April 2015 - International School of Schaffhausen

BUSI NESS NAME
School
News
School News
April
2015
ISSH Connections
Calendar
Dear Parents, Students and Friends of ISSH
School Pictures
The theme of the April Newsletter is „CONNECTIONS“. In many
ways the International School of Schaffhausen can be seen as a
hub. We connect people or families from different cultural,
national, linguistic and professional backgrounds and also help
them forge links with the local communities and connect with other
internationals. However, international schools can be a universe in
themselves referred to as „the bubble“. Being connected to other
communities is vital as this helps us get out of our bubble and
makes the bubble less of a separating boarder. Teaching and
learning German and other languages and encouraging our
students, parents and staff to use languages for communication
and not to worry about grammar but to focus on making
themselves understood is essential in being able to connect
across language barriers.
This newsletter focuses on connections that we have with wider
communities— be it local or global. We have many examples of
how we connect to the local community.
Our students and teachers are members of many local sports
clubs and this has led to events and competitions between our
students and local students. We regularly have Schaffhausen
teachers in who spend their PD day at the school to get a gist of
the teaching and learning at an international school. Our teachers
have built up relationships with local colleagues and so some of
our students have the chance to look into a Swiss school from
time to time. We are affiliated with the Pro Natura organization
where we have action days to clear out parts of the Randen
forests and meadows. We host the local Russian Community
every Wednesday afternoon and have about 50 students who
learn about the Russian language and culture.
As a staff we are connected to a wider professional community,
the IB community. ISSH staff network with fellow colleagues,
conduct evaluation visits in other IB schools or run IB workshops
to support IB schools in the area or further away.
Connections to local institutions and businesses helped us to
provide our Junior College boarding students with an exceptional
opportunity to experience the world of work. ISSH students spent
a week working in the law department of an international
company, in the Schaffhausen hospital, at a local building
company, at a vet‘s clinic in Feuerthalen and with a social service
organization in the Reiat.
Enjoy browsing through the many articles on connections in this
newsletter.
Yours sincerely
Gundula Kohlhaas, Head of School
g.kohlhaas@issh.ch
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Grade 6/7 Movie Night
Friday, 8 May, 16:00-19:00
Family Fun BBQ in the
Woods for ISSH Parents
Sunday, 10 May, 11:00
Ascension Bridge
14-17 May 2015. No school.
Grade 5 Exhibition
Friday, 22 May, 10:30-15:00
Open to Parents and the Public.
Grade 10 Personal
Project Presentation
Friday, 22 May, 15:00-18:00
Open to Parents and the Public.
PA Ladies’ Night out
Wednesday, 27 May, 19:00 at
Restaurant Schützenstube
Grade 3 Camp Kandersteg
Wednesday-Friday, 27-29 May
MY Adventure Park
Sunday, 31 May, 10:00
Grade 4 Camp Leysin
Tuesday-Friday, 2-5 June
School Dentist
Monday-Wednesday 8-10 June
MY Sports Day
Friday, 19 June at the Munot Sports Ground
Primary Sports Day
Tuesday, 30 June, 9:00-12:00
Last Day of School
Wednesday, 1st July 2015
Summer Break
2 July—19 or 20 August 2015
First Day for Students
New Students: Wednesday, 19 August, 14:00
Returning Students: Thursday, 20 August
S CHOO L N E W S
P AGE 2
International and local Partnerships
At ISSH we believe that during this age of global collaboration it is important to model the development
of supportive partnerships. For many years we have
been interacting with other schools in a mutually
beneficial manner.
This partnership has continued into Secondary,
where we have been involved in several friendly
football competitions. We are currently organising
another football game against ISZN in May. Our
Grade 11 students joined ISZN for their Winter
Dance and ISSH returned the favour when ISZN stuOne of our partners is the International School of
dents joined our Spring Dance a few weeks ago. The
Zurich North (ISZN). Every year our Grade 5 students go on a residential ski trip to Crans Montana in Secondary students will also join us on June 19th for
our annual sports day when more friendly competithe south of Switzerland with the Grade 5 from Zurtion will be seen on the Munot sports field.
ich North. Due to our partnership with Zurich North
we are able to book the whole accommodation, that
way controlling who is in the house with us, set our
own programme with no limitations of time and get
favourable rates due to our larger booking number.
After making new friends on the Ski trip our Grade 5
students later in the year go to visit the Zurich North
Exhibition (A research project and presentation carried out by Grade 5 student in all IB PYP schools)
and in turn the Zurich North students come to visit
our school to see the exhibition and ask challenging
questions that help our students to think deeply and
critically about their own projects.
1)
ISSH Spring Dance
2)
Grade 5 Ski Camp
3)
ISZN Winter Party
S CHOO L N E W S
P AGE 3
Connections can be helpful to many…
Selling Oranges in Schaffhausen
Connections can be important and helpful to many
involved and it is important to foster them and to be
aware that we are all members of varying communities. When Marc Kempe, a former ISSHteacher,
came back to our school earlier this year to introduce
one of his Terre des homes projects to us, he was
received with enthusiasm and good will by students
and teachers alike. Marc told us about the Terre des
hommes organization,
which helps children
in need around the
world. One of their
staple projects has
been to sell oranges
to people on the
streets of Swiss cities.
The profits from this
work go to children in
seventeen countries
who are in need regarding health care,
nutrition and access
to drinking water.
Terre des hommes
have been selling
oranges throughout
Switzerland for over
50 years and the project is well known in this country.
After the 10th grade students returned to their homeroom following Marc´s visit, they did not even give
me a chance to further advertise the project. They
lined up to help before I could officially organize a
sign-up sheet. A few weeks before the project students were divided into groups for the two locations
in the Schaffhausen area to sell oranges throughout
the day, March 14th. Students happily agreed to be
there on time and did not complain about having to
get up at a not-so-teenage-friendly time. Of the fourteen 10th graders eleven helped out and thirteen out
of seventeen Diploma students were ready for action
that day! Students really enjoyed the experience and
were both amazed at the success, as well as the
different attitudes of
people when asking
for help. It was altogether a wholesome
experience for both
ISSH students and for
the local Terre des
hommes team, as
can be seen by the
note received later
from Marc Kempe:
“A big thank you to all
the students who took
part in our orange
sale in Schaffhausen
and Feuerthalen on
Saturday. The students made a big effort to convince people - politely - to buy oranges and contribute to our
health projects. It was a real pleasure to work with
them.”
From students of ISSH via Terre des hommes to the
children all over the world, this connection was definitely worth the effort.
Silke Fox, Sciences and Head of Boarding
New enrollments since Winter Break
A warm welcome to
Florin (gr (8), Elina (gr 4) and Selia (gr 2) Fontana from
Switzerland
Isabella (gr 5) and Abigail (gr 3) Anderson from the US
Lukas Cakmak in EY 1 (US/Turkish)
Rubén Pollack in gr 5 (German)
Phil Ochmann in gr 11 (German)
Emily Garbutt in Early Years 2 from Hungary
Favour Okere in gr 4 from Nigeria
Tate Firth in EY 1 (Canadian)
We said goodbye to
Lee (gr 3) and Sydney (gr 5) Mattoon from the US
Anouk, Eline and Tim Sijbring
Xingyi Yan, gr 11, from China
Dilara Ammann
Paula (gr 4) and David (gr 2) Reichl from Austria
Yash Subrahmanyam
S CHOO L N E W S
P AGE 4
Work Experience for our Boarding Students
During the ski break, the students from the boarding
house engaged in an internship with several organizations and people. It was very convenient that the
school had local connections to allow us the opportunity. We all worked different jobs. Marko helped lift
heavy load for construction while Dorjee helped
patching up injured animals. Jennifer tried her hands
on a Law firm and Patrick assisted the doctors with
precise operations.
I decided to help at Spitex, an NPO that cares for the
elderly. It was a new experience for all of us and
quite a busy one I reckon. It gave us a glimpse of
what the future may have in store for us. Developing
connections with the people around us is very rewarding and especially if you intend on working with
them in the future. It was a challenge for the novice
German speakers since we worked with local organizations. From my experience, taking up German as
an IB subject definitely helped me communicate.
However, there were a few incidents when I failed to
comprehend their instructions, so instead I popped
out google translate to come to my aid. Overall, the
work week was a great opportunity to get a hands-on
experience with everyday jobs. Some of the students
were happy to share their experience. Jennifer said,
”The work week was an incredible experience where
I learned a lot about the field of profession that I am
interested in. I helped in all the different departments
of accounting as well as learn the basics of law from
an in-house lawyer.” Dorjee said, ”I was given the
opportunity to work at a vet's clinic. I have always
been interested in medicine and I absolutely adore
animals! It was a wonderful and fulfilling experience.”
Patrick summarized: ”Internship week was great! It
gave me the opportunity to get an insight into everyday work life in the hospital. I was able to assist various doctors and see how it all works in Kantonsspital.”
Kuendrak Tobbgyal, gr 11
Marko getting ready for work
The “Mongolian Connection”
Since 2009 ISSH has been hosting Mongolian
teachers for an internship of two months. The driving
force behind this exchange program is Anita Fahrni,
the founding director of “Swiss Program for Language Instruction and Teacher Training”, an education exchange program established in 2001 and cooperating with Mongolian schools and universities.
Through this program Mongolian teachers of English
and German are invited for a three months internship at an educational institution in Switzerland.
Anita Fahrni, the programme coordinator selects the
applicants personally through interviews. This part of
the program is financed by the Swiss Development
Cooperation Agency.
For the English Programme she selects six to nine
teachers. They arrive in Switzerland in August to first
take a one-month intensive English language course
before spending two months as interns at international schools. All these young women teach English
in a Primary or Secondary school or even at a University in Mongolia. However, they have never actually been in an English-speaking environment and
never had experience or training in less traditional
language teaching methodology. Thus, they are eager to not only improve their oral and written English
skills but also to learn more about our methods.
Hosting Mongolian teachers at ISSH not only means
S CHOO L N E W S
that they benefit from experiencing our curriculum
and teaching methods but also that we at ISSH
learn more about the Mongolian culture. Our guests
bring in typical souvenirs from their country, they
prepare presentations on Mongolia for our students
or even cook some Mongolian food for us to try –
which tastes, I must say, very strange to our palates.
Coming to a European country is a very big step for
the Mongolian teachers - and sometimes even quite
a culture shock. But they are brave and, as we
would say, risk takers! They would like to get the
most out of their stay and return to Mongolia with
new ideas and views on teaching which they will
apply in their lessons.
P AGE 5
our visitors. Pictures are exchanged immediately via
Facebook and their friends in Mongolia can then see
them hovering in the midst of a herd of happy Swiss
cows…
We will host another Mongolian teacher this fall and
Anita Fahrni is still looking for a host family (Sep/
Oct). If you would be interested to open your home,
please contact Anita Fahrni. I am sure you have
many questions to ask before you make a decision:
a.fahrni@clinch.ch
“When they return to their own schools I believe they
will raise the level of instruction in those
schools.” (Anita Fahrni)
Find out more: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/giving“I spend a day with other classes in each days, it
mongolians-a-linguistic-stepping-stone/29504400
was good idea to select teacher and student. When I
move from class room to class room I always learn
Barbara Camenzind, Head of Administration
something from teachers and students. Each lesson
was different method and great. Now I tell some
methods that I saw and learnt such as maths, biology and science to other teachers in Mongolia. In the
Primary school classes had their own class room
agreements and they had a sign on there hanged on
the wall. It was one of the good ideas.”
Tseepil Baatarkhuu, teacher of English and Russian
at the Secondary school number 2 in Bulgan, Mongolia
Our guests usually live with local families or with our
ISSH who welcome them into their home for two
months. Like this they are integrated and also learn
about daily life in Switzerland. How different it must
be from Mongolia! I wonder if they enjoy our food
habits. A cheese fondue must taste very strange for
them, too!
When I go through the list of our Mongolian guests
we’ve had so far I must smile while reading the
names that bring back memories… We had
Oyuntugs (called Tugsuu), Byambasuren (called
Byambaa), Enkhtuya, Tseepil, Enkhzaya and Ardakhgul (called Ardakh). Our staff usually invite
them for an evening or day out which they really enjoy. Modern technology has also reached Mongolia
and the mobile phone is the most important tool for
Tseepil on a hiking tour to Kronberg
Tugsuu and Byambaa in Appenzell
S CHOO L N E W S
P AGE 6
Connections to the local Library
Since October 2014 the German department has
started a reading-partnership with the Schaffhausen
library for grade 4 and 5 students. This takes place
Tuesdays every 4th week during German time where
students travel to the library with the school bus.
big Schaffhausen library.
Initially we wanted to support our students to build up
their language skills through reading and thought
that the wide range of children’s books (fiction or non
-fiction) in the Schaffhausen library would serve the
purpose.
Indeed, the warm and welcoming nature of the library and its staff had helped our students to link
with them quickly. By experiencing it themselves our
students learned to benefit from the local services
which the Schaffhausen community offers.
However, we realised that we had started something
bigger than „only“ improving language skills. Students would approach their German teachers before
and after their regular German lessons and talk
about the new books they had borrowed from the
library. Students were not only enthusiastic about
reading exciting stories but also thrilled to visit the
The German department is pleased with this positive
outcome of the reading-partnership and is looking
forward to further exciting opportunities to connect
with the Schaffhausen community.
Whilst students needed guidance in the beginning
and were shy to communicate with the library staff,
they became more confident in using German –even
the very beginners- because they felt welcomed.
Ebru Güver, Primary German Coordinator
Enjoying Library Times