Dear Members of the School Community

I was recently introduced to a cartoon which I have chosen as the basis of my Gazette column today.

In the picture, a gentleman looking through a peephole in a wall describes what he sees behind that wall. Another gentleman has taken the trouble of using a ladder to look over the wall and gestures to what is really going on behind the wall. The cartoon reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave although here, it is very much reduced to one question, namely ‘how we should assess the "truths" presented in social media’? "It's raining!" is a statement that the gentleman looking through a narrowing peephole in the wall deems a fact. However, the gentlemen looking over the wall refutes this supposed truth by identifying the actual cause of the supposed rain - the leaking water pipe - with a view of the full and scientifically fact-based picture.

Social media channels are constant companions in our lives. Who has not become accustomed to the daily or even hourly exchange of opinions and information via WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram? Social media also plays a major role within our school community and whilst these channels facilitate easy exchange of information, they are also prone to inappropriate use:

• Misrepresentation of facts through unverified allegations
• Inappropriate judgement or condemnation of people or personal contexts

For this reason, we teach our students to critically examine and responsibly use social media.

The school recognises that most stakeholders use social media in a positive and responsible manner. However, for a minority, such sites can be inappropriately used as a means for expressing negative or offensive views about the school, staff or parents. I have often been confronted with statements comparing GSIS with other schools through the lens of isolated perspectives. The aim of these statements is always to claim that other schools are doing something better than GSIS. On closer examination, however, it almost always turns out that a particular course of action of another school has either been misrepresented or its decisions and actions are based on completely different and non-comparable foundations. Ironically, in the social channels of said other schools, in turn, GSIS is often presented as an example of better ideas or better action.

However, worse than the comparisons is the use of social media as a forum for defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments.Just this week, I was shown an example of direct personal vilification within our school community on Telegram which really shocked me. If I were not an optimist, as portrayed in the last issue of the Gazette, I could sometimes lose faith in humanity when I see such discrediting. However, I believe in you and expect our school community to respect our school ethos and values by setting a good example of your own behaviour both on school premises and in these online forums. Users should not use these communication channels in any way to attack, insult, abuse or defame students, their family or members or staff.

I hope that there are not only this handful of people in our school community who are quick to throw around insults on Telegram, that there are not only people who are tempted by quick validation to post disparaging comments. I hope for the many people who not only resist unfair actions, but possibly take civil courage and actively try to put a stop to them.

In order to provide clarity on our expectations around communications and to provide a code of conduct for all the community, the foreword of our Community Communication Policy states: “All members of our community are entitled to be treated respectfully, feel safe and be free from any form of harassment or discrimination”. In our mission statement, we as a school commit ourselves to educating our students to be individuals "who appreciate that their greatest privilege is the opportunity to positively impact on the lives of others". How are we supposed to credibly represent and achieve this goal when, at the same time, individual members of the school community pour out all their contempt and disrespect towards others on social media?

All of us, school management, parents as well as staff are called upon together to be role models for our young people. Psychology describes a role model as a person to whom other people look to for guidance. We are fortunate to have a dedicated and supportive school community who recognises that the education of our children is a partnership between us, and are well aware of the importance and value of good working relationships. Let us continue to work together so that our school environment proves to be such a place of exemplary communication and community.

Have a wonderful weekend

Staff Appreciation and planning for the Christmas Bazaar

As we start the month of May many of us are starting to look towards the end of the current school year. It is customary for the Community Committee to host a staff appreciation event at the end of every school year. Unfortunately after discussions with the SMT, due to current Covid restrictions, it would not be feasible for the GSIS community to host such an event this year. We are planning alternative ways to show our appreciation to all the staff in this particularly demanding year and as part of our appreciation we would like to present all staff members with some positive feedback, warm memories and words of appreciation.

This is where you come in….we would like to ask all students and parents to provide us with some personal notes on the staff members that you interact with regularly. Please also remember support staff, secretaries, teaching assistants, management and admin staff as well as class and subject teachers.  We are looking forward to receiving your positive feedback via our online staff appreciation form - all comments will remain anonymous.

Last week we had our first productive meeting with our 2021 GSIS Christmas Bazaar volunteers.  Following this we would like to extend an invitation for feedback on which stalls you loved in the past and what you would like to see at the upcoming Bazaar. Please take a few minutes to complete our Christmas Bazaar feedback form so that we can ensure that we keep everyone’s favourite parts of the Bazaar as well as including some new fun and festive ideas.

Lastly, If you would like to get involved in the Christmas Bazaar preparations we are still looking for volunteers and there are plenty of ways in which you can help - please email us at communitycommittee@gsis.edu.hk for more information.

Kindergarten Corner

Dear Parents

During the past two weeks, the main focus of the Kindergarten laid on the theme “We love books”, and today we ended our Literature Festival with a dress-up party. Everything revolved around reading and books. The children shared their favourite books with their classmates and teachers, created their own “class picture book”, decorated their class doors and heard lots of stories. We would like to thank all parents who have actively participated in the homework “Cozy Reading” and “Extreme Reading”. Thank you for sharing your photos and videos in the class Seesaw portal. For us, it is always essential that you as parents are actively involved in your child’s learning experiences and we hope you will enjoy the photos of our literature festival in today's Gazette.

Today we also would like to take the opportunity to remind you of the requirements of the EDB and CHP. We are all delighted that our Kindergarten children are now able to attend school daily. Owing mainly to our teachers and staff's willingness to get tested regularly, many have chosen to be vaccinated on top of that. Hence, we implore your cooperation, as Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI) cases are on the rise in Hong Kong Kindergartens. We all know that when EDB closes Schools, Kindergartens are usually the first to be affected. We seek your cooperation to avoid another closure.

Therefore, please do not forget to take your child's temperature daily and record this on the “Temperature Sheet”. We would like to remind you to keep your child at home if they have any cold symptoms or they feel unwell. For more information, please read a message from our School Nurse, under News and Notifications. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Enjoy your May Day.

Sophie Burdel Head of Kindergarten Email

Eileen Mah Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus Email

Primary Corner

Dear Parents

This week, the students in Years 2–4 were allowed to set foot in the swimming pool again after a long time. This involved a lot of excitement and fun. I myself got to go swimming with K02A, we had a lot of fun!

Weather and all...

It's that time of year again where the weather can change rapidly. In my experience, this change in weather often leads to a brief bout of flu or feeling unwell.

I would like to remind you that children are allowed back to school after they have not shown signs of fever for 48 hours.

At the Peak campus, children also have to walk a short distance to their buses and may have to do so in pouring rain. Please provide your child with a rain cover so that they are always ready to get to the buses dry.

Book Week

The week of 10–14 May is all about books and reading in our school – we are once again celebrating our Book Week. Last year this event ran entirely online. We are happy to be able to celebrate Book Week with the children in school again.

This year's theme “Books light up our world” shows that new and exciting things can be learned through books. Just like with a torch, you can cast light on certain areas and see them better. But it also gives a little hope that books, like a candle, can give warmth and safety.

I am looking forward to experiencing the different activities. We will be happy to share the children's works and experiences with you again at the end of the Book Week with our Book Week Weebly. We will send you more information later.

The various activities that take place in school but also at home can be found in the letter below from Mrs Roquette and Mrs Johnson, who prepared the Book Week.

Now I wish you too a little time to sit down with a book and enjoy the whodunnit, the lovers, the comedian, the politician, the scientist or the animals. Have fun.

Priska Erni Head of German Primary Department Email

Inga Riedel-Narayan Deputy Head of German Primary Department Email

Secondary Corner

Dear Parents

Creativity and cross-curricular work are essential components of our educational programme. Therefore, we always give our students the opportunity to develop their creativity in the context of project work and participation in competitions. Currently, some of our students are participating in two art competitions.

Please find more information below by Dr. Rautenberg and Mrs Cox:

PASCH  art competition "Sport of the future – Faster, Higher, Unlimited"

Mingyi Brummer: Table tennis at the Olympics 2076.

From left to right: Meike Langer, Anouk van Rissenbeck, Kinga Szarvas, Mona Gierhake, Kathryn Arisandy, Shuna Fanton, Mingyi Brummer

K07 has been working on the PASCH drawing competition "Sport of the Future - Faster, Higher, Unlimited" in Art s and PE class since 22 February.

PASCH stands for „Schulen: Partner der Zukunft“ (schools, partners of the future). It is an initiative of the Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA), the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Pedagogical Exchange Service (PAD) of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany. The aim is to arouse interest and enthusiasm for Germany, to motivate young people to learn German and to create a worldwide network of schools.

In the process, the K07 students worked on a painting of a sport of their choice at the 2076 Olympic Games. This was a fruitful, exciting and creative process, the result of which we submitted on Monday.

The students chose a sport, studied its history and its rules during this period the history of the Olympic Games was also covered in their PE lessons.

In PE, K07 will also complete the hockey unit next week with the question of how this sport might develop from its Olympic start in 1928 to the year 2076.

In Art class, we travelled into the future through drawing and painting. As they had just learned how to draw human features this school year, the students painted their imagination of athletes from the year 2076. Some still resemble us, others look pretty tech-enhanced and still others are robots with artificial intelligence and extraordinary skills.

The K07 also made various designs for the Olympic Games mascot. They range from animated leaves to a completely new species of creature. But they are always lovely lucky charms.

The students designed the background in monochrome painting so that the sportswoman or sportsman and the mascot are in the focus. Monochrome painting means limiting oneself to one colour in a wide range of shades. The background shows the sports venues of the future and the media used to record sporting events.

Finally, on 19.4.2021, K07 collectively decided on the students whose paintings should be submitted: Kinga Szarvas, Shuna Fanton, Mingyi Brummer, Mona Gierhake, Kathryn Arisandy, Meike Langer and Anouk van Rissenbeck.

The most beautiful paintings chosen by a jury will be presented in a digital exhibition at the Goethe-Institut Tokyo from 20 July to 7 August 2021 during the Summer Olympics.

We wish all participants every success!

Dr. Karsta Rautenberg and Catharina Cox

Grantham Visual Arts Award

Kira Hoskins: Achilles and Patroclus

Jayme Choy: Rainbow and me

Over the past two months, two German International Stream students have been preparing intensively for their participation in the Grantham Visual Arts Award - Jayme Choy from K06A and Kira Hoskins from K08.

This award was initiated by the Hong Kong Society for Education in Art and is aimed at secondary school students. It is a scholarship that aims to recognise the skills and achievements of young people in the arts and to help build a platform that will increase public awareness of the arts in schools.

A maximum of 20 students per year can win this scholarship of HKD 8000. In addition, they receive a certificate and a trophy.

As the preparation is very labour-intensive, all applicants receive a certificate of participation. For example, participants must submit 4 artworks from at least two different artistic mediums, write a text of up to 200 words for each work and write a short essay on the importance of art in their lives. In addition, students must write about how they serve the community through their art. Another entry requirement is a comprehensive letter of recommendation from a teacher.

Thematically, Jayme has been exploring portraits and self-portraits. Here she explored the possibilities of the symbolic effect of colours in acrylic painting and with watercolours. As a community project, she hid self-designed Easter eggs along the Bowen Road Jogging Trail. Over 140 people found them and shared their excitement on Facebook.

Kira focused her varied artistic works on sagas of ancient Greece, a theme that has been her passion for many years. For this she submitted an acrylic painting, an installation, a digital painting work and a drawing. Kira's achievements in the artistic field are well known among her family and friends. Therefore, she is always asked for help when it comes to explaining certain artistic techniques or designing gifts. Recently, she created a farewell gift for a classmate and painted a picture for her friend's football team.

We wish Jayme and Kira every success and are delighted that they will be representing GSIS at the Grantham Visual Arts Award.

Dr. Karsta Rautenberg

Wiebke Langer Head of German Secondary Department Email

Arnold Leitner Deputy Head of German Secondary Department Email