News for Parents

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.

To understand the culture of a country, we learn about their traditional festivals, make traditional food, sing their songs, and get to know the mythologies behind every festival. Luckily, the Mid Autumn Festival just comes in time for our IGS students to learn more about Vietnam and the traditional festivals that everyone celebrates! 
The whole IGS were packed with our activities to prepare for this festival. What have we done? 
U6 and Secondary students have learned to make and bake mooncakes with Ms Linh: all those tasty mooncakes with different fillings have been produced in our cozy kitchen which everyone is happy to share! 
The Primary school is busy making traditional lanterns with colorful cellophane in different animal shapes. We sang Mid Autumn songs in Vietnamese, read Moon Festival stories for each other and for U6, made comic books about the festival! 
On Friday, 29th of September, IGS organized a Moon Festival event for everyone to join! We surprised our students with an exciting lion dance. This event creates an opportunity for IGS students to experience Vietnamese childhood in the old Mid-Autumn days.

Our long-awaited orders from Germany have just arrived! What a nice surprise for all students this week! Not only new books, we also got the whole Primary Library equipped with our new board games, from Catan to Uno or even Scrabble!
Board games are always known as great tools to help children to release their stress, increase communication and develop teamwork skills. We are super-excited to unwrap all the board games and learn how to play them. 

The school year is already a few weeks old, new students and teachers have already settled in well and the first parents’ evening of the year finally took place on Thursday, September 21st. In addition to the regular class-specific meetings, this year a small “Parent Cafe” was also held in the IGS Campus forum. The (new) specialist teachers in particular had the chance to introduce themselves to the parents and exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere.
The IGS team would like to thank you for your attendance and looks forward to a good collaboration.

On Monday, September 18, 2023, the extracurricular program at IGS will begin again.
The current range of topics includes everything from sporting finesse to musical excellence, and into the world of natural sciences. In the Table Tennis AG (led by Mr. Hirnschal), students can demonstrate their athletic skills. The Community Choir, under the direction of Mr. Vale, invites everyone to sing and make music together. Lastly, all those interested in research can quench their thirst for knowledge in the Astro AG led by Mr. Kehm.
Additionally, starting from September 26, 2023, the Chess AG will commence, and we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with the Chess Plus Academy.
We look forward to our students’active participation.

Successful Participation in the DSD I Exam
In the spring of 2023, students from the IGS also participated very successfully in the exams for the German Language Diploma, First Level (DSD I). Twenty participants from classes 7 – 10 passed the exam, which demonstrates proficiency at the B1 level of the German language. The exam is divided into four competency areas: Writing, Reading, Listening, and Oral Communication.
We are very proud of our students!

Last week the children in the U6 area worked on the topic of “Feelings”. Preparations for the first parents’ evening of the year were underway. 
On Wednesday, the parents of both houses were invited to get to know the work in the U6 area better, to exchange ideas together and to elect this year’s parent representatives. There was a large turnout and everyone present used the evening to make new contacts, ask questions and enjoy the get-together in a relaxed atmosphere. 
The entire team considers the evening a great success and would like to thank the committed parents. We are really looking forward to the coming year and working with the new parent representatives!

Last week, an extremely successful preparatory week for the teachers took place at our school in order to be optimally prepared for the coming school year. This week of preparation has proven to be an indispensable part of enabling the teaching staff to have a smooth start to the school year, thus ensuring the best possible start for our students.
Joint activities as well as the pedagogical exchange between colleagues promoted an atmosphere of collegial learning and strengthened the cohesion in the teaching team.
Over all, the preparatory week can undoubtedly be considered a success. We set sail together and look forward to another successful school year at the IGS.

Dear students, dear colleagues,
We hope you all had a restful and wonderful holiday season! With great joy, we would like to welcome you to the beginning of the new school year. A warm welcome also goes to our new teaching colleagues who will enrich our team.
We are looking forward to a positive and successful school year.

The new first graders started school on Wednesday, August 30, 2023. We warmly welcome our “Little Whales” to the Primary School. In addition to various musical performances, including from the Giraffes (Class 2) and a student from the upper school, the children and parents were welcomed by the school Principal, Ms. Schaffer, and the new class teachers, Ms. Jurischka and Ms. Polzin.
After the traditional handover of the school bags by Mrs. Kiefer, the Little Whales’ first day of school began.
We wish you a good start and a great first year with us!
Wir wünschen ihnen einen guten Start und ein tolles erstes Jahr bei uns!

We are pleased to introduce a group of dedicated interns who are excited to bring their skills and passions to the International German School (IGS) in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the coming weeks and months, our new interns will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in various departments and projects in order to gain a comprehensive insight into school life.

Both the Researcher House and the Explorer House had a successful start to the new year. With an enlarged team and new children, the groups got together this week and worked on the topic “That’s me”.
In the Discovery House, the body parts were explored and named. The swimming lessons for the pre-school group could also start on the IGS Campus. After the long weekend, we will deal with the topic “feelings” and welcome the parents to the first parents’ evening of the year.

First aid is important where people come together: at home, on the way to work, at work or at school. In order to be able to start the new school year well prepared, some of our teachers completed a first aid course on 16th August under the expert guidance of Dr. Linh from Family Medical Practice D.2

On August 16, 2023, we welcomed Mr. Christopher David Scholl, Deputy Consul General, and Ms. Hannah Schempf, Economic, Public and Cultural Affairs, to the IGS campus.
We look forward to a lasting cooperation between our school and the office of the General Consulate, and wish you a safe arrival in Ho Chi Minh City.