Grade 11/12 IB Retreat August 2009

In the first week of the school year grades 11 and 12 went away for two nights to the beautiful alpine village of Les Sciernes in cantom Fribourg. The purpose of this ‘retreat' was to bring together the I.B. Diploma students and to focus on CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) and TOK (Theory of Knowledge). Activities included team building challenges, riverside art (using natural materials), beach volleyball, touch rugby and service to the local ‘commune.' Service proved to be quite physically demanding as we worked alongside local foresters to clear footpaths, stack timber and pick up rocks from an alpine meadow. Equally challenging was preparing, serving and clearing up meals. We were self catering and for many students the preparation of food for 50 people was, let us say, a voyage of discovery! We also tried hard to accommodate the needs of our Muslim students who were observing Ramadan, which meant providing food for them late at night and very early in the morning.

This was the first time IS Berne organized an I.B. retreat and the feedback from the students encourages us to run a similar event next year.