The Inter School Student Union is a student-led organisation which focuses on connecting students from different schools in order to create a better highschool experience. This is done in two main ways: Events and Opportunities.
The ISSU organises several events and provides students with multiple opportunities, but any student can create their own events or opportunities if they chose to do so, making the ISSU a platform for endless possibilities.
Events are gatherings in which several schools participate or compete. Two examples of this are a sports match between schools or a debating competition.
Opportunities are options and resources which students have access to. Examples include leadership positions, scholarships, or internships.
The organisation is structured in three main levels: The student body of the member schools, the elected student boards from each member school, and the Union.
Students who adopt leadership positions in the ISSU are expected to fulfil their representative duties. If students are unhappy with their elected representatives, they can summon a no-confidence vote and elect new representatives.
The first and most important level is the student body, which supports and gives life to the organisation. Students elect their school’s student board, participate and organise events, apply to internal positions in the organisation, and promote improvements in the structural and organisational aspects of the ISSU.
Each member school has a student board, composed of three students: the Representative, who acts as president of the board and represents the students; the Secretary, who deals with the organisational aspects of the board; and the Treasurer, who is in charge of funding and sponsorships. The student board of each school is democratically elected every six months.
In the Union, representatives communicate freely with one another, allowing inter-school cooperation for the organisation of events. The Union also provides students with several opportunities such as scholarships and internships, as well as prizes and awards to incentivize student participation.
Events are broken into branches depending on the topic they deal with. There are six branches: Sports, Academics, Extra Curriculars, Creative Arts, Careers, and Charity.
Note that event branches might overlap at times – and this is ok. For example, a student concert which raises funds for charity would be an event in which the Creative Arts and Charity branches overlap. Branches are simply mechanisms that help organise events more efficiently and allow students to find events that interest them.
Another extremely important aspect of events is that any student in the ISSU can organise one, regardless of whether they are a member of their school board or not. This gives students the ability to use the ISSU as a platform to organise, collaborate, or participate in events.
As the name suggests, this branch deals with all sorts of sporting events. Examples include X-country running, basketball competitions, or golf championships.
Events involving the classic academic disciplines, such as natural and social sciences, maths, and languages. Examples include physics olympiads or creative writing competitions.
This branch covers extracurricular activities which don’t fall into any of the other branches. Examples include chess tournaments, debating competitions, programming hackathons, and many more.
Regarding visual art, music, acting, or any other form of artistic expression. Examples include a student art gallery, a music competition, or a short-movie festival.
This branch encompasses events that deal with career choices or university. Examples include university fairs, or conference talks by entrepreneurs.
Includes any event that has a charitable purpose or outcome. Examples include Christmas food collections, or a raffle to raise funds for refugees.
Opportunities are broken into two categories: Positions and Resources. Positions and Resources are further broken down into two categories: Internal and External, giving a total of 4 categories of Opportunities.
Just like Events, any student can create their own opportunities. For example, a student might talk to a law firm and start a collaboration for summer internships. This would constitute an External (provided by an external company) Position (it is a work experience).
Likewise, another student might want to recruit other students in order to start a project regarding the construction of a car. This would constitute an Internal (provided by a student in the ISSU) Position (students would be carrying out tasks to build the car).
Opportunities which involve carrying out a task or job within the ISSU. Examples include elected ISSU boards and organisers of events and opportunities.
These are tasks or jobs that take place outside the ISSU, provided by a partner. Examples include internships or work shadowing experiences.
Benefits that students can access or apply to, created by ISSU members. Examples include ISSU documentation, funds from the ISSU to organise events, or tutoring from ISSU students.
Benefits that students can access or apply to which are provided by ISSU partners. Examples include external scholarships, awards sponsor awards, or learning documentation repositories.
Is your school still not part of the ISSU? Contact us and set up a Union Branch at your own school.
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