Newsletter 12.09.2025
SMV starts into the new school year
On September 11, the first meeting of the Student Council (SMV) took place at the Swiss Club. Under the guidance of our trusted teachers Russel Adu and Angy Mamodaly, the class representatives of grades 3 to 8 came together to discuss ideas and concerns for the new school year.
Topics of the meeting:
- Recess activities
The SMV discussed adding a conflict mediator from the Secondary level to support the regular supervisors.
They also want to make play equipment available during recess.
The classes will now discuss suitable lending models to ensure responsibility and order. - Location of the "Elephants"
The students are looking for a new spot for the beloved figures.
Suggestions will be brought forward at the next meeting. - Wishes of the Secondary level
A popular request was the creation of a Chill Area as a retreat space during breaks.
Implementing this idea could become an exciting project for grades 7 and 8.
Looking ahead:
In the coming weeks, the classes will develop their ideas further so that the SMV can present concrete plans at the next meeting. On September 15, the SMV will also take part in the food service planning meeting – another opportunity for students to actively shape life at GISA.
Football meets Finance – A special day for girls ⚽💰
On Tuesday, September 16, GISA will host a very special event: "Football meets Finance," a workshop day exclusively for girls!
Together with former German national football player Petra Landers, the Faces of Football team, and the Sparkassenstiftung, our GISA football girls will participate alongside girls from our two partner NGOs, Chance for Children and Universal Wonderful Street Academy.
Program highlights:
- Morning: Two workshop sessions
- Football training with professionals
- Learning smart ways to handle money in a fun and interactive way
- Shared lunch: generously sponsored by the Sparkassenstiftung
- Afternoon: A mini football tournament with six teams full of energy and team spirit
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Sparkassenstiftung for their generous support, covering everything from catering to the full sponsorship of this unique day.
Please note:
The football field, which is still in its recovery phase, will exceptionally be used for this event. From early October onwards, it will be available again for regular sports activities.
First Aid Training for Secondary Students 🩺
On Wednesday, September 17, a First Aid Training session will take place for our Secondary students. The training will be led by Miriam Böhme, a dedicated parent from our school community, who will share her medical knowledge and provide valuable practical learning opportunities.
The training for the Primary students already took place before the summer break. Now, our Secondary students will benefit from this important experience.
Tip for parents:
Ask your children about their experiences – they might even demonstrate the recovery position for you in the afternoon!
Former student returns for a talk on addiction prevention
We are very excited to welcome Dr. Dr. Martin Keweloh back to GISA on Tuesday, September 17. Many years ago, he himself was a student at our school!
During the second lesson of the day (8:50 – 9:35 am), he will speak with our grade 7/8 class about the important topic of addiction prevention. We are looking forward to an insightful session with valuable information and, above all, to hearing his personal memories of his school days in Ghana compared to GISA today.
60 Years of School History – Calling all alumni 📚
Next year we will celebrate a very special anniversary: 60 years of school history in Accra!
From the early days as RMS Swiss School, through GSIS, to today’s GISA – generations of students, parents, teachers, and board members have shaped this journey.
Dear alumni, former parents, teachers, and board members, we would love to hear from you!
- Do you have memories, photos, or stories from your time at our school?
- Would you like to be part of our anniversary yearbook and celebrations?
Please get in touch with us:
Email:
WhatsApp: +233 20 008 6805
We look forward to celebrating 60 years of GISA history together!
Kindergarten and Nursery
In the nursery, we had a sensory box with sand this week. The children were able to feel, knead, build, and let their creativity run free in the sand. This resulted not only in small structures but also in many beautiful moments of playing together.
A special highlight was a birthday, which we celebrated with games, dancing, and delicious muffins – a joyful opportunity to strengthen our sense of togetherness.
This week, in Kindergarten we continued to focus on the topic of the farm 🐄🐓🌾.
During learning time, the children playfully explored with the experiment “Sink or Float,” discovering which materials can float and which sink 🌊🪵.
There was also room for creativity: we painted to music 🎨🎶, played freeze dance 💃🕺, worked on media education, and crafted masks 🎭.
Another highlight was that the children planted seeds 🌱. In the coming weeks, we will take care of the plants together and observe how they grow.
To conclude our farm project, we celebrated a costume day together 🎉.
The children wore their homemade masks, sang songs, and had lots of fun rounding off this exciting topic.
Primary school
This week, the children if class 1/2 got to know the story “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Afterwards, the focus was on who could remember the sequence of events and retell the story. We also discussed how to present in front of a group and what listeners need to pay attention to.
Rules for telling a story: speak clearly, speak loudly enough
Rules for listening: listen carefully, look at the speaker, keep your hands free
In addition, the children showed great motivation in creative writing. Working with the new iPads is especially enjoyable for them: copying from templates inspires many to write their own stories as well.
This week in English, we introduced vowels! Students worked in groups to generate as many words as they could using the given vowel. Our story of the week was *Henny-Penny*, which the kids enjoyed narrating and acting out.
Please encourage your child to share the story at home — they’ll love telling you all about it! 🐔📚
Grade 3 – Mathematics: Numbers up to 1000
In math class, we are currently working on an exciting topic: numbers up to 1000. The children are learning to navigate confidently within the so-called “1000-field” and to break numbers down into their place values.
Grade 3 – Solids that behave like liquids
Our lesson on states of matter was fantastic. We learned that not all solids are rigid – some can actually take the shape of their container and flow like liquids. The students had hands-on experiences, and it was a super fun and educational day. It is fascinating how some materials blur the line between solid and liquid – like a slow-flowing stream of sand.
Grade 4 – The bones of the skeleton
In our study of skeletons, we explored the world of vertebrates and invertebrates. We learned that the key difference lies in whether or not an animal has a backbone. We classified all kinds of animals – from slithering snakes and tall giraffes (vertebrates) to creepy crawlers like spiders and soft slugs (invertebrates). It was a great way to see how animals are built from the inside out!
Fashion Project – From idea to pattern
After revising and improving their collection designs on Tuesday, the students took the next step on Thursday: creating their very first patterns. First, they had to take measurements – determining how long and wide each part of the clothing item should be. These measurements were then transferred onto large sheets of paper. This way, the first patterns were created, which will later be used to cut the fabric.
It wasn’t easy! Drawing straight lines, marking angles correctly, and keeping proportions accurate was quite a challenge. But with patience, teamwork, and a lot of focus, the students successfully completed their very first patterns.
This marks another important step on the way to creating their own little fashion collection.
Secondary school
This week in Grade 5, we worked on word problems in math and introduced the rules for parentheses. In French, we learned how to introduce another person.
In history, we focused on the subtle differences: What is the difference between history and story? What distinguishes historians from archaeologists? What are written sources, image and audio sources, and material sources? And how do these differ from historical representations?
In Ethics class, Grade 6 has started an exciting new project: a pen pal exchange with a school in Germany. The students are looking forward to writing their first letters, sharing stories about their daily lives, school, and interests, while also learning more about life in Germany.
Together with Grade 5, Grade 6 is also holding regular joint class council meetings. These meetings are an opportunity to reflect on the past weeks and to look ahead to upcoming events – especially the joint class trip in November, which everyone is already very excited about.
Language learning is also progressing well: after focusing on important classroom phrases in German and English, this week the students are learning key instructions in French to support their collaborative learning in three languages.
Step by step, the class is not only expanding their language skills but also growing closer together as a strong and supportive community.
This week in Grade 7 math, we started a new chapter – the introduction of letters (variables) in mathematics. Together, we explored how to read and create expressions based on geometric figures.
With the help of the exciting game “Triomino,” Grade 8 students deepened their understanding of the binomial formulas in a fun and interactive way.
After practicing layup techniques in PE, we concluded the unit with a final basketball game. This gave everyone the chance to show what they had learned, with teamwork and fair play at the center of the activity!
In German class, we focused on writing motivational letters. In history, the students not only delved into the life and work of Martin Luther but also critically examined the advantages and disadvantages of historical films as a medium. A test assessed their knowledge about the exciting transition from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the modern era.
In English class, we completed our unit on “Spoken Drama” and worked on using figurative language to improve sentence structure. The performances by the pairs were inspiring and motivated the students to refine their acting skills, especially with regard to tone variations and enhancing their conversational abilities.
Why not play Bingo with books? That’s exactly what the Grade 7/8 students tried – turning the library into a game board. The Bingo cards had different categories, such as a red book, a book about sports, or a book with animals. Whoever managed to fill three spaces in a row first shouted “Bingo!” and won. But the excitement was so great that the class didn’t want to stop: in the end, they searched for a matching book for every single category and filled the entire Bingo card.
📅 Dates & Outlook
⚽ Tuesday, 16.09.2025
"Football meets Finance" – Workshop for girls with Faces of Football & Sparkassenstiftung
🩺 Wednesday, 17.09.2025
- First Aid Course for the Secondary section with thanks to Miriam Böhme
- Prevention talk by Dr. Dr. Martin Keweloh on addiction prevention for Grade 7/8 (8:50 – 9:35 am)
🗓 Tuesday, 30.09.2025, 6:00 pm
Annual General Assembly (AGM)
📘 Thursday, 02.10.2025
Pedagogical Day – no classes
🇩🇪 Friday, 03.10.2025
German Unity Day – no classes
🍂 Monday, 06.10. – Friday, 10.10.2025
Autumn Break
📢 Wednesday, 15.10.2025 – Save the Date!
Children’s Rights Walk in Jamestown in support of the NGO Universal Wonderful Street Academy
➡ Participation only when accompanied by at least one parent
➡ The school will organize a bus for the joint trip
More information to follow.
🗣 Saturday, 18.10.2025
"130 Million – German Connects" – Day of the German Language on the GISA campus, together with numerous German-speaking institutions
🕯 Thursday, 13.11.2025
St. Martin Lantern Walk
📖 Friday, 21.11.2025
Reading Day & Maths Night
🎄 Saturday, 29.11.2025
Christmas Market
🎅 Thursday, 04.12.2025
Visit from St. Nicholas
Teen Club
Walk for children´s rights by universal wonderful street academy
130 Millionen - Deutsch verbindet
