celebrate every student’s language and culture. As a diverse school, the language of the month calendar only allows us to celebrate a handful of them each year. This is why we are also organising three events to celebrate everyone’s heritage. International Mother Tongue Day in February, International Day of Multilingualism in March, and World Day of Cultural Diversity in May.
Please note that an information evening will be organised on Wednesday 12th February where guest researchers will be talking about the importance of maintaining home languages alive, and how to do it. Information about the event will follow shortly.
