Connect with GSIS
📅 Save the date! Our highly anticipated annual Christmas Bazaar will take place on Saturday, 2 December 2023. 🎄 The GSIS community of students, parents, staff, alumni, and friends, will come together for this special event. It promises to be a delightful occasion filled with laughter and festive cheer to ring in the holiday season as well as support our school!
#GSIS #GermanSwissInternationalSchool #InternationalSchool #HongKong #EducationalExcellence #GSISChristmasBazaar
It is open for public for registration？
GSIS Gazette – Issue #6
4th October 2019Principal's Column
I am very pleased to announce that our 4 year Strategic Plan which sets out our course for the next four years has been finalised and you will receive a copy by post on 1st November. Its purpose is to set out our vision, mission, ethos and long-term direction for the school.
This Plan is a real team effort. We have listened to your feedback, worked with members of our community and as a Senior Management Team, we have discussed in detail what we do well, what we can do better, and how we can continue to pursue excellence in both streams for the benefit of our students, their families and our staff. It reflects the school’s commitment to the continued development of GSIS as a centre of academic excellence whilst offering a positive and well-rounded education to our highly valued and internationally minded students.
I look forward to hearing your feedback and I hope you enjoy your long weekend.
Ulrich Weghoff
Principal
Parents@GSIS
It was wonderful this week to witness the cross stream celebrations across primary and secondary to mark the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Parents@GSIS were happy to have sponsored the cardboard boxes for the building of the wall in Primary and Secondary assemblies. Each box had been beautifully decorated by groups of students using a variety of artistic effects. The project is a perfect example of Parents@GSIS work in supporting staff and the community by collaborating on and funding unique celebrations and educational experiences to the benefit of the whole school body. We welcome staff, parents and students to send us ideas and suggestions of events that you would like to see hosted by Parents@GSIS - please email us at parents@gsis.edu.hk
During next week Parents@GSIS in conjunction with the GSIS support team headed by Sue Edwards is delighted to bring to you a workshop on “How to give effective feedback and support to your child.” The workshop will be led by Susanna Wong an instructor at the Chinese University of Hong with many years of experience in different local and international schools. Her workshops have received great feedback and we look forward to welcoming her back to GSIS. The workshop is sponsored by Parents@GSIS and free for all GSIS parents and staff. If you are interested in joining please sign up at: https://forms.gle/cR2YXubREPAN3r5c8
For a list of our activities planned for October please check out the Parents@GSIS blog at https://parentsatgsis.blogspot.com/search/label/EN
Anouska Mutreja
Chair of Parents@GSIS
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Updates and Announcements
50th Anniversary
50th Weekend Registration
We have received an overwhelming response from our community for both events during our weekend of celebration. All Gala Music Concert tickets have sold out. We are currently running a Waiting List but unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that tickets will be allocated.
If you haven’t already done so, please register for these events via the forms on our website as registration will close on 21st October. As the Ocean Park event draws closer, you will receive wristbands in the post to gain entry into Ocean Park. Please don’t forget these as you will not be allowed to enter the Park without one.
KUKRI Online Store - available now
Dear Parents,
we are very happy to announce that the KUKRI online store for GSIS PE kit is now up and running.
All Primary and Secondary regular PE kit can now be purchased by visiting https://www.kukrisports.hk/teamshop/gsispeandsportskitonlineshop.
For any problems please email either Ilya.Lui@kukrisports.com or Aidan.Dent@kukrisports.com.
Please note that the distribution of GSIS team kits has been arranged directly with the PE staff and will still be available in school by emailing SBraun@gsis.edu.hk.
We thank you for your patience during the transition period.
Kind regards,
Afternoon Activities Team
Simone Braun
Activities Programme Manager
Yearbook 2018-2019
Our 2018/2019 Yearbook will be accessible from our website on Friday, 11th October. This year, we will be taking orders for print copies (HK$250 per copy) and an order form will be available online from that date.
From Head of German International Stream
Children and teenagers spend a considerable part of their time in school. Consequently, the school environment shapes their lives. School is a place where they live and learn, perform, make friends and socialise. This is where they should feel safe and at ease, because their well-being at school has a significant influence on their learning. If children and young people are happy, this also has a positive impact on their academic performance.
The well-being of our students has been a central priority for us for some time and we have continuously strengthened our counselling and support network. Class councils, social coaching, mediators, prevention projects, reading nights, outing days, Discovery Week and a broad range of ECAs have become an integral part of our school culture and everyday school life. The introduction of our well-being week four years ago complemented this concept even further, and since then it has been gradually introduced in Primary and Kindergarten as well.
All these programs are aimed to create a safe and secure atmosphere at our school in which students can communicate openly, voice their opinions and seek help when faced with difficulties and in conflict situations. Individual and group counselling as well as working together in class on specific topics support them in developing their own individual problem-solving strategies.
Another major aspect of our school social work is supporting our students in the transition phases from Kindergarten through to Secondary. Our school counsellors support students actively to ensure a smooth transition.
This school year, the counselling team, consisting so far of Mrs Geisel and Ms Lau, has been strengthened by Ms Marquard, a third school counsellor dedicated to the English Kindergarten and English Primary. This has relieved Mrs Geisel in these two departments and enabled her to fully concentrate on the German International Stream.
We are very pleased to be able to expand our counselling and support program to include Kindergarten and Primary. Mrs Geisel is now available once a week and can be approached by students, teachers and parents at the Pok Fu Lam campus. In Primary she will strengthen prevention measures and coach students in the concepts of class councils and conflict solving which have been successfully implemented in Secondary for a long time. The program also includes social training sessions on how to deal with feelings and how to act in conflict situations. In the Secondary department Mrs Geisel will continue with established programs and further expand individual counselling services.
The continuous development and the excellent counselling and support services from Kindergarten through to Secondary are the result of the strong commitment of our school counsellors at GSIS over the past few years. I would like to thank Mrs Geisel, Ms Lau and Ms Marquard most sincerely for their commitment.
Grit Cichon
Deputy Principal / Head of German International Stream
Kindergarten Corner
Dear Parents
As previously announced we would like to remind you of two important events:
- Monday, 14 October 2019: Parents’ Evening – Fostering skill development in the Early Years at our Pok Fu Lam Campus.
- Friday, 29 November 2019: Participation of Pok Fu Lam students at our 50th Anniversary celebration at Ocean Park.
Further details and registration can be found below under “Updates and Announcements”.
Kind regards
Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten
Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten
Updates and Announcements
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Looking for what's been going on in class this week?Check out the class Weebly blogs. |
Primary Corner
50th Anniversary Celebrations
As of yesterday, parents can register for the 50th Anniversary Celebrations. On Friday we celebrate with a day for the whole family in Ocean Park, where we can enjoy two Gala Concerts and a Welcome Performance by the kindergarten, preschool and Y01 students. On Saturday afternoon everyone is invited to the Peak campus.
Information Evening - Support Programme at the Pok Fu Lam Campus
The Learning Support and Specialist Teachers at the Pok Fu Lam Campus will present their individual programmes. They will also give an overview about the different development steps before entering 1st grade.
30 Years Fall of the Berlin Wall
Today our Primary students learnt about the fall of the Berlin Wall. With Nena's 99 balloons we got into the right mood. The students sat on one side or the opposite side of the wall and listened to what they could do on their side before the fall of the wall. They now all know that you could only buy a Trabi in the GDR, but also that at that time Italy was the most popular holiday destination for people in the FRG.
The cardboard wall that separated the two countries was then knocked down by the students and they were all reunited.
You can view photos of this event on the Facebook and Instagram pages of GSIS.
Sports Day
Primary Sports Day is coming up soon and we are looking forward to welcoming you at the Stanley Ho sports ground. It is always wonderful when parents cheer the children on or support them when things do not work out as expected.
Please wear the colour of your child's house on this day to support the whole team, as the students collect points for their houses.
Priska Erni
Head of German Primary Department
Updates and Announcements
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Looking for what's been going on in class this week?Check out the class Weebly blogs. |
Secondary Corner
Review
The celebrations in commemoration of the Fall of the Berlin Wall went very well thanks to the excellent collaboration of all students, teachers and parents of both streams involved - we will remember this event fondly.
I would like to thank everybody who worked very hard to make this event a great success!
Outlook
Next Tuesday a group of students from Gymnasium Weierhof will visit our school. Michael Scholz, the former Head of German Secondary, will accompany them and we are looking forward to welcoming him and his students.
The Business College students will visit our department again next Wednesday and inform our K10 to K12 students about their exchange programme with apprentices in Santiago de Chile.
Wiebke Langer
Head of German Secondary Department
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Kindergarten Corner
Dear Parents
As previously announced we would like to give you further information about the participation of Pok Fu Lam students at our 50th Anniversary celebration at Ocean Park on Friday, 29 November 2019.
Further details and registration can be found below under “Updates and Announcements”.
Kind regards
Sophie Burdel
Head of Kindergarten
Eileen Mah
Deputy Head of Kindergarten
Updates and Announcements
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Looking for what's been going on in class this week?Check out the class Weebly blogs. |
Primary Corner
Dear Parents,
We want to invite all Year 1-6 parents to our Specialist Evening on the 9th of October from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Peak. Each of our specialist teachers will give a 10-15 minute presentation which will provide an overview of their subject and they will then be available for questions. We have set up the evening with a 5 minute “passing period” so that parents may move from room to room to visit sessions of particular interest to them.
- Mr Davidson and Ms Inga Riedel-Narayan presenting alternating sessions on assessments and SEN Support,
- Ms Fragoso and Ms Schock discussing German as a foreign language for Years 2 - 6,
- Ms Franks and Mr Champion explaining the PE program for Years 1 - 6,
- Ms McLachlan and Ms Poon demonstrating what is learned in the music program, alternating between Years 1 & 2 and Years 3-6,
- Ms Tai, Ms Cai and Ms Leung explaining the Mandarin ECAs in Years 1-3 and the Mandarin program in Years 4-6, with three 15 minute sessions and three question and answer periods, and
- Ms Gillespie demonstrating technology skills in Years 2-6.
Our first session begins promptly at six and will be run every 20 minutes until 8 pm.
As part of our ongoing assessment programme, we use several sets of student data to monitor your child’s progress and inform our teaching. This year a new standardised measure we will be introducing is the GL Assessments CAT 4 test for all students in Years 3, 4 & 6 this term. This assessment is ideally administered once every three years. After this first year, students in Years 3 and 6 will be assessed. Data from this assessment will serve to complement the subject based achievement data we gather from other GL Assessment measures. Every year over 25,000 students in the UK and overseas participate in this assessment. GL processes this data and creates reports for individual students, their parents and their teachers. We will be sharing data with parents.
PFL Parents - As previously announced we would like to give you further information about the participation of Pok Fu Lam students at our 50th Anniversary celebration at Ocean Park on Friday, 29 November 2019. We will have our youngest performing outside the Applause Pavilion prior to the first concert. Further details and registration can be found below under “Updates and Announcements”.
Upcoming Events:
- 9 October - Specialist Evening, 6-8pm
- 17 October - Upper Primary Sports Day
- 18 October - Lower Primary Sports Day
Warm regards,
Kim Cunningham
Head of English Primary Department
Donna Morley
Deputy Head of English Primary Department
Updates and Announcements
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Looking for what's been going on in class this week?Check out the class Weebly blogs. |
