CONTENTS
- Principal's Column
- Community Committee
- Schoolwide News
- German International Stream
- English International Stream
- Wellbeing Corner
- Highlights of the Week
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 #60
24th September 2021
Principal's Column
Dear Parents
I hope you all had a great Mid Autumn Festival and having arrived in Hong Kong at the height of the summer two months ago, I’m looking forward to some cooler, less humid weather when it takes a turn for the better!
Transforming lives through learning is at the heart of all that we do here at GSIS. We want every student from Kindergarten to K12/Y13 to be happy and to enjoy learning. Our aim is to prepare our young people to take their place in the world, equipped and ready for their lifelong learning journey and the challenges of modern life. Our students immerse themselves in the full GSIS experience and in their final two years with us, I understand that this can be a stressful time for both parents and children, as you weigh up different choices. However, our exclusive collaborations with prestigious universities around the world opens doors to higher education and brings your child life-changing learning experiences.
This week, I would like to highlight Swiss universities and with a long tradition in providing educational excellence (ETH Zurich is 6th in the world rankings this year), Switzerland proves a popular choice for thousands of international students from all over the world. The opportunities for foreign students are increasing all the time and almost a quarter of foreign students come from Germany with 16% from France, 11% from Italy and 4% from Mainland China.
Studying and Living in Switzerland
Switzerland is a beautiful, safe country and the quality of life is renowned to be one of the best in the world. As well as Swiss universities providing world-class education with degrees which are recognised around the globe, they offer a broad selection of sports, some free of charge, and there are many opportunities for mountain and winter sports. Furthermore, being bordered by France, Germany and Italy gives students the ample opportunity to visit other culturally diverse countries.
University Types
There are a variety of undergraduate degree courses on offer and such programmes can be studied at three types of university:
- Universities - 12 offering degree programmes at a high scientific and theory-based level where you can study humanities, science and some engineering courses.
- Universities of Applied Sciences and the Arts - 8 providing scientific and professional education courses in landscape architecture, health sciences, music, art, theatre, film and design.
- Universities of Teacher Education - 20 offering practice-oriented training such as pre-primary, primary, secondary and special needs education.
Tuition Fees
Tuition fees remain affordable for international students and the cost of studying for a Bachelor’s degree ranges between HK$4,000 to HK$17,000 per term.
I hope the above has given you a taste for further education in Switzerland and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our University Guidance Counsellors.
Best regards
| Dr Dirk Bennhardt Principal |
Community Committee
Following World Clean Up day last Saturday, the Environmental Protection Club and Community Committee call on the GSIS Community to carry out your very own Beach Clean Up this October.
It’s easy to get involved:
- Choose any of your favourite beaches to clean up.
- Arrange a date with family or friends anytime in the month of October.
- Send a photo* of your hard work along with your name, class and house to communitycommittee@gsis.edu.hk
We have prizes for:
- the most number of rubbish bags collected
- the most unusual item found on the beach
- the most remote beach/location
And a special bonus if you can make a piece of art out of your rubbish!
Please remember to stay safe - wear gloves, use tongs and stick to Covid guidelines when out in a group, but most of all have fun doing your part to keep HK clean!
*Please note that the deadline for submissions is Tuesday 2nd November 2021
| Community Committee |
Schoolwide News
German International Stream
Kindergarten Corner
Dear Parents
We hope you had a lovely Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoyed gazing at the full moon and a lantern walk with your children. A big Thank You to all parents who visited their child/children’s class this week to share the tradition about this Festival and all the different activities they have prepared for them to participate.
Besides the celebrations, we have now completed the second Wellbeing Week, and for the past two days, each class enjoyed Mindfulness and Yoga sessions with Amber from “Illuminate Kids Wellness”. The sessions included a story from the Mindful Dino Crew collection, children’s yoga postures, the importance of breathing techniques for different emotions and the use of singing bowls and tingshas for calming and relaxation.
The “Act of Kindness Tree” keeps growing at our entrance area, and it is impressive to read the different acts of kindness our children have accomplished and are still achieving . If you visit our Pok Fu Lam Campus, please take some time to read all about it for yourself.
We would like to leave you with some impressions of the earlier events and wish you all a nice weekend.
 Head of Kindergarten |  Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Primary Corner
Dear Parents
The Pok Fu Lam Campus is coming to an end of our two wellbeing weeks and they had a lovely time. I am sure they all will take the one or other mindful practice with them into their daily routine. It is so important for the children. Children develop their ability to direct their attention, without judgment, to the present moment. As a result of mindfulness in kindergarten and schools, children begin to learn how to increase focus & attention for the rest of their academic careers.
They have been part of different activities in the classroom, but they also could enjoy a puppet play about healthy snacks and they all stretched at a yoga session with Amber.
Thanks to the counseling team and the DVOR teachers for making the past two weeks relaxed and mindful.
Of course we are also taking the chance to have a wellbeing week at the Peak Campus, more about that will come soon.
 Head of German Primary Department |  Deputy Head of German Primary Department |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Secondary Corner
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
English International Stream
Kindergarten Corner
Dear Parents
We hope you had a lovely Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoyed gazing at the full moon and a lantern walk with your children. A big Thank You to all parents who visited their child/children’s class this week to share the tradition about this Festival and all the different activities they have prepared for them to participate.
Besides the celebrations, we have now completed the second Wellbeing Week, and for the past two days, each class enjoyed Mindfulness and Yoga sessions with Amber from “Illuminate Kids Wellness”. The sessions included a story from the Mindful Dino Crew collection, children’s yoga postures, the importance of breathing techniques for different emotions and the use of singing bowls and tingshas for calming and relaxation.
The “Act of Kindness Tree” keeps growing at our entrance area, and it is impressive to read the different acts of kindness our children have accomplished and are still achieving . If you visit our Pok Fu Lam Campus, please take some time to read all about it for yourself.
We would like to leave you with some impressions of the earlier events and wish you all a nice weekend.
Head of Kindergarten | Deputy Head of Kindergarten and Deputy Child Protection Officer Pok Fu Lam Campus |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Primary Corner
Dear Parents,
We would like to announce an addition to the EPD school counselling team. This school year Jeni Chesnut-Tangerman will be collaborating with Paige Marquard (EPD school counsellor) and Tanya Schindler (ESD school counsellor) as an intern to expand the counselling services offered in the EPD. Along with providing individual and group counselling, she will be involved in Social Emotional Learning in classrooms and supporting the overall development of the counselling program in various ways.
Jeni joins us with over 12 years of experience in international education as both a teacher and as an administrator. She is currently in the process of earning her Masters in International School Counselling, which will be completed in May 2022. As such, she is working under the supervision of the GSIS counselling department. We’d like to welcome Jeni to the EPD team for the 2021-2022 school year!
 Head of English Primary Department |  Deputy Head of English Primary Department |
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Looking for what's been going on in class this week?
EPD: Year 1EPD: Year 2EPD: Year 3EPD: Year 4EPD: Year 5EPD: Year 6EPD: MandarinEPD: DaFEPD: PEEPD: MusicEPD: ArtEPD: Library
Secondary Corner
Departmental News and Announcements
No updates / announcements this week.
Wellbeing Corner
“It takes courage to say yes to rest and play, in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.” – Brene Brown, author and social scientist
“My history with rest has always been one of reward. I had to do something, perhaps extreme, in order to feel like I was deserving of rest. This new relationship to rest is one, not of reward, but of maintenance. This understanding that that when I rest, it’s an ongoing investment into my continuous growth.” – Rachel Cargle, author and activist
Wishing you growth and (guilt-free) rest,
| Your School Counsellors |
