News for Parents

Last week, the students of Class 10 had an opportunity to learn about a Vietnamese traditional painting which was called “Tranh Đông Hồ ”. They were taught about historical values and how to make a painting by the specialised artists. They also learned that “Đông Hồ” paintings encompass different patterns, genres and subjects which reflect nearly everything about Vietnamese people.
The students painted their own paintings with materials and they also shared that “It’s amazing to learn a lesson through some actual experience like that, so we can understand how unique the “Đông Hồ” paintings are and [that] they are recognized as Vietnam’s elusive Cultural Heritage.”

A big highlight of this week for the “tollkühne Entdecker” was the visit to the dentist at the German Dental Clinic in District 7, where the children first showed the dentists how great they are at brushing their teeth and that they already know which foods are good and bad for our teeth. Afterwards, the Entdecker were also allowed to test out all the equipment with the help of a dentist and take a close look at their teeth with the camera! That was great fun!

Save The Date!
One-of-a-Kind Christmas Market!
The traditional IGS Christmas market is opening its doors again this year. We cordially invite you to smell the scent of Christmas and enjoy the extraordinary Christmas atmosphere on the IGS campus with fine Christmas treats and mulled wine.

In keeping with the theme of “Saint Martin”, the daring Explorers wanted to share with others and say a big “thank you” to the people who we sometimes don’t consciously notice in everyday life, but who always help us!
The children invited the IGS team on Monday and handed over packages they had packed themselves with all sorts of goodies.

The fourth grade explores the world of philosophy

The fourth grade students have embarked on an exciting journey into the world of philosophy. Instead of just learning facts from books, they explored deep questions that would make even adults think. “What is friendship?” and “What is time?” were just some of the fascinating questions they asked themselves.
The class not only talked about it, but also dealt with the topics creatively. Each child wrote down their own thoughts on these philosophical questions on colorful paper and then designed these works of art with great attention to detail. The children’s creativity is reflected not only in their colorful works, but also in their imaginative ideas and discussions with each other.
Ms. Menzel and Ms. Noll not only encouraged the children to express their thoughts, but also taught them to listen to each other and respect opposing opinions. The experience not only helped the children understand philosophical concepts, but also to formulate and share their own thoughts with others. These social skills are invaluable not only for their academic development but also for their personal development.
Fourth grade proved that philosophy isn’t just for adults. Through their curiosity and creative approaches, they have shown that children are also capable of asking and thinking about deep questions. IGS is proud to have such an engaged and curious group of students, ready to look at the world with open eyes and tackle life’s big questions.

“So many beautiful colors!”
Also this year the gates of the IGS opened for our lantern festival on November 10th, 2023.
And how it shone this year! A colorful parrot in the forum, thousands upon thousands of butterflies that made the schoolyard sparkle, and of course the many self-made lanterns made the IGS campus shine. The lantern festival brought young and old together and so we are very proud that a play was performed by the Class 2 students and that the senior band had the first official performance of the school year.
After the traditional lantern parade, small Martin’s bread buns were passed around, inspired by the sharing and passing on of Saint Martin.
We were able to end Friday evening in a good mood.

To further develop open learning approaches in primary school, we organise our interdisciplinary lessons in classes 1 and 2 under the guidance of Mrs. Jurischka and Mrs. Polzin. In using this approach, we align ourselves with modern teaching and learning methods.
Together, the children of the Whale and Giraffe classes had the opportunity to work as little researchers. Our first theme was weather and climate. Currently, we are deeply engaged in the topic of wind. Using their own breath, the children were able to make the wind visible and capture it on paper.The older Giraffes took great joy in lending a helping hand to the little Whales and supporting them in their tasks.

Hello and good day. On November 1, 2023, I began my role as the administrative manager at IGS. I look forward to joining the IGS team and the diverse tasks that lie ahead of us. My family (our daughter is in Class 5 at IGS). I have been in HCMC for over a week, and we have already had a glimpse into daily life and felt the pulse of the city.
Throughout my previous professional life, I have worked in private schools and universities, mostly in managerial positions related to finance and administration. Most recently, I served as the deputy managing director of a non-profit company focused on international academic conferences and project management. In my role at IGS, I bring a wealth of experience in administration/school office management, personnel and finance, controlling, facility management, and marketing. I understand these areas as service providers to support the excellent work of our educational colleagues and to create a stimulating learning environment for our students. Additionally, they help develop the school’s structures and management tools while ensuring a positive and professional perception of our school in the public eye, with the goal of sustainably improving enrollment.Lastly, they contribute to fostering a sense of community among all individuals at IGS – parents, students, teachers, and support staff, helping them see themselves as part of a whole and feel comfortable within the IGS community. 
Communication is the bridge between people. My door is always open to you. Please feel free to send me an email to verwaltungsleitung@igs-hcmc.org, and I will respond promptly!

On Wednesday evening, as always, the annual lantern crafting event for fathers took place. Together, while enjoying bratwurst and cold drinks, the fathers crafted lanterns for their children.

This week, there were several exciting activities in the U6 area. On Tuesday, both houses threw a big Halloween party together. Games, dances, creative activities, and even a haunted house were on the agenda. All the children were dressed up and had a lot of fun together!

Here it comes again! Halloween is back, which falls on October 31 every year.
Get into the Halloween spirit with our library activities on this special holiday.
Our primary students had a fun time making some spooky monster crafts and for our secondary students, Halloween quizzes and scary movies could not be missed!

“The Kahoot game was really good and the films were really good and I really enjoyed them”.
Sehr toll!

Jojo – Klasse 10

“I felt very good about Halloween this year. I liked the quizzes because there were a lot of questions, they were not too hard but super fun. And about the scary movies, I felt they were a little bit short and not scary enough for us. Maybe Halloween next year, I want the movies to be scarier to scare us until we cry and the time period of the movie lasts longer”.

Anna Gia Phúc – Klasse 8

In the past week, we welcomed a delegation from Hübschmann Zhan School in Shenyang, China, to IGS. The primary purpose of this visit was to deepen our existing collaboration within the framework of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
During the visit, we exchanged approaches and perspectives on the implementation of the (G)IB program in our schools to learn from each other.Throughout the visit, we took the opportunity to provide a comprehensive insight into the school life at IGS and encourage interaction with representatives from the secondary level, primary school, and the U6 section.
This initial in-person visit was characterised by open and friendly exchanges of ideas. We look forward to further cooperation.

Being prepared for the future as part of career and college selection, we want to show our IGS students their options at an early stage. We can do this, albeit somewhat limited, in Vietnam: visits to universities, online lectures, and even through firsthand experiences. However, we appreciate it the most when we can welcome actual representatives from German universities to our campus.
Fortunately, we had the opportunity to host representatives from the universities of Mainz, Darmstadt, and Marburg. The information session took place on October 30, 2023, and students from classes 10 and 11 had the opportunity to ask questions to the experts after an intensive introduction to the Studienkollegs.
Studienkollegs provide an opportunity for students who do not achieve the German language level DSD II but still want to study in Germany. Of course, we strongly believe that our students will pass the DSD II exams with flying colors, but it’s important to be aware of alternatives early on. Therefore, we are grateful for this exchange!
This cooperation was supported by the ZfA (Central Agency for German Schools Abroad), and we hope for more exciting projects in the future.

A Great Book Day! 
“Are these our new books that we can take home to read?” – asked by our excited Primary Students.
On friday, Primary Library celebrated our Book Day when we showed our newly arrived books. A book event is an excellent opportunity to build students’ home libraries and promote their reading and comprehension skills. Whether they choose a story that takes them on an adventure or one that tells the story of space, it is their story and their choice. When students choose the books they’d like to read, they are more likely to pick up the book and fall in love with reading. Our readers have different tastes, so we cannot decide which book genre is most popular, from picture books to fantasy, from science fiction to adventure… but the enthusiasm for reading is priceless.
Thank you to everyone who joined in such a fun day! It was lovely to see how much our students enjoy reading and are excited about it.

On Monday, our Class 5 students paid a visit to IGS Preschool and spent time reading a fairy tale, ‘Snow White’, to the children.
Storytelling is well-known for its role as an inspiration of imagination, but also its engagement of children’s fantasies. Fairy tales never fail to bring happiness to our children’ faces. This activity helps to tap into children’s imagination, not only for IGS preschoolers but also for Class 5 students, to remember how inspiring it is to read a fairy tale, to go through everyone’s real life emotions in a fantastical setting.
Our childhood seems incomplete without telling and being told fairytales. Let the imagination develop endlessly.

We are delighted to announce our new school SV representatives. Representing our teaching staff we have Ms Hughes and Mr Vidmar. Representing our secondary students we have Ha Mi and Hannah. Representing our primary students we have CiCi and Carsten.
Our SV is an integral part of our school’s ecology and the team involved are always eager to support their fellow students to have their voices heard throughout their time with us at IGS.
Congratulations to all of our new SV representatives, here’s to another exciting school year!

Looking for a good book to read? Wondering what’s next to read? Or just spending your leisure time in the library?
We are excited to announce that a great selection of new books have arrived and are now available at our school libraries. The choices of books are very diverse from different genres such as picture books, fairy tales, adventure, graphic novels, nature & science, space, animals, psychology, morality, humour, romance, history, food & health, etc … and some of them are available in German, English and Vietnamese.
If you want to find any books or just browse for ones that catch your interest, we welcome you to drop by our primary and secondary libraries and take some time to browse and read some of them.

Happy Reading!
Your IGS Library

This week the children in the U6 area received a visit from our school nurse. She explained her work to the children from both houses in an age-appropriate manner and showed them a first aid kit. Now all children know what to do in an emergency!
Afterwards, the children were allowed to go to our hospital ward and explore what happens there if we get injured. Everyone’s temperature was then taken and the children were treated. Now we know what happens in an emergency and don’t have to be afraid if we have to go to the nurse and need help.

Last Saturday on the 7th of October, we students from Classes10, 11 and 12 organised a visit to the Suoi Sao orphanage. For many of us, this was a heartwarming return visit, as we had already connected with the children during previous visits in the last year. 
As we entered the orphanage, we received a warm welcome from the sisters and the children. We managed to reconnect with our young friends at ease this time because they know most of us a bit better now. Through activities such as face painting, friendship bracelet making and working on a creative poster, we bonded with our young friends and created memorable moments of joy. 
Once again we would like to thank the IGS community for the generous donations, as they made a great impact on the children’s quality of life, considering that the orphanage had recently moved to a new location which has fewer facilities. We hope that the school as a whole will continue to provide help for the Suoi Sao orphanage. 
We will continue to visit Suoi Sao in the future as part of our International Baccalaureate CAS (Creativity – Activity – Service) project but also to help them out, financially and mentally, as much as we can.

Aiming to promote emotional well-being, IGS recently celebrated Mental Health Day. An engaging treasure hunt was held that took students on a journey of self-discovery through the practise of different breathing techniques. By engaging in a playful yet educational game, students learned to harness the power of breathing for stress reduction, increased focus, and improved overall well-being. 
This activity encouraged students to explore practices such as diaphragmatic breathing, square breathing, and mindful breathing. The treasure hunt not only introduced students to breathing techniques but also facilitated mindfulness and self-awareness. Through each breathing station, students were encouraged to be fully present and tune into their physical and emotional sensations. 
This helped foster a deeper understanding of their own thoughts, feelings, and reactions, laying a foundation for improved self-management and emotional regulation.
IGS’ observance of Mental Health Day provided students with a transformative experience, emphasising on the importance of emotional well-being and equipping them with valuable tools to cope with challenges effectively. By embracing activities like the treasure hunt, the school demonstrated its commitment to nurturing resilient individuals and promoting an environment that prioritises positive mental health.

Modern education, and consequently, a modern school, requires continuous development. Therefore, new teaching approaches should be developed, reviewed, and applied at regular intervals. Only in this way can a school ensure the highest quality of education.
In this context, it is essential to draw upon the experiences and expertise of individuals outside of our own school. Only in this manner can a comprehensive assessment of the overall development of our approaches be made possible.
The IGS team is particularly pleased, therefore, that over the past two weeks, we have had the opportunity to welcome several visitors to exchange ideas on the current state of the school’s development and mutually benefit from shared experiences.
Firstly, Peter Wollenweber, the official process facilitator from the Central Agency for German Schools abroad, shared his perspective on the development of IGS. The visit was marked by an extremely productive atmosphere of discussion and promising insights for the further development of our teaching. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Wollenweber for this!
In addition to this visit, we also had the privilege of hosting a team of colleagues from selected German schools in the region, referred to as a “Peer Team”. Through numerous classroom visits, interviews, and personal conversations, we received valuable feedback for the ongoing development of our current approaches. As a result, the entire IGS team gained extremely positive insights. At this juncture, we would like to extend our warmest thanks to Markus Brandtner from the Christian German School Chiang Mai, Pascale Mandel from the German International School Jakarta, and Dr. Markus Meyer from the German European School in Singapore.
At IGS, we are looking forward to continuing our work on school development!

“Gadji beri bimba glandridi laula lonni cadori
Gadjama gramma berida bimbala glandri galassassa laulitalomini
Gadji beri bin palea glassala laula lonni cadorsu sassala bim”

What does this poem excerpt sound like to you? Do you recognize words or sounds?
This poem excerpt comes from the phonetic poem “Gadji Beri Bimba”. It was first presented in 1916 by its author, Hugo Ball. Class 5 listened to this poetry recital and then tried to read Hugo Ball’s poem themselves – that was pretty crazy and not that easy!
Following Hugo Ball, the children also went in search of new, onomatopoeic neologisms and words from other languages. The children then wrote their own nonsense poems from their word creations and discoveries and recited them in the class – great fun for everyone involved!
Are you wondering why the children deal with this in ethics class?
Playing with the meanings of words and reinterpreting or reinterpreting words is an exciting activity that allows us to experience the familiar as strange – and vice versa. It sharpens our awareness of what we know as well as what is unknown to us and therefore annoys us. This is another contribution to the current philosophical question: Where and what is the stranger?

Every Monday and Tuesday, primary school children have the opportunity to take part in the “Relaxation” lunch program in the seventh period. Together with Fred the sloth, the children make their way to the land of relaxation – first they take a short walk to Villa H, the place of peace.
Once there, the children can make themselves comfortable on a yoga mat and literally “stretch out on all fours.” With calm music and a short story to relax, the children can recover from the morning and gather new strength for lessons in the afternoon.

As part of the new format “Theme Evening for Parents” a lecture on the topic of screen time took place on Thursday, September 28th, 2023. Interesting insights into the topic of “screen time” stimulated a lively discussion. We would like to thank Mr. Tony Louw from “Learning Strategies” for the stimulating lecture and look forward to further themed evenings.