issue 11 I 15 december 2022
Gutenberg Post
Graduation Year 12
GRÜSSE VOM
SCHULLEITER
GRÜSSE VOM SCHULLEITER
Liebe Mitglieder der Schulgemeinde,
Das Schuljahr 2022 geht an der Deutschen Internationalen Schule Sydney zu Ende und wir freuen uns auf Weihnachten und die langen Sommerferien.
Der vergangene Monat war wieder sehr intensiv und lebendig. Wir haben großartige Konzerte erlebt und Abschlussfeiern in den Stufen 4, 10 und 12, unsere Schülerinnen und Schüler und unser Architekt haben mehrere Wettbewerbe gewonnen; wir haben Ausflüge und Exkursionen durchgeführt und vieles mehr. Schauen Sie es sich in dieser bunten Gutenberg Post einmal an.
Am Ende des Jahres verlassen uns natürlich auch immer eine Anzahl von Schülerinnen und Schülern und Lehrkräften, darunter diesmal Frau Yürekli, Frau Blankenheim, Herr Kelly, Frau Karpowa, Frau Bruell und Herr Otten. Wir wünschen ihnen allen alles Gute und schöne Erinnerungen an ihre Zeit bei uns. Schön, dass ihr hier wart und unsere Schule bereichert habt!
Nun wünsche ich Ihnen und euch allen eine frohe Weihnachtszeit, erholsame und inspirierende Ferien und ein gesundes und glückliches Jahr 2023!
Herzliche Grüße,
Lorenz Metzger
Schulleiter
gREETINGS fROM THE PRINCIPAL
Dear members of the school community,
The school year 2022 is coming to an end at the German International School Sydney and we are looking forward to Christmas and the long summer holidays.
The past month was again very intense and lively. We experienced wonderful concerts and graduation ceremonies in Years 4, 10 and 12, our students and our architect won various competitions; we went on many excursions and much more. You can read all about it in this edition of the Gutenberg Post.
As always at the end of a school year, a number of students and teachers must leave us, and this time the teachers include Frau Yürekli, Frau Blankenheim, Mr. Kelly, Frau Karpowa, Frau Bruell and Herr Otten. We wish them all the best and hope that they will hold fond memories of their time with us. Thank you for having been here and having enriched our school!
Now I wish you all a Merry Christmas, relaxing and inspiring holidays and a healthy and happy 2023!
Best wishes
Lorenz Metzger
Principal
a fond farewell to some of our fabulous colleagues
Katja Blankenheim
Jarrod Kelly
Mefdüne Yürekli
Eireen Bruell
Natalia Karpova
Good luck to you all in your new ventures. You will be sadly missed.
Luca Otten
We are proud to announce that our pioneering Passivehouse classrooms have been awarded the 2022 Sustainability Award in the Category Education and Research.
The Sustainability Awards are Australia’s longest running and most prestigious awards program dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating excellence in sustainable design and architecture. betti&knut architecture were presented with the prestigious Award trophy during the 16th Annual Sustainability Award ceremony held at the Shangri La Hotel in Sydney.
The Sustainability Awards Jury commented: “Over 250 projects, people and products were submitted to the 2022 Sustainability Awards, all of which exhibited such a high calibre and level of design that choosing the finalists was an arduous task, even for our highly experienced jury. After careful and deliberate consideration, our jury managed to pick winners they believe push sustainability in the architecture and design industry to new frontiers, and that help propel Australia’s leading architects onto the global stage.”
Our Principal, Lorenz Metzger, commented: “We are very proud that our new classrooms have won the prestigious Sustainability Award. At our school we encourage forward thinking and sustainability, so to see this project being awarded with the highest honour for sustainable design and innovation in Australia is very rewarding and motivating for us all.”
new classrooms receive sustainability award
The GISS classrooms are designed to meet the Passivehouse standard which combines thermal comfort, indoor air quality and very low energy consumption – around 90% less than standard buildings.
Architect Knut Menden explains: “The goal was to build sustainable portable classrooms at a cost and time frame equivalent to traditional portable classrooms and attain the International Passivehouse Standard using timber as the primary construction material. Each mass timber classroom was pre-assembled off site, craned into place in five modules and installed in less than 90 minutes per building.
The use of timber counteracts humidity levels to re-absorb humidity during wet weather and release in dry weather, naturally helping to create a balanced indoor comfort. It also connects the buildings to the surrounding bushland setting.”
christmas carols at giss
Last Monday the GISS community came together for our first outdoor Christmas Carols.
It was a heart-warming event for the whole school community with performances by our Preschool and Primary Students, Junior & Senior string ensembles as well as our Junior & Senior Choirs.
Even Santa Claus and The Elf made a special surprise visit and put a smile on everyone's face.
Letzten Montag traf sich die GISS-Community zu unseren ersten Weihnachtsliedern im Freien.
Es war ein herzerwärmendes Ereignis für die gesamte Schulgemeinschaft mit Auftritten unserer Vorschul- und GrundschülerInnen, Junior & Senior Streicherensembles sowie unserer Junior & Senior Chöre.
Sogar der Weihnachtsmann und The Elf machten einen besonderen Überraschungsbesuch und zauberten ein Lächeln auf alle Gesichter.
ag assembly
Last week various AG groups showed off what they had learnt and practised during the second semester.
Students, staff and parents enjoyed performances from the Taekwondo, String Ensemble, Creative Writing, Social Entrepreneurs, and Musical AGs.
Letzte Woche zeigten verschiedene AG-Gruppen, was sie im zweiten Semester gelernt und geübt hatten.
SchülerInnen, MitarbeiterInnen und Eltern genossen Auftritte von den Taekwondo, String Ensemble, Creative Writing, Social Entrepreneurs und Musical AGs.
Senior Secondary
(IB)
Senior Secondary (IB)
Junior Secondary
Junior Secondary
Primary
Primary
Preschool
Preschool
WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING AT GISS? | was WAR los an der giss?
WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING AT GISS?
was WAR los an der giss?
wellbeing
Our 10th-anniversary celebration helped raise significant funds which will ensure the Girls get off to a good start in 2023.
Dear Friends,
This will be our final email for the year and what a year it's been!
There were a range of challenges in our community this year as Fiji continued to feel the impact of COVID. Unemployment remained high as the tourist industry collapsed and this impacted education and Girls’ access to learning. We're so pleased to see tourists returning and things beginning to turn around.
Your support during this time meant none of the Girls’ dropped out of school which is a huge win!
67 Girls went back to school this year and four were supported to start or continue at university
Our BIG news this year is that we now have tax deductibility!
This has been a lot of work and while we have always been a registered Australian charity, registration with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission, the ACNC, means you can now claim your donations as a tax deduction.
We’ve continued our valued partnerships this year. William Angliss made our Christmas cakes in their teaching kitchens in November and we sold nearly 200 and sold out in 2 weeks!
We are so grateful for the generous support from their team!
The University of Western Sydney supported us with interns who created social media posts and blog posts, and with plans towards solidarity and learning visits that we are excited to progress in the new year.
Our friends at the German International School Sydney continued to generously fundraise for us despite not being able to take a group of students to Fiji for their annual immersion trip.
Others have given faithfully to our $5 Friday fundraising campaign, some a little, others a lot - it all counts and makes a real difference.
We supported 10 families this year to recover from significant flooding in January that cut them off from power, water and food supply. Girls had a staggered start back to school due to ongoing COVID restrictions in January and many continued to study remotely until April.
67 Girls went back to school and 2 additional Girls were supported to continue or start University. Both are the first in their families to do so. We also continued to support the 4 Uni Girls from 2021.
As always, our Fiji Co-Ordinator Urmila Prasad has outdone herself with pastoral care and support for the Girls, with her family and local team she has gone above and beyond in really difficult circumstances.
We rounded out the year with a wonderful 10th-anniversary celebration at Restaurant Rubric, hosted by hospitality students and chefs from William Angliss Institute, one of the leading hospitality training restaurants in Australia and Asia-Pacific.
We not only raised significant funds during the event, we also forged new partnerships for 2023 and beyond. The most significant announcement on the night was that our partner Cahoot Learning will provide a three-year commitment to support our team to learn and grow in Fiji.
And lastly, we are so thankful for an engaged community of people who support us to make a difference to Girls’ education in rural Fiji, including local school staff and the Ministry of Social Welfare in Fiji. In such uncertain times, it has been a gift.
Wishing you all some well-deserved downtime and a very happy new year.
Warmly,
Jane (for team a Girl & her world)
christmas message from a girl & her world
ASC students have been busy over the last four weeks. They have been making Christmas cards for their family and friends, decorating our Christmas tree, and making Christmas slime and playdough. Following the German tradition, the students got very creative while also making cookies with different shapes and decorating them in a homey atmosphere with Christmas songs.
Christmas in After School Care
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
giss summer vacation care:
16 to 20 JANUARY 2023
(BASC $500 VOUCHERS ACCEPTED)
click here to view the exciting program
There are still a few vacancies left on Wednesday 18th, and Friday 20th January 2023.
We can place you on the waiting list for Monday 16th, Tuesday 17th and Thursday 19th January 2023.
