New GSIS principal ready to build on firm foundations
Since taking over as the new principal of German Swiss International School (GSIS) in February, Alexandra Freigang-Krause has been following through on one initial objective.
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That is to get a comprehensive understanding of everything happening in the school by visiting classes from kindergarten to senior secondary, conferring with teachers and listening to parents, so as to have a clear appreciation of current strengths and operations, as well as to identify areas and opportunities for improvement.
There is, of course, a lot to cover, with both a German International Stream and an English International Stream running in parallel for all age groups plus a host of on-campus initiatives and extracurricular programmes.
“Being the principal of such a complex school, it is important for me to get an overview of the two streams and the educational work,” says Freigang-Krause who, before moving to Hong Kong, was part of the management team at Bavaria’s central institute of teacher training where she oversaw professional development in social studies, ethics (philosophy), the arts and languages. She also provided professional training for Chinese teachers, equipping them to integrate and develop curricula for Islamic cultural studies. “But one thing I would like to see is more German-ness and Swiss-ness to reflect our heritage and features of those distinct cultures.”
.jpg?itok=oMa5ehxd "GSIS has established a partnership with ALBA Berlin Basketball Academy Asia (ABBA Asia) to provide its students with a premier basketball programme as part of their extracurricular activities.")
A first move in that respect is to encourage everyone in the school to understand and use at least 10 phrases in German and to keep building on that. To assist, there will be more signs in German around the campus and an extra push to bring students together more regularly for cross-stream activities.
The 10-phrase approach can also be used to promote wider familiarity with both Cantonese and Putonghua, something which will help in teaching students about history, traditions and cultural differences.
Regarding the two main curriculums, which lead up to either the Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA) or the International Baccalaureate (IB) as a final qualification, certain requirements are mandatory.
.JPG?itok=ryK2VpRb "Teachers and students from the two streams collaborated as one team at the recent Secondary Spring Concert")
She adds that both the primary and secondary schools offer a wide choice of extracurricular activities (ECAs), but these too are reviewed every year, allowing for new interests to be included as others fade in popularity.
For instance, an early student enthusiasm for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) never really took hold, though basketball camps conducted by professional players remain as popular as ever, especially when they include a sustainability angle with a love for the sport.
“We have a lot going on in sports, arts and music,” says Freigang-Krause, noting how students and teachers from the two streams collaborated as one team for the recent Secondary Spring Concert, when all the announcements were in two languages. “I also attended Arts Day in the primary school where there were mixed workshops for some topics, It was nice to see how well those groups worked together.”
All those elements carry over into the GSIS “Discovery Week” which gives students scope to explore various aspects of the world around them and find new solutions to problems posed in the curriculum or raised on their own initiative. It can also be a chance to hear from visitors who have faced and overcome daunting challenges in different walks of life.
Recently, one such visitor was former German wrestler Frank Stäbler who made a big impression on students from both streams when recounting his experiences and triumphs.
.JPG?itok=jvCoIbxc "Students from both streams were exhilarated by the visit of the former German wrestler, Frank Stäbler, and were eager to gain insights from him.")
Referring to her own previous professional development role, she has been pleasantly surprised by how up to date and eager the school is to make best use of technology, but also to strike the right balance.
“It is our mission to prepare students for the digital world, so technology now plays an important role in the classroom,” Freigang-Krause says. “In kindergarten, they are introduced to work with their devices, but there are other activities where they are just playing with Lego or working on jigsaws. Children enjoy both, and our responsibility is to find the best of both approaches and merge them.”