Grit Cichon

Dear Parents

Looking ahead to the weeks leading up to the Autumn holidays, we see a fully packed school calendar with a variety of interesting and exciting events. Thus, we can especially look forward to the following highlights:

• Events to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
• Well-being week at GSIS from Kindergarten to Secondary Departments
• Guests from Germany: Big Band of the Angelaschule Osnabrück
• Discovery Week in Secondary Departments
• Project week in Kindergarten

All these multifaceted events require many helpers - students, colleagues and parents who plan, structure, organise, rehearse, create and decorate both inside and outside of the school buildings. In addition, there are the preparations for our 50th Anniversary celebrations, which have been underway for many months and in which the entire school community is actively involved. The German International Stream is also looking forward to a very special week in November with the Bund-Länder-Inspektion (BLI) taking place.  We will be put to the test and measured against the highest standards for German Schools Abroad in order to once again receive the quality seal as Excellent German School Abroad.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been working tirelessly for weeks and months, thereby making it possible to transform this variety of events into very special experiences.

Last week I asked you as Child Protection Officer for the German International Stream to appoint an official guardian in case both parents are absent from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the form specified does not refer to the appointment of a temporary guardian. Therefore, please do not use the link mentioned in Gazette Issue 3.

Please send the information by e-mail (no form required) to the respective school office:

• KG: PFL_Secretary@gsis.edu.hk
• GPD: primary_secretary@gsis.edu.hk
• GSD: GSD_Secretary@gsis.edu.hk

I apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

I wish you a pleasant and enjoyable weekend.

Grit Cichon
Deputy Principal / Head of German International Stream

Sophie Burdel

Eileen Mah

Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten

Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten

(Click thumbnail/s to enlarge image)

Priska Erni

Wellbeing Week
I am very pleased that next week will all be themed towards well-being. In this hectic world it is very important to know each other well and to find a healthy work-school-life balance. Getting to know each other starts very early and next week we will focus on it through different activities for students, parents and teachers.

GSIS Family Photo
Please don't forget! Please have a look again at last week's article.

Who will submit the funniest picture?

Priska Erni
Head of German Primary Department

Wiebke Langer

Cultural Exchange
In October we will welcome a group of students from Germany to visit GSIS for one day. Mr Scholz, the former Head of the German Secondary Department, will accompany the group and we are looking forward to seeing him again. In preparation for this visit, a Skype conference has already taken place between our K11 students and the students from Germany. They discussed current topics such as the Fridays for Future movement and compared schools and the way of life in Hong Kong with that in Germany.

Class tests and exams
After the first weeks of school, the first class tests and exams are already on the agenda.

You can find the dates for class tests in the Veracross portal and no longer on the GSIS homepage. In some cases the dates might change again, therefore please check back from time to time. The portal is being updated regularly.

Wiebke Langer
Head of German Secondary Department

Simon Misso-Veness

Six Degrees of Separation

The parent community at GSIS is certainly one of the more dynamic and richly diverse groups I have had the pleasure of working with. Each time we meet there is a guarantee of good conversation, shared opinions and advice offered, a tremendous asset for a school leader as this dialogue provides an important perspective on the different facets and operations of the school. Inevitably, we are connected to myriad walks of life in Hong Kong and beyond, from finance and legal, medicine and commerce as well as the arts and education, but I often wonder how we can activate the numerous associations to which this network has access for the benefit of our students and staff.

Outstanding schools seek to offer students a range of authentic experiences and opportunities beyond the classroom in order to create a rich and varied learning environment. It is these experiences that ensure that our graduates are so much more than a singular number or collection of letters. In all departments at GSIS we have established an excellent programme of trips, visits and relationships that serve to enrich students’ learning experience. We enjoy a diverse range of visits from artists, story-tellers, academics and humanitarians and we have also established a long tradition of service learning and charity work both in Hong Kong and overseas. In the near future, we will be seeking to make deeper connections with other excellent schools in the region and globally to establish professional development for staff as well as enrichment opportunities for all our students. For our students and staff these prospects are essential to ensure a relevant, responsive, engaging and inspiring context for growth, challenge and development. 

Many of you are alumni from some of the world’s leading universities with whom our older students would love to talk about preparing a meaningful portfolio of experience to support their application and interview. You also have a rich experience of leadership, mentorship and professional contexts that could provide opportunities for our students to find, follow and further their passion to the next level.

So, my question is, how might you be able to contribute to and extend these opportunities even further? Who do you know that might be good for our students to engage with? The principle of six degrees of separation works well here although I think we can get quite a long way with two or three degrees! Of course, we cannot guarantee using all the recommendations that we might receive but it would be tremendous to build our network.

I shall look forward to hearing from you.

Temporary Guardianship erratum
Unfortunately, the link that I shared in the first edition of the Gazette to the Education Bureau Guardianship form led to the incorrect form. We are working with the EDB to establish which form they would prefer us to use. In the meantime, if both parents are to be away from Hong Kong, please do contact the relevant school secretary to inform them of your dates of absence and who will be responsible for your child.

Have a wonderful week

Simon Misso-Veness
Deputy Principal / Head of English International Stream

Sophie Burdel

Eileen Mah

Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten

Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten

(Click thumbnail/s to enlarge image)

Kim Cunningham

Donna Morley

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your patience as we got underway with our first week of ECAs/AAs and our first week of students eating in the cafeteria.  Each day we made a few adjustments to make sure all of the children are in the appropriate place at the appropriate time! If you have a Year 2 or 3 student, please remind them of the following:

• If they are eating lunch at 12:30, they meet in front of kiosks/nurse’s office on the ground floor. We take ALL students to the cafeteria.
• If they have ordered a lunch from the cafeteria at 1:15, they meet in front of the kiosk/nurse’s office on the ground floor.
• If they are eating lunch at 1:15 and have brought it from home, they remain in the hall in the Upper building.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Curriculum Evening.  We hope that you found the information beneficial.  

Just a reminder that next week is our Wellbeing Week.  Not only do we have activities for students, but we also have activities for parents.  Please see Ms Marquard’s information link below.

Ms Franks will be updating the Sports Weebly each week.  Please go to her ECA Weebly for results of the previous week’s competitions.

Upcoming Dates:

• 25 September - Dr Anisha Abraham, parent talk for Wellbeing Week
• 26 September - Dr Anisha Abraham, Coffee Morning (an abbreviated version of the previous evening)
• 2 October - KPR Departmental Secretary election
• 9 October - Specialist Curriculum Evening

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kim Cunningham
Head of English Primary Department

Donna Morley
Deputy Head of English Primary Department

Ken Stevenson

Hello everyone.

Just a short note this week. It was a pleasure to see so many students and parents at the University fair on Wednesday. Thanks to Ms Prinsloo and Ms Hyppolite for organising this event.

The Hamburg Exchange is going well and I am getting good reports from Germany.

I  am also glad to see all our new students are settling well and being welcomed into our community. Great to see our Y07 students in particular take to secondary school with such high levels of enthusiasm and aptitude.

Here's looking forward to another excellent week.

Ken Stevenson
Head of English Secondary Department