Preparations for the new school year have been in full swing since August 17th. The IGS staff has been meeting to plan and organize the school year. We look forward to starting the 2022/23 school year together on Monday, 29 August, starting at 8am for Classes 2-12. Enrollment for Class 1 will take place on Wednesday, 31 August at 9 am in the Forum.
As anchored in the concept for internship supervision, we offer future teachers the opportunity to gain an intensive insight into everyday school life at the IGS. We look forward to an intensive educational exchange and would like to thank our cooperation partners, the Goethe University in Frankfurt, the Free University of Berlin and the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena for the fruitful cooperation.
A warm welcome to our interns. We’re glad you’re here!
The summer holidays have flown by, and teachers in the U6 area started teaching again this week. On Thursday it finally got bustling again on the green campus of the IGS. At 8 o’clock sharp, the pupils from the kindergarten and pre-school buildings came storming through the gates. Some children were a little nervous as they are now moving to another group. But, after a short orientation phase and with the help of a few kind words, familiar faces and the large playgrounds on which the kids were finally invited to play and romp again, the new groups came together and are full of energy, zest for action and eagerness to learn in the new school year started.
Colleagues and administrative staff were able to refresh their knowledge in an instructive first-aid course. In addition to the “stable side position” there were other important tips for first aid in minor accidents.
Last weekend, we were very proud to present anklang – a showcase celebrating the creative talents of our students and school community over the last few challenging years. The event was split into 2 parts, with a ‘fancy party’ for our older students opened by the German consulate on Saturday, followed by a Kinder Vernissage on Sunday.
We would like to thank everyone who attended the events, the creative teams led by Mr Armes and Mr Wayman, and the German consulate and Mercedes-Benz Go Vap for their continued support.
Lastly, we would like to thank our school community who pulled together and made the last few years so special – Danke schon!
Link to Life TV (Vietnamese language)
Friday, July 1st was the last day of school for our IGS, finally again, with all classes and all colleagues from school, administration and building services. For our first graders it was the first last day of school: for most of the others, one of many last days of school – for the Headmaster, Michael Schopp, it was the very last day of school. Many thoughts went back to a difficult year with lockdown and online classes; only after the TET holidays could we all come back to school.
We have brought a difficult and also a very successful school year to an end. Our first graduates with a GIB Diploma need particular mention, but mention must also be made of the numerous awards and certificates that our students received for outstanding achievements in Art and Music, in Mathematics, in English and German. The very good results of our school in the participation in the examinations of the German Language Diploma (DSD I and DSD II) must be particularly emphasized.
In this condition, the IGS will certainly receive the title Excellent German School Abroad in the school inspection scheduled for 2023 (federal-state inspection). This is important for the intended change of the school authority – from the Foundation for Education and Crafts to the Khai Sang Corporation, because the status as a German school abroad must be retained in either case. All members of the IGS school family agree on this.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but the children’s choir for the 4th and 5th grades with Douglas Vale and Johann Sebastian Bach’s double violin concerto with Kevin and Julian and Jonathan Armes sweetened this hour for all of us in the IGS forum.
Your outgoing headmaster wishes you and all of you a good journey through life – wherever it may be
George Michael Schopp
Tennis, badminton, football, fireball, sponge races and much more were offered to our students on Tuesday’s sports day. With a small delay due to the early rain showers, all offers could be taken advantage of. Sport connects, and so this year the focus was not on the idea of competition, but on playing together and enjoying movement.
Do you actually know how a tiger is formed? You need a chipboard, paint, many artists and imagination. And so on the creative day, alongside all the robots and secret messages, a gigantic tiger was created, which is currently looking for its territory in the IGS. In addition to the performing arts, you could jam together with the school band in the music room.
What is the best way to say goodbye to prospective school children from kindergarten? Right! With a big celebration and last unforgettable moments.
What an exciting year it has been for children, parents and educators! No sooner has halfway normality returned, than the next change is already announced in many families. Because the kindergarten year is also coming to an end, the preschoolers are leaving the preschool, the younger ones are following and changing groups which also means that it is time to say goodbye. It’s time to look back on the past few months and time to say thank you to committed parents, a great team of educators and last but not least to all the great children who have defied all the challenges this school year.
For this reason, the U6 area has once again unpacked the activity treasure trove for the last week before the long-awaited summer holidays and planned a number of great and exciting highlights. From water games, cinema, a superhero costume party to baking pizza together. Every day held a surprise. The icing on the cake was a big farewell party, which took place on Wednesday for the researcher house and on Friday for the discovery house. Together with the parents, the U6 area celebrated the end of the year and the end of the kindergarten for the school children in a cosy atmosphere.
The children’s portfolios were ceremoniously handed over and stones were painted as a reminder of the transition to Class one. The U6 area wishes all the families of the new first graders all the best and is already looking forward to many exciting moments in the new school year.
A day at the sea!
Equipped with sun hats and sunscreen, swimwear and a good mood, we drove to the sea together with the students from grades 2-11. How nice it is to breathe in the fresh sea air in the middle of the week.
A very special thank you to the Oceanward Hotel in Vung Tau for hosting us again this year.
We had an amazing outing to end the term after reading ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ written by Raold Dahl. This outing was planned to enrich their experience of the book. They have thoroughly enjoyed designing their own sweets and applying for a job at the ‘Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory and have been looking forward to seeing how chocolate is made. A visit to a real life chocolate manufacturer was therefore obligatory!
When we got to Marou we first learned about the history of the founding of Marou and found out which provinces in Vietnam the different types of cacao trees were from. We tasted some roasted cacao beans and then went to have a look at the different machines used in the process of making the chocolate. After the tour they tasted the different chocolates and were really excited about using their money to buy some of the delicious products on display. At the end of the outing, they were given a small cacao tree to take home and plant.
We loved the outing and were very interested to learn how the cacao bean is processed into the delicious bars of chocolate.
Last weekend, the school days of our Class 12 found their crowning conclusion. The ceremony began with solemn speeches and congratulations from the Head of School, Georg Michael Schopp, the German Consul General, Dr. Josefine Wallat, the Swiss Consul General, Martin Maier, the Class Valedictorian, and the IB coordinator and homeroom teacher, Ms. Barnickel.
After the certificates were awarded, the families and teachers of the graduating class celebrated the end of the IGS IB Diploma Program with an impressive 4-course meal, reminiscences and discussions about the future. The highlights were certainly the personal expressions of thanks, video messages with congratulations from former teachers and heads of school, and the photo wall.
During the year, Class 3 rehearsed its own program for the parents as part of their creative lesson. After weeks of preparation, the time finally came: their parents were able to return to the campus after a year and a half away, and take a look at their children’s learning environment.
The students performed the fairy tale “Der Sterntaler” and, with the support of Mr. Armes were also able to demonstrate their skills on the ukulele. After the performance, there was time to chat face to face in a relaxed atmosphere after a long time online.
“It was a lovingly designed evening. I am thrilled with the joy, expression and creativity with which the children implemented the program for us parents. Special thanks go to Ms. Schmidt and Mr. Armes who made this possible,” said a father from Class 3.
Towards the end of primary school, Class 4 is traditionally invited to the secondary school laboratory, where they can get a taste of science in action. Fortunately, the visit could take place again this year, and the children of the Zebra Class became very curious and excited about what awaits them in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics in the future.
For this purpose, the students of Class 9 had prepared and presented experiments in the laboratory. Here, for example, the primary school students could observe how a beverage can implode when the temperature changes, investigate how dry ice melts, see how “elephant toothpaste” spreads, and finally find out what it feels like to touch a non-Newtonian fluid.
The children in Class 4 were very enthusiastic about this introduction to science and are very much looking forward to the orientation stage (IGS Classes 5 and 6) of their school careers.
What is the TOK exhibition?
The TOK exhibition is an examination in the IB core subject Theory of Knowledge, which counts one third of the total score. The goal is to study how TOK manifests itself in our real world.
For the TOK exhibition we have to choose three objects and examine them with regard to one guiding question. Objects can be different things like a book, a song, a statue and so on.
There are various optional themes in TOK, including Knowledge and Technology, Culture, Religion, Language and Indigenous Societies. We were allowed to choose one of them so that our elaboration is a little more specific.
Goal of the TOK exhibition
In contrast to many other subjects, TOK is not about finding a single answer or finding the right answer. In fact, there are no right or wrong answers here. Rather, it is about the evaluation and critical reflection of knowledge and about thinking about knowledge.
The questions we have explored this year are: ‘How do we know if current knowledge is an advance in relation to past knowledge?”; “How are personal experience, knowledge and language related?’’ and “What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?’’
Grade 11
After a period of over 900 years, the lost city of Pompeii has finally been rebuilt right here in our own backyard! After lunch on 16 June 2022, Class 2 (with some help from interested bystanders) rebuilt the lost city of Pompeii in the sand pit next to the U6 Villa.
Working in groups of two or three, the intrepid young builders built a scale model of the lost city of Pompeii in wet sand. They did this as part of a reading and writing unit on the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 which tragically covered the town of Herculaneum and destroyed the city of Pompeii.
Thanks go to Herr Tietz and Frau Bachler for their help. The students had a wonderful time!
What does scientific work actually entail? And how does one write an academic text?
In order to find an answer to these questions, Classes 9 and 10 grappled with an academic project of their own choice in the weekly “research lesson”. This project work, which was pursued throughout the school year, has finally culminated in the official colloquia which were held at the beginning of the week!
From the advantages of 3D printing, the construction of a cloud chamber, to the analysis of the Victorian image of women, the students presented their results in the presence of their mentors. Students were then required to answer the questions of the teachers present in order to demonstrate the depth of their new-found expertise.
At this point, a big thank you goes to all the teachers who were tasked with supervising the research work and who, in cooperation with the students, were able to contribute to a new and hopefully sustainable learning experience. We at the IGS are looking forward to next year!
What does it actually mean to be a child? The U6 area took World Children’s Day as an opportunity to discuss needs and emotions with the children.
“We want to grow happily, strengthen and develop into independent individuals.” Friedrich Fröbel
The children first collected their own ideas and a lot came together. Children started with clothes, a family and a house, books, friendships and, of course, chocolate, but the most important aspect of the collection was the kiss from mummy.
The Discoverers made a Book of Feelings to visualise the children’s thoughts. In this way, the children were able to describe in concrete terms what it actually means to feel happy and healthy. The Researchers, on the other hand, made a large poster out of their collection of ideas, which was hung up immediately. The children can now look at their own work and are reminded of their needs and what has been discussed.
In this way, the children grow and develop interesting, unique personalities with their own needs, which they can communicate with growing confidence.
Students from grades 6 to 10 were invited to take part in the Science Project Days on June 1st and 2nd. The aim of this event was to offer the opportunity to carry out more practical experiments independently, as this was often difficult to implement during the period of online teaching.
The teachers led the secondary students through experiments on how the eye works, wave phenomena, samples of airborne and surface bacteria, as well as the dissection of various organs and much more. In addition to the practical fun, the students were also obliged to record their observations, hypotheses and evaluations in an experiment protocol for each experiment.
The Science Faculty would like to thank all participants for their motivation on these days and is certain that they were a successful change from regular classes.
Dear readers from all over the world,
The international magazine GIB Global News is alive!
At the beginning of the year, the new global editorial team consisting of students and accompanying teachers from numerous GIB schools worldwide, who wanted to start developing the second edition of the GIB GLOBAL NEWS together, was gradually formed. The call for this second issue came from students at the German School in Barranquilla, which was followed by 12 school teams from 11 countries.
The GIB Global News is an international magazine that deals with topics of global importance, taking into account the global context of the IB, and is published in German. Although people from different cultures and countries meet in this project, they all share an interest in writing articles, international cooperation and global issues. Today we, the participating GIB schools and school teams, can finally share this project with our school communities worldwide, setting an example for global and digital cooperation in the network of GIB schools.
The second issue dealt with the topics of digitization in connection with the pandemic, but there are also alumni reports from Germany, works of art by students, and a joint message of peace in the magazine.
In this issue, the cooperation once again spanned the globe and ranged from Latin America to Europe and Asia. The following schools participated in this edition:
German School Ankara, German School Barranquilla, Instituto Ballester German School (Buenos Aires), German School Cali, German School Cuenca, German School Guadalajara,
International German School Ho Chi Minh City, German European School Manila, German School Saint Petersburg, German School Sankt Thomas More (Santiago de Chile), German School Santa Cruz, Taipei European School
Together we would like to express our respect and pride to the participating students from our schools for this great achievement and their professional work. At the same time, we would like to invite you, dear international readers, to take a look at this second edition of GIB Global News, and hope you enjoy browsing it.
Here you will find the 2nd edition linked
With best regards from all over the world
The accompanying teachers of the world editorial team of the GIB Global News
This competition for start-ups in Vietnam will take place for the 3rd time in 2022. It is organized by the German Business Association (GBA) and runs until the winners are announced in December 2022. For the first time, this year’s competition does not generally ask for new and interesting ideas for young companies. The focus is clearly on goals that take the environment, sustainability and/or social issues into account. The call for entries states: The GBA Business Challenge 2022 calls for ideas targeting either/or Environmental, Sustainable, Social questions and solutions. It will be interesting to see how many participants can be found under these specifications. In any case, there is a lot to be done in these fields.
Another first is that our school is actively involved in the preparatory committee for this competition. The IGS has been a member of the GBA for many years, so it was only natural that our head of school followed the call for cooperation. Even if our school itself does not provide any participating start-up ideas, the topic of entrepreneurship, in the sense of teaching students to be independent and self-reliant, is playing an increasingly important role at international schools. We expect our participation in the Business Challenge of the GBA and the information about it to have a positive impact on school life and school culture.
In this sense, the project days for natural sciences that have been successfully carried out this week, have made an important contribution to the fostering of scientific curiosity and awakening the spirit of research and independence.
This week, the annual Internationale schulische Vergleichsarbeiten 2 (Engl: international school comparative exams 2) of the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad at level A2 (CEFR) took place for the students of the IGS Orientation Stage (grades 5/6) who have not previously had the chance to complete them.
Not only did they show their abilities in listening as well as reading comprehension and writing, but they also impressed the examiners during the two full days of individual orals on Thursday and Friday. The students had prepared presentations and showed how passionate they were about famous persons such as Albrecht Dürer, Albert Einstein or Miroslav Klose. Austria’s famous dessert the Kaiserschmarrn, and big cities like Frankfurt and Hamburg were also presented. Students not only showed off their language skills but also their multimedia and presentation skills.
The Internationale schulischen Vergleichsarbeiten have the secondary purpose of preparing students for the DSD level I and II (German Language Certificate of the Education Ministers Conference), which the students will take during middle school, and which is considered as official proof of language proficiency for German preparatory colleges and universities.
We congratulate all successful participants on reaching this milestone.
Franziska Barnickel
German as a Foreign Language Coordinator
Journey into the Past: Class 3, Pottery Field Trip
As part of the subject, Sachkunde, we are currently dealing with the topic “The Stone Age.” In the last few weeks we have learned how humans developed, which weapons and tools they used, how they lived, what they ate, and what they did to make food last longer.
To make understanding life in the Stone Age more tangible, we took a trip to a pottery workshop. Step by step we built cups and bowls out of clay, decorated them with different shapes, and finally painted them. Now we have to wait another two weeks for our kitchenware to be finished in two firing sessions in the kiln.
It was a great trip. We all took part with a lot of joy and creativity. It’s amazing how long these things take!
Class 3
In cooperation with the German-Swiss International School Hong Kong and the Christian German School Chiang Mai, our grades 9 and 10 have taken part in an online simulation game over the past few weeks on the subject of “Changing Climate”. The games were conducted over three project days. Around 50 students took on the role of different interest groups and conducted negotiations with one another, similar to the Model United Nations debates.
Students took on the roles as representatives of socialist or conservative parties, interest groups from the environment, agriculture, industry and mining from three fictitious countries with different degrees of development. In these roles, they debated, discussed, negotiated and finally voted on measures which could be implemented to combat climate change. Depending on the result of these votes, the economic, social and ecological consequences of the measures taken were simulated by a computer program. The results of the simulation then had to be used as a basis for the subsequent round of negotiations.
The students played their roles with commitment, and searched for compromises in a solution-oriented manner. In addition to interdisciplinary skills on the subject of climate change and language skills, the learners could also particularly develop incipient abilities in dealing with conflicts.
This month we were lucky enough to uphold an IGS tradition and facilitate an analog photo walk for our K8 students around Thao Dien market. Joined by our photographer-in-chief, Herr Bernd, each student was loaned an analog camera and encouraged to shoot a roll of ‘street-style’ photography following some basic compositions and perspectives. As always this proved to be a really fun trip and we’d like to share some of our highlights!
A special thank you goes to the generous photography community in Saigon for the loaning of equipment and advice which makes this possible every year.
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Firefighter, doctor, police officer and astronaut: no Friday it was the day of exploring professions in the U6 area! After a week of exploring various careers in class, the kids celebrated Career Day!
Excited, the future doctors and scientists gathered in the schoolyard, from where they started a tour of discovery across the campus to find out what jobs there actually are at the school apart from teachers. In the school office, nurse’s station, school administration and library, the colleagues lovingly prepared facts about their jobs in order to entertain and inform the children. The children learned many details about each profession; they conducted interviews, carried out experiments in the laboratory and treated patients.
A Career Day is an important day for the children, not only to understand what their parents do, but also to learn about different career opportunities in the world outside of school. There were many interesting jobs for the kids to learn about that day and they had a lot of fun learning with all the different costumes and props provided.
After spending some time learning about Bollywood movies, themes, and planning trips across India in order to better understand Indian culture, landscape, and cuisine, the class decided it was only fit that we should throw a party.
On Saturday, at 10:00 A.M, we (along with some of our teachers) arrived at school in Villa H and began to prepare the food for our Bollywood Theme Party. The Indian (and Bollywood) theme was intended to expand, and, in part, celebrate, our knowledge of Indian writing, culture, cuisine and movies, which we had spent the last months learning about and exploring.
Our party was joined by Mr. Vale, our English teacher, and Mr. Singh, our ICT teacher, who had also organized the party and prepared the ingredients for our cooking, as well as Dr. Kmiecik, our homeroom teacher, and Frau Schmidt, an honoured guest.
Our menu for the party included chicken curry, roti (a type of Indian bread), salads, lentil curry (daal), and lassi, a traditional dahi-based drink, all of which we prepared and cooked ourselves. Other dishes that we were not able to prepare ourselves were bought. These were naan, another type of Indian bread, Rogan Josh curry, Indian desserts, biryani, papadam, and juices. After preparing the dishes, we enjoyed the food together, discussed various topics, and shared our knowledge of India and the vastness of Indian culture. After we were finished with eating, we all took part in cleaning the dishes and then settled down. We decided to watch a Bollywood movie picked out by the class, called ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. As we watched the movie, we also enjoyed desserts – ice cream, fruits, and Indian sweets – brought by the teachers.
Slumdog Millionaire ran over 2 hours long, and explored various different aspects of Indian culture and life – all whilst being a humorous and digestible film.
Overall, the party was effective in broadening our understanding of Indian culture by teaching us how to prepare staple dishes from different parts of India, as well as celebrating our efforts in the past months that we had spent extensively studying the topic.
Class 8
The animals on the Doggelspitz have received the news that the Scary Schusch will move up to their place up on the hill, as it has become too warm for him in the valley. To make matters worse, the animals have received an invitation from the Scary Schusch to his housewarming party!
The animals of the Doggelspitz are very excited! The Schusch is said to be as big as a Coke vending machine; he is said to steal eggs, and his favourite dish is roast rabbit. For the animals it is clear – he should not be allowed to live here and no one is to go to the housewarming party! The party rabbit, however, who wants to give the Schusch a chance, disregards the advice of his friends and accepts the invitation.
Class 1 presented the story of The Scary Schusch, which tells of prejudice, but also of the courage to overcome them and give everyone a chance, in a rehearsed play. During the weekly theatre workshop, students created costumes, designed invitations and built props together with their class teacher, Mr Foxius, and rehearsed diligently for the performance. In art class, with the help of Ms Quynh Anh and Mr Wayman, the set was created.
Last Monday, the time had come: the pupils of class 1 presented their play to the proud parents, grandparents and teachers. The audience was thrilled by the acting skills, the costumes and the excellent command of lines by the pupils.
Afterwards, pupils, parents, grandparents and teachers met for a pleasant exchange over coffee and cake.
We have already reported on the visit from the ZfA (Central Office for Schools Abroad) that went well and successfully for our school. The good work of the IGS has also been noticed elsewhere as well, for example in the magazine internAA, which is not only aimed at the more than 9,000 employees of the Federal Foreign Office, but also at interested parties in the other federal ministries like the Chancellery, as well as the politicians in the Bundestag, especially in the Foreign Affairs Committee. The current issue is dedicated to the subject of German as a foreign language. The contribution “German as an Educational language at the IGS”, issued by our school, was recently published in this prestigious magazine. We are proud that we had the opportunity to present our school and its successful language work to an interested global readership.
Georg Michael Schopp
Here is the link to the article: internAA
Which book should I read next?
In the IGS libraries we provide book lists with the teachers’ best reading recommendations. Sorted by grade level, you can choose your favourites in different languages such as German, Vietnamese and English.
In addition, you can choose language levels from A1 to B1 in German. All of this can also be done online at the IGS Online Library System. You can find an introductory video to the system here.
“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you will visit.” -Dr. Seuss
The library team hopes you enjoy your reading.
