BISS marked the Coronation of King Charles III in true British fashion with street parties on both campuses for all students and staff. The day of celebration started early at Altorp, and while street parties are usually held outside, the weather forecast was for near freezing temperatures. Not to be deterred, we moved the street party indoors!
The gym hall and classrooms were decorated in red, white and blue, with bunting made by all the classes through the week. Our wonderful families brought in finger foods – both traditional British street party food (cucumber sandwiches, scones and jam, and coronation chicken) and food from their home countries. But before the feast began, students kicked off our celebration with the Coronation Song, which they had been practicing all week.
Earlier in the day, judges faced the tough task of choosing a winner of the Victoria Sponge Cake Competition. We were amazed by the high standards – both in terms of taste, decoration and the level of child involvement.
With warmer weather promised for the afternoon, we set up our street party outside at Ekeby. With only two hours to set up tables and chairs for nearly 400 staff and students, we “kept calm and carried on”! The spirit of the street party was alive and well, as staff and students all pitched in to get tables set and decorated. Judges of The Victoria Sponge Cake Competition were deliberating until the very last minute, with new entries coming in while they were judging.
As we finally sat down to the tables of British and international finger foods lovingly made by our Ekeby families, everyone was well and truly in the mood to celebrate this historic event.
If our international students had never experienced the traditional British street party, they certainly have now!
