May Newsletter 2015 - 2016
From the Principal Dear School Community, With the end of May we are entering the last month of school before the whole school year is wrapped up and the summer break starts. With the conclusion of the last year of primary school, an important event happened last Thursday -- Grade 5's Exhibition, which is something like a practical final exam. By the time our 5th grade students arrive at the end of their primary school time, they have the opportunity to show, to exhibit, their findings to the other students, our parents, and students of other schools. Audiences gather a sense of what they have learned, which competencies they have gained, and what a good IB education is all about. This kind of enlightenment happens through the Exhibition. The months leading up to that big final day are challenging for the teachers and for the students. To understand exhibition, you need to understand the educational philosophy of an IB School. Many parents and teachers experienced school themselves as a place where teachers gave directions, asked questions to be answered, and taught subjects in an isolated way. Even to this day, most parents identify those sorts of things as what schools should do. IB education is different. We want our students to become lifelong learners, to be curious, and to have a desire to inquire. From the Early Years Program and up through primary school, we provide many situations where students can acquire the competency to inquire, to research, to process information, and to find appropriate ways to document and present results of their work. At the end of primary school our students host Exhibition, showing what they have learned and what they are capable of doing. These skills prove them to be moving on to the middle school.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Speaking of Middle School: If you have not visited our school lately, you might be surprised to see the progress on our construction site! Just this past weekend members of the Board and our middle school teachers had the chance to visit the construction site and see in the new building. The construction company Kakino confirms that the construction process is on-time and we will be able to open the new building before the start of the new school year in September. I wish you pleasant summer days and best wishes
Gerhard Lebherz
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Events - Thanks for the Taikos
We are very happy and thankful for our new taikos donated by the PTA. Having the opportunity to use those instruments gives us the chance to express the Japanese culture a very unique and impressive way. The taikos will be used throughout all grades in music and sometimes in P.E.. The middle schoolers started using the taikos for there current unit and will perform at the end of year party.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Early Years
Spring Daisies
The children of Early Years went to one of the flower gardens of Rokko Island. Here they observed the shape and colours of daisies growing there. Back at school they formed daisies out of clay before colouring them.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Pre School
Round and Round the Garden
This week started with a lot of rain but as the sun came out, the transition from a relaxing break back to the busy Preschool classroom became much easier. he focus this week was to continue exploring the Unit on Life Cycles, picking up where we left off before the break. Preschool took it further looking at how plants grow and where they get their nutrients from, by focussing on soil and the role that earthworms have. They made their own wormeries, carefully monitoring the worms’ hard work.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Grade 1
SLEEP over I guess it was nice and peaceful until I went to bed and started snoring. At one point one of the students woke me up and said, “Mr. Brabant! You’re too loud! You’re smoking!” I think she meant “snoring” since I wasn’t on fire! As soon as the sun came up, so were the students! But they did a great job at being quite and let me sleep until 5:30. Some are more “morning people” than others, but all were so happy and cheerful to be together with each other first thing in the morning!
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Grade 2
We are astronomers!
“Our solar system is made up of many planets with only one that has living things.”
We started off the unit by using the gravity simulator which the middle school students had created back in December. With heavy weight in the middle, we observed what happened when marbles were released into the simulator. We realized that the solar system works like the gravity simulator. The sun has a lot of gravity because it's the biggest and heaviest object in the solar system, causing the planets to orbit around it. We also created some artwork of planets and stars in space. Check out these masterpieces!
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Grade 3 & 4
Relief maps
As part of the unit the students of grade 3 and 4 were planning to create a relief map. They chose the area around Mt. Maya and Mt. Rokko down to Rokko Island.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Grade 5
Grade 5 just finished the most important project of their primary years – The Exhibition! They spent over two months inquiring into an issue of their choice, interviewing people in the community, and taking action. They used all of the skills and knowledge they’ve been working on throughout their time in the PYP.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org
Grade 6 & 7 Exploring the Osaka Science Museum Only a third of the Grade 6 & 7 classes had ever been to the Osaka Science Museum in Fukushima, Osaka, so this was a new experience for many. Four stories of interactive exhibits made for an excellent day of science.
Deutsche Schule Kobe – European School 3-2-8 Koyochonaka Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0032 Japan Tel.: 078-857-9777・Fax: 078 857- 9775・http://www.dskobe.org/・mail@dskobe.org