Newsletter 06.06.2025

Written on 06 June 2025

🕌 Wishing you all a peaceful and restorative Eid al-Adha
May this day be filled with peace, gratitude, and joyful togetherness!

🌍 Working Together for a Better World: Our Whole-School Sustainability Project
Just in time for the end of the school year, we are launching our new sustainability project with great enthusiasm – a whole-school initiative that wonderfully combines learning, creativity, and environmental awareness.

Across all classes, students are joyfully crafting, designing, and reflecting:

🧴 Imaginative artworks made from used plastic bottles
👕 Upcycled T-shirts transformed with creative ideas
🥗 Delicious recipes made from leftover food
🕵️ Children acting as environmental detectives to find ways to make our school more eco-friendly
✍️ Creative writing projects envisioning a greener, fairer world
🧠 Older students engaging in debates on global sustainability topics, sharpening their critical thinking

💚 Let’s work together to create a better, greener future!

⚽ Nations League Semi-Final: Germany vs Portugal at the Swiss Club
On Wednesday, the Swiss Club at GISA once again became a lively meeting point for football fans of all ages. Students, parents, and teachers gathered to watch the thrilling semi-final between Germany and Portugal.

Despite Germany's narrow defeat, it was a wonderful evening filled with emotion, sportsmanship, and community spirit.
We are already looking forward to the next event at the Swiss Club – be it sport, music, or culture!

💓 Supporting the Gerald Asamoah Foundation
At the end of May, GISA parents and staff once again supported the mission of the Gerald Asamoah Foundation and Kinderherzen e.V. with heartfelt commitment.

A moving film evening at the Swiss Club powerfully reminded us what it’s all about: saving the lives of children with heart conditions – and the strength of humanity without borders.

Support came in many small but meaningful ways:

🍎 Fresh fruit, cake, and small treats for the team
☕ Giving up comfort in the staff room for the benefit of patients in the hospital
❤️ Time, open ears, and kind words for the medical team

A special highlight: a relaxing weekend trip to the Adome Waterfalls near Aburi, organized by Thorsten van Honk, followed by a refreshing visit to the Hillburi Resort.
A heartfelt thank-you to everyone who contributed!

📚 Calling All Bookworms – Book Donations Needed!
The GISA Support Association is collecting donations of children’s and youth books for our school library – gently used and well-loved books are very welcome!

🔤 The Adinkra symbol “Nea Onnim” stands for knowledge and lifelong learning. In that spirit:

📍 Drop off your books at the school (Ring Road Central, next to Nima Police Station)
📦 Or send your book list (title and author) via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – we’ll take care of the shipping to Ghana!
📜 Donation receipts can be issued upon request.

🙏 Thank you on behalf of our eager readers!

🔊 Upcoming Highlights & Key Dates

🎤 Music Workshop with The Souly Bird – June 12, 2025
Preschool to Grade 7 will rehearse the song "Grateful" with the artist in preparation for a special performance at our end-of-year celebration.
📩 Please return the consent forms by June 7.

🧯 First Aid Workshops – June 12, 13 & 16, 2025

June 12: Kindergarten (ages 3–4)
June 13: Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
June 16: Grades 1–7 with support from our school nurse, a pediatrician, and a dedicated parent volunteer

🏃 Sports Day – June 17, 2025
A day full of fun, teamwork, and physical activity awaits – we look forward to seeing our students in action across a variety of disciplines!

🎭 GISA GOT TALENT – June 19, 2025
From 4:00 PM, Grade 7 invites you to a big talent show full of music, dance, acrobatics, magic, and more.
Parents and families are warmly welcome!

📝 Report Card Dates

Report card conferences: Friday, June 13, 2025
Report card distribution: Friday, June 20, 2025
⚠️ Please note: Early distribution of report cards is not possible.

🌞 Summer Camp in Wonderland
A creative and adventurous holiday program for children aged 3 to 12!

🗓️ Dates:
• Week 1: June 23–27, 2025
• Week 2: June 30 – July 4, 2025
🕗 Time: Monday to Friday, 08:00 AM – 2:00 PM
💰 Fee: 1,000 GHS/week (including lunch)
📩 Registration is now open!

Primary School

A short but eventful week comes to an end for Grades 1/2, filled with many wonderful experiences:
In English lessons, the children finished writing their own stories. First, they read them to themselves, and then proudly presented them to the students of Grade 7. The Grade 7 students were very impressed and gave fantastic feedback on the stories. Next Tuesday, your children will bring their self-made booklets home – something to look forward to! Despite the school year nearing its end, the children remain highly motivated: In Grade 1, they worked on writing instructions and learned the structured layout of such texts, including appropriate sentence starters. In Grade 2, handwriting is becoming more and more beautiful, and the children are increasingly paying attention to writing in a legible cursive script. The recitation of times tables is also improving steadily. We are already excited for next week’s overnight stay at school, which promises to be a wonderful end to the year!

A short week also ends for Grades 3/4, and the summer holidays are approaching rapidly. In German, Grade 4 continued working on poetry, while Grade 3 continued practicing with dictionaries. Our two new students focused in detail on the topic of clothing. In math, we wrote a review test and continued preparing for the upcoming class assessment. Over the weekend, feel free to talk with your children about measurements, weights, or prices of everyday items – it’s a fun way to reinforce math skills! In English, the final exam was successfully completed today. In Science, we also finished our last test of the year. In Music, we continued rehearsing our performance of the Cup Song. We’ve also started preparing farewell gifts, and in swimming, the children practiced doing headfirst dives. We wish all families a blessed Eid al-Adha!

Secondary School

This week, more assessments were written and final projects across various subjects are in full swing to ensure everything is completed before the well-earned summer break begins. Among other things, we discussed the question: “Is it okay to keep animals in zoos?” In our interdisciplinary end-of-year project, students have taken on the task of rethinking what a zoo could look like and designing alternative concepts that prioritize animal welfare. We’re looking forward to presenting the results at our upcoming “Inside–Out Zoo” exhibition. In Biology (Grade 5), the focus was on how to protect the environment. Students created posters on how to preserve and care for nature and presented their ideas to the class. They learned and applied the 3Rs of sustainability: Reuse, Recycle, and Reduce – and were reminded once again that we are all responsible for sustainable waste management. This was especially fitting, as World Environment Day was observed this week. In practical biology, we continued with test experiments. In Geography, we proceeded with the continent comparison project, focusing on the differences and similarities between Africa and Europe. This week was also full of exciting learning moments across the curriculum: In Physics, students built simple electric circuits using bulbs and batteries. The project was guided by our caretaker Jeff, who provided expert support. The students carried out hands-on tasks that boosted their confidence in working with electronic components. All safety measures were followed – there were no accidents, and the enthusiasm was enormous! In Chemistry, we continued with this term’s practical test – with a high level of concentration and commitment from the students. In Grade 7, German lessons focused on written argumentation and the use of indirect speech – building essential skills for clear and confident communication. In Math, we explored the topic of percentages. Students learned to distinguish and calculate base value, percentage value, and percentage rate. In small groups, they created informative posters to visualize the derivation of the corresponding formulas. In History, our unit on the Middle Ages ended with a comprehensive written assessment. In Geography, students continued work on creating an impressive classroom-sized world map. In P.E., the focus was on teamwork and body control: Grades 5/6 and 7 worked in small groups to develop creative acrobatic choreographies – combining physical activity with artistic expression. In Biology (Grade 7), the students drew DNA strands and learned the fundamentals of genetics, providing a fascinating introduction to the world of molecular biology.

The DaF class (German as a Foreign Language – Grades 5, 6, 7) engaged with two-way prepositions, modal verbs, and team-building exercises.
The vocabulary focused on verbs of movement, states, and sports-related terms, including locations of sporting events.
In grammar, students practiced the accusative case for movement and the dative case for location using common two-way prepositions.
They also practiced word order and modal verb conjugation in several exercises. On Tuesday, the DaF learners took part in a team-building workshop to train their collaborative skills. In small groups, they had to solve fictional problem scenarios under time pressure, each assuming specific roles. Afterwards, they reflected on how their teamwork could be improved. The week concluded with a learning objective assessment that covered all grammar and vocabulary topics discussed.