News for Parents

The anniversary week came to a successful conclusion on Thursday with an atmospheric concert in a festive atmosphere.
The young artists, Hieu Doanh, Ziyuan, Bình An and Khôi, delighted the guests with a virtuoso program with works by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Paganini, Shostakovich, Erroll Garner, Joseph Kosma, and pieces they had composed themselves. We are particularly pleased that both Ms. Bluhm and Mr. Thormann from the Foundation for Education and Crafts, as well as Mr. Tuyen Nguyen and Ms.Quynh Nguyen from Asia Pacific Philanthropy gGmbH accepted our invitation and enjoyed the enchanting  musical performances of our students.

The idea of Identity Day at the start of the anniversary week was to make the school’s own identity visible. The students were on the trail of the question of their own ego. The reflections of the students on their identity in the context of everyday school life were particularly exciting.

Pablo Picasso once said: “Everyone is an artist as a child. The difficulty lies in staying one as an adult.”
With this in mind, the true artists of the IGS were allowed to exhibit their artworks in Villa E on the IGS campus last weekend.
This vernissage, which marked the start of the “Celebration Ten” anniversary week, was framed by a wonderful music program that combined the performing arts with the visual arts. The Community Choir of the IGS opened the Vernissage, the small and large school band as well as the band Moonrise City, musically accompanied the numerous visitors through an atmospheric evening.

The Grade 2 children have been thoroughly enjoying building their own Lego Robots during their ICT lessons. They have learned many new skills working collaboratively in groups of two. Lego education gives an experience of learning through concrete objects. Children select the necessary blocks, place them together, push them tightly not to come apart, while following instructions on their iPad. All of this develops better functions of movement and muscles and increases motor activity. They loved the experience as they learned how to build their robot and then to code their creation to move.  Education is made interactive – and even better when it’s creative and fun! As well as teaching children the basics of programming, Lego Robotics can also help them hone their problem-solving skills. Some of these benefits are found in the usual areas, such as math, spatial activities and early engineering skills. Others are more surprising, especially social skills.

As part of the environmental working group, students in Class 5 have been dealing with the topic of energy for a few weeks. For this purpose, the children dedicated themselves to investigating the different forms of renewable energy sources, carried out various experiments and were able to experience practically how energy is produced.
Against this background, Ms. Hartmann, an expert at the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center, offered a workshop on the topic of resource-saving energy use. The consumer advice center NRW provides information and advice on the various questions of everyday consumer life. She is committed to transparent consumer information and the practicable design of consumer rights.
As part of the workshop, the children of the environmental working group became “energy-saving detectives” and learned how to save electricity, and what effects this has on us and our environment. As multipliers, they were then able to pass on the knowledge they had gained to their families and circles of friends.
We would like to thank everyone who supported the workshop directly or indirectly. In particular, we would like to thank Ms. Hartmann for conducting the workshop!

What an exciting time for the big “Entdecker”! 
Since last week, all the big “Entdecker” who will be moving to the “Forscherhaus” next school year have been participating in Mrs Christine’s morning circle every Friday and show what they have learned in the “Kindergartenhaus”. Some of the “Entdeckers” were still a bit shy at the beginning, but after the first visit to Mrs Christine’s morning circle it was quite clear: Mrs Julia, next time we will go by ourselves! 
Said!
Done!
Through these regular visits to the “Vorschulhaus”, the children have the opportunity to get to know the new procedures and routines and to make new friends. This way, the transition to the “Vorschulhaus” is child’s play for them and little “Entdeckers” quickly become big “Forschers”!

PRE-SCHOOLERS DISCOVER DRY ICE!
The preschool children at the International German School HCMC embarked on an exciting adventure. They had the opportunity to visit the laboratory and be enchanted by the fascinating properties of dry ice.
The preschool group was warmly welcomed by Mr. Kehm, who shared his knowledge and passion with the young explorers. Arriving at the lab, they were greeted by a stunning demonstration involving dry ice – solid carbon dioxide that exists at extremely low temperatures.
Mr. Kehm explained to the preschoolers in simple terms how dry ice is made and what properties it has. He showed them how, when they touch warm surfaces, it immediately begins to steam and creates impressive wafts of fog. The little explorers’ eyes widened as they watched this seemingly magical process.
The children also had the opportunity to experiment with dry ice. Under Mr. Kehm’s watchful eye, they were able to place it in clear, warm water and observe how it turned into gas in a matter of seconds, and in a washing-up liquid solution, which led to the formation of volcano-like bubbles. The little explorers were amazed by the rapid changes and the effect that the dry ice had on their surroundings.
The visit to the laboratory was an unforgettable experience for the IGS preschool group. The young explorers’ enthusiasm and curiosity were piqued and they were encouraged to continue their own research journey.

Class 9 builds and explores electric drives in physics lessons
In Class 9 physics lessons, everything revolved around electric drives and the fascinating construction of electric motors. The students had the opportunity to put theoretical knowledge into practice and build their own working electric motors.
Under the expert guidance of their physics teacher, students began learning the basics of electrical circuits and how electric motors work. The students learned how electricity and magnetism work together to create rotational motion.
After the students had understood the theoretical concepts, it was time to build their own electric motors. They were given a variety of materials, including copper wire, magnets, batteries, and sheets of wood. With great enthusiasm and commitment, they got to work and began to assemble their engines step by step.
Once the electric motors were ready, the moment of truth came. The students connected their motors to the batteries and watched with excitement as the coils began to turn. A beaming smile spread across their faces as they saw the success of their own constructions.
Building electric motors in Physics Class 9 at the International German School HCMC was not only a fun and engaging experience, but also a way for the students to improve their practical skills and deepen their understanding of the principles of physics.
Such projects encourage independent learning, teamwork and critical thinking in the students.

The “IGS Selection” is picking up speed!
Only ten minutes left on the clock! A game at a very high footballing level is entering its final phase. The team around captain Minh and striker Luong had already combined dangerously in front of the opposing goal several times. Suddenly a nasty foul in the penalty area – penalty for the “IGS Selection”! Paul of all people, the youngest player in the team, is motivated by his teammates to play and converts confidently. 
Unfortunately it is only one of the three needed to equalise and ends the game with the final score. Nevertheless, the IGS football team, which has been growing strongly in recent months and consists of students from grades 7-11, showed a disciplined performance and gave the opponent a difficult afternoon in the friendly game on June 1st.
The opponents were a selection of players from  the European International School – a team with a long tradition and therefore much more experience. This is one of the reasons why the result can definitely be booked as a success for the “IGS Selection” and motivates the players for future challenges. But the incredibly high level of fan support also shows that such sporting events, especially football, are met with great enthusiasm and should therefore be supported as best as possible. 
A number of teachers, students and friends accompanied the team and did everything they could to support it, especially loudly. More of this, please – that’s how football is fun!

How can it be that food goes into the body but faeces come out?
The third-grade students got to the bottom of this question in a series of experiments. As little explorers, they studied the path of their own chyme (a chewed slice of bread) through the body. The functions of the individual digestive organs could be experienced both haptically and visually: pantyhose served as the oesophagus through which the chyme was pushed.Vinegar essence served as the stomach acid and the large intestine was embodied by a muslin cloth through which the chyme was pressed in order to add the liquid to the chyme bolus. The little researchers find out that digestion is an exciting and not so disgusting thing as initially thought.
What was probably most interesting for most children was that there is a digestive organ in their bodies that is almost as long as their own classroom. Which digestive organ is that?
Solution (read backwards): enitsetniegral
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This visit was particularly special as we were able to fundraise more than ever before, this would not have been possible without the incredibly generous donations from the IGS Parents Council Fund, teachers and students. Your kindness means a great deal to this community and will have an enormous impact upon their quality of life. Thanks to the efforts of our class 9 girls and SV charity team members we were able to organise our first ever IGS milk tea stand in school and raise over 6 million vnd in donations for the orphanage. The milk tea was a big hit with the students and they were able to create a healthier alternative to the traditional ingredients. We would also like to say a big thank you to Zeroism Cafe in Thao Dien for their very generous donation of handmade vegan boba for the teas.

Our class 3 students were excited to welcome our special guest to the art room this week. We were lucky to get the opportunity to work with professional artist, photographer and curator Lien Pham from WeDoGood, a specialist risograph printing studio based here in Saigon. 
Risograph printing is a technique best described as ‘digital screen printing’. The process is similar to screen printing, but with the convenience of an office copier. It’s known for its vivid colours (that other printers can’t produce) and its specific textures.
The students had plenty of questions about how the printing process worked and what they could make using this technique. Lien brought a wide range of examples of beautiful artworks WeDoGood have produced, from books to art posters to inspire the children.
She then invited them to collaborate with her to create a special design for our upcoming anniversary celebrations. The students were asked to draw some of their favourite memories from their time at IGS. These drawings were then scanned and will be turned into beautiful colourful postcards for them to share at our Vernissage event on Saturday 24th June. We can’t wait to share what we have made with you!
If you are interested in learning more about risograph printing or would like to commission your own print designs you can follow their work online. Lien and the team host regular public workshops for anyone interested in working in this medium and they have a wide range of art from local artists available. 
https://www.facebook.com/weedoogood 
@wedogood.riso 

Want to get a taste of university life? Nothing easier than that! On Thursday, May 25th, classes 8-11 had the opportunity to visit the Vietnamese-German University. What exactly was done? Read on here and you will get Adrian’s experience report from Class 11.
go to Experience report  (by Adrian Dolejschka, class 11) 

On May 23, the IGS carried out a fire drill in cooperation with the fire department of Thu Duc city. The exercise began with an evacuation of the entire school, which was accomplished within 4 minutes. After the students returned from the assembly points, the fire brigade put on an exciting demonstration with fire, lots of smoke and water.

Every good school is in a constant process of development. Development is the guarantee for contemporary learning and therefore essential for the quality of any educational institution. That is why, at the beginning of this week, our esteemed process facilitator from the ZfA, Peter Wollenweber, visited the IGS to advise and support us in our school’s development process.
From Monday to Wednesday, Mr. Wollenweber had many interesting conversations with our dedicated colleagues and took the time to advise our active project and working groups, providing them with valuable insights for their ongoing work. His visit enabled us to engage in an intensive dialogue to reflect on current developments and also gain valuable insights into proven practices and innovative approaches.
At this point, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Wollenweber for his valuable support. We are already looking forward to his next visit in September and to reaping the next fruits of our ongoing work in developing the school.

With the 2022/23 school year on the home stretch, a new and exciting chapter for school entrants is fast approaching… school enrollment!
A few weeks ago, the children were able to vote for their new class animal, which will accompany them in the four years of primary school. The choice fell on the whale with a large majority! In order to get the parents in the right mood for this new and big phase of their children’s lives and at the same time to provide them with all the information they need, we invited them to a parents’ evening.
With a glass of sparkling wine in hand, the parents were given the opportunity to get a taste of the Class 1 classroom, to get to know the rituals and processes of the elementary school and to become active themselves on our so-called letter path.
After partaking in some refreshment, the parents were able to let their creativity run free when designing the school cones. We are already looking forward to the eyes of the future whale children when they are presented with the school cone during the school enrollment party in summer!

The ability to swim is incredibly important for children so that they can stay safe in and around the ocean, beach and pool. It is important to start swimming lessons as early as possible so that the children become safe as soon as possible.
The U6 area has therefore firmly integrated swimming lessons for the preschool children into the timetable. Together with the sports teacher Mr. Tietz, the prospective first graders go to the swimming pool every Tuesday. But the kindergarten children don’t miss out either. A paddling pool is set up for the younger children every Friday so that Explorers can learn about water safety in a fun environment. The swim and splash lessons provide Explorers and Researchers with the skills to become strong, safe and confident swimmers in the water in a fun and encouraging environment.