Editorial

DSN news
No 1
Newsletter of the German School Nairobi
November 2012
Editorial
The new School Management
team: Frauke Ibe, Ulrich Boddenberg, Sven Jeglitza
It has been quite an eventful time for the German School Nairobi. There have been changes in all
school bodies, as well as in the school’s teaching staff. The School Management has been taken over
by Ms Ibe, Mr Jeglitza and myself, several functions within the teaching staff have been taken over by
new members, and there have been changes in the School Board, too.
But the changes are not only in new faces; there are several new conceptual changes: for the first
time this year, our students of Class 12 will do the German International Abitur Examination (DIAP),
further strengthening the international character of the school than ever before in the past. Bilingualism in the school is being promoted via the splitting of groups (Classes 3 - 6/7) into first or foreign
language in the subjects English and German. The stipulations for the scholarship students have been
revised, and are now available in the new version. The co-operation between the German Embassy
and the school’s security officer has been very close indeed, and will culminate in structured and definite emergency and crisis plans being implemented before the end of the year.
What goals do we have for the near future? As several faces have changed, the internal structure,
especially the communication structure will be of utmost importance to us. We also intend to strengthen networking with firms and institutions which may have an interest in a German – based education for their children. This goes hand-in-hand with making the German School Nairobi more
well-known to the general public, and promoting its image.
We also intend to have some cross-over management between the Kindergarten, the Primary School
and the Secondary School. We thus carried out a three-day workshop with teachers from all three
sections of the German School. The results of this workshop will be presented to the respective bodies
within the first semester of this academic year. For me personally, it is important at the beginning
that I have intensive exchanges with colleagues from all three sections regarding subject, educational
and structural questions.
Of course no school is complete without extra-curricular activities. To mention but a few, we had the
School Church Service with its wonderful atmosphere in the open air, the School Party with the school
bands and the Rock group “Nairotics” on the 29th of September, and the Athletic Games on the 11th
of October.
I would like to wish everyone a good and successful academic year 2012 / 2013.
Ulrich Boddenberg, Schulleiter
DSN news — 2
Kindergarten
News from the Kindergarten
Since the beginning of the new academic year, we have a new, special group in the Kindergarten, the
DAF / Owls Group. DAF is an abbreviation for “Deutsch als Fremdsprache” (German as a Foreign
Language). In this mixed-age group, the two teachers, Cissa and Ineke speak exclusively in German to
the children. This class is attended by children whose mother tongue is not German. The aim of the
new group is to build up and /or improve the children’s German language skills, so that they can have
a seamless transfer to Class 1, where German is the medium of instruction.
Also at the beginning of this year, three children, who joined the Kindergarten without a single word
of German, have been admitted to Class 1 of the GSN. Through DAF lessons and language promotion
in the pre-school year, they have learnt to speak German very well. Ms Zanker, the Class Teacher of
this class is positively surprised at the language skills and vocabulary range of these children.
We are therefore convinced that with our new DAF group, we have taken a huge step in the right direction for those parents who have decided “to go German all the way!”
Thurit Berge, Head of Kindergarten
Lantern Festival on St. Martin’s Day
On Friday the 9th of November 2012, all the children of the Kindergarten and the Primary School got
together in the Sports Hall, along with their parents. The occasion was the traditional lantern festival,
a highlight of the year for both the young and the old! The children of Class 4 told us the story of St.
Martin in the form of a play. All parents then proceeded to the sports field, and the children were finally allowed to have their lanterns lit in class groups. They then made their way in a single, bright
file to the sports field, a truly beautiful scene, as we were able to see all the wonderful lanterns. We
sang our St. Martin’s songs and all of a sudden, a real St. Martin appeared, complete with his horse!
The children received their traditional gingerbread men at the bonfire, which of course had to be
eaten immediately. As usual, the Boarding House had arranged for snacks and drinks for our “bigger”
guests.
We are all already looking forward to St. Martin 2013!
Thurit Berge
Scene from the St. Martin’s play
Musical accompaniment from Matthias Haße
Hand-made lanterns by our Kindergarten kids
Start of the big lantern festival
DSN news — 3
Primary School
G
J
S
C
P
U
M;
N
Q;
Petra Zanker with class 1
Admittance Ceremony for Class 1
On the 30th of August, proud parents, nervous children and excited teachers got together at the German School Nairobi to accompany the 19 new Class 1 children in their first step of school life.
The Primary School Choir, made up of children from Classes 2-4 sang a welcome song, “Wunderbar,
ihr seid da”. Mr Boddenberg’s (new headmaster) speech followed the song, and soon we had a puzzle
to solve: which ones of the Class 2 children were disguised under which costume? Mr Haße, the Headmaster of the Primary School, who conducted the ceremony, announced the play “the Lion who could
not write”. The play is about a lion, who wants to declare his love for his lady lioness friend, but cannot
do so as he cannot write. He asks the other animals for help, but does not like any of the declarations!
A big “oh” was to be heard from the public, when the lioness finally took the lion under her wing and
promised to teach him how to write. The play by M. Boltsheid had been edited by the teacher of Class
2, Margit Probst specifically for this ceremony, and she had worked on it last year with the children.
Class 2 with the impressive “Lion performance“
Proud parents on the first school day
After this successful introduction, Mr Haße gave a small gift to Petra Zanker, the new Class teacher of
Class 1, and Mr Boddenberg, as they, too, are new to our school: a small “Schultüte” (a cone shaped
bag filled with goodies, traditionally given to Class 1 children on their first day at school). Mr Haße
then passed over the mike to Ms Zanker, who invited each of the 19 new children to the stage, where
they were welcomed to the school with a GSN t-shirt and a flower. And as the parents enjoyed a cup
of tea in the cafeteria, their children were finally able to go their first lesson – that’s why they were
here after all!
Leon, Elsa, Kiki and Erica from Class 8, who used a spare lesson to further revise how they can produce journalistic texts.
Edited by: Gertraud Fogt
DSN news — 4
Globall 2012
Once a year, 7-10 year old students from the Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian and German schools
get together for a special sporting event. This day is called “Globall”, owing to the sporting and international exchange that takes place on the day. The German School Nairobi was the host this year.
More than 80 children came to our sports fields, from which we formed six mixed international teams.
So the lions played “Brennball” against the hippos, the giraffes played dodge ball against the eagles,
and the rhino and the elephants played volleyball. Of course all teams had a chance to play all sports
against all teams!
Everybody showed great effort in the different diciplines....
....like here when playing „brennball“
The ultimate goal of the event was not victory; it was more about enjoying playing together. At the
end of all 3 disciplines, the Rhinos were just ahead of the other teams, and each member of this team
received a trophy for their excellent performance. This meant of course that every school had a winning member, and each member was greeted with loud cheers when the trophies were handed out.
After four lessons of fun and games, the children had a small snack prepared by the Boarding House,
and were then allowed to jump into the pool to cool off. Our guests left at 1.00 p.m., tired but happy.
A very special thanks goes to Viberti Nyakang’o for organising the “Globall”.
Matthias Haße
The prize-giving ceremony
Our proud winners
DSN news — 5
Karibuni - Our new faces
My name is Regina Weber-Bernado. I have been in Nairobi with my two
children since the 7th of August. Unfortunately my husband was unable
to join us due to professional reasons, but will be here next year. We
come from Berlin, where I taught English and Geography (bilingually in
English and German). My daughter Sophia is in Class 3, and my son Lelo
has just started Class 1 here. In order to help the children with their
homework and to pick them up from school when I still have to work we
have an au pair who stays with us.
At the monemt we are still busy with settling down and organising our new life. That’s why we have
not seen much of Kenya so far. But the Christmas break is coming soon and gives us the opportunity to discover more of the country. We are all looking forward to a very exciting time here in
Kenya!
Moin, moin (we thus
greet each other in my
hometown Hamburg).
And then the facts:
Sven Jeglitza / 43
years old / single
/Hobbies: Literature,
Basketball , music,
cooking and eating, skiing, and of late, skyping /
subjects: German and Sports. At the German
School Nairobi, I am the Class teacher of Class 6,
and Co-Deputy Head, a position I share with Ms
Ibe. I landed in Nairobi three months ago, and
am very pleased to have been able to take this
big step out of Germany. I have been welcomed
open-heartedly and in a friendly manner by students and colleagues alike. I have almost lost
the feeling of being a new-comer. I now look forward to all the new friendships I will make, and
all the new experiences I will have over the next
few years in Kenya. The thing at the GSN that
has struck me most is the importance of sports
in the school. I worked in a Sports gymnasium
previously, and know that in such schools, the
one quality that needs to be in the forefront is
that of team spirit.
My name is Anna-Katharina Kohl, am 32
years old, and I come
from Rheinland-Pfalz. I
studied Mathematics,
English and Education
Science at the Universities of Heidelberg
and Nottingham. After completing my university
studies, I successfully applied for a job at a
school in Sydney. After that, I worked at two separate Gymnasiums in Munich. I am accompanying my husband, Florian Kohl to Nairobi, as he
has been seconded as a teacher from Germany
to the German School Nairobi. I am also teaching at the school, and have started with 6 lessons a week with Mathematics and IT in Classes
6 and 7. The concept of a German School Abroad is not a new one to me, as I went as a
guest student to the German School Arequipa in
Peru. It has since been a dream of mine to come
to a German School Abroad again. One of my favourite hobbies is travelling, and I have visited
several parts of the world. Additionally, I like
sports, and am a great football fan (1. FC Kaiserslautern!) However, what I like most is to
spend time at home with my four “men”(one
big, and three small)!
Hallo, Salut, Hola, Hi there!
My name is Kerstin Petschl and I am new to the German School Nairobi. I
originally come from the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg,
where I taught my subjects English, French and Spanish at a Gymnasium
(Grammar School) in Stuttgart. I am the Head of the French Department
here at the German School Nairobi, and am also part of the Pedagogical
Quality Management (PQM) Team. In addition, I am offering Spanish as
an after school activity, and truly intend to join the community choir
soon. I have lived and studied in several countries, and I am very excited about my new job at the
German School Nairobi. My first impressions of Kenya are very positive, and I can hardly wait to get
to know the country, its people – and its animals – better!
DSN news — 6
I have been in Nairobi
since the middle of
August with my son,
who is also attending
the German School
Nairobi. This is not our
first visit to Kenya, and
My name is Linda Boddenberg. I am a secondary school teacher,
and my subjects are
German, History and
Politics. I have 3
grown-up children,
we have fallen in love with this country immediately. I am the Class Teacher of Class 1, and
teach English in other classes, as well as Drama
as an extra-curricular activity. I am also working
in the Kindergarten as a German as a Foreign
Language teacher. In Germany, I worked in several Primary Schools in Augsburg, and in my last
position, I was the Deputy Headmistress in a
small school in the city centre. After being totally charmed by the website of the GSN, I was
very excited at the thought of what I was to expect here. So far, I have not been disappointed. I
was impressed on the first day itself with the
opening ceremony celebration.
and 2 grand-children. I promised my husband,
“wherever you go, I want to go there too,”, so I
left Bergisch Gladbach to come to Nairobi. The
cordiality and openness that I have experienced
in this small school makes me think that we are
going to have some good years here. My favourite hobby is travelling, and I am sure I will make
the most of our stay here, by visiting both Kenya
and neighbouring countries with my husband. I
will also not miss out on the opportunity of participating in the variety of sports offered by the
school.
My name is Florian Kohl, and I come from the Alpine foothills of Bavaria.
After completing my degree in Physics at the Technical University of Munich, and my practical training at some Gymnasiums in the same city, I
was employed as a Mathematics and Physics teacher at the Gymnasium
Neubiberg, (a suburb of Munich), right up to my posting In Nairobi as a teacher in the foreign service. In addition to teaching my subjects at the
school, I am also in charge of the “Back-Stage” Club, and in charge of
the department German as a medium of instruction (DFU). In my free time, I like to do things with
my family, and I am a keen sportsperson. I am a qualified ski instructor, and since my early childhood, I have enjoyed skiing and snowboarding in the winter. In the summer I enjoy getting onto my
mountain bike, and have crossed the Alps many times with my bike. Unfortunately, I have had little
time for an additional hobby over the last few years: music. I play the bassoon, the bugle and the
guitar. As for my non-professional life, my wife and I got married three months ago in Sydney, and
we have three children: Jakob (4 ½ years), and Anton (3 years), who both attend the Kindergarten
here. Our third child, Oskar (16 months) is the sunshine of our lives. We are expecting a further offspring in February.
My name is Achim Keding, and I have been living in Nairobi with my wife and
2 children since October 2011, until now as an accompanying husband. I
have now been locally employed at the German School Nairobi for seven lessons a week. I teach Religion, Social Studies and History in Classes 6, 8 and 9.
I spent most of my childhood in South Africa, where I also attended a German School Abroad. I completed my teacher training degree and internships
in Göttingen, and then worked for 8 years in a bilingual
Gymnasium (Grammar School). After almost exactly one year of “baby break / paternity leave”, it
really gives me great pleasure to be able to get back into the classroom, this time at the German
School Nairobi. I look forward to an exciting year at the school.
DSN news — 7
DSN news — 8
GSN–so much more than just academics!
At the beginning of the academic year, students were once more able to choose their extra-curricular
activities for the first semester from a whole range of activities available. This year, we have been able
to offer several new activities: Karate, Theatre, Creative Dance, Model United Nations, English Theatre,
Drawing for beginners, Fitness-Boot Camp, Spanish for Beginners and Art.
Extra-curricular activities in the first semster of the academic year 2012/2013
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
2.00 - 3.30 p.m.
3.30 - 5.00 p.m.
2.00 - 3.30 p.m.
2.00 - 3.30 p.m.
2.00 - 3.30 p.m.
Football
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 1-2, Sports ground
Football
Ali Kiplagat
Cl. 3-4, Sports ground
Drawing for beginners
Vanessa + Natalie Beck
Cl. 5-8, Arts room
Swimming (Advanced)
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 5-12, Pool
Theatre/School Play
Petra Zanker
Cl. 3-6, Room 10
Swimming
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 3-4, Pool
Swimming
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 1-4, Pool
Karate
Caroline A. Tolo
Cl. 1-4, Gymnastics
room
Athletics
Viberti Nyakang’o
Cl. 8-12 Sports ground
Gymnastics
Miriam Rode
Cl. 1-4, Sports hall
Athletics
Viberti Nyakang’o
Cl. 5-7, Sports ground
Swimming
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 5-7, Pool
Tennis
Pius Kwach Otieno
Cl. 5-7, Tennis courts
English Theatre
Robin Denault
Cl. 7-12, Gymnastics
room
Football
Ali Kiplagat
Cl. 5-7, Sports ground
Tennis
Pius Kwach Otieno
Cl. 3+4, Tennis courts
Football (girls) Doreen Nabwire
Cl. 6-12, Sports ground
Swimming
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 3+4, Pool
Inline Skating
The Skate Studio
Cl. 1-4, Basketball
court
3.30 - 5 p.m.
Football
Ali Kiplagat
Cl. 8-12, Sports ground
Karate
Caroline A. Tolo
Cl. 5-8, Gymnastics
room
Swimming
Bernhard Nalisi
Cl. 5-12, Pool
Basketball
Wycliff Okoth Odhiambo
Cl. 5-8, Basketball
court
Model United Nations
Shital Shah, Regina
Weber-Bernardo
Cl. 7-10, Room 22
Basketball
Wycliff Okoth Odhiambo
Cl. 9-12 Sports hall
Rockband
Jan Semjank
Cl. 9-12, Band Room
3.30 - 5 p.m.
Art (once a month for
3 hours)
Manja Moßmann
Cl. 8-12, Arts room
The Garage
Jan Semjank
Cl. 9-12
Strings ensemble
Alexandra Baldus
Cl. 2-12, Music room
Creative Dances
Clara Garcias Castells
Cl. 1-3, Gymnastics
room
Tennis
Pius Kwach Otieno
Cl. 1-2, Tennis courts
Drums/Rhythm
Salomon Ngomane
Cl. 1-4, Room 10
3.30 - 5 p.m.
Football
Ali Kiplagat
Cl. 8-12, Sports ground
Fitness Boot Camp
Paul Thairu
Cl. 9-12, Gymnastics
room
Spanish beginners
Kerstin Petschl
Cl. 9-12, Classroom
As a general rule, if a student is unable to attend
an activity, s/he should excuse him/herself by either calling the reception, or by seeing the teacher-in-charge personally.
Matthias Haße
DSN news —9
Students’ Council
New Students’ Council for 2012/13
Natalie Beck, Timon Volz, Maria Papathanasiou, Nico
Hittmeyer, Luka Vihuto
2 members of last year’s Students’ Council, Luka
Vihuto (Class 10) and Nathalie Beck (Class 11),
along with 3 new members, Nico Hittmeyer,
(Class 5), Timon Volz (Class 11) and Maria Papathanasiou (Class 12, and School Spokesperson for
the first semester) make up the new student representatives of the GSN for the academic year
2012 / 2013.
Our task involves creating a link between students of all classes and teachers, as well as all
other members of the school communities. We
will deal with the wishes and concerns of the students, which we will discuss in the monthly meeting with all class representatives. We will also
pass any relevant information through the representatives in these meetings.
Our goal for this year is to give more importance to the voice of the student. It is thus important that
we all communicate well and quickly with each other. In addition, we are obviously planning parties
to get away from the routine of school, and to help further strengthen the student community.
We look forward to our work, and your trust!
Yours,
Students’ Council
(Maria Papathanasiou)
DSN news — 10
Parents’ Representatives
The PSC reports:
In September, classes elected their parents’ representatives. They had their first meeting of the year
as the General Parents Committee (GPC) on 08.10.12. At this meeting parents’ representatives elected
their chairman and his deputy as well as the members of the Parents Sub-Committee (PSC), the work
or “executive” group of the GPC.
The members of the PSC are in this year:
Kindergarten:
Sarah Reusche (Bunnies) /
[email protected]
Talia da Silva
[email protected]
Primary School:
Woki Muhindi (C3)
[email protected]
/
Jane Gachie (C4)
[email protected]
Lower Secondary:
Michaela Wilken (C6)
[email protected]
/
Heike Schindewolf (C 6)
[email protected]
Upper Secondary:
Barbara Alcamo (C12) /
[email protected]
Brigitte Lokudu (C10)
[email protected]
Scholarship:
Simon Muchiri Karanja (C11)/
[email protected]
Irene Mwenda (C6)
[email protected]
GPC Chair:
Ernst Tenambergen (C5)
[email protected]
C
PSC Chair:
Sandra Sallat (C4)
[email protected]
The PSC meets monthly. Sandra Sallat, the PSC Chair is also deputy chair of the GPC. Ralph Peters as
the liaison officer of the Board participates and thus helps to shorten ways of communication. Ernst
Tenambergen as GPC Chair has brief weekly meetings with the headmaster. Sandra Sallat participates
in the meetings of the Teachers Conference (TC). Barbara Alcamo as member of the PSC joins the session of the Steering Group (SG) for school development.
Briefly summarized, the PSC has the role of:
Fostering good communication between parents, school management, teachers, students and Board,
addressing generally perceived problems in due time and constructively,
Mediating in the case of individual problems,
Presenting proposals from the parent body
And of working together to organize common events.
Current tasks so far are:
Joining the efforts of working together with the tak forces for the implementation of improvements,
which the external evaluators recommended in November 2010,
Strengthening communication between parents, parents’ representatives and the PSC as well as with
the headmaster and the board.
Special activities for this school year:
Introduction of a monthly parents coffee morning at the Cafeteria,
Decoration of the church in Tigoni for the christmas concert on December, 9th,
Planning of a summer festival.
You are welcome to offer your ideas to the PSC any time. In case of questions, parents are kindly asked
to contact either their parents’ representative or the PSC directly. After each PSC Meeting, parents
will receive our minutes via their parents’ representatives. This way you will always know what we
are working on and can communicate your ideas and wishes with us.
We are looking forward to a spirited exchange of ideas and a close working relationship.
Your PSC
DSN news — 11
School Board
Dear Parents,
The AGM and election of the new Board members was completed a few weeks ago, and the new
members and their respective positions were introduced to the parent body via a circular. Unfortunately, the position of an eighth Board member remains vacant due to the lack of applications, but
we are in the process of co-opting an eighth member. However, even as seven members, we have
achieved a fair amount in our first couple of meetings since the AGM. In order to inform the parents
better about our meetings, we have a new page on our website, http://dsnairobi.de/index.php?article_id=252&clang=1. There you will be able to see a summary of the most important issues that we
have discussed and decided upon at board level. Have a look from time to time.
Some school society members have offered to help us strengthen our financial know-how. In a recently
set-up Financial Working Group, we will look at this year’s budget together, as well as investigate options on how to improve our future planning processes. This includes examining the timeline for our
annual increase of the school fees.
Several special events will take place at the school in the few weeks leading up to Christmas. We
would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the preparation of these activities in
advance, and we hope to see many of you attending.
Many thanks,
Your Board Members Team
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DSN news — 12
Sport
From Badminton to Zumba – ADULT SPORTS in CApital letters!!
Dear Parents and members of the School Association,
Do you like do sports, or have your wanted to try out something for a long time? Then you can do so
at the German School Nairobi.
As part of our adult sports program we have the following on offer:
Times
Activity
Monday + Wednesday, 5.30-6.30 p.m.
Tuesday, 7.00-8.30 p.m.
Wednesday, 6.30 – 8.00 p.m.
Saturday, 9.00 – 10.30 a.m.
Zumba (extra charge) Lindy Steele ([email protected])
Volleyball
Karin Häggmark/Matthias Hasse
Badminton
Georg Verweyen
Badminton
Georg Verweyen
Contact Person
Venue
Gymnastics room
Sports Hall
Sports Hall
Sports Hall
We started the new season on the 3rd of September, and we look forward to your participation. You
don’t need to be a professional, or even a half-professional. Quite on the contrary, we are all a group
of easy-going amateurs. Nonetheless, we would like to request that for Badminton and Volleyball,
you should have some minimal knowledge about the game. No pre-booking is required. Please feel
free to turn up at the Sports Hall for a free trial. If you then decide to join us, you need to apply for
an Adult Sports Card (you can find prices and details on our website under the Sports Section.)
Karin Häggmark, Viberti Nyakang’o
News from the Tennis Club
The tennis season of the academic year 2012/13 has begun successfully once again. The club has
been able to maintain several of the “old” members, as well as recruit new ones. That means that
with around 50 memberships (many of those family memberships), the highest number we have had
in recent years. And there is more: many other people have indicated that they are interested in becoming members of the club. Tennis training on Saturday mornings (free for members), as well tennis
as an extra-curricular activity in the afternoons for school children are both running well.
Staff
If you are interested in joining us, please contact my co-chair Diedrich Ebers, or myself, or Joan Karanja,
who has taken over all administrative duties regarding the club and communication with members
as of the 1st of October 2012. We look forward to working with Joan, who will take over completely
from Rhoda, who left the club at the end of September. You can reach Joan on 0723/ 602447 or by EMail on [email protected]. Furthermore, we are happy to have employed Ken Juma as a grounds
keeper, as Anthony has now been employed by the school. Ken and John are the two people you can
contact directly at the tennis courts.
Investments
We would also like to inform you that the Tennis Club has often talked about investments in the past,
in order to be able to continuously maintain the courts at a higher standard. We have installed a small
water tank and a pump, to solve the previously recurring problem due to water shortages: the courts
could not be watered, thus becoming too slippery, and were almost impossible to play on.
Additionally the tennis club intends to install flood lights on the two courts. This would be of great
benefit to the club and its members, as there would still be time to play after 7.00 p.m. We would like
to invite you all – members, families and friends – to the “Floodlight Fundraising Tournament” on
Saturday the 1st of December from 2.00 – 6.00 p.m. at our tennis courts. The club will look after
snacks and drinks; we would like you to “look after” a donation you would like to make so that we
can get the floodlights as soon as possible! Please pass by!
Yours,
Tobias Heinemann
DSN news — 13
Athletic Games 2012
Primary school kids at the start-ine
Start of the higher classes
For the first time in 7 years it rained the night before and the on morning of the Athletic Games. It
was unthinkable and no one had ever imagined this could happen. We always assumed that it never
rains, so everyone was nervous on this Monday morning. At 7:30 a.m., all the students I met had only
one question: “are the Athletic Games still on?” and I replied yes, as confidently as I could, hoping
and keeping my fingers crossed that it would not rain any more. New lines had to be marked on the
running track but thanks largely to the local staff, teachers and volunteer parents, the Athletic Games
began right on time. The wet weather did little to dampen the spirits of the athletes, who gave their
all in running, jumping and throwing. Eventually, the weather actually turned out to be great for athletics: less sunburn and less fatigue for the athletes! Volunteers from Class 12 made sure the young
athletes took part in the different disciplines on time, played lively music over the PA and helped in
marshalling. The parents who were present also played their part in time-keeping and most importantly, in cheering their children and all the athletes taking part. Teachers were also very busy taking
measurements and recording results. The Schenker company came back on board again this year to
sponsor free water for the tired athletes. The morning went by quickly and by 12.30 p.m. all the races
were over. Everyone gathered for the presentation of the best athletes and best class who received
their awards and accolades. (See results and photos below).
Once more we are grateful to all the local staff, our Nurse Fridah, all the teachers, volunteers, spectators and Class 12 for making the Athletic Games a raving success.
Viberti Nyakang’o
Relay certificates:
Relay winner class 1 : 2 = class 2
Relay winner girls class 3 : 4 = class 3
Relay winner class 5 : 6 = class 5
Relay winner class 7 : 8 = class 8
Relay winner class 9 : 10 = class 10
Staffelsieger class 11: 12 = class 12
Succesful handing-over
Best Student of the Class:
Class
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Girls
Boys
Lyna Peters
Jim Kania
Melanie Prieske Safari Kraus
Radina Bozukova Timon Tenambergen
Lucia Ruchti
Louis Diekmann
Dinah Lokudu
David Wekesa
Joana Braun
Noah Wekesa
Rachel Omondi
Hannes Stier
Melanie Schnedl Leon Vihuto
Katherine Kitur
Luke Mbithi
Anna Stier
Niklas Häggmark
Malaika Hoffmann Betawa Mwachiro
The youngest from class 1 were enthusiastic, too.
Anna Stier was awarded best girl of the school and Betawa Mwachiro best boy of the school. Class
2 won in the category of best class of school.
DSN news — 14
Soccer
The soccer season was a mixed bag of fortunes. After entering a team in the Under 19 yrs schools
league, the German School had to cancel its entire league season due to injuries to 2 players (yes,
the school only has 11 boys eligible to play in the U19 yrs category). The team had to make do with
tournaments and small friendly games. At the Annual Rosslyn open boys tournament, the boys only
managed to make it past the 1st round but got bundled out in the round of 16. They went a step further in the ISK tournament by making it into the quarter finals where they lost 1-0 to the eventual
winners. In the 2 9-aside friendly games, the boys drew 0-0 with Rosslyn Academy and beat Porter
House 3-1.
Viberti Nyakang’o
Report from the U9 Football Team
The new season has been somewhat mixed. At
the beginning of September, we went to Babadogo in Ruaraka without Jojo and David, and were
truly hammered by the city champions, by 7 goals
to 1! It was, however, a great experience. There
were more than 1000 spectators from the Babadogo Primary School, which has 1500 students in
total, and we were also welcomed by the Headmistress. Before this school split from the Chandaran School, it had 3,000 students, and was the
largest school in East Africa. In October, we beat
the French School in a home match (3:1), and
then drew against the School of Nations in an
away match in November (2:2), after holding a
lead of 0:2 for a while. We are now preparing for
the ISK Christmas Tournament.
Dr. Ernst Tenambergen
Dusty adventure at the match in Babadogo
Basketball
The GSN Team
First game – first victory! As a “preparation
game”, the German School Nairobi Basketball
players went on a Saturday afternoon to Juja
School, and returned with a victory of 65:53! We
played in front of a packed audience from the Boarding School in Juja, and the GSN players had the
lead almost throughout the game. Juja did manage to score the first basket, but after that, our
players decided to take control. At one point we
had a lead of over 20 points. Lack of concentration at times, and a few weak moments kept us
on our toes the whole time, but luckily we were
never in danger of losing the lead.
What lies ahead now is training and more training
– there is always room for improvement. The
team players were: Erik, Luke, Leandro (Class 9)
Luka, Niklas, Jesse (Class 10), Timon (Class 11),
Jonas, Chris, and Niko (Class 12)
Sven Jeglitza
Announcement for the parents of our swimming team:
Please respond to invitations to swimming galas before the deadline. If we do not receive any registration by the deadline we will assume that your child will not be participating. The event might
then be cancelled if we do not have enough participants.
Bernard Nalisi
DSN news — 15
Ressource Centre
We have already had some interesting events in this academic year and there are several more to follow. Please find below an overview for the first semester of 2012/2013:
27. October 2012
Completion of Test for foreign students
In co-operation with the Test Centre Nairobi, and The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
7. November 2012
In-School workshop for teachers on the topic of “Interculturality – a comparison of a typical school
day in Germany and in Kenya.” Panel guests: Caroline Kigira, German Embassy Nairobi; Shital Shah,
German School Nairobi; Robert Mwangi, Starehe Boys’ Centre
30. January 2013
Workshop ofGIGA-Institutes (German Institute of Global and Area Studies) in Hamburg on the topic
of “Land Governance - Large Scale Land Acquisitions”
In co-operation with the German Embassy Nairobi.
31. January 2013
As part of our “Current Affairs Studies”, a lecture by the Political Scientist Dr Ralph-Michel Peters on
the forthcoming elections in Kenya, followed by a discussion with the students from the Upper Secondary School.
Karin Häggmark
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DSN news — 16
Students’ Activities
Students from class 5 participating in the workshop “Plant for the Planet“
Milan planting a tree
Manja commits herself for
the future of our planet
The official logo of the project
Dear Readers,
The five of us from Class 5 are part of a project called “Plant for the Planet”, which deals with climate
change, and in particular with planting trees. Trees, as you may know, are essential for survival. But
they are not important only to stop climate change. Poor people can eat the fruits of these trees. Furthermore, the roots of trees hold the ground together, and prevent land-slides.
So when you buy a tree and set it in the earth, you have already done a lot. It would be really good
if you could support the project “Plant for the Planet”, as trees will perhaps save the world one day!
Manja, Lisa, Milan, Kena und Rahim (Class 5)
Awards at the international art competition
The most successful participants of the international art competition “We are the world” very proudly
received their prizes at the opening ceremony of the exhibition at the Nairobi National Museum of
Kenya on Wednesday the 12th of September 2012. The organisers of the event, Juhudi Children’s Club
Nairobi received over 800 (!) entries for this competition. Melissa Prieske, Raquel Morell Kessler, Melanie Schnedl and Noah Wekesa all truly had reason to be proud that their entries were chosen.
Manja Moßmann
Prize-giving ceremony at the National Museum
Melanie receives her certificate
DSN news — 17
Economic Field Research for Class 11 from 29th October 2012 – 2nd November 2012
As they do every year, students of this year’s Class 11 completed a week long Economic Field Research.
The aim of this research is to do a geographical analysis of companies, especially of those in the secondary sector. The emphasis is to analyse locational factors of these companies as well as to apply
economic theories, that we have been learning in class to the companies. This year, too, there was a
whole range of companies where our students carried out their research, ranging from the coffee
producers Ibero Kenya Ltd., to the fruit juice manufacturers Kevian Kenya Ltd, to the Coca Cola Distributors Coca Cola Bottlers, to the engineering company Gauff Engineers, and to the jewellery producers, Artificial Jewellery Manufacturers.
Regina Weber-Bernardo
Karl Schick visiting Charmaine und Charlene Ndolo at their
work place at Kevian Keny Ltd.
Class 11 “organises” Biology!
Students of Class 11, under the guidance of their Class teacher, Mr Schick, have decorated an entire
wall in the Biology Room. The wall now shows the hierarchical levels of Biology.
Right at the bottom, we have the molecules, such as genetic make-up and proteins, and it continues
upwards, with cells, and organisms, leading to the eco-system. The characteristic eco-system of East
Africa, the Savannah, stands right at the top, and thus takes a particularly large amount of space. We
have thus paid due attention to the unique mega fauna of our host country Kenya, and acquainted
the students to their current reality of life. At the same time, we have worked on the systematic classification of bacteria, single cells, animals, fungi and plants. Most of the pictures were taken by Mr
Schick “on site”, in national parks or in museums.
Prof Frischknecht from Heidelberg was able to provide us with special pictures of malaria and anopheles mosquitoes. He was delighted to be able to help the school in this way; incidentally, the school
carries the name of his youth idol, Bernhard Grzimek. We thank him for his support.
Karl Schick
Students from class 11 presenting the new look of the biology
room
DSN news — 18
Lucas Alcamo enjoys 16 exciting days at the “Deutsche SchülerAkademie“
The Deutsche Schüler Akademie (translates into the Summer School for German Pupils) is an organisation that offers a whole range of courses in different locations. These courses deal with topics such
as Meteorology, Economics, and Psychology among others. This summer I took part in a course on
“Particle Physics”, which gave me an informative introduction to the basics of complicated “Particle
Physics”, as well as an insight into the life of a physicist at CERN.
The course was offered at the HÖP-Centre in Papenburg, along with five other courses. The compound
consists of four main buildings: the main building with the refectory, two blocks offering accommodation, and one building which was the ‘leisure centre”. The centre offered a range of activities, such
as a lake for rowing, table tennis, table football, and other board games. There was also a football
pitch and a volleyball court nearby.
The lessons took place from 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m., and again from 4.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m., so that
there was always time for sports after lunch. In case the weather did not hold, there were other activities on offer, such as a band, different choirs, and an amateur theatre group.
To give the students a change, various excursions had been organised for one day: a moor hike, a visit
to a former concentration camp, a visit to Meyer Werft, and a visit to a local castle. Furthermore,
there was a concert one evening, where the band and the choirs made an appearance. On another
day, we had a “colourful evening” during which everyone was allowed to show off what they could
do best.
The Deutsche Schüler Akademie was a unique experience, and I am very pleased that I was able to
participate in this programme. What I liked in particular was the open-mindedness of the participants,
and the overall stimulating atmosphere.
Lucas Alcamo
Impressions from the SchülerAkademie
DSN news — 19
DSN news — 20
School Development
The beginning of the new academic year marks the implementation of the new Key Curriculum in
Class 11, and sets the ground for the first regional Abitur examination in 2014.
There are changes in personnel too: Ms Ibe is now in charge of the organisation of the Steering Committee, a job that was previously done by Ms Joos, and later by Mr Schick. The new Pedagogical Quality
Management Co-ordinator is Ms Petschl, who, in co-operation with Mr Schick, will press ahead with
the school development process. The specific plans we need to implement after the school external
inspection (BLI), which were led by Mr Schick last year, are in the pipeline. There are still various “vacancies” in the development task forces. Anyone interested in joining us can contact the PQM co-ordinator directly. The Discipline group still needs a teacher, and the Students’ Council are yet to elect
a student representative for the Steering Committee. The latter already had its first meeting on the
6th of September.
On the 10th of November the Educational Day took place at the school, with the participation of all
teachers and a parent representative, Mr Oliver Stegen. The topic under consideration was how best
we can improve the students’ language competence in German. Numerous concepts were discussed,
and these will now become a definite part of teaching in all lessons where German is the medium of
instruction. As a continuation of the Educational day, we intend to set up a long term plan which will
help to formalise and implement the concepts discussed.
There is a lot to be done; as always, we will soldier on!
Karl-Ludwig Schick, Kerstin Petschl, PQM-Co-ordinators
Miscellaneous
Scholarship Parents’ Evening
The annual Scholarship Parents’ Evening took place on the 27th of September this year. Out of the
30 scholarship students we currently have at our school, 22 of them were represented at the evening
either by one or both parents. After two hours of heated discussion and exchange of information,
new scholarship parent representatives were chosen. Mr Karanja (father of Jesse, Class 11) volunteered to take on this position for the next academic year. His deputy will be Mrs Mwenda (mother
of Megan in Class 5, and Matthew in Class 6). We look forward to fruitful and successful co-operation
with them.
Regine von Dessauer
The German School participates in the first ever German-Kenyan Economic Forum
High-ranking firms (from the political as well as
economic sectors) from both Kenya and Germany
participated for the first time in a Kenyan – German Economic Forum on the 26th and 27th of
September. The German School Nairobi made a
presentation, and had an information stall at the
forum, through which we were able to present
the merits of a German School Abroad to potential investors as this is definitely an important criClaudia Heinemann and Stefanie Thomas establishing contacts
teria when people decide to come from Germany
with sponsors
to work in Kenya.
On the first day, the Headmaster, Mr Boddenberg, presented the school to an interested audience.
The presentation was part of different presentations made by various representatives of German organisations and companies. On the second day, the two representatives at the school stand, Claudia
Heinemann und Stefanie Thomas had the opportunity to further strengthen contacts with firms and
to find new sponsors. The Kenyan participants present also showed great interest in the school, especially in our bilingual Kindergarten.
Stefanie Thomas
DSN news —21
School Administration
A few reminders from the Administration Management:
Bus:
All children are obliged to put on their safety belts in the bus. Please remind the children about
this, and that the bus drivers have been instructed not to drive until all the children are belted up.
Children must obey the instructions of the bus conductor. Also, children must adhere to bus timings. The drivers cannot leave punctually if the children are not ready on time. If you are in doubt
about the time, please ask your children to synchronise their watches with those of the drivers.
Parking Area
Before you allow your child to get out of the car, please either park in one of the spaces available,
or drive to the drop-off zone in front of the sports hall. Children are NOT allowed to be dropped off
at the round-about. Luckily there has been no accident so far, and we need your continued support
to ensure that they do not happen in the future. Please remember that speed should be kept to an
absolute minimum in the parking area.
Lunch:
We are getting more and more occasions when parents are deregistering their children from lunch,
and requesting not to have to have to pay for these meals. Unfortunately there is an administrative
complexity attached to this, and we can only meet this requirement after a month’s notice. Should
you require more flexibility, please remember that you can buy booklets of 10 lunch tickets from
Ms Gakuncu.
Invoices:
Each time you make a payment to the school, please quote the invoice number on it. As there are
families with similar names, or there are families where the two parents have different surnames,
this would help to make our work easier. In case your company pays the school fees, please inform
us about this and please pass this information to them, too.
Thank you very much.
Sandra Illi, Head of Administation
Important dates in December
Thu
06.12.
St. Nicolaus Day in the Kindergarten, 5 p.m.
Sun
09.12.
Christmas Concert in Tigoni, 3.30 p.m.
Tue
11.12.
Information evening for parents of new scholarship students
Wed
12.12.
Jamhuri Day
Fri
14.12.
School Christmas Party, 10.30 a.m.
Mo
Fri
Sun
17.12.11.01.
23.12.
Christmas break
DSN news
Alumni Meeting in the cafeteria, 4 p.m.
www.dsnairobi.de
www.germanschool.co.ke
[email protected]
Tel.: + 254 (0)20 - 7121400, + 254 (0)20 - 7120371
Ulrich Boddenberg, Headmaster
Stefanie Thomas, Editor
Shital Shah, English Translations
DSN news — 22
Is something bothering you, or do have any serious issues?
Come to the “Boat”!
In the “Boat” you will have the chance to swim away from school and speak
about what is wrong: trouble at home, or with teachers, or even poor grades
in class. Or you may have just argued with a friend, and you simply want to
talk about it to someone.
All this is possible in the “Boat” - you can talk to me, or someone else, who
I would be able to recommend. And whatever is discussed in the “Boat”
stays in the boat, i.e. it remains confidential.
Teachers, you too are welcome to the “Boat”. If you are stressed about other
colleagues, or your students, or even if you have any non-school related issues, you can “dump” them in the “Boat” – a cup of coffee or herbal tea always helps! And again, everything we discuss stays in the “Boat”.
Dear Parents, you may be concerned about your children, if they do not
feel “at home” in the school, are being harassed in some way, or simply
don’t seem to be coping… Pass by and talk about it in the “Boat” – the
next steps to be taken will easily fall into place.
Welcome one, welcome all!
Psychosocial counselling helpline available from September 2011 in Room
21, on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1.00 – 2.00 p.m.
Dorothea Schulz-Ngomane
Pastor / Religion Teacher
0733824514