LIS Observer
Newsletter of the Leipzig International School e. V. · IB World School
September 2013
Content
2
F rom the Headmaster
Einschulung Ceremony
3 Letter from the Board
Groundbreaking Ceremony
4 Welcome to LIS
6 School Calendars
7 LIS Lions
8 Primary School – Bigger and Better
News from the Playground Buddies
9 Examination Results 2013
10Grade 11 Field Trip to CZ
11Early Childhood
12 LIS Charity Projects
13Behaviour Rules
LIS Parent Portal
14 Summer Holiday Hort
16Living in Leipzig
Einschulung Ceremony
What is that strange thing? A decorated cone
filled with sweets, pencils, rulers, and
scratchpads? Lots of well dressed kids
and their parents may have been
wondering about the Einschulung
tradition, which has been
shepherding children in Germany into a
new stage of their lives since the early 19th
century. It was the same at LIS: curiosity, timidity,
and excitement could all be seen on the first
graders’ faces as they held their very own
“Zuckertüte”.
August 19, 2013 will remain a day to remember
for all participants. After an impressive
performance by Ms. Schilling and her students,
63 students took turns crossing a wooden
bridge that symbolised this important rite of
passage in their lives. They met their teachers on
the other side. Most of them joined classmates
whom they already knew from Reception, while
others quickly made new friends.
Continued on page 2
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to the 2013/14 school year!
I hope you all had a relaxing and refreshing
summer. We are looking forward to an
exciting and enjoyable time at school and in
the LIS community
this year.
Many LIS students
and parents are new
to this city and have
been both curious
and excited about the
school, particularly the
first days of settling in.
I too have been very
excited during my first
days at LIS, where I was warmly welcomed after
working for a community radio station in Halle
(Saale) for 2 years. I have always enjoyed working in
international and cross-cultural environments and
learning from people who bring experiences from
different backgrounds. Such places are truly
valuable, and I am glad to be a part of the LIS
team as I replace Ms. Liane Lindenlaub during her
maternity leave. I want to take this chance to
congratulate Liane on the birth of her son Henrik
Johannes – LIS wishes the young family all the
best for this exciting time! There are
Photo: Annett
Poppe
also plenty of other new staff
members who will introduce themselves in this
issue. We look forward to meeting you all in
person soon.
The new school year brings with it a few changes.
On the bright side, our new Early Childhood Centre
is under construction (see page 3 to read about
the groundbreaking ceremony), and newly elected
parent representatives will continue to connect the
parent community to the Trägerverein and school
management. On a sadder note, Headmaster Roel
Scheepens will leave us soon to make a new start
and face new challenges as headmaster in a
school in his home country. Roel has helped shape
LIS since 2007, ensuring that it maintained the
special flair that gives our students so many great
impressions and experiences. We wish Roel, his
wife Susanne van Wersch, and their whole family
all the best in their next adventure. We will miss
them, but we will continue to work according to
Roel’s motto: to create the necessary conditions
for our students to fulfill their great physical,
intellectual, and social potentials.
The LIS community offers many ways for students,
their parents, and staff members to share their ideas
and help execute them together. You are all welcome
to celebrate international events like Lunar New
Year, Diwali, St. Martins Lantern Walk, and Summer
Fair with us, to attend our drama and music
performances, or to join charity projects.
I am certain this year will be a special one, full of
exciting adventures, personal and shared
successes, and also changes. I wish us all the
best in the new school year!
Robert Christiansen
www .intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 1
LIS Observer
From the Headmaster
Surveys, Actions and Wishes
The school is now in full swing and on its way to
another great school year. Staff and parent
surveys were conducted during 2012-13 and it is
perhaps worth summarising and comparing some
of the findings of those at the start of the new
academic year.
We recruited a new Human Resources Manager, as
well as improve quality Christiane Heinold, who will
be starting on 1 December 2013.
We started off the 2013-14 school year with 770
students and a new whole school framework for a
behaviour policy based on four behaviour standards
for staff as well as for students:
Main Findings from Parent Survey and
Staff Survey 2012-13
•
•
•
•
• Parents were very happy with the overall learning
environment.
• Both parents and staff were happy with the
general atmosphere in the classrooms.
• Both parents and staff were critical of the
cafeteria meals and the parking facilities.
• Staff asked for more professional attention paid
to personnel issues.
• Staff reported a concern with behaviour
management and parents echoed this to some
degree.
• Parents reported a concern with the quality of
information about student progress and staff
echoed this to some degree.
So, what are our responses to the results of the
surveys?
We kept working on the supervision of the parking
and drop-off, but delivering many hundreds of
children along a busy street between 8:00 and
8:30 every morning is always going to be a
challenge. Long term, the moving out of the
youngest children to the Early Childhood Centre to
a quieter street will help with the parking and
drop-off situation.
We are satisfied with the quality in relation to the
cost of € 2,75 per meal in the cafeteria. At the
same time we are looking into long term structural
improvements to the cafeteria system that should
help reduce waiting time.
We are here to learn.
We work and play together.
We are fair and honest.
We are respectful.
Both students and staff worked through these four
standards to come up with appropriate procedures
for each. For example, “We are here to learn”
means that you come to class on time, that you
have your materials with you, that you participate
in the lesson and that you work hard. It also means
that we are all here to learn from our mistakes and
that mistakes are allowed as long as we are willing
to correct them. I was delighted to hear one new
colleague tell me “you know, I never thought of we
are here to learn as a behaviour rule but, now that
we are listing examples, it makes complete sense”.
In order to improve the quality of information on
student progress, we have done more work on
updating our curriculum documentation and
improving the channels of communication with
parents. Amongst these are: the introduction of
weekly newsletters in Primary School, an increased
amount of information available through the
Parent Portal on the web site and more e-mails to
parents when there is cause for concern.
At LIS we enable staff, students and parents to offer
appropriate input before important decisions are
made. One additional opportunity for parent input is
the election of four parent representatives. Our
election observers, Mrs. Pender and Mr. Standfuß,
will oversee this year’s elections and, by 4 October
midnight, the results will be known and we will
hopefully have four new parent representatives for
2 LIS OBSERVER
www .intschool-leipzig.com
Welcome back to a new School Year, the
22nd year of our existence and the last
year in which the whole school will be
together on one campus.
As we write, work is going on apace building the
Early Childhood Centre. This will be completed
on in mid-2014, and as soon as our Early
Childhood and Reception classes have moved
there, work will start on building a new
Auditorium and Performing Arts Centre at
Könneritzstraße 47. Currently, we are defining
the specifications for that new building to make
sure that all our prospective requirements have
been thought about. We never stop moving
forward.
This year will be unusual for the fact that from
November we will not have one Headmaster but
three Heads of School, namely Matthew Raggett,
Sarah Brannon and Kirk Peiffer, who have taken
on the responsibility for running the school for
the interim period until the new Head of School
takes up his position. We would have preferred to
write “his or her” position, but in fact we have
received no applications from female candidates.
The good news, however, is that a total of 49
applications have been received from applicants
currently in positions all over the world. This is a
great compliment to our School, which apparently
has acquired a worldwide reputation for being a
quality school and a good place to work. Thanks
to all the members of leadership and faculty who
have helped to build that reputation. The best 3
or 4 applicants will be invited to visit the school
in mid-October and you will have a chance to see
them in action when they present themselves to
the school community. Having heard the views of
staff, students and parents, the Board will then
make an appointment as soon as possible after
those visits. The new Head of School will be
expected to take up his (!) new job as of 1 August
2014. We have already reviewed the applications.
Whoever we finally appoint, he is going to be
good!
Please take time to read Matthew Raggett’s piece
on the results of the IB examinations last year.
Concern has been expressed that academic
standards at the school might be falling. But this
is very far from the truth. More students passed
the IB last year then ever before. However, there
were many more candidates and some of them
(and their parents) did not follow our advice with
respect to the choice of subjects. In future, we will
make greater efforts to ensure that our advice is
heard and acted upon. But it is nevertheless
important to remember that we are a non-
selective school. We do all we can to bring out
the best in every student, but there are students
whose strengths do not lie in academic subjects
– and the IB only measures academic prowess.
What is important is to ensure that academicallyinclined students are able to develop and display
their academic strengths at our school, and
suffice it to say that the results of those students,
both at IB and IGCSE, amply prove that the
academic education provided at our school is of
the highest quality. And we would like to claim
that the artistic, moral and social education is
equally good!
In terms of workload, this is going to be a tough
and testing year, especially for our leadership
team. We would ask the whole school community
for your support, patience and goodwill to make
sure that it is not only hard work, but also good
fun, and ultimately successful.
Christopher Smith, Dr Nikolaus Petersen,
Jana Näther, Dr Skadi Beblo
Groundbreaking Ceremony for the LIS Early Childhood Centre
Roel Scheepens
Secondary School Principal
from 1 August 2007 – 31 July 2009
Headmaster from 1 August 2009 – 31 October 2013
Poppe
Continued from page 1
Their teachers – no less excited than the little students – then
showed the kids to their classrooms. They prepared wish cards with
messages about what they hoped to learn in Grade One, tied them
to helium balloons, and released them in the schoolyard later on
together with friends and family.
Now the time had come to open the Zuckertüte – and to celebrate
the start of a school year filled with great successes, new friends,
exciting and enriching experiences, and, above all, lots of fun as part
of the LIS community!
Letter from the Board
the coming two years. We are very grateful to all
parents who have submitted their candidacy.
Standing for office is a significant service to the
school community. It gives parents a real choice and
it breathes new life into parental involvement at the
whole-school level. I would like to express my
gratitude to Alya Pender, Fabrizia Curti, Wolf Dieter
Meier and Michael Hartwig for their contributions to
the school as parent representatives over the last
two years. Of course we are also more than grateful
to all parents who volunteer to help out in their
children’s classes as room parents, some of them
providing this service year after year.
Student input, as a general rule, is solicited
through the Primary and Secondary Student
Councils. This year, in 2013-14, we aim to conduct
a full Student Survey analogous to last year’s
Parent Survey and we look forward to listening
carefully to what the students will be telling us
about the new behaviour management focus and
other areas of student life at LIS.
I hope that some of you will have a chance to also
visit one of the many activities around the 200th
anniversary of the Battle of Nations in October
2013. A good opportunity to reflect on the legacy
of the French Revolution and, perhaps more
importantly still, how Europe has slowly learnt to
trade-in armed conflict for peaceful resolution over
the last 200 years. We are here to learn.
For me personally, the time to say “goodbye” will
come shortly after the time you read this Observer.
This is my last article for the LIS Observer in my
capacity as Headmaster. It has been a true
privilege to be at the helm for a few very good
years.
I am leaving the school in the more than capable
hands of the entire staff led by my good friends
Matthew Raggett, as Acting Head and Secondary
School Principal, Sarah Brannon, as Principal for
Primary School, Early Childhood, Hort and Student
Support Services, and Kirk Peiffer, as Commercial
Director in charge of all administrative staff.
I wish LIS the golden future that awaits it. Go Lions!
Photos: Annett
Einschulung Ceremony
LIS Observer
On Wednesday, 19 June 2013, we celebrated the
festive Groundbreaking ceremony of the Early
Childhood Centre in Plagwitz between Karl-HeineStraße and Weißenfelser Straße.
Leipzig International School has been serving
Leipzig and the surrounding region for some 21
years, providing an international education to
both internationally mobile and local children.
The school opened with just three kindergarten
children. Currently, thanks to the school's families
and supporters, the total student population is
over 770, and we are building an Early Childhood
Centre for 260 children.
LIS has contracted with GP Papenburg Hochbau
GmbH for the construction of the building as well
as the landscaping at its new Early Childhood
Centre. To be built on the parcel of land between
Weißenfelser Straße and Karl-Heine-Straße behind
the building known as GaraGe, the Centre was
designed by the Leipzig architectural firm
Behzadi + Partner. Upon completion of the
building in 2014, LIS will move its current Early
Childhood programme to the new facility.
Additionally, a nursery will be opened. In total, up
to 260 children will be provided care and
education at the new Centre: 8 nursery groups on
the ground floor, 6 groups of children ages 3 - 5
on the first floor, and up to 3 groups of Reception
children (ages 5 - 6) on the top floor. A
multifunctional room is part of each floor and will
allow the children to engage in a wide range of
activities outside their group room. In addition to
approximately 5.000 m2 of landscaped and
outfitted playground area, the terraced building
offers two large
roof decks, which
will serve as
outdoor
educational
space.
www .intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 3
7
S
I
L
o
t
NEW
4
1
2y/CT/Grade 7 Form Tutor
Kevin has come to Leipzig from Fukuoka Japan where
he spent three years teaching ICT and Science. Kevin
has a great interest in sporting activities, things with
two wheels and, lately, robotics. He loves, and has
worked in, the ICT field since he was 17.
12
Grade 4 Home Room Teacher
and Phase 2 Leader
8
Rafael Garcia
Rafael is called Señor García at LIS. He teaches
from Grade 6 up to Grade 9. His vocation has
always been languages. Fortunately LIS offers a
wonderful daily chance to hear, and also to
practise, English, German, French and Spanish. His
hobbies are reading, doing some sports like
swimming, skiing or trekking and above all
travelling and visiting new places.
2
Photo: Tommy Clarke
9
Reception Teacher
Andrew Beagrie
Grade 3 Home Room Teacher
Andrew Beagrie has taught at LIS several times before
and is delighted to be returning. He has also taught in
Czech Republic, South Korea and China. He is enjoying
being back in Germany, working with his new Grade 3
class and watching the mighty Dynamo Dresden.
2y Spanish Teacher
6
Mariann Tasber
Mariann Tasber is delighted to be returning to Leipzig
International School, where she taught previously.
While she was away, she taught in Berlin, Busan and
Beijing. She has been enjoying working with her new
Reception class and exploring Leipzig’s cycle paths.
Michelle Speight
5
1
11
2y Social Studies, Grade 9 Form Tutor
Ian is from the south west of England and completed his
IPGCE teacher training at LIS last year. So, he isn't really
‘new’ to the school. He is, however, teaching a number of
new courses this year including the IB Business and
Management programme. Ian is looking forward to
continuing training the LIS cross country team and has
high hopes of their chances in the GISST tournament in
October.
Michelle is from Yorkshire in the north of England and
has been teaching for 18 years, first in the UK, then
six years in Brazil and three years in Thailand. She
loves to travel and takes every opportunity to discover
the area that she is living in. She also loves to try new
things and has started playing volleyball and, lately,
frisby since arriving in Leipzig. Michelle can speak a
little German as she studied it at A level in the UK and
is looking forward to having more lessons to improve it
and have interesting conversations.
Kevin Tracy
Ian Mills
13
10
Photo: Tommy Clarke
3
8
11
Sorin comes to LIS directly from the Sonoran Desert of
Tucson, Arizona. He has 15 years’ experience as a
teacher, counsellor, and mentor of high school and
college students and athletes. Sorin has also counselled
new and experienced teachers in the areas of effective
classroom instruction and personal well being. Sorin’s
favourite thing about Leipzig is the amazing parks and
bike trails that he explores with his wife and son.
Office Generalist
Elisabeth Hegenbart was born in Leipzig but has lived
in various parts of Germany as well as in France during
the last decades. Elisabeth’s core responsibilities
include giving ICT support across the school and
working at the school’s reception desk where you will
see her in the afternoons. She is excited about working
with the LIS community!
20
16
Elisabeth Hegenbart
Antje Lorbeer
Management Assistant
Britta Rössner
2y German/Grade 7 Form Tutor
Britta is returning to LIS and to Leipzig after two
years on maternity leave and a move to England. She
is teaching German in secondary school and has a
degree in German, English and Social Psychology.
Britta has taught in Edinburgh and in Berlin and a
year at LIS in 2010/11. She is looking forward to
being a form teacher of 7BR and a member of the
charity committee.
Antje has joined the LIS team in September, filling the
position of School Management Assistant. Before that
she worked as a freelance translator of English and
Spanish, mainly focusing on non-fiction books but she
also spent many years teaching at the Leipzig University
Translation Institute and providing administrative
support to a Leipzig-based translation agency.
21
Allison Taylor
18
16
Allison is an experienced IB/MYP/IGCSE English
teacher from NZ. She has just come from teaching
Grades 6-12 in Khartoum, Sudan. Prior to that
Allison taught in an IB World in Indonesia and
before that she spent many years teaching English
in New Zealand. She is excited to be living and
working in this lovely city.
12
21
4
19
Jacinta Simasi
5
Serah Leruk
9
Early Childhood-Explorers
Maggie Giles
IBCC Coordinator,
2y Teacher of Music and ToK Teacher
Substitute Teacher
Serah Leruk works at the Early Years Section of Leipzig international school. Only
recently arrived, they enjoy living in Leipzig and being at the school. We say “they”,
because she moved from Kenya with her,
almost six year old daughter, Leila Marbach from the reception class. It has been
her dream to work at the Leipzig International School for many years and now she is
delighted to be here.
Jacinta comes from Kenya but has lived in Leipzig for
six years. She loves being part of LIS. Indeed, this is
not her first time here. She has worked as a substitute
teacher before and she is happy to be here again, this
year, as a permanent floater for the Secondary School.
She looks forward to meeting the new students and
teachers. She wishes everybody at LIS a good start
and a fulfilling year to come.
3
2y Counsellor
17
13
2
19
Sorin O. Suciu
HOD 2y English/Grade 8 Form Tutor
15
7
14
15
Anna Kmiec
2y ESL Teacher
Anna was born in southern Poland, but grew up in
Germany and Canada. She has taught English
Language in Ontario, Canada, as well as Poland and
England. She is very excited to be an ESL Primary
teacher at LIS. Anna enjoys reading, baking, riding
her bike, traveling and trying all kinds of new
activities. Her favourite thing about Leipzig, so far, is
trying out delicious goodies from the bakeries that
dot nearly every street corner.
6
Josephine Ng
Maggie, originally from the UK, has come to Leipzig
from Luanda, Angola, where she was Head of Arts. She
has been in international education since 2001 and has
also taught in Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Thailand. She is
passionate about music and the arts and is looking
forward to life in Leipzig. She is especially excited about
enjoying the rich cultural life here. Maggie is also
enthusiastic about developing the IBCC here at LIS and
hopes to be able to start communicating in German,
soon.
10
Helen Myers
School Nurse
Grade 1 Home Room Teacher
Josephine is originally from San Francisco, California.
She came to Germany in 2009. She worked for three
years as a teacher in a bilingual German-English
kindergarten in Halle (Saale). Now she is at LIS
working with the first grade. During her free time, she
enjoys running, cooking (Italian food is her favourite),
and travelling. You might recognise her because of
the hand brace she had when she first arrived.
Helen was born & raised in the Orkney Islands, in the
very north of Scotland, but moved to Leipzig, from
Glasgow, where she lived for the past eight years. She
qualified with a BSc in Nursing in 2003 and has
almost 10 years’ experience of working as a nurse,
both in hospitals and in the community. This is her
first time living abroad, so she is delighted to have
been given this wonderful opportunity to work in an
international school. Helen feels very excited about
the future.
Angel R Iruretagoyena Antoranz
2y Spanish/Grade 6 Form Tutor
Angel has come to Leipzig from Newcastle upon Tyne in
the north of England. There he acquired his Geordie
twang and many years’ experience teaching in state
schools around the North East of England. He is
extremely thrilled to be part of the LIS team, whose
staff and pupils have made him feel very welcome. He
thoroughly enjoys commuting to work on his old bike
and exploring the Leipzig region. Unfortunately he
cannot make his mind up about which German food he
likes the best: the sausages, the bread or the cakesdecisions.
14
20
Julie R. Suciu
Learning Support EC – Grade 4
Julie comes to LIS directly from the Sonoran Desert of
Tucson, Arizona in the United States of America. She
has 20 years’ experience in both primary and
secondary education in the area of Learning Support.
Julie has a dual BA in Elementary and Special
Education and an MEd in Educational Leadership.
Julie has also worked as a deputy school principal in
the United States. She is enjoying her life in Leipzig
exploring the city with her husband and son. She is
looking forward to a white Christmas this year.
17
Barbara Cormack-Krieg
2y Learning Support
Originally from Australia, Barbara has taught in
international schools in China, Thailand and
Switzerland prior to working at LIS. She has worked
with all age groups and her experiences include Head
of Student Support, Deputy Principal, ESL, counselling
and child welfare roles. Barbara enjoys the fine arts,
travel, the wonders of nature and trying to keep track
of the exploits of her adult children.
Voluntary Gap Year
at LIS
Maximilian Eggert
Grade 1 Assistant
Annika Müller
Reception Assistant
Rebecca-Paulina Praussner
18
Jayne Käthner
Learning Support 2y School
Denis Raytsin
Hort Assistant
Reception Assistant
Originally from Dundee, Scotland, Jayne has lived in
Bremen, Germany since 1997 where she taught children
English (Helen Doron Early English Teacher) for the last
six years. Jayne enjoys music, cycling, travelling, reading
and cooking. She is really excited about Leipzig and
being part of the LIS team.
Esther Vogel
Early Childhood Assistant
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 5
LIS Observer
School Calendars 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16
The calendar for the current school year 2013-14
was published in September 2012 and is repeated
here for your convenience below. The calendar for
2014-15 is finalised and is published here as well.
In addition we are pleased to present a school
calendar for 2015-16 two years in advance.
Please note the 2016-16 calendar is still a draft
version that will not finalised until September
2014!
Unlike the summer holidays in Saxony, which can
sometimes be early and sometimes be late, summer
holidays at LIS are always from the fourth week of
June to the third week of August. This fixed
summer holiday period is in broad agreement with
international schools world-wide and facilitates a
transfer of students from one international school
to another. Please note the following differences
with the school holidays in Saxony during 2013-14:
• First day for students is a Tuesday in the
range 15-21 August
• Last day for students is a Thursday in the
range 22-28 June
• Professional development day on 4 October
2014: school closed, no child care
• Friday 30 May 2014 is a regular school day
at LIS
• Last day of school in Saxony is 18 July but at
LIS it is 26 June
We thank you in advance for taking the LIS
school year into account with your holiday
planning!
Roel Scheepens,
Headmaster
LIS Observer
An Exciting Year
Awaits the LIS Lions
Tournament
Fixtures 2013/14
Fixtures up until Christmas
Sat 28 September
Last year, the LIS Lions were born and we enjoyed a very successful
year with our teams winning a school record of 28 GISST points and
enjoying top four finishes in volleyball, tennis, cross country and
football.
Girls Volleyball and mixed badminton
@ Berlin Brandenburg (friendly)
Sat 28 September
Boys Volleyball and U14 boys and girls
@ LIS (friendly)
29 - 30 September
Mixed golf
@ Dresden (GISST tournament)
Sat 12 October
Cross Country
@ Berlin British (GISST tournament)
Sat 12 October
School year 2013-14
U14 boys/girls football
week
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
1
2
3
23. Sep 30. Sep 07. Okt 14. Okt 21. Okt 28. Okt 04. Nov 11. Nov 18. Nov 25. Nov 02. Dez 09. Dez 16. Dez 23. Dez 30. Dez 06. Jan 13. Jan
Mon
23
30
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
Tue
24
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
Wed
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
Thu
26
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
28
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
Fri
27
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
@ Berlin Brandenburg (friendly)
week
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
20. Jan 27. Jan 03. Feb 10. Feb 17. Feb 24. Feb 03. Mär 10. Mär 17. Mär 24. Mär 31. Mär 07. Apr 14. Apr 21. Apr 28. Apr 05. Mai 12. Mai 19. Mai 26. Mai 02. Jun 09. Jun 16. Jun 23. Jun 30. Jun 07. Jul 14. Jul 21. Jul
Mon
20
27
03
10
17
24
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
28
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
Tue
21
28
04
11
18
25
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
Wed
22
29
05
12
19
26
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
Thu
23
30
06
13
20
27
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
17
24
Fri
24
31
07
14
21
28
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
25
School year 2014-15
week
Mon
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30
31
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38
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42
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1
2
3
21. Jul 28. Jul 04. Aug 11. Aug 18. Aug 25. Aug 01. Sep 08. Sep 15. Sep 22. Sep 29. Sep 06. Okt 13. Okt 20. Okt 27. Okt 03. Nov 10. Nov 17. Nov 24. Nov 01. Dez 08. Dez 15. Dez 22. Dez 29. Dez 05. Jan 12. Jan
21
28
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
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01
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12
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30
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14
21
28
04
11
18
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02
09
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30
06
13
23
30
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
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07
14
24
31
07
14
21
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04
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18
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02
09
16
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06
13
20
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04
11
18
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01
08
15
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01
08
15
22
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12
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10
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31
07
14
21
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05
12
19
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02
09
16
week
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8
9
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26
27
28
29
30
19. Jan 26. Jan 02. Feb 09. Feb 16. Feb 23. Feb 02. Mär 09. Mär 16. Mär 23. Mär 30. Mär 06. Apr 13. Apr 20. Apr 27. Apr 04. Mai 11. Mai 18. Mai 25. Mai 01. Jun 08. Jun 15. Jun 22. Jun 29. Jun 06. Jul 13. Jul 20. Jul
Mon
19
26
02
09
16
23
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
Tue
20
27
03
10
17
24
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
28
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
Wed
21
28
04
11
18
25
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
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Thu
22
29
05
12
19
26
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
Fri
23
30
06
13
20
27
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
17
24
School year 2015-16 (draft)
week
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
1
2
3
20. Jul 27. Jul 03. Aug 10. Aug 17. Aug 24. Aug 31. Aug 07. Sep 14. Sep 21. Sep 28. Sep 05. Okt 12. Okt 19. Okt 26. Okt 02. Nov 09. Nov 16. Nov 23. Nov 30. Nov 07. Dez 14. Dez 21. Dez 28. Dez 04. Jan 11. Jan
20
27
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
28
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
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04
11
21
28
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
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05
12
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29
05
12
19
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02
09
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30
07
14
21
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04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
23
30
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
24
31
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
week
4
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8
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13
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20
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23
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26
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30
18. Jan 25. Jan 01. Feb 08. Feb 15. Feb 22. Feb 29. Feb 07. Mär 14. Mär 21. Mär 28. Mär 04. Apr 11. Apr 18. Apr 25. Apr 02. Mai 09. Mai 16. Mai 23. Mai 30. Mai 06. Jun 13. Jun 20. Jun 27. Jun 04. Jul 11. Jul 18. Jul
Mon
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
07
14
21
28
04
11
18
25
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
Tue
19
26
02
09
16
23
01
08
15
22
29
05
12
19
26
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
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12
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Wed
20
27
03
10
17
24
02
09
16
23
30
06
13
20
27
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
Thu
21
28
04
11
18
25
03
10
17
24
31
07
14
21
28
05
12
19
26
02
09
16
23
30
07
14
21
Fri
22
29
05
12
19
26
04
11
18
25
01
08
15
22
29
06
13
20
27
03
10
17
24
01
08
15
22
Regular School Day
6 LIS OBSERVER
Early Years and Holiday Hort
www .intschool-leipzig.com
Staff Work Day (school closed)
This year promises to be even more exciting,
with more practice sessions taking place, more
tournaments being entered, more teams
travelling, and more fun being had. Becoming a
‘Lion’ is the thing to do at LIS.
New this year, designed especially for the
Primary School, is the ‘Lion Cubs’. This is a
sporting programme that will focus on teaching
the primary students core skills in several
sports. A range of sports will be introduced
(depending on the age group) and students will
learn what it is like to be a ‘Lion’. The ‘Lion
Cubs’ is working in collaboration with Hort and
the aim is to give as many students as possible
a chance to experience sport and make new
friends. Sign-ups will be at the beginning of
each term. So please do not worry if your child
did not get a place this time.
In the Secondary School, our long-term aim is
to improve our sporting status among other
German international schools. LIS has been the
‘sleeping lion’ of GISST. In years gone by, our
bottom heavy school made recruiting players
difficult. Now that the school is nearly at its
capacity, the range of players we can choose
from is increasing. This means that not only do
we have the teams but also, we have enough
players to make our teams competitive.
This year, we will be entering a total of 16
tournaments including
several which we will be entering for the first
time. Varsity boys will be competing in
basketball and football as well as volleyball.
U14 girls will be competing in football, and we
hope to send a swimming team to Frankfurt
and a golf team to Dresden.
Record numbers are turning up to training
particularly in cross-country and basketball
(both of which started last year). This can only
bode well for all of our teams.
If your child would like to be a part of the
School Athletics Programme, then please
support them in becoming a Lion. Another,
valuable, way to support our athletics
programme is to host students from other
schools when LIS hosts a tournament. A GISST
requirement is that every school hosts at least
one, sometimes three tournaments per
academic year. This means that several times a
year accommodation needs to be provided for
up to 120 visiting students. Assisting with this
is paramount if we are to continue building this
School’s Programme and providing as many
opportunities as possible for your children.
LAST YEAR LION FEVER SWEPT LIS – THIS YEAR
IN SEEMS IT HAS BECOME AN EPIDEMIC.
GO LIONS!
Paul McTigue,
Athletics Director
11-12 October
Varsity boys/girls football
@ Franconian (round robin friendly)
7-9 November
Varsity girls football
@ Berlin International (GISST tournament)
7-9 November
Varsity boys football
@ Bavarian Int (GISST tournament)
14-16 November
U14 girls football
@ LIS (GISST tournament)
14-16 November
U14 boys football
@ Franconian (GISST tournament)
29 November-1 December
Girls Volleyball
@ Dresden (GISST tournament)
29 November-1 December
Boys Volleyball
@ Berlin Brandenburg (GISST tournament)
5-7 December
U14 mixed badminton
@ Neuss (GISST tournament)
5-7 December
Varsity badminton
@ Berlin International (GISST tournament)
Holiday
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 7
LIS Observer
The Primary School just got…
... Bigger
This year the term the Primary School will
include the Early Childhood classes, the
Reception classes, the Grade 1to 5 classes and
Hort.
All the aspects of learning and
development that take place for our students
under 11 years old will be considered part of
their Primary education and therefore part of
the Primary School.
The integration of Early Childhood and Hort with
Primary will have so many positive advantages.
The alignment of philosophies and curriculum
across all sections will ensure that there is good
clear progression for the students. The alignment
of systems will ensure that there is consistency of
approach and this will mean that students will
have a clearer understanding about how things
work well around the whole school.
LIS Observer
To facilitate this change a strong Primary
Leadership Team has been set up to work together
to lead and manage the school. There are now
phase leaders who have responsibility for the
smooth running of different sections of the
Primary School. Together this team has drawn up
an Action Plan that has set priorities for
development this year in the Primary School as it
is important that the school continues to improve
and focus on new initiatives for the future.
Our main focus, as ever will be on children’s
learning - academic, social, spiritual, emotional
and physical. We are pleased to announce the
introduction of the new International Primary
Curriculum to our school, which will be a very
practical and valuable tool in aiding teachers to
develop children’s learning. Learning needs to be
active, in the sense that children must engage
with their learning; in these last couple of weeks
we have seen students excited and motivated
during the entry sessions to the new themed units
they will be working on this term. Learning needs
to be relevant to the future but also placed into
the context that makes sense to their present lives
and this curriculum is an internationally-minded,
thematic, cross-curricular and rigorous teaching
structure which will develops 21st century skills.
There is plenty to look forward to this year in
Primary and we look to our staff, parents and
community to support us in going forward with
real purpose as we provide bigger and better
opportunities for our students.
Sarah Brannon,
Primary Principal
Let’s play with the new Playground Buddies!
The LIS Playground Buddies have been so
amazing and successful the last two school
years that it’s essential to continue this Primary
programme: The “Buddies” supported their peers
and younger children on the Early Childhood
and Primary School playground during recess by
teaching and sharing with them games,
organizing teams, playing with children who are
lonely, and helping new students to settle in.
Starting in the end of September, some 4th and
5th Grade students will become new Playground
Buddies of the school year 2013/2014. The
children applied for a job as a Playground
Buddy, were nominated by their fellow students
and interviewed by staff. In order to set up this
support, it is necessary that the “Buddies” are
provided with training so that they develop the
needed knowledge, skills and confidence in
order to carry out their job well. At the beginning
of September, 21 “Buddies” will spend a whole
weekend at Gut Wehlitz in Schkeuditz to get
8 LIS OBSERVER
www .intschool-leipzig.com
trained by KrisTina Stellmach and Davide Sozzi.
Part of the training course will be reading the
emotions of others, how to be a good listener and
how to approach students who are sad or bored.
They will also learn many new and exciting
playground games. Through their invaluable
support, the “Buddies” will encourage children to
play safely together which in itself will help
LIS Examination Results 2013
... and Better
reduce the number of accidents on the
playground and thereby create happier
playtimes.
We are all very excited and can’t wait to see
children playing with the new Playground
Buddies.
KrisTina Stellmach,
Playground Buddy Coordinator
IGSCE Results
IGCSE Results
After the foundation provided by G6-8 courses, our students
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
(exams taken in June of G10)
embark on a two year programme of study, partly of their choosing
and partly a requirement, which prepares them to take the
Number of candidates
14
15
29
19
33
Cambridge IGCSE examinations in the summer of Grade 10. This
Percentage of grades A* - C
73%
81%
95%
91%
93%
year we had our largest ever cohort taking the exams and we were
World Average
≈90% ≈90% ≈90% ≈90% ≈90%
delighted with the success that they had. The success was twofold;
we had a student achieve only A* grades for all 9 exams that he
sat, several others gained almost all A* grades with a couple of A thrown in; this move onto the next stage of full time education; the success of hard work
is the success of outstanding achievement. We also had some students who overcoming the odds. As well as those moving into our IB Diploma Programme
worked hard with the support that we were able to give as teachers, student we have students who are going onto Ausbildung programmes, IB certificates
support specialists and course coordinators, to gain results allowing them to courses at LIS and on to further education schools in their home countries.
IB Results
Our IB cohort was also our largest ever; 22 students gained
the full IB Diploma with an average point score above the
world average. One of our successful Diploma candidates
was retaking exams that he had failed the previous year.
IB Results
(exams taken in May of G12)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Number of candidates
20
16
12
18
30
Number of candidates obtaining the diploma
19
16
12
15
22
LIS average full diploma point score
34.3
32.0
31.0
33.3
31.2
World Average full diploma point score
29.5
29.5
29.6
29.9
29.8
Percentage of successful diploma candidates
95%
100%
100%
83%
73%
World Average diploma pass rate
79%
78%
78%
78%
78%
There were 8 students who did not pass the IB with the palette of courses
they had chosen for themselves. Whilst our predicted grades were
accurate, meaning that those not gaining the diploma were not a surprise
to us, we acknowledge that, for the first time, our pass rate was below
the world average and that we would have preferred a better outcome.
At the same time, we are proud of our students, some of whom set very
high goals for themselves, and always aware of the slanted comparison
to the world average which includes schools who have stringent
requirements for entrance into the IB programme.
Of the 22 who gained the Diploma there were four who did not gain a
HZB. Two of these are retaking some exams in November, one has entered
Leipzig University through the UniAssist programme and one is
continuing with a FSJ volunteer year.
Our target for the next IB Diploma examinations is an increased pass rate
and a further rise in our total diploma points average.
How will we do this?
There is a difference between doing well on the IGCSE examinations in
grade 10 and doing well on the IB Diploma in grade 12 and we will be
paying extra attention in future to help students make the transition
from successful IGCSE students to successful IB students.
•What we have learned in recent years is that learning support can
make a real difference to the success of some our students in the
IGCSE examinations. We will extend learning support to grade 11 and
12, offering an increased level of support for those with a diagnosed
learning need.
•Students in all grade levels will receive more opportunities to develop
the higher level thinking skills that are required to achieve the highest
IB grades.
•The admission criteria for the IB Diploma Programme now require a
minimum grade B for any IB subject at Higher Level and a minimum
grade C for most Standard Level subjects.
•We are coaching students to have more realistic expectations and are
encouraging them more strongly into selecting Higher Level courses
that they can be successful in, rather than Higher Level courses that
they will struggle with.
•We have introduced stricter rules about students being on time and
meeting deadlines (each according to his/her ability and taking
access arrangements into account).
•We have removed the couch from the IB study lounge and increased
the number of computers there from 8 to 20, thus turning it into a
real study room.
•We are committed to increasing the communication about student
learning with students and parents.
•We will teach students that in life you usually get out of it what you
are prepared to put in. Mr. Dindorf said to his classes at the end of
last year: "Ask yourself what it is that you want and then ask yourself
what you are prepared to sacrifice to get it. Nothing that is worth
having comes easily”.
•While working hard on the continued great success of our IB Diploma
programme, we are also developing improved alternative programmes
for those students who have different interests and talents.
The cohorts of examination candidates in 2013 were the largest ever in
both grade 10 and grade 12 and the overwhelming majority of students
did very well indeed.
With the list of improvements presented here we are confident that we
will be able to achieve our target of a passing rate of at least 90% even
as the cohorts keep getting larger and larger.
Congratulations to all of our students who did well in the summer exams;
we are proud of your success.
Matthew Raggett, 2y Principal
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 9
LIS Observer
LIS Observer
Grade 11 Trip to Visoka Lipa (CZ)
Last week the Grade 11 classes went on a short
overnight bonding trip to Visoka Lipa in the Czech
mountains very close to the German border.
On the first night we stayed in a lovely hotel area with a view the surrounding fields and forests and
after a long hike of 13km we spent the second night on a campsite bivouacking under 'tarps'. The
sunny and warm weather made the hike rather enjoyable, at the same time however it was also a
physically demanding exercise. The abseiling down a 20m rock also required a lot of courage but it was
fantastic to see how many managed this activity and overcame their fear.
As the idea of the trip was to start bonding with new and other classmates we had a lot of time to talk to
our peers and together try and fulfil tasks given to us by the guides from Outward Bound, the organisation
that planned our trip. Many of the tasks required us to work together as a team, to share the burdens and
to motivate each other. It was often hard work but very often lots of fun!
The class had a mixture of responses to this trip. Many students were disappointed that we couldn’t stay
longer although I think some were quite happy to be sitting in the bus by Friday. Overall though, having
watched the classes and students work together, I believe that the trip was worthwhile, that we grew together
as a group, that we learned many valuable things about ourselves and we are now ready to rock the IB together!
Lena Rössler, Grade 11JS
Learning Support
Grades 6 to 12
My name is Barbara Cormack-Krieg and this year I
joined LIS as part of the Student Support Services
Team. A short personal introduction can be found
elsewhere in this edition of the Observer. Specifically
my role is Learning Support Specialist in the Secondary
School (Grades 6 – 12) which means I oversee the
academic and learning needs of individual students.
My contact details are:
Phone - 0341 337558 5612
email Office - room 303
It’s best to make an appointment if possible.
A Fresh Start
Around the World
at the LIS Summer Fair
2013
The children in Early Childhood have
settled-in. During our first week
back to school, the EC children were
able to enjoy their first days at school
while under the watchful eye of a
parent, close family member or
guardian.
The EC Settling-In days allow children
new to LIS, and returning students, the
chance to get to know their teacher and
classmates while having the security of
someone they know close by. For
families, the settling in days are the
perfect opportunuty to participate in
their child's morning routine while
getting to know the teacher, as
well. This is a win-win situation.
Teachers and families are able to
communicate face to face and the
children can feel more secure in
their new environment knowing
that their families support the
teacher and the school.
As I wave to children in the
hallway, slip into classes
during the day, and struggle to
remember the names of each and every
child, I can't help but remember how
important it is for the EC children,
their families and their teachers to
ease into a full year of learning with
a few important days of simply
getting to know one another.
Our appreciation goes to all the volunteers
and sponsors who made this festival such
a huge success. Thumbs up for our music,
ICT, and business department, the janitors,
and all of our wonderful volunteers! We
are glad to announce, that after
subtracting our expenses, for the Summer
Fair we had a total benefit of 2.352,71 €
to donate to the St. Augustin Gymnasium
in Grimma.
Liane Lindenlaub,
Summer Fair Coordinator
Laura Willms-Jones
Photos: Tommy Clarke
THANK
YOU
✺ Apotheke am Sanct Georg
✺ Bilfinger Hochbau GmbH
✺ Buchhandlung Grümmer
✺ Commerzbank Leipzig
✺ Connex Steuer- und
Wirtschaftsberatung
✺ Culinaris Küchenaccessoires
✺ DHL Hub Leipzig
✺ Edelrausch Handels- und Servie
GmbH
✺ Eis an der Kö
✺ Flughafen Halle Leipzig
✺ German American Chamber
of Commerce California
✺ Getränkevertrieb Noack GmbH
✺ Gewandhaus zu Leipzig
✺ Hugendubel GmbH
✺ IKK classic Leipzig
✺ KosThüm-s Leipzig
✺ L-Konzept Leipzig GmbH
✺ Mumbai Lounge Leipzig
✺ Pizza Hut
✺ Seaside Hotel Leipzig
✺ Sobotta Bürobedarf GmbH
✺ Theater der jungen Welt
✺ Zoo Leipzig
✺ The Wagner-Sanchez family
✺ The Gabert family
✺ The Hörig family
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the LIS
community for their very warm welcome and I look
forward to meeting many of you in the time ahead as I
endeavour to help students progress smoothly through
their schooling.
With my best wishes to you all,
Barbara
10 LIS OBSERVER
www .intschool-leipzig.com
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 11
LIS Observer
International Mindedness:
LIS Observer
Being Part (L)IS Taking Part
Qusantina
(Constantine)
Tanger
Madeira (P)
Rabat
Fès
Casablanca
Wahrān
(Oran)
Oujda
Tunis
al-Dschazā'ir
(Algier)
Sūsa
(Sousse)
Safāqus
(Sfax)
TUNISIA
Agadir
Islas Canarias (E)
El Aaiún
Alexandria
Banġāzī
Marsa
Matruh
ALGERIA
Tindouf
Sabhā
al-Qāhira
(Cairo)
EGYPT
LIBYA
al-Uqsur
(Luxor)
Ghat
Aswān
(Assuan)
Al-Dschauf
Taoudenni
Zouérat
d
WESTERN
SAHARA
Ad-Dakhla
Tobruq
Misratah
Ghadāmis
Re
Make Change Possible
Bechar
MOROCCO
Tarābulus
(Tripoli)
Tuqurt
(Touggourt)
Marrakesch
Tamanrasset
Nouadhibou
MAURITANIE
Bur Sudan
SÉNÉGAL
SUDAN
Agadez
Gao
TSCHAD
Umm Durman
Khartoum
Kassala
Kayes
GAMBIA
Banjul
Niamey
BURKINA
Bissau
a
Dakar
Faya-Largeau
Bilma
NIGER
Timbuktu
Adel Bagrou
Kiffa
Touba
Se
Praia
Arlit
MALI
Nouakchott
Rosso
CABO VERDE
Bamako
Gabú
GUINÉ-BISSAU
GUINÉE
Siguiri
Sikasso
BoboDioulasso
CÔTE D‘IVOIRE
SIERRA LEONE
Bo
Nzérékoré
Ganta
Bouaké
Yamoussoukro
Monrovia
Ouagadougou
Buchanan
LIBERIA
San-Pédro
TOGO
Lomé
Accra
Abidjan
SekondiTakoradi
Abuja
Garoua
NIGERIA
Porto
Novo
Asab
Gonder
PRÍNCIPE
Bangui
Yaoundé
Berbera
Hargeisa
SOMALIA
Kampala
Kisangani
Libreville
CONGO
GABON
Goma
DR KONGO
Machakos
Mwanza
Bujumbura
Arusha
BURUNDI
Kinshasa
Kismaayo
Nairobi
RWANDA
Kigali
Merka
Eldoret
Kisumu
Mbandaka
Gamboma
Franceville
Mogadishu
(Mogadischu)
KENYA
Ouésso
Brazzaville
Mombasa
SEYCHELLES
TANZANIA
Kananga
Victoria
Dodoma
Mbuji-Mayi
Zanzibar
Dar es Salaam
Malanje
Kasama
Kolwezi
Mtwara
Lubumbashi
ANGOLA
Moroni
Lobito
COMORES
Kitwe
ZAMBIA
Mongu
Lilongwe
Ndola
Blantyre
We would like to thank you for donating
money for animal shelter Leipzig last
school year. Sadly first the 242 Euros
were stolen out of our class room. That
was a big shock for all of us. But luckily
with a few more bake sales and your
help we now gave 120 Euros to the animal
shelter Leipzig.
Best wishes,
Betty, Sophia, Natalie,
Enna, Michelle and
Helen from Grade 6!
www .intschool-leipzig.com
Durban
ue
biq
l
MADAGASCAR
Toamasina
Antananarivo
MAURITIUS
Fianarantsoa
am
SWAZILAND
Mbabane
LESOTHO
Maseru
ne
Port Louis
Île de
la Réunion (F)
Toliara
Maputo
OCEAN
East London
Cape Town
Nelson Mandela Bay
This year’s dates are:
• CAS Trip Swakopmund:
11-26 April 2014
• CAS Trip Mayana:
27 June-17 July 2014
• Friends Trip Mayana:
20 July-10 August 2014
Interested students please see your CAS/IB
Coordinator.
Rebecca Hillyer
New LIS Charity Coordination Team
We would like to introduce ourselves.
We are the new Charity Coordination
Team at LIS. Our aim is to coordinate
the charity events in school and
make information about projects
available to everybody.
LIS supports two charities: locally we
are working with Haus Leben e.V. in
Leipzig and our global charity is
Make Change Possible e.V. The next
event for Haus Leben will be the
Pink Shoe Day on 12 October.
We will let you know about charity
news in the Ticker and the Observer.
You can also check our noticeboard next to the staff lounge on the ground floor. If you have any
questions, offers or ideas, please come and see us in Room 106 on Tuesdays from 15:00-16:00, when
we will have our consultation time. Hopefully it will be a productive year with lots of fundraising
activities to support our charities.
12 LIS OBSERVER
Tshwane
(Pretoria)
Johannesburg
Keetmanshoop
Bloemfontein
Dear Parents and Kids from LIS,
Beira
BOTSWANA
SOUTH AFRICA
!!!
Chimoio
Francistown
Windhoek
Gaborone
Lüderitz
MOCAMBIQUE
Mutare
Gweru
Bulawayo
Moz
OCEAN
ZIMBABWE
Maun
Ch
Harare
Rundu
NAMIBIA
Swakopmund
Walvis Bay
Nampula
Antsiranana
Mayotte (F)
MALAWI
Lusaka
St. Helena (GB)
Ondjiva
Pemba
an
Huambo
Benguela
Make Change Possible is a non-profit
organisation with the aim of getting people
across nations and races to work together as
equal partners, by actively participating in local
community life, in Namibia, Africa. MCP has
become our cross school International Overseas
Project.
The Organisation offers opportunities for Grade
11 CAS students to visit Namibia and participate
in the community project in Mayana and
Swakopfmund. Students are accompanied by the
INDIAN
Mbeya
Lucapa
Luanda
Project leader Monika Handwerker, a
teacher from HIS and will participate
alongside students from the Heidelberg
International School and students from
Windhoek International School.
Students played Namibian games, made toys
like Namibian children, ground millet and
cooked fat cakes as well as learning more about
the projects that we sponsor. A big thank you to
all who participated!
In September, LIS hosted an Educational Fair to
raise money for projects in Namibia including
the Mayana Community Project and the
Swakopfmund
Democratic
Resettlement
Community Project. Students in Grades 4, 5 and
6 took part.
en
Gulu
UGANDA
Bata
Pointe-Noire
Ascension (GB)
Ad
Awassa
Juba
Mbaiki
GUINEA
ECUATORIAL
Port-Gentil
Dire Dawa
f
fo
Bouar
CAMEROUN
Douala
Malabo
SÃO TOMÉ E
Gul
Djibouti
ETHIOPIA
SOUTH
SUDAN
Wau
Bamenda
DJIBOUTI
Addis Abeba
Birao
REP. CENTRAFRICAINE
Port Harcourt
G ulf of
G uin ea
Massawa
ERITREA
Kusti
Nyala
Sarh
Moundou
Ibadan
Lagos
Benin City
São Tomé
AT L A N T I C
Maiduguri
Keren
Asmara
Abéché
Mao
N’Djamena
Kaduna
Wa Tamale
Parakou
Sokodé
GHANA
Kumasi
Diffa
Zinder
Kano
BÉNIN
Conakry
Freetown
Maradi
Kaya
FASO
Conny Werndl, Britta Rössner, Gisela Selbach and Robert Christiansen
During the important and exciting first weeks of a new academic year,
the middle school (grades 6-8) and their form tutors have been working
together on a new way of being active members of the LIS community:
We are here to learn – We work and play
together – We are fair and honest – We are
respectful
They discussed and agreed upon examples that demonstrate the four
behaviour standards of the whole school and visualised them in their
homerooms:
With the support and guidance of their form tutors the students have filled
these broad phrases with their own ideas which have led to a set of
behavioural guidelines that will accompany them throughout the year.
As tutor groups, students got to know each other better and are bonding as
a team, understanding each other’s diverse backgrounds and embracing
differences and interests.
Being part of LIS is caring for each other in every way – in and outside the
classroom, academically and pastorally, by joining extra-curricular activities
as a group of friends or by meeting new people in a club you want to
develop your skills in.
In tutor groups student have responsibilities: sport and music prefects
remind fellow students in the morning of clubs taking place or environmental
prefects make sure for example that the plants are watered or the classrooms
stay tidy. Buddies make new students feel welcome and take
care of guiding them through their first days here at LIS. A
caring nature is a key skill we want students
to develop.
The foundations are there to have a
successful year. Please feel
free to communicate with
the middle school team for
any support your child
needs.
Tanja Kröger-Foulkes
Phase Level Leader Grades 6-8
LIS Parent Portal
LIS Parent Portal is the information gateway of Leipzig International
School for parents. It provides parents with all relevant documents and
with the possibility to update the most important data regarding their
child(ren).
Where to find?
Navigate to LIS Portal > LIS Parent Portal
How to login?
Use your personal login that consists of the email address as username
and the password you have chosen upon the registration process. If you,
however, cannot log in, use the link beneath the login form to retrieve a
new password.
What to find?
Once logged in navigate to Overview:
•Child admin: Gives you the opportunity to check and update your
contact data as well as child specific information (permissions,
usage of several educational online platforms).
•Letters to parents: Contains a list of all letters issued during the
current school year divided into grade levels and classes.
•Whole School: Provides the documents that are relevant to the
parents of all sections
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER 13
LIS Observer
Primary Summer Holiday Hort 2013
SUMMER
2013
More than 40 students signed up for this year’s Primary Summer Break so that we split the
group into an Upper and a Lower Primary Hort Group in the first three weeks. We thereby met the
age-related interests and needs to ensure learning through amazing activities and exciting field trips.
Lower Primary Group
The aim of the first three weeks of
Summer Holiday Hort dedicated to
the Lower Primary classes was to
offer the children balanced and thematic
activities. It was our goal to create a friendly
and constructive social environment for the
children. The pupils experienced different treats
each week and they focused on specific themes
to achieve new knowledge and skills.
The week dedicated to “Outdoor Games and
Adventures” was the first one. The children came
in touch with their physical capabilities and
challenge themselves in non-conventional sports
and outdoor games, spending the most of the
week out of the school on field trips through the
Upper Primary group
Do you know how many stairs are
needed to reach the top of the
Monument of the Battle of Nations?
Do you know what the connection is between
the creator of Winnetou, Karl May, Leipzig and
an Indian maharaja? Do you know that you can
make beautiful jewels out of old paper?
In case you don’t know, feel free to ask the
Upper Primary students who attended this
year’s Summer Holiday Hort. They learned these
and many more interesting facts during the first
three weeks of action-packed field trips and
incredible activities in and around Leipzig. The
Summer Holiday Hort was structured by three
themes: Leipzig, Africa and Nature. To mention
a few highlights of Week One: we were
14 LIS OBSERVER
www .intschool-leipzig.com
wonderful forests rounding Leipzig. The “Back to
the nature” week gave the children the chance to
reflect on their relation with the nature and to
understand how it is possible to have fun in and
with it being respectful. To close, the Lower
Primary Summer Holiday Hort was dedicated to
the theme of travel “Around the World”, and
offered chance to think and experience cultural
differences and to understand what is “behind
the scenes” of our journeys.
In three weeks, our pupils had the opportunity to
experience amazing activities together and
exciting experiences growing their awareness
about the world surrounding them and how to
employ it in a respectful and sustainable way,
learning to be (even better) citizens of the world.
During the last two weeks of Summer Holiday
Hort, both Upper and Lower Primary groups
combined to spend two thematic weeks together.
The week dedicated to sport offered the children
the opportunity to challenge themselves and to
learn about sport as well. The children met a
professional football player and they enjoyed the
chance to listen his life story, ask many question
to clarify their curiosities about the realization of
a dream and (of course!) play football with him.
Listening, playing and discussing, they learned
that effort is needed to reach a goal!
Making a movie was the goal of the last week
of the Primary Summer Holiday Hort. Instead
we ended up making two! The children created
their own movies; writing original plots and
organizing actors, filming sessions, editing and
all the aspects related to the production of a
movie. The pupils came in touch at first with
the world of video making by visiting the MDR
studios in Leipzig, where they experienced
television backstage and practiced standing in
front of the camera as well. Afterwards, the
creative process involved all the children, as
they created their roles, characters and duties.
The production took several days and the
results were a comedy and an animation that
were projected on the last day of Summer
Holiday Hort for all children and families. The
projection was successful and all the audience
enjoyed the strong work of our pupils, who can
be proud and satisfied with their creations.
Davide Sozzi
impressed by the size of the excavators at the old
coalmine (“Bergbau-Technik-Park”), we explored
Leipzig’s history during a guided tour, climbed to
the top of the Monument of the Battle of Nations
and discovered Schleussig/Plagwitz by boat.
Supported by African weather during our second
week, we gained insight into African culture,
exploring food, craft making and everyday life. The
most popular activity and a real adventure, was the
weekly cycle trip to Lake Cospuden. Having fun in
the water and relaxing on the beach brought us
into the perfect summer holiday mood and
contributed to a balanced and varied Hort
programme.
Now we are looking forward to welcoming many
children to the Autumn Holiday Hort in October.
Mr. James and Ms. KrisTina
LIS Observer
“A fabulous
journey thro
ugh 5
wonderful weeks!'
With a record high number of registrations, we started planning out five weeks
Reception Summer Holiday Hort
of Summer Holiday Hort. Our main goal was to meet the different interests of
the children and offer activities, which they will enjoy and learn from.
Our topic for the first week was “Fairy Tales, Heroes
and Villians”. During the week, children engaged in
role plays, shared their favorite stories, crafted their own
knight and ladies costumes, participated in a kingdom
tournament, and sailed on a pirate ship. The highlight of
the week was our day long trip to the “Maerchenwald KohrenSahlis” where we met a our favourite fairy tale figures
and became acquainted with new ones!
The theme of our 2nd week
of Summer Holiday Hort was “Experience
Leipzig”. We started the week searching for the remaining
pieces of Leipzig’s medieval city wall. We saw and learned about our city
hall, visited the “Handelsboerse” and found refreshment at a water fountain in
front of the Nikolaikirche. We had also fun when we travelled to the Auwald, rode
the historic Pioniereisenbahn and played Minigolf in the Clara-Zetkin-Park. The
spectacular highlight of our second week was visiting our very own Leipzig heroes
in the Red-Bull-Arena. There, we received a backstage tour, walked through
the catacombs, and stood in the middle of the Arena and touched the
grass, before climbing up to the highest point of the
stadium. Go RB!
2
in
Holiday Hort week. After engaging
“Animals” was our topic for the third
l
loca
visit
to
ied
journ
t animals, we
lively discussions in morning circle abou
als
anim
g
estin
inter
of
lot
a
e we met
wildlife in the “Wildpark Leipzig”. Ther
mer’s hottest days! The highlight of
Sum
this
of
one
on
fun
of
lot
and had a
a
ity. The students worked together as
the week was our arts & crafts activ
This
um.
gyps
nt Snail”, made out of
team and built up their very own “Gia
Holiday Hort children took part in
ption
Rece
all
as
project was a big success
the creative process.
4
In week four, our focus turned to the scientific process. We explored
diverse areas of science and learned about how scientists work
through inquiry. We started off with basic water and oil experiments
to find out more about the process of asking questions and finding
answers. The next day we set out to visit the space observatory and
planetarium in Skeuditz. This experience inspired us to create
imaginary space systems, both with recycled materials and then
through role play. We invented many new planets, such as a “salami
planet” as well as vehicles and life forms to live in our creative solar
system. Of course, we also invited all our favorite Star Wars
characters to join us as well! During the end of the week we
explored the field of biology and turned our attention to local
herbs, creating medicines, and curing all sick animals, children and
Hort team members. It was a lively week for all!
By Ms. Simone, Ms. Kiki, Ms. Romy,
Ms. Kjersti & Ms. Jayne.
3
5
Our fifth week’s theme was music and movement. We explored
breakdance and shared our favorite songs with each other to start
out the week. A musical city tour allowed us to see how important
music is to the city of Leipzig, as we explored the different concert
venues, listened to the music of local musicians and of course
learned all about Johann Sebastian Bach. We also created that
week our own movement room, where we could rearrange the
furniture, create physical challenges for each other and learn how
to keep ourselves and others safe at the same time. This week was
www.intschool-leipzig.com
LIS OBSERVER
15
a great end to a wonderful
program and we are looking
forward
to our next Holiday Hort!
LIS Observer
Living in Leipzig
DOK Leipzig – it's number 56!
DOK Leipzig was founded in 1955 by the “Club of film-makers of the German
Democratic Republic” (Club der Filmschaffenden der DDR) under the title “All-German
Leipzig Week for Cultural and Documentary Film”, as the first independent film festival
of the GDR. Today, DOK Leipzig is the oldest documentary film festival in the world.
Traditionally, DOK Leipzig stands for films advocating peace and
human dignity. In view of its varied and exciting history, it celebrates
freedom of mind and high artistic quality in film. The festival
programme includes five Competition sections for documentary films
and animated shorts with 69,500 Euros in prize money. In addition, the festival offers
International Programmes of both genres, Special Programmes (2013: i.e. a focus on Brazilian
documentary), an annual Retrospective (2013: “STORM! Through the Short 20th Century in
Eight Mass Movements”) as well as Homages and Special Presentations.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the “International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and
Animated Film” has developed into a dynamic documentary festival, providing a highquality, international programme and, since 2004, additional industry offers. Artistic
animated film has formed an integral part of the festival for decades. Since 1995 the genre
got its own competition. With its Animadoc section, DOK Leipzig also offers a platform to
animated documentary. Starting this year, it is the world’s first film festival to award a prize
in this hybrid subgenre.
Among DOK Leipzig's more than 37,000 spectators
watching about 350 films from over 50 countries
are approx. 1,500 accredited professionals from all
over the world. For them, DOK Leipzig’s “DOK
Industry Programme” offers fruitful networking
events, financing opportunities for new film
projects, the digital DOK Market, exciting panel
discussions, master classes and targeted training
events.
Imprint
Rosetta Stone – Language Learning Programme
Last school year LIS invested in an online twoyear school license for Rosetta Stone, a language
learning programme. As we begin the second
year of the license, user licenses have been
distributed to ESL and GSL students in both the
primary and secondary schools. Secondary
students taking Foreign Languages have also
been distributed user accounts or are continuing
the programme with their current accounts. New
families moving to Leipzig and LIS staff have also
been provided the opportunity for a user license.
What is the Rosetta Stone programme?
Rosetta Stone is a language learning programme.
It provides learners with an engaging, immersive
16 LIS OBSERVER
www .intschool-leipzig.com
online course (PC, Mac, and the iPad). The
Rosetta Stone programme has 25 languages
available. The programme is designed for
beginner or new language learners. Each
language level of the programme contains
approximately 20 to 40 hours of learning. At
each level there are a range of activities that can
be completed within 3 to 30 minutes. The
Rosetta Stone programme is designed for all
ages of learners, but is best suited for ages seven
and older.
For further information or queries about Rosetta
Stone, please contact Courtenay Comiskey-Goller,
Primary ESL Coordinator,
Published by
Leipzig International School
Editorial head: Robert Christiansen
Telephone: +49 (0)341 337 558-77
E-Mail:
Internet:
Design by
Westend. Public Relations GmbH
Internet: www.westend-pr.de
Photos by
Tommy Clarke; © dip, elfivetrov, Karl, lesniewski, Sergio J
Lievano, Mike McDonald, merydolla, Morphart, HansJörg Nisch, picsfive, SG- design, sgursozlu, swingvoodoo,
julien tromeur, vasabii/fotolia.com; LIS; Annett Poppe
(
)
Deadline for articles for the next issue:
12 December 2013
administration
board
primary school
secondary school
staff events
hort
early childhood
parents
Color scheme – every colour
reperesents a section of our school.