Skanska Property and the 1st International School of Ostrava organized “Being Green and Staying Safe” education session for young students

19.8.2010

Skanska Property Czech Republic and the 1st International School of Ostrava held their first Being Green and Staying Safe Education Session and Painting Competition for more than 70 of the school’s Primary & Middle School students. The theme of the Painting Competition was “How Do You Imagine a Green Building”. The Being Green and Staying Safe Education Session was led by none other than “Bob the Builder”. The event took place on June 18^th at the 1st International School of Ostrava and at the Nordica Ostrava office building. The goal of the whole initiative was to inform and educate children about safety and sustainable solutions to stimulate their green thinking in an interesting and interactive way.

The Painting Competition ran from May 17^th until June 6^th and included students from the Primary and Middle School, between the ages of 6 and 15, who were asked by their Arts and Social Science Teachers to create paintings addressing how they imagine a green office building might look. The grand finale consisted of an exhibition of 46 paintings on display on the ground floor area of the Nordica Office Building – the first Green Building in Czech Republic. Voting for the best paintings formed an integral part of the annual End of Year Gathering that the 1st International School of Ostrava organizes for the staff, parents and friends of school, which took place in Nordica on June 17th. 

”We are grateful to Skanska for their devotion and commitment to helping us in Being Green and Staying Safe”, said Brett Gray, Executive Director of the 1st International School of Ostrava. ”This fits in wonderfully with the cross-thematic curriculum of an International School like ours. Skanska has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to bring Green thinking to the forefront of our students’ learning.”

The Safety Session for approximately 70 children consisted of two main topics. The first focused on construction sites, how dangerous they can be, and how important it is for workers to have proper safety gear. The second part of the Safety presentation was on how to behave walking near traffic; how to cross the streets and where the biggest dangers for children are. The Safety session was followed by a Safety Walk, with the children dressed in protection waistcoats, from the 1st International School of Ostrava campus to the Nordica office building where introduced to concepts as reusing, recycling and how to behave green.

“We have been focusing on sustainable and energy-efficient buildings and green education for many years. Nordica Ostrava was the first building in the Czech Republic to be certified as an EU Green Building and we are very happy that together the 1st International School of Ostrava we had a chance to use this green building for a great exhibition of paintings and also for the education of children about safety and green thinking,“ said Britta Cesar, Managing Director of Skanska Property Czech Republic.

The “How Do You Imagine a Green Building” painting competition exhibition was also displayed in the Nordica ground floor area. The paintings were photo-shot by a professional photographer in a photo studio and the best pictures will be used for the Skanska Green Initiative. Paintings will be then given back to the 1st International School of Ostrava, where they will again be displayed.

You will find more information on The 1st International School of Ostrava at  http://www.is-ostrava.cz/ .

The 1st International School of Ostrava aims for excellence in providing a challenging and inspiring education to children of all nationalities living in the Moravian-Silesian Region. We encourage students to strive to attain their full intellectual, creative, moral and physical potential as we recognize they are the custodians of tomorrow´s world. Through small class groups we endeavor to provide dynamic, supportive and engaging environments to help children develop into enthusiastic life-long learners. The foundation of our curriculum and methodology is our respect for the individual learning styles of students, and our understanding of the needs of both local and international students.

The International Primary & Middle School of the 1st International School of Ostrava opened on September 8th, 2008 with over 90 students from age 4 (Reception) to 11 (Year 6), and has continued to grow since then. In September 2010, the school is opening also Middle School Year 7 class, and making the first steps towards introducing the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. As the first international school registered with the Czech Ministry of Education outside of Prague, we aim to provide the highest level of education and pastoral care to meet the needs of all our students. The school is registered with the British QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority – no. 1350016) and follows the National Curriculum of England as well as the International Primary Curriculum, and is expanding its ESL (English as a Second Language) programme. The school is a Regular Member of the Council of International Schools, and the International Primary Curriculum.

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Skanska is one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups with expertise in construction, development of commercial and residential projects and public-private partnerships. Based on its global green experience, Skanska aims to be the clients’ first choice for green solutions. The Group currently has 53,000 employees in selected home markets in Europe, in the US and Latin America. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Skanska’s sales in 2009 totaled SEK 137 billion.

Skanska Commercial Development Europe is one out of 14 business units within Skanska. The mission is to initiate and develop real estate projects such as office buildings, and logistic facilities. The main focus of operations is the large metropolitan areas in Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Skanska Commercial Development Europe is divided into three local companies: Skanska Property Czech Republic, Skanska Property Hungary and Skanska Property Poland. More information about Skanska Commercial Development Europe can be found at www.skanska.com/property.

Skanska Property Czech Republic, s.r.o, has been operating on the Czech market since 1997 and has developed a number of office buildings and retail warehouses in the Prague area. Skanska’s office building Nordica Ostrava was the first building in Czech Republic awarded the GreenBuilding certificate for energy efficiency.

More information about Skanska’s commercial development can be found at www.skanska.com/property and www.skanska.cz/property.