International School of Stuttgart e.V. Community Report 2021/22

Community Report 2021/22

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returning forward

In a time of turbulence and continued segregation and even isolation, we can be proud to have remained a learning community that kept learning together in the Academic Year of 2021/22. Despite pandemic challenges and the logistical intrusion of a construction site in the middle of our largest campus, we stayed true to our vision and our strategic purpose which proved to be relatively inspirational in a world seeking stability.

From the very beginning, our students embraced the changes with remarkable tolerance. Upper School students rediscovered new spaces, sounds and trembling that disrupted concentration provoked interest. 6th grade students didn’t move as far away from the Lower School as they would have liked, on the Degerloch Campus but they grew to appreciate the gym. Upper School students in Sindelfingen maintained community connections and derived creative ways to keep moving even though the local sport verein, our normal location for sport and exercise was closed. And everyone adjusted to masks, quarantines, testing, multiple entrances and exits clusters…and parking.

Balance was a big part of the year 2021/22 and our school found ways to stay focused on learning objectives and finding time to take walks and share care. Sometimes the balance was not quite right as we struggled to keep content current and up to IB MYP and DP expectations in particular, but the school really tried to provide students with more time to be with one another and to learn at their own pace.

But as our weather improved so too did our attitudes and we saw ourselves move away from systemic focus to conversations. We moved away from fear to comfort and we began a process to reflect on how we can “return forward” to not only the Future of Education. Now., but the Future of Education. Next. Ours is a school committed to schooling. It’s not just about the buildings, it’s about the people and programs as well as the place. Our steadfast dedication to one another and how we learn together will forever remain the legacy of this particular academic year.

Timothy Kelley School Director

Carl Mahr President, Board of Trustees IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 3

our community Nationality

Students

Algerian

Nationality

1

French

American

298

41

Gambian

Australian

7

4

German

Austrian

2

Bosnian

Students

Staff

7

6

201

Ghanaian 1

Greek

3

Students

Staff

New Zealander

1

1

1

Norwegian

4

64

Polish

9

1

Portuguese

3

5

Romanian

2

Russian

5 4

Nationality

1

Brazilian

11

3

Hongkongese

1

British

13

14

Hungarian

4

3

Saudi Arabian

Canadian

16

12

Indian

68

3

Serbian

2

2

Iraqi

2

Slovak

1

1

Chilean Chinese

12

3

Irish

Croatian

2

3

Israeli

Danish

3

1

Italian

Estonian

1

Dutch

2

Filipino Finnish 4

Staff

1

9

South African

9

1

1

Spanish

13

3

10

3

Swedish

12

Japanese

136

4

Swiss

1

Korean

16

2

Turkish

9

1

Malaysian

1

Ukrainian

6

Mexican

1

1

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“The learning community has embraced a culture of collaboration to support the development of learning.” CLP Report IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 5

people, place & program The Academic Year 2021/22 represented the beginning of the final stage of our Future of Education Now strategic plan.

In the previous two years, the school invested in more teachers and support staff as well as expanded programming in new IB Diploma Program (DP) courses, expanded English as An Additional Language (EAL) support and other elective class initiatives. We called this an investment in People and Program.

In the summer of 2021, the school broke ground on the final stage of our investment planning, the Place. In six weeks, two thirds of our Degerloch Upper School campus was gone. Then we awaited four additional months to receive the final permissions from authorities and 6

in January 2022 construction began on our schools most visible commitment to the future of education at ISS. Earlier in the fall, ISS was a finalist for the ISC International School Award recognizing excellence in the collaborative design approach of our new building. The Award made mention of how all constituents contributed to the value proposition that led to strategic prioritization and eventually, implementation of programming that would be supported by a new and cutting-edge learning environment…a building that will inspire learning.

With Science Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M.) at the heart

of our educational dreams this facility will provide:

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Expanded state of the art science facilities Expanded and improved Design rooms and Makerspaces for engineering exploration Expanded and improved Performance and Visual Arts facilities to celebrate creativity Cutting-edge collaborative educational spaces which exchange the traditional classroom space for a variety of learning environments that supports clustered and personalized learning A full service kitchen with a variety of healthy food stations throughout the building.

Environmentally friendly construction and an advanced sustainable solar and heat pump resource solution Open spaces and terraces that encourage learning in the fresh air.

The building will cost nearly 17 million and with additional taxes, fees for planning and the expenses of the interim solution over the two years, the overall project will cost just under 25 million. The school will pay for this building through a careful and prudent long term tuition increase plan transparently outlined in our strategic Future of Education. Now. (bit.ly/the-futurebegins) brochure.

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accreditation: external celebration of learning at ISS The 2021/22 school year began with the finalization of the CLP (IB and NEASC’s Collaborative Learning Protocol) Report for our accrediting bodies, the NEASC and IBO. This led to our being selected as the first school in the world to work with a new and challenging process that aligned the IB organization with NEASC, one of the most respected quality assurance organizations in the world.

We began with a clear focus which was placed on the five chosen ACE Learning Principles identified through the Internal Review work done in the previous school year, and further defined by the Strategic Leadership Team during the end of year retreat. As a result, specific strategic development projects were defined for each of these Learning Principles, and implementation began with the whole school October professional development day. The collaborative projects that began included: • • • • 8

Math Teaching & Learning Authentic Learner Pathways Removing Barriers to Learning Degerloch Mentoring Program

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Effective Admin structures Aligning Communications

These projects continued to strengthen connections between campuses as well as developing a shared language of learning, both of which were critical in preparing for our upcoming whole school accreditation and evaluation visit

in December. Additionally, our newly created Definition of Learning began to be operationalized, and to serve us as a guiding statement about what successful learning looks like at ISS. All of this work prepared us well to host a successful CLP Team Visit, also the first in the world.

Despite having to meet our visitors online, the feedback from the team was positive,

constructive, and relevant. We received a full report in February that was both insightful and impactful, setting a solid foundation for our review of our current strategic plan and our future aspirations in line with recent investments in “people, program” and of course “the place.”

common curriculum: whole school programming for PYP The Primary School team on the Sindelfingen Campus was delighted to announce that the school is now officially authorised as an IB (International Baccalaureate) World School to offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP).

part of a global community of schools committed to developing knowledgeable, caring young people who will be ready to negotiate their futures successfully and make contributions resulting in a more harmonious and peaceful world. The

“A clear focus on providing students with opportunities to develop the skills to direct their learning”.

This means that the campus has met the international standards and practices of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and joins a community of nearly 2,000 Primary Years Programme schools worldwide. In the words of our authorisation letter from the IB: “you are

CLP Report

positive results… will become evident in your community as classes of PYP students graduate and undertake activities that enhance social, cultural and economic environments locally, nationally and, perhaps, internationally”.

Our Sindelfingen Campus is now officially authorised as an IB (International Baccalaureate) World School to offer the Primary Years Programme (PYP).

IN S PIRE . CHALLENGE . S U PPORT. 9

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your feedback After several years, working with parental organizations and our accreditation authorities to refine, revisit and align our parental opinion surveys, the first version was implemented last year as the new re-enrollment survey. We intended to align our student and staff surveys this year but have delayed the process to accommodate feedback from our successful visit in December and our review of our mission and vision to be completed in September 2022. However, the feedback from this second year of re-enrollment surveys was carefully tabulated and all comments were read, though only comments with more than three repetitions were recognized in the strategic study. As a final note, surveys are only to be utilized for strategic feedback if more than 40% of the constituency has participated and, in this case, we had over 85% participation.

Results from this survey, slightly modified for our official accreditation visit, were relatively consistent with the results from the previous year. In 2021, there were only three ratings that fell between the 80-90% agreement mark (there were none less

than that). Two of them concerned the growth of all learners through effective and consistent feedback and inclusionary practices. This year, these ratings rose to 92% which indicated some progression.

However, parental commentary indicated a desire for continued improvement in these important areas. Some repeated

Scores that remained consistently high from the previous year include our overall approval rating of 98% (recommending ISS to other parents) and students learning to take responsibility for their own learning, also at 98%. Both were confirmed by parental commentary where the three most common positive comments reflected appreciation for teaching individual responsibility/critical thinking, caring and professional teachers.

onscreen resources in favor of printed reading materials.

Overall Parental commentary focused positively on our school being a safe and welcoming place where there is a genuine respect for our diverse, multicultural community. Appreciation for our curriculum, small group work and emphasis on personalized learning were also frequently mentioned.

Given the impact of our second pandemic wave, and the construction and parking challenges on our Degerloch Campus, it was not surprising to see a slight dip from 98% to 94% concerning the question about campus security. There was a similar dip from 94% to 91% concerning

As in 2021, parents continue to desire even more German language instruction and to simplify or standardize our technological tools both for communication and our academic expectations. Given the pandemic’s effect on our afternoon program, it was not surprising to see several comments asking for a clearer and more inclusive activity selection process. There was limited commentary on Math and Science but while there were a number of concerns about the amount of homework, results were balanced between too much and too little.

“自分の意見を正しく相手に 伝えられる、相手の意見に耳 を傾けることが出来る力を伸 ばせる学校。” Parental Survey 2022 A school where students can develop the ability to correctly convey their own opinions to others and to listen to others’ opinions. commentary in this area included the importance of coordinating the scheduling of summative assessments, and more face to face and honest commentary.

learning resources and environment.

However, none of these were specified in the parental commentary other than a small pattern indicating a desire to limit

In the beginning of the academic year 2022/23, we will align our parental survey with new student and staff satisfaction surveys that will reflect our new mission and vision perspective expected to be completed at the same time.

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the future of education. next.

Our greatest strengths/values

group findings The world needs a little

Mission Sense of belonging/community Adaptability/agility/flexibility Learner agency Designing our preferred future & innovation

Building on prior knowledge & skills/what the learner brings Spiralling curriculum Connection to real-world contexts/problems Inquiry process & life-line learning Actions make a difference Personal & social responsibility Vision Connecting to the community Adaptability/resilience Learner agency Supporting innovation Finding a sense of greater purpose Finding a balance Consistency & sustainability - in all things Using mistakes for learning Inclusive & collaborative community Developing disciplinary & AtL Skills

Our areas of development

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The world needs a lot

Following our successful accreditation visit and report, ISS began a Vision, Mission, and Values review. This was a timely exercise to complement the work that had already been done on identifying the strategic plans that would feed The Future of Education. Next. vision; the evolution of The Future of Education. Now. Over a period of three months, various community groups were included in the review of our purpose of our school within our local and global contexts. This meant creating listening groups, and the Student Council also reached out to their peers to review strategic priorities and what our mission meant to them.

We also reviewed our Re-enrollment Survey feedback, and other performance data with specific future design question feedback with representative stakeholders and organizations such as the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) in our community for discussion and reflection.

In the end, we wanted to take a look at who were are immediately post COVID and re-evaluate what matters to us as a community. A summative and representative Steering Committee of all constituencies analyzed and summarized the data and feedback from our listening sessions working with Student council organized student focus groups grades 5 and up, feedback from three divisional staff meetings, alumni feedback from a survey and individual testimonials to collate key values and priorities presented to the Board of Trustees Education.

Committee. The committee then tasked the Strategic Leadership Team to identify key priorities and actions to be aligned to a mission review after submitting a series of suggestions and recommendations for a Values and Mission overhaul in addition to revised strategic priorities.

With this at hand, the entire Strategic Leadership team prepared a revised Mission and Values statement to be taken to the Board of Trustees at their August 2022 Retreat.

s.t.e.a.m. vision & recovery

In 2021/22, the ISS shift to distance and online schooling provided an opportunity for us to expand our learning evidence portfolio access to families and educators concerning STEAM related projects. This of course meant a significant investment in time and resources to develop technology skills for both staff and students. In our Lower Schools we have focused on a shift from Google to Microsoft Office 365 and Toddle, two programs that provided curricular and learning content exchange.

In the meantime, we have continued to develop our Design curriculum, aligning it to our Math program and our own program of inquiry as part of our International Baccalaureate curriculum. Unit examples include: • • • • • • •

Early Years 3/4: The Natural World Early Years 5: Senses - Life cycle of plants (Sharing the planet) Grade 1: Transportation Grade 2: Evolution of Lifestyles -Science and our changing Earth Grade 3: Human Space Travel - Business Grade 4: Weather - Media Grade 5: Energy

We have worked with resources that include Code.org, Tynker.com, Scratch / Scratch Jr., TinkerCAD, Blue Bots, Lego WeDo 2.0, Spheros,and Lego EV3.

Kindergarten students have taken building a greenhouse to a whole new level! As part of their Plant Unit of Inquiry and Outdoor Learning Program, students are in the midst of recycling 1,500 plastic bottles to build a greenhouse on the Early Years playground.

In addition to the completion of our plastic bottle greenhouse another example we would like to describe is the development of a new program and resource, our Innovation Hub and Innovation Hour. The Innovation Hub is an educational resource location for the entire Lower School which provides a space for digital learning with 18 iMacs to support teachers in enhancing lessons through technology. The Innovation Hour is a pilot program for Grades 3 and 5. It works within the Music, Art and Design (MAD) program where we run music, art and design in parallel to allow for much more collaborative and cross-disciplinary teaching to take place throughout I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 13

the Units of Inquiry. This is how we now provide the students with one hour a week to focus on an individual innovation project of their choice. An example of a MAD project would be the Green Energy Exploration as part of the Energy Unit of Inquiry in Grade 5.

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Music: Students had to opportunity to add sound, voice, and music to their videos to enhance the production and with the support of the music teacher to create their own theme music.

Art: Taking the knowledge from the model building and using Claymation (stop-motion) the students created videos to explain their understanding of the various types of green power.

Design: For several weeks we looked at different models of various green energies. Students created models of hydro, wind, and solar machines from science kits. Once they had this experience, they were then tasked with designing, planning, and creating a windmill from recycled materials that would pull up a cup holding a certain amount of weight.

In Sindelfingen, ISS has continued its successful tradition of working with the national JugendForscht competition promoting the best out of teams of students from Grade 4 onwards, to compete in SchülerExperimentieren where teams are asked to investigate ‘something new.’ In the most recent Schüler Experimentieren / Jugend Forschtcompetition one of our Sifi Student teams won 50 Euros as a 14

special award from Volksbank for their investigation.

Despite presence limitations, our previous technology investments in classroom iPads and interactive software allowed us to organize mock interviews as part of our Career Series. Students had the opportunity to engage in mock interviews which were designed to give them ‘a taste’ of what its like to apply for an internship or employment out in the world. In the weeks prior to the interviews, the students were guided on how to compile a CV, write a cover letter and were given tips on how to present themselves in an interview scenario. The interviews were conducted with School and local business leaders.

We have also continued to emphasize the importance of our students’ future by focusing on sustainable practices and reflection such as our LS Green Teams STEAM projects “making the school a better place for nature.” But we have also involved an external provider to help

us develop our Lower School Garden.

Working with Gemüse Academie and a company named Acker, we have linked the tending of a full garden to our curricular program in the lower school. Initially a Kindergarten program and essential part of the outdoor learning and sustainability curriculum, the responsibilities of the garden are now shared throughout the Lower School, with all grades from Early Years to Grade 5 responsible for the garden multiple weeks during the year.

Lastly, in spite of these isolating times, not only did we host internal S.T.E.A.M. competitions such as the Egg Drop or BOT races using Spheros, we put together a significant project that was covered by the local media. Entitled, the Statue of Liberty, this production of 3D Statue of Liberty out of Covid test boxes began with students learning how to mathematically create scale models in TinkerCad on the computer. This knowledge was then put into use to plan and design a large -scale 3D model of the Statue of Liberty with the miniature “Lego” model as a starting point. Students had to use their newly acquired 3D

modelling skills, math skills and creativity to reproduce the digital model in real-life scaling the design using recycled Covid test boxes as their “blocks”. The final sculpture is on display in the foyer where students from all grade levels watched it grow to 2.5 meters in height throughout the six-week project.

Following a suggestion from our MYP Student Council (another example of student voice), students on our Sindelfingen campus completed the building of a Wild Bee & Butterfly garden.

This project began during lockdown with the -Grade 9 students. We learned about local biodiversity and brainstormed ideas of how to take action ourselves. Creating wild spaces with indigenous plants to support local insects & birds was on the top of our "achievability" list. We had Dr. Jeanrond from NABU come and give us a consultation on how to best create the space and are now partnered with the Magstadt Bienenzentrum for additional assistance. They donated 200 Euro worth of wild flower seeds (indigenous to this region) and they have also given a consultation on what else can be done on our campus to make space for the local insect, bird, and wildlife populations (bringing us in line with UN sustainability goals).

aligning communication After producing over 100 videos during the COVID pandemic, the School Director and the Marketing Team began a Collaborative Focus group project with our Communications and Brand Manager, our Divisional Assistants and parental survey and group feedback to streamline communication to better serve our community. The idea was to focus communication within our Community Newsletters and Week Ahead (Staff and Faculty) announcements on Friday to eliminate the producing of too many emails. Data on these emails represented a drop from 60% leadership to less than 30%. Our messaging just wasn’t being read.

Our goal was to support the transparency of information to provide a clearer understanding of our technological tools, their purpose and why we use the tools we have. We also wanted to provide safer and clearer access to personal information through our required adherence to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Lastly, we felt that we could improve the graphics and design

of our online newsletters for easier understanding and access to content.

Accomplishments from this Focus Group include: • •

Redesigned newsletter and week ahead templates for clearer informational access and; Re-framed professional expectations as to the use of ManageBac, Toddle and Veracross to provide more timely and consistent learner feedback and collaboration.

Clear understanding as to the purpose of our primary IT Tools: • • • •

ManageBac and Toddle: Learning communication, curriculum planning and feedback Veracross: Systemic Personal data, billing, admissions, official attendance and reporting Microsoft Office: Curricular and Learning Storage in alignment with learning tools above.

Microsoft Teams: Communication for Online conversations and Meeting

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Minutes and collaboration Email: Official communication Yammer: In house social media tool to celebrate community initiatives and learning

Established in February 2021, Yammer is an internal community social network used by the ISS parental community to openly connect and engage, share knowledge in communities, discuss ideas and collaborate with others using a secure platform.

Yammer does not replace ISS’s established learning platforms and houses additional news stories and photographs from weekly newsletters. This platform is also used with great success by our parent groups and the Athletics Team. Yammer saw a user increase of 50% over the first year and continues grow steadily.

Our new ISS Degerloch video “The Feeling” received the Silver Award in Enrollment/Admissions Video, as part of the 2021 Inspired Brilliance Awards (www. inspiredsm.com).

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For this academic year, students were so frequently engaged in subject and wellness intermittent surveys, we chose to move to greater number of conversations with student council members, volunteers involved in our vision project, a new Mentorship program for nearly 20 students, our return to an active MUNISS and KIVA group, the TEDx team and other smaller representative group to focus on issues with student voice and goals for the coming year. We also worked with student class groups for initiatives like the pitch renovation areas and food feedback and most importantly, after introducing informational assemblies about Ukraine, we also worked with student groups for support and school responses to the current situation. Key takeaways from all of these conversations include: • • • • • • • •

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More eating and hangout space (this led to the opening of the Gym during the eating periods) Food accessibility for latecomers and prices Locker location Decoration of interior spaces Appreciation for leadership voices and collaboration on main events such as MUNISS returning Expanded service needed for all students Greater emphasis on sustainability Well-being conversations with trained staff proved very therapeutic with our Mentor program

mentorship & collaboration

graduates

While teachers were working in teams on strategic projects for the school, our Grade 12 students worked with a recent IB and Oxford graduate from Lanterna Education to review study strategies and approaches for their final year of the ISS and IB Diplomas.

The graduating class of 2022 produced results that the entire community can be very proud of. Many thanks to the parents, teachers, staff, Booster Club and friends who supported our graduates on their way to receiving some very impressive results. Whether you look at the overall points achieved, the comparison with the world average, or the number of bilingual diplomas awarded, everywhere you look ISS students shone.

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The average points total of those who passed was 35 points, compared with 37 in 2021, 33.5 in 2020, 35 in 2019 and 32 in 2018. The world average this year was 32.

The average diploma grade at ISS was 5.54 compared to the world average of 5.13.

26% of our cohort gained 40 points

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or above with the highest points awarded to a candidate was 42 points out of a possible 45 being the highest.

The average number of core points in 2022 was 1.8 compared with 2.2 in 2021, 1.7 in 2021, 2 points in 2019, 1.5 in 2018, 2 in 2017 and 1.7 in 2016.

Nearly half of the Diplomas awarded were bilingual (46%)

Grade 12 students also participated in an in-house workshop we call “ToK Days”. They had the opportunity to engage with a guest speaker who would have led our walking tour of Berlin, had we gone. Students also competed in a cooking competition, demonstrating their creativity, teamwork, and resourcefulness - and made some delicious dishes in the process. Also, as part of the workshop, students explored downtown Stuttgart with a scavenger hunt and even got to see a ToK-related movie at the CorsoKino in Vaihingen, who offered us a special screening just for ISS. It was wonderful to see the students work so hard on their essays, but also to have time to enjoy each other in fun activities and make memories.

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future leaders The class of 2022 has gone on to study a wide range of subjects including: Business & Management, Marine Biology, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physiotherapy (Ausbildung), International Business Administration, Political Science, Business & Technology, Nursing, English Law & German Law, Finance, Biological Sciences, Veterinary Science, Psychology, Medicine, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Sports Management, Mechanical Engineering.

Students matriculated at the following universities in the summer of 2022: National University of Ireland – Galway, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Brown University, LSE (London School of Economics & Political Science), Copenhagen Business School, James Cook University, Minerva University, Purdue University, Twente University, Fontys University, University of Amsterdam, WHU, University of Groningen, TUM (Technische Universität München), 18

ESCP, Amsterdam University of Applied Science, Loughborough University, TU Eindhoven, University of Bath, University of Navarra, UMCH (Universitätsmedizin Neumarkt a. M. Campus Hamburg), Jacobs University, University of Florida, University of Leicester, University of Budapest, Toronto Metropolitan University, Rutgers University.

In addition to this, ISS has had an impressive college list in recent years, with graduates going on to study at leading colleges and universities worldwide as well as directly into a career or sport-based programme, including: Harvard University, UK Armed Forces, US Military School, Imperial College London, Princeton University, LSE, The University of Cambridge, UCL, German Ausbildung, Brown University, University of Virginia, University of Warwick, EPFL, Stuttgart University, Kings College London, University of Oxford, Technical University of Munich, Professional Football, and Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT).

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Average points obtained by students who received the certificate was 43 points.

Average grade obtained by students who received the certificate was 5.22 (out of 7).

71% of students who received the certificate scored 40 or more points (scored on average grade 5 or higher) - German Gymnasium entrance requirement.

32% of those who received the certificate also gained bilingual certification.

The highest number of points obtained was 53 out of a possible 56 points.

Grade 10 students took part in: •

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ePortolios: IB moderated pieces of student work, developed in response to IB published statements of inquiry: in Design, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts eExaminations: on-screen examinations, marked by IB examiners, that assess students’ level of skill in all subject criteria. The onscreen format allows these assessments to

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be more authentic and innovative than traditional, paper style exams: in Language & Literature (English and German), Language Acquisition (English, German, French, and Spanish), Science, Maths, Extended Maths, Individuals & Societies, and Interdisciplinary Understanding.

Personal Project: an IB moderated extended project into an individual area of interest or passion. This core component of the MYP is a precurser to the IB Diploma (DP) Extended Essay, which is a core component of the DP. ISS students continue to

Teachers have already analysed the results and data from these eAssessments and included them in their action planning for 2022-2023. Amongst many things, we are particularly looking forward this year to being able to expand our service as action opportunities, and to being able to share and celebrate students’ Personal Projects with the wider school community again.

top results

Our results continue to reflect the success of our IB Middle Years Programme (MYP).

At the end of their time in the MYP, students in Grade 10 take part in the MYP eAssessments, which lead to course results and MYP Certificates, as well as allowing students to be awarded the Mittlere Reife. eAssessments are IB marked and moderated exams and coursework that allow students to demonstrate the skills that they have developed through the MYP and provide the school with information about the effectiveness of the ISS MYP.

outperform their global peers in this component.

Service as Action: All students take part in planning, taking action, and reflecting on service on local and/ or global issues. Even amongst the challenges posed by the changing covid issue, students engaged with the programme and showed through their reflections how this impacted them positively as learners and as humans.

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Pictured: Grade 10 students celebrate the amazing products that they have built/made/ produced/organised as part of the Personal Project..

I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 19

building

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The parental organisations at ISS are made up of parent volunteers who are elected at the end of each academic year. The groups work together with the School Director to build a partnership between home and school that will enhance the academic, social and cultural development of the students and offer continued enrichment for the ISS Community.

Organizations include: Degerloch Campus Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Booster Club Sindelfingen Campus Parent Group Sindelfingen (PGS) Parent Council (PC) The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in Degerloch and the Parent Group Sindelfingen (PGS) primarily focus on building community through collegial events that bring families and staff together in a way that models our mission.

The parent groups adapted well to the ever-changing Covid regulations over the year. The PTA brought the community together with the offer of seven clubs for parents to join including hiking, book and supper clubs where the community were able to come together and enjoy different cuisines and followed the ISS Culture and Heritage celebrations each month.

They celebrated spring with a fest, raising over 450 Euros for the Compassion Fund and the end of summer with a “bash” at Schwabengarten; great opportunities for the community to come together once the restrictions eased.

A busy year indeed, the PTA continued to support the community with the Buddy Family Program where ISS parents were able to act as importance resources for incoming families and to ensure a smooth transition not only to the school, but to Stuttgart and Germany. The group offered online German and English courses to the parent community and supported the Upper School Student Council with their fund raising efforts and Careers Day. The Parent Advisory Council’s (PAC) goal is to facilitate dialogue between parents, students and school management, aligning ideas from the community with goals of the school. Headed by elected parents as Chair and Communication Coordinator, selected grade and language representatives gather ideas from the Early Years through to Grade 12, and assess them with the Director for possible solutions. On the Sindelfingen campus, the Director is represented by the Head of Campus.

Parents are invited to serve as School Director ambassadors as well as giving constructive suggestions through representatives which are then brought to Mr Kelley, School Director at the

Director’s meetings. By creating an open platform, the PAC aimed to inspire the community to take an active part in ISS’ evolution and development PAC initiatives included compiling frequently asked questions to include in the Veracross Community Portal, an interactive communication infographic for guidance on which staff members parents should reach out to with questions about their child, working with ISS to identify the best VVS transport options available to families and the compilation and the sharing of Alumni stories.

The Booster Club had a challenging year with many of the tournaments cancelled due to the changing Covid regulations.

This group of parents, along with the support of the Athletics Department worked hard to promote both team and school spirit by supplying refreshments for the Grade 12 students during their final exams and celebratory ice -creams for the Grade 10 students after their e-Assessments. The Booster Club was able to hold merchandise sales both in-person and online throughout the year and were very happy to announce the return of the end of session BBQ which was well attended.

On our Sindelfingen Campus, the Parent Teacher Group (PTG) launched their own Buddy Family Program to offer support to incoming families. They welcomed new parents online to give them an opportunity to learn more about the PTG and upcoming events and celebrated the start of the school year with all parents at their Welcome Reception held on the playground.

The PTG supported bake sales with all money raised going back to the students through events and equipment purchases.

Throughout the year, they encouraged the community to come together and connect with numerous events and socials on and off campus. The end of the year saw the official PTG bylaws put into place and the name change of the group from the Parent Teacher Group to the Parent Group Sindelfingen (PGS).

More information about the parent organisations can be found on the Community Portal of Veracross and the school encourages the community to follow these organisations on Yammer.

community I N S P I R E . C H A L L E N G E . S U P P O R T . 21

alumni reunions

Our alumni are scattered all over the world and yet many of them are still connected to and curious about their former school and the terrific people they met during their time at ISS. Maintaining alumni relationships is important to us and we have over 250 alumni who have joined 22

the ISS Alumni Network and membership continues to grow. This year saw the extremely successful reunions in London, Amsterdam, Munich and Berlin, the ISS season of European alumni reunions closed with the ISS Director, Tim Kelley, “at home” in Stuttgart.

The unveiling of the Future of Education.

Now. took centre stage and alumni were excited to be part of the project, with the opportunity to “give back” with the Alumni Fund, and the ISS IB Diploma Center. The center will be dedicated to supporting our oldest student community

in their final year at ISS. It will be an inspirational hub, an innovative launch pad where dreams are discussed, and friendships are forged for a lifetime of being an ISS Alumnus.

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During the year, we were fortunately allowed more opportunities for students with the increasingly relaxed Covid-19 restrictions. Students were able to resume a variety of activities, such as organising a clothing swap, helping with the lower school garden, volunteering at the school library, attending protests, working with animal shelters, participating in the Stuttgart Lauf/Run, amongst others. We of course continued with our yearly school led initiatives, such as the “Christmas in a Shoebox” project, MUNISS, KIVA, amongst other activities.

There were some notable other projects that many students got involved with this year as well. For example, we had a guest speaker, Ms Anna Pitt, speak to our Grade 6 and 7 students at the beginning of the school year regarding ways in which we can live cleaner and greener. This evolved into a year-long project where students made posters to be included in a book to be published with the help of Ms Pitt, which will be completed by the end of the school year. A dedicated group of 24

service as action students, affectionately called the “EcoPeeps”, worked hard throughout the entire school year and were able to get to the proofing stage of the book. At the end of the year, we were able to invite in Ms

Pitt again, where she showed examples of the book as we celebrated World Environment Day. The goal will be to sell the book this upcoming school year and to turn some of the ideas into action.

Additionally, with the beginning of the war in the Ukraine, many students were eager to help in some way. A Compassion Fund was started and students were able to raise and donate money towards that cause. The sixth graders, with the guidance of their homeroom teachers, made sponsor forms as they tried to “walk” the total distance from Stuttgart to Ukraine.

As for the seventh graders, they made bracelets and delicious treats, which they sold at the bake sale. The eighth graders hosted an End-of-Year Fair during the last week of school to help raise some more funds. Altogether, these grade levels raised more than 2500 Euro.

Overall, we were pleased with the variety of activities the students partook in last year and hope that they will be able to resume more regular activities as we did in pre-Covid times. If last year is any indication, we are headed in the right direction!

Student work by Elsa Haugen (Grade 6)

muniss Our highly successful MUNISS 2022 conference was held face-to-face this past school year to the delight of our student leadership and participants from around Europe and Germany. For all of our MUN students, it felt that things were finally returning to normal, and our students were very excited to have visiting delegations in Stuttgart again.

Sophie Rodd, our Secretary General and Elsa Ladenson, our Deputy Secretary General, along with their team ran a very successful MUN Day at ISS in preparation for the conference. The day was held in homeroom committees with the MUNISS student officers conducting interactive activities and debates planned for them by our Secretariat. The students had a wonderful time and were then ready for our first face-to-face MUNISS conference since 2020.

The MUNISS 2022 Secretariat planned a conference with over 200 participants around the theme of Development of Societies in the 21st Century. The conference featured keynote speakers, Natasha Rodd and Cedric Strokendhl, as well as Cosima Hirth, who were all Secretary Generals of past MUNISS conferences. They discussed not only how much they have valued MUN as a learning and leadership experience in

their lives but also discussed their views on development in their world from the point-of-view of young university students. This MUNISS also featured live musical performances, in-person opening and closing ceremonies and interesting debates around the many committee topics. Students from a range of different countries in the region attended the conference and were very excited to have an opportunity to continue their MUN programs in collaboration with MUNISS. The student leadership did an outstanding job of planning the conference at our Degerloch campus, as well as hosting a highly successful MUNISS party in downtown Stuttgart on the Thursday evening of the conference! Thank you to the MUNISS Executive Team for a well-organized conference especially as a rather new team in terms of MUN experiences. After the Covid restrictions of the past years which forced us to cancel and hold conferences online, this MUNISS leadership team showed their ability to think on their feet, solve logistical problems, and successfully meet a challenging goal; organizing and leading one of the first face-to-face MUN conferences in Europe and the world since 2020. Congratulations to our team and student participants!

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On the Sindelfingen Campus, the year brought us our integrated arts performance of the Lorax with Grade 5 through our transdisciplinary theme of Sharing the Planet.

The origins of this idea came from the Grade 5 students, who had read the book and were inspired to create a live adaptation of the story. This meant a journey through the design cycle for the students- and along the way they were supported by our creative arts teachers (Music, Art and Design) and homeroom teachers to bring everything together.

Equally unique, and incredibly powerful was the way the students were able to emphasize the global issues around human’s relation with nature that are a key part of the story.

The student’s interpretation was expressed in both German and English - a true testament to the way that all students learn at Sindelfingen on a daily basis: they are not just learning languages, they are learning through languages thus building confidence and developing a broader perspective of the world in which they live for now and further their future.

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performing arts

Learning beyond the classroom took our Grades 1 and 2 to Jungen Oper im Nord (JOiN) to enjoy the interactive performance of a House for the Mouse; Grades 6 and 7 to Liederhalle to hear the performance of Mozart’s last three symphonies, and Grades 8-10 were treated to an exceptional interactive performance of Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Opera house.

Grade 5 went to Wilhelma Theatre to see the production of Zauber Nacht – a performance of dance, music and acting featuring our own visiting choreographer and dancer, Pascal Sangl!

These inspirational performances help the students see where their skills in music and performance can take them, as well as how all of the arts work together in making a great event for all to enjoy.

We finished the year with an MYP “Performances at an Exhibition” featuring Grade 8 in a Mime and Music as well as a Rock Band Project; Grade 9 and 10 for Jazz and Sculpture Galleries, Grade 7 with Frankenstein and the Horrendous Goo, and Grade 6 for Podcasts. To build our community from within and with others

there was a PYP Performance Showcase at the Sindelfingen Music Theatre and Dance School and in person.

In the Degerloch Lower School, we still had to work with and around some Corona-related restrictions, which was an opportunity to focus on playing Orff instruments (small percussion and mallet instruments like xylophones or metallophones) in our LS music room. In the spring, we were happy and excited to get back into the swing of some live performances on site!

Our Grade 3 students brought to life ‘Tuishi Pamoja’, a story about friendship under African skies. It was wonderful and rewarding to see students prepare for their roles: speaking roles, singers in the chorus, or performers of solos and duets.

Performance day a very special day for the whole Lower School community – everyone seemed happy and excited to meet in person again!

The end of the school year was marked by appearances of our Lower School strings group and choir during our ‘Musical Showcase’ for Grades 3, 4, 5. Students were proud to show what they had

learned, and we had a lovely concert with a very interested audience of students and parents in the foyer. We ended the school year with a joyful and musical end of year assembly – featuring our song ‘School will be out for Summer’, performed in two parts from Grades 1 to 5!

Our spectacular musical, “Working” was a huge success in the Degerloch Upper School. Thank you to our performers and musicians, the stage crew and all those involved in the behind-the-scenes organisation. A tremendous amount of planning, thought and dedication was put into this production.

While we are sad to not have a live audience due to limitations of Covid regulations, we were about to offer streaming opportunities to see the performance to keep some sense of “opening nights”.

Particular thanks to the outstanding work of Mr. Adrian Turner, our choreographer, for inspiring our students to go over and above the expected, and to Mr. Kelley, the Director, whose passion and dedication to our school productions is unquenchable.

Congratulations all!

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Noah Trenkle took the gold medal in the Varsity Boys division with the impressive time of 18:00 minutes for a distance of five kilometers. Erin Frosch finished the race in third place in the Varsity Girls division, winning the bronze medal for ISS. We had the great honor to host the Volleyball regional girls and boys friendly tournament at ISS, with international schools from Franconia, Ulm, Bavaria and Frankfurt and more then 120 students athletes. The final GISST regional tournament at the international school in Ulm was a great success for the ISS Varsity Girls and Boys teams, winning all their games and the first place trophies.

The ISS GISST Football teams had a great preseason and was well prepared for the scheduled GISST tournament in Cologne in November. Unfortunately, this tournament was cancelled on a short notice due to the Covid-19 regulations in Baden Württemberg at the time.

sports

The ISS Sports Program had a successful partial relaunch after Covid-19. Our students had the pleasure to compete in regional and GISST tournaments all over 28

Germany on a very high level. The first GISST trophy and first gold and bronze medal of the season 2021-22 was brought back by our GISST Cross Country team.

All ISS Basketball teams participated successfully in tournaments all around Germany and Switzerland, bringing back five trophies for our school! In the first GISST Basketball Tournament after almost two years, hosted by St. George International School, we attended with three basketball teams to compete against schools from Cologne, DuisburgDüsseldorf and Frankfurt.

The Varsity Boys team won the tournament undefeated, winning all four games as well as the Sportsmanship

award. Our youngest U14 team had very promising performances, winning a dramatic game in double overtime and winning the sportsmanship award.

A very promising swim season with a great team and very talented swimmers ended without the final GISST tournament in Frankfurt due to Covid-19 restrictions. The team practiced throughout the whole winter period, finishing up the season with an internal ISS competition.

The ISS Tennis team performed very well at the final GISST Tournament in Leipzig, winning second place in the Boys and third place in the Girls competition.

Ashwini Balaji was the best second seat player of the tournament, collecting 12 points and winning all games for ISS. The ISS Volleyball team came home from the final GISST tournament, hosted by the St. George’s School with the second place trophy. The ISS girls played a great tournament making their way into the final against the host school from Duisburg, winning silver medals.

The ISS GISST Track & Field team performed once again very well at the final GISST tournament in Berlin. The whole team showed great performance and our two Varsity Girls, Leah Hilliges (three gold & two silver medals) and Erin Frosch (three gold medals) showed an outstanding performance.

summer@iss international school of stuttgart e.V.

summer@iss 2022 was excited to welcome 663 participants from over 20 countries over 7 memorable weeks! With opportunities to explore the surrounding community more open than ever in recent years, summer@iss was excited to engage with the community on new levels and explore! Students made regular visits to local swimming pools, visited parks, Degerloch (not to forget the ice cream shops!), and even had an amazing visit to the local fire station for an afternoon of fun.

Exploring the summer’s theme “Elements of the Earth” through weekly STEAM challenges pushed participants of all ages to get creative and work together to tackle projects such as designing a wind-powered racing sailboat and learning about the impacts of mining-with cookies! With learning and fun at the core of all we do, the summer is always full of surprises for everyone. For example, it is hard to imagine who had more fun in the bouncy castle that lived in the gym all summer-children or staff!

Continued interest from camp alumni and new campers in the middle school age range led to a record high enrollment in the oldest group. This enthusiasm from older children to return to camp year after year, pushes summer@iss to expand offerings for older students and will only lead to exciting new offerings for the future. summer@iss hopes to remain a staple of the community’s summer planning as we continue to evolve and grow!

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Our mission is to actively inspire, challenge and support students and each other to positively impact our dynamic and interconnected world.

Our Vision is to place learning at the core of all that we do.

We define learning as being a transformative process for each learner that combines their unique predispositions and experiences with the development of disciplinary and transdisciplinary skills, knowledge and understanding, in order to nurture and develop character and intellect.

We believe that learning happens when learners:

International School of Stuttgart e.V. Sigmaringer Str. 257 70597 Stuttgart Germany Tel +49 (0)711 76 96 000 iss@issev.de www.issev.de

www.facebook.com/issevde @SchoolStuttgart www.linkedin.com/company/international-school-of-stuttgart/

• • • • • •

understand what they are learning and why they are learning it, demonstrate agency in guiding their own self-directed* learning journey, reflect on their strengths and monitor their own success, take informed risks that allow them to experiment and learn from mistakes, make connections between each other and the world around them, and embrace multiple perspectives with humility and harness the power of our diverse community.

*Self-directed learning is when learners are accountable for and joyfully engage in choosing the process, content, skills, and outcomes of their learning, with the guidance and support of others, to positively impact our dynamic and interconnected world.

These learning actions engage us in lifelong learning and active participation in a changing world.