Newsletter 17.10.2025

🌞 Back to School with Music and Good Vibes!

With sunshine, smiles, and plenty of good energy, the German International School Accra kicked off the post-holiday season. Students were welcomed on the basketball court with cheerful music and laughter everywhere — and two birthday celebrants enjoyed a joyful round of “Happy Birthday” from everyone! 🎉

🎓 Learning with Heart, Mind, and Hands – Day of the German Language 🇩🇪

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, 2025, marks the festive conclusion of our first project period.
In performances, presentations, and exhibitions, our students will showcase what learning at GISA truly means — curiosity, creativity, and community!

📅 From 3:00 p.m. on the GISA campus
🎶 Colorful program 🍴 Food & drinks 🎨 Exhibitions
🎟 Free admission – everyone welcome!

🎄 After the Project Comes the Advent Spirit!

Next week, the campus will start feeling wonderfully festive!
Students can choose from a wide range of creative workshops — including woodcraft, Christmas stories in French, painting, student journalism, baking, singing, advent calendar design, and a Christmas elf workshop.

All these lovingly created projects will be presented at our Christmas Market on November 29, 2025 – a joyful highlight we are already looking forward to! 🎄✨

⚽ Grow with Football – GISA Launches Its New Football Academy

With great enthusiasm, GISA has launched its brand-new Football Academy!
The first training session was full of energy, teamwork, and excitement — dribbling, passing, cheering – everything a football heart desires!

A big thank-you to our coaches David Detzler and Collins Onyisi, who train each child with dedication and passion.

📅 Trial Sessions
🕓 Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:15 – 6:00 p.m.
📱 Register via WhatsApp: 024 311 5724

From now on, it’s “Grow with Football” at GISA – awakening the love of the game and building bridges through sport! ⚽💪🇩🇪🇬🇭

💬 German Course for Parents and Staff

On Tuesday, our new German language course for parents and staff began under the guidance of DaF teacher Denise Schoechert.
Four parents and four colleagues joined the first session – a great start filled with motivation, curiosity, and positive energy!

The course is open to everyone wishing to improve or refresh their German skills.
Language builds bridges – German connects! 💬✨

💙 March for Children’s Rights – Together for a Better Future

On Wednesday, GISA students, teachers, and parents joined in the “March for Children’s Rights” through Jamestown – organized by our long-standing partner NGO, the Universal Wonderful Street Academy.

After a touching moment of silence and prayer for children in need, a colorful parade of around 200 participants made its way through Jamestown to the Makola Market, accompanied by live bands, music trucks, and powerful placards carrying emotional messages.

A special highlight was the motorbike show by the Street Academy – met with cheers and applause!
This remarkable event was a strong statement of solidarity, children’s rights, and hope – another example of how schools, parents, and civil society can build bridges together. 💙

A heartfelt message of thanks from Judith and Louis Doe of the Universal Wonderful Street Academy:

“We would like to sincerely thank everyone who joined the march with us on Wednesday. Your presence and support showed great appreciation for the children from the poorer neighborhoods.
Thank you for your patience and understanding with the schedule changes caused by the rain.
Our students were especially happy to see the children of the German School join again this year.
Together, we continue to raise awareness for children’s rights and fight against injustice toward children in Ghana.
Anyone who would like to visit the Universal Wonderful Street Academy during a regular school day is warmly invited!
Please contact us at 0206897155.
Warm greetings, Judith and Louis.”

💻 Welcome, Emmanuel Krampah!

Dear teachers, parents, and students, my name is Emmanuel Krampah, and I’m excited to introduce myself as the new IT Administrator and IT Teacher at GISA.

Together with the team, I aim to further develop our digital learning environment, create practical and engaging IT lessons, and ensure that our school’s digital infrastructure is stable and future-ready.
A key focus will be implementing a reliable and secure internet connection — the foundation for modern learning, communication, and innovation.

I look forward to working with you all and to a successful school year at GISA!
Emmanuel Krampah
IT Administrator & IT Teacher

🌱 Collect Bottles – Grow a X-Mas Tree!

At GISA, sustainability meets creativity! Our DIY Project Team invites the entire school community to take part in a special environmental initiative:
Together, we’re turning used plastic bottles into a festive, eco-friendly Christmas tree. ♻️✨

Every bottle counts – from waste to wonder! Each one becomes a symbol of community, sustainability, and joy.

Bottles can be dropped off at the Administration Office – the earlier, the better!
A big thank-you to our dedicated DIY Project Team for setting such a great example of creativity and environmental awareness. 🌍💚

📚 Lost & Found

Starting Monday, a box with unclaimed lost and found items will be placed in front of the library.
Any items not collected by the end of next week will be donated to a local NGO.

🧸 Kindergarten and Nursery

This week, our nursery children returned from the holidays in a relaxed and cheerful mood 🌞. There was plenty of playing, dancing, and laughter 🤹‍♀💃😊 – a joyful start to the daily routine! We are also happy to welcome a new child to our group 🎈 – a warm welcome to our GISA family!

Our kindergarten children also settled back smoothly into everyday life 😌☀️.
They spent lots of time in the garden 🌿🌻, created beautiful popcorn pictures 🍿🎨, and painted sound pictures 🎶🖌️ – carefully listening to the music while painting 🎧✨. We also enjoyed reading many lovely books 📚💛 and have already begun the first preparations for St. Martin’s Day 🕯️🐴⭐️.

🏫 Primary School

Grades 1 and 2 worked very hard this week. Inspired by the March for Children’s Rights in Jamestown, the children explored the topic of children’s rights – such as the right to education, play, care, and a life free from violence. They remembered these concepts very well and designed posters for the walk.

The class also enjoyed several author readings from among their own classmates. The children often write short and longer stories about topics that interest them – sometimes about football, sometimes about animals, and sometimes even about spooky tales.

In art, Grades 1 and 2 studied the fascinating metal portraits of Alexander Calder. They observed how Calder combined shapes and lines to create figures and faces. Afterwards, they applied their own ideas by creating pipe cleaner portraits, learning how to bend, twist, and connect shapes to form exciting three-dimensional figures.

In art, Grades 3 and 4 worked on graffiti lettering, designing creative name art and experimenting with shapes, colors, and shadows to make their names vivid and unique. Many colorful and individual works emerged, showcasing the children’s creativity.

In German, the focus this week was on reading comprehension. The students practiced reading texts carefully, identifying key information, and answering questions. With different text types and small reading games, they improved their ability to read for meaning and strengthened their understanding of written content.

🎓 Secondary School

In Grade 5, the week was all about completing their project work. Another highlight was the March for Children’s Rights in Jamestown. Those who did not take part in the march explored the topic of children’s rights in class.

In art, the students began a new and exciting topic: planets and aliens. Everyone is already looking forward to presenting their work at the upcoming school festival.

Learning vocabulary can be fun too! 🎯

Our DaF students from Grades 5 and 6 first cut out picture cards and then started matching pairs of words and images. This playful approach made learning much more enjoyable – and helped the new words stick in their minds! 💡📚

The past week in Grade 6 was varied and full of exciting learning moments. In German, we began after the break with lively discussions about the students’ holiday adventures. Everyone shared their experiences enthusiastically – from family visits and trips to relaxed days at home.
Linked to our new topic, we then explored “School trips – past and present.” Using old and new pictures, we discovered how class trips have changed over time.

The students also successfully completed their book project. After weeks of preparation, they gave short but lively presentations about the books they had read – a wonderful mix of creativity and confidence.

In ethics, the focus was on the question “What are media?” Together we collected examples and learned to distinguish between analogue and digital media. It became clear how strongly media influence our everyday lives – and how important it is to use them consciously.

In art, creativity and fun were once again at the forefront. During a quiz about our name aliens and planets, both knowledge and imagination were needed. The students worked with great enthusiasm, teamwork, and lots of laughter.

In mathematics, the class focused on factors and multiples. The students practiced identifying factors and applying divisibility rules, laying important foundations for the coming weeks – and for future topics in mathematics. Overall, it was a week full of learning, creativity, and joy, with the class showing great commitment and curiosity.

In mathematics, the students in Grade 7 practiced working with brackets. The focus was on handling plus and minus brackets as well as multiplying expressions. Grade 8 worked on solving equations with brackets, applying the steps systematically to achieve correct results.

In art, the students were especially creative. They designed posters for the March for Children’s Rights, and some even produced videos and interviews for the student competition – combining creativity with civic engagement.

In biology, the topic was “The Senses,” with a focus on the eyes and ears. The unit ended with a short test to review what they had learned.

In physical education, everything revolved around Frisbee. The students practiced various exercises, such as spinning the Frisbee on one finger – improving coordination and dexterity.

Sometimes, the old tricks still work best. 📚

Despite all modern technology, vocabulary is still learned most effectively with small flashcards – though they often end up scattered everywhere.

That’s why our DaF students folded practical paper boxes to store their vocabulary cards. 🎨 Folding the paper was a little challenge at first, but with patience, teamwork, and lots of fun, everyone succeeded and created wonderful boxes. 💪✨

Each color has its own meaning: green for words that are already mastered, red for those that still need a bit more practice.

📅 Dates & Upcoming Events

🗣 Saturday, October 18, 2025
“130 Million – German Connects” – Day of the German Language on the GISA campus, together with numerous German-speaking institutions

🎉 Saturday, October 25, 2025
Teen Club – Trampoline Fun at Bliss

🕯 Thursday, November 13, 2025
St. Martin’s Lantern Walk

📖 Friday, November 21, 2025
Reading Day & Maths Night

🎄 Saturday, November 29, 2025
Christmas Market

🎅 Thursday, December 4, 2025
Visit from St. Nicholas