November Newsletter 2015 - 2016 From the Principal Dear School Community, November was a month filled with events, especially ones that made way for the Christmas season. On November 3rd, we had our annual November "Open Day," with over 20 families expressing interest in our school. As always, our family-like atmosphere made visitors want to stay longer in the school. On the 11th, we celebrated St. Martin together with a primary school in our neighborhood. Each year, it is a good event that helps us connect with the local community and gives those students a little insight into our colorful school life and culture. On the 20th, after much preparation and rehearsal, our school opened the Osaka Christmas Market. These songs could be heard in our hallways many days leading up to the event, creating the start of a Christmas atmosphere. And with the last day of November we carried through the school's important General Assembly where new members of the Board were elected. Planet Bagels was also asked to cater the General Assembly, and the participants had the opportunity to taste this new caterer. At the end of November we started a 2 week trial period for their lunches. I wish you the very best for the upcoming Christmas season, and time for togetherness with family and friends. Best regards 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 - Osaka Christmas Market On November 20th, 2015 the Deutsche Schule Kobe kids from Grade 1 onwards were invited to the opening of Osaka Christmas Market. There they performed traditional German and international Christmas songs under the direction of Mrs. Kanzawa and enjoyed the attractions of the German Christmas Market afterwards.
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 - St. Martin
On November 13th, 2015 we celebrated St. Martin at our school. The Students learned about the story of St. Martin and listened to traditional songs while eating a Weckmann. This event is particularly popular with German children. It is dedicated to St. Martin of Tours and celebrates modesty and altruism (values associated to St.Martin).
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 Excursion to the Animal Welfare Trade School (神戸動植物環境専門学校) The last Friday in November our Early Years visited the animal welfare trade school on Rokko Island. The students there were so kind and taught us how to take care of a variety of different animals, from small furry hamsters, to pigs, to birds, to fish and reptiles! They also played a fun game with our kids identifying colors and animal prints. Thank you for having us!
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
We are all part of a community! Preschool spent a lot of time working on their speaking and listening skills, doing an excellent job of identifying different ways in which they help at home and then acting them out to the class. They gained insight into the different roles people have in their own and their friends’ families by looking at the family trees. Thank you for preparing those, they were all very proud to share! From families, we moved to the classroom community and to the wider school community. They were quick to realise that each member has more than just one job and that they belong to more than just one community!
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 Learning About Learning After the Autumn Break the first grade students began their second unit of the year. Under the transdisciplinary theme “Where We Are in Place and Time,” the students began to examine their own and others’ personal learning journeys. To begin our investigation we went on a hunt around the school to find things that help us learn.
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
What is "learning"? Recently, we started off our second unit of inquiry with the central idea, "Understanding our place in the world develops our understanding of our personal journeys."
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 G3&G4 Kokugo Library The Kokugo students visited RIC community library. We can see various kinds of books at the school library and the community library. They observed how the library is designed so that people can spot a book they are looking for quickly. If they couldn’t find a book they could ask the librarians. They are also learning how to gather information they want through books. The time passed by so quickly in the library!
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 4
Energy on Rokko Island As a pre-assessment the students did a community walk around Rokko Island in a search for ENERGY. Where do you see energy? What types of energy do you see?
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 Procedural narratives – board games “Our task was to make a step by step instructions for the game. I think this was a good activity to do because I had fun making a board game and also made a step by step instructions.” - Jacob
“We measured the length and the wight of the board game and Ms. Robinson will cut the cardboard’s for us. After that, we decorated the board games and then today we played them!!! It was very fun and our harts were pounding!” - Mia
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
Vermicomposters at DESK Continuing the worm composter program was a no-brainer for the Middle Years students. On one of the Wednesday Assembly’s they held a special presentation for the Primary Years children about how to use their classroom composters. In addition to their whole school presentation and individual classroom presentations, the Middle Years announced their recruitment of school Minions, Primary Years student volunteers, to help with the composters throughout the year.
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
Kokugo – Award winning
We are very pleased to announce that Ayu from our school got an excellence in writing Award(優秀賞) at the 6th Annual Hyogo Newspaper composition contest. After tough competition, her composition was chosen from 10,943 applicants, 165 schools. She selected a newspaper article about the 70th anniversary since the end of the Second World War, and expressed her thoughts about peace and war in her own words.
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